Fort Albany (Arlington, Virginia): Difference between revisions

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{{About|a former fort in Arlington, Virginia|other similarly-named places|Fort Albany (disambiguation){{!}}Fort Albany}}{{Infobox military installation
{{Refimprove|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name = Fort Albany
| location = Arlington, Virginia
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| caption =
| map_type = United States District of Columbia street
| coordinates = {{coord|38.864917|-51|57|N|77.066167|04|00|W|type:landmark_region:US-DC|display=inline,title}}
| map_alt = Location map of Washington, D.C.
| map_caption = Location within Washington, D.C.
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| open_to_public =
}}
[[File:Fort-lyon-alexandria-virginia-vhs00032-1-.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Map of Civil War forts near Alexandria, showing Fort Albany (ca. September 1861)]]
'''Fort Albany''' was a bastioned earthwork built by the [[Union Army]] in [[Arlington County]] (then still known as Alexandria County) in [[Virginia]].
[[File:Fort Craig VA Map.jpg|left|thumb|400300 px|Map of [[Fort Craig (Virginia)|Fort Craig]] and surrounding area including Fort Albany (1865)]]
==Construction==
[[File:Fort Albany (Defenses of Washington Marker Series) (3361143083).jpg|thumb|right|200px|Fort Albany Historical Marker]]
[[File:Fort Craig VA Map.jpg|left|thumb|400 px|Map of [[Fort Craig (Virginia)|Fort Craig]] and surrounding area including Fort Albany (1865)]]
'''Fort Albany''' was a [[bastion]]ed earthwork that the [[Union Army]] built in [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County]] (known at the time as Alexandria County) in [[Virginia]]. The Army constructed the fort during May 1861 as part of its [[Civil War Defenses of Washington|Civil War defenses of Washington]] (see [[Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War]]).<ref name=Cooling/>
It was built in 1861 as part of the defense of [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] during the [[American Civil War]].
 
The fort had a perimeter of 429 yards and emplacements for 12 guns.<ref name=Cooling>{{cite book|first1=Benjamin Franklin |last1=Cooling III|first2=Walton H.|last2=Owen II|titlesection=Defense Posts for the Long Bridge — Forts Albany, Runyan, and Jackson: Fort Albany|worktitle=Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3qRIuDHJoTEC&pg=PA90#v=onepage&q&f=false|year=2010|edition=New|pages=90-9290–92|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6307-1|lccn=2009018392|oclc=665840182|accessdate=2018-03-05|via=[[Google Books]]|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312195701/https://books.google.com/books?id=3qRIuDHJoTEC&pg=PA90|archivedate=2018-03-12}}</ref>
It was superseded by [[Fort Richardson (Arlington, Virginia)|Fort Richardson]], and [[Fort Craig which(Virginia)|Fort both are 1300 yards to the westCraig]] and the[[Fort Tillinghast]] otherprovided 1300supporting yardsfire tofor the northfort.<ref name=Cooling/>
 
A May 17, 1864, report from the Union Army's Inspector of Artillery (see [[Field artillery in the American Civil War#Union artillery|Union Army artillery organization]]) noted the following:<blockquote>''Fort Albany, Captain Rhodes commanding.''–Garrison, one company First Massachusetts Volunteers–5 commissioned officers, 1 ordnance-sergeant, 145 men. Armament, two [[Field artillery in the American Civil War#Weapons|24-pounder field howitzer]]s, four [[Siege artillery in the American Civil War#James rifles|24-pounder siege]], two [[Siege artillery in the American Civil War#Parrott rifles|Parrott]]s, one [[Siege artillery in the American Civil War#Morters|Coehorn mortar]], one [[Siege artillery in the American Civil War#Morters|10-inch mortar]]. [[Magazine (firearms)|Magazines]], two; dry and in good order. Ammunition, full supply and in good condition. Implements, complete and in good order. Drill in artillery, fair. Drill in infantry, fair. Discipline, fair. Garrison of sufficient strength.<ref>{{cite book|last=Howe|first=A.P., Brigadier-General, Inspector of Artillery|section=Report on the inspection of the defenses of Washington, made by the order of the Secretary of War: Fort Albany, Captain Rhodes commanding.|date=1864-05-17|page=888|editor=Scott, Robert N.|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.49015002000736;view=1up;seq=896|title=The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Published under the direction of the Secretary of War (1880-1891). Series 1 (Military Operations), Volume 36, Part 2, Chapter 48 (Operations in Southeastern Virginia and North Carolina)|location=Washington, DC|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|United States Government Printing Office]]|lccn=03003452|oclc=224137463|via=[[HathiTrust]] Digital Library|accessdate=2018-03-15}} (See: [[Official Records of the War of the Rebellion]])</ref></blockquote>
No trace of the fort remains, although an historic marker shows the location where the fort once stood, guarding the approach to the [[Long Bridge (Potomac River)|Long Bridge]] along the [[Columbia Pike (Virginia)|Columbia Turnpike]], near the modern-day [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]].<ref name=marker>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5258|editor=Swain, Craig|title="Fort Albany" marker|work=HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database|date=2008-02-09|accessdate=2018-03-05}}</ref>
 
No trace of the fort remains, although ana historic marker shows the location where the fort once stood, guarding the approach to the [[Long Bridge (Potomac River)|Long Bridge]] along the [[Columbia Pike (Virginia)|Columbia Turnpike]], near the modern-day [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]].<ref name=marker>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5258|editor=Swain, Craig|title="Fort Albany" marker|work=HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database|date=2008-02-09|accessdate=2018-03-05|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308103610/https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5258|archivedate=2018-03-08}}</ref>
The ground on which the Fort stood was cut away during the construction of the [[Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway]], in 1942.<ref name=Cooling/>
 
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
[https://www.loc.gov/resource/pga.08112/ Drawing of Fort Albany in the collection of the Library of Congress] Retrieved 2018-03-14.
 
{{Civil War DC forts}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Albany, Fort}}
[[Category:Civil War defenses of Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Arlington County Historic Districts]]
[[Category:American Civil War forts in Virginia]]
[[Category:Virginia in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:1861 establishments in Union Virginia]]