Fort Stevens Park

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  • Address
    13th & Quackenbos Sts NW, Upper Northwest DC
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  • Transport
    bus: E2, E3 or E4 from Friendship Heights or bus 71 or 72 from Gallery Pl-Chinatown/E2, E3 or E4 from Friendship Heights or71 or 72 from Gallery Pl-Chinatown

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In a daring raid on July 11, 1864, Confederate General Jubal Early attacked Fort Stevens, the northernmost of the defensive ramparts ringing the city. A small but fierce battle raged until Early's men were forced back across the Potomac. President Abraham Lincoln, observing from Fort Stevens' parapet, popped his head up so often that Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, then a Union captain, yelled: 'Get down, you damn fool, before you get shot!'

Forty-one Union men who died in the Fort Stevens' defense were buried at tiny Battleground National Cemetery (6625 Georgia Ave), a half-mile north of the fort. You can wander around in daylight hours to see the markers and plaques honoring DC's defenders.