Fort Albany
It was an earthworks fort that had a perimeter of 429 yards enclosing emplacements for 12 guns
Fort Albany, constructed by New York Volunteer Troops, was named after the state capital of New York.
On February 8, 1862, Harpers Weekly published an iconic illustration of Fort Albany—one of the 33 forts in Virginia that comprised the Civil War ring of defense around Washington DC. Harper's Weekly was the most widely read journal in the US throughout the Civil War. Some of the most important articles and illustrations of the Civil War were in Harper's reporting. This was one of the first views the country had about the defenses of Washington, D.C. This likely helped solidify the national realization that a threat from the Confederacy was real. Harper’s reporting and drawings provide key historical insight into what the area looked like during the Civil War
Fort Albany was constructed by New York Volunteer Troops and so was named after the state capital of New York. Fort Albany was one of the forts on the Virginia side of the Potomac River that made up an outer defense line for Washington DC known as the Arlington Line. It was an earthworks fort that had a perimeter of 429 yards enclosing emplacements for 12 guns. It also had earthen bastions that jutted out from the wall of the fort that offered a site for artillery placement or more space for additional defense than a flat wall. Armament included four 24 pounder siege guns, two 24 pounder howitzers, and two 30 pounder Parrott rifles.
It was one of three forts built in 1861 to protect the Long Bridge over the Potomac River from Virginia to Washington DC. The others were Fort Runyon and Fort Jackson. These forts were built early in the war and were the first line of defense for the Virginia end of the bridge. As the war progressed the line of defenses moved further south into Virginia and these forts became far less important and their garrisons were reduced. Fort Runyon and Fort Jackson were built on roads leading to the bridge and Fort Albany was built later to protect the other two. The fort was abandoned in 1865 at the end of the war.
The ground on which the Fort stood was cut away during the construction of the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway, in 1942. No trace of the fort remains, although a historic marker shows the location where the fort once stood, guarding the approach to the Long Bridge along the Columbia Turnpike, near the modern-day Pentagon.
Images
