confederacy was not gettysburg, it was a little toll house, toll gate house at the corner of georgia avenue and brine piney road, that was the fullest extent that the confedd eerate forces came on july 11th and twelfth to capturing washington, changing the course of the war and changing the course of us today quite frankly. we don't yet really know where lincoln stood. i think he stood all over the place. lincoln never stood still. he was behind, it was over the fort massachusetts portions. he was over at fort stephens. we really don't know for sure.

i'm 75 years of age folks. i remember things differently than when i was fighting or something like that at 20, 18, or what have you so the veterans may have been mistaken but they wanted to mark that spot and they got the stone out of the water reed area cameron creek and put that bar relief and that's their monument to the remembrance of lincoln on enemy fire. we don't know that the justice supreme court really uttered one of those immortal words, get that damn fool down. the records suggest there are six or five other people, veterans who also shouted get that fool down of the get that man down including horatio down

because he told him i can't protect you. finally lincoln condesendedly getting down. still washington forts are yet another of washington's many monuments that have transitioned you purpose. they want recognition from all of us, appreciation. for commemoration for with a they did there an probably both sides lost thousands of people on both sides. so just what they have become

and what the soldiers did there 150 years ago certainly warrant our gratitude, our recognition and some consideration in the pantheon of heroes in the confederacy including officers and personnel. the veterans like louis white did after the war, worked in the pension bureau. the most immediate great entitlement program, built a house and preserved what he is going to el ytell yo tell you a now. [ applause ] >> thank you frank. everything i'm going to show you -- i'm the picture girl.

i've learned from you and a few others like him but mainly from frank. especially for the civil war defenses of washington, there's a bible. wally owens his coauthor wrote mr. lincoln's forts. if you really care about these issues, that's the book to read. i encourage you to get that book. so what i'm going to do is go as fast as you can. the nice thing about youtube is pause and look at them at your leisurely. i just want you to see these beautiful places that i love and wreck reing a and fortly lungs of the city are lrp owe the, as said, the city was unprotected

down below. if you haven't been you should to. it's quite different than the fort that's were built during the civil war. after bull run lincoln knew the city was vulnerable, that's when he ordered major general john g. barnyard to build a series of forts around the city to protect it. here they are. it was quite an amazing feet to build all of those. they did it very quickly. it was just tremendous. >> i've circled on here the ones that are under government ownership today. the park service owns one of the ones in washington d.c. plus the one in maryland and virginia. the ones in virginia are owned by local governments. you will see some of those as well. another part of the story that's historic as well was in 1902

senate mcmillinn commission report on the parks in d.c. and one of their major recommendations have to do with the forts in washington. they saw that they were both beautiful to look at and look from. they saw these as potential parks linking them up with the fort circle drive and which congress funded until the 1930s. so there's land linking all of these forts. these are all the different forts. they are under three different management systems unfortunately. legislation has been released to establish the civil war defense of washington national historical park and have it under its own superintendent and hopefully the own star and will be able to do the things that

we'd like to see done. ly give you quickly -- here is fort stephens sm, some historic photos. it's quite an amazing place. i would like to note the farm land. all of it is farm land around it. many of it got hit by the shells and burnt but here it is today. the ccc in the 1930s. the civilian conservation corp reconstructed much of fort stephens. you can get the feeling what it was like. it was canyons and sorry i didn't get the boulder but it's here too. it's also a picture of african history then and now. elizabeth thomas was a free

african-american. owned 11 acres. her land was taken for fort stephens. just down from fort stephens was this land right now. this was private property. it was threatened with a town house development. it was awful. some of us got together and said we got to do something. down here two more african-american historically significant properties. i encourage you later to read about them. the school and the light foot house. here is a map. i think this will help knowing around fort seens. they didn't know whether conconfederates right now down.

here is fort bunker hill. here is manner. tacoma. fort derucy was in play very much so. you will see a picture of that in a moment. i also have down here beyard and battery kimball. fort bunker hill, was a square block and high. park services is now repairing the trail that's lead up to there. it should be a great recreation spot even though none of the defenses are left. leading from there coming into where fort toten is part of the land that was bought for the

fort circle drive. there is a drive along it here but i suppose they would have put it in the middle. i'm glad they didn't. here is the metro station. this is part of the fort circle drive land. here is fort toten some historical photographs. you'll notice that i have in every one of these i've tried to get the real person's name. the more i study this and i more i love the land and love the parks. these are real people. i'm trying to bring in the human element as well. fort toten today is not doing so well. the entrance is closed off. when i first started taking pictures 15aries ago this gate was closed and hasn't been opened since.

it's beautiful land. it's huge, too. it would be a magnificent park. it needs staffing and it needs resources and programs. it needs what the park service does best, run parks. fort slocam is in manner park as i mentioned before. this is all farm land around it. the u.s. colored infantry is there. behind it is ncos that were african-american. there's nothing left at fort slocam is no defenses there but a great park. if they could get a canon there and have a ranger give a talk about it, they could learn about it. this is part of the fort circle drive land that was never built around it. fort de rucy. it's so beautiful. you come up to oregon avenue and you just drive in and pull off.

it's very easy to find. when you go to the nature center and walk down, sometimes when they got cut off, the trees grew back. it still 150 year old. here the earth works there they are massive. you can go all the way around. this picture doesn't do justice and some hiking trails. terrific park. again fort reno is the highest point in d.c. and on top of that to boot they had this tower so up here they could see the bust, f confederates were in trouble. similarly when they looked at fort reno said it is well

fortified. here is the modern fort reno. if you climb up to the top and take this picture, that's virginia in the distance. you can really feel like what it might have been like just kind of close your eyes and it's definitely worn eye visit. i took this just a couple of weeksing weeks down thinking what a beautiful wilderness. this is more kaniccures. i thought maybe people don't use it. he so this is a park.

battery kambell. parks don't like this. communities love it for dog walking. there are some defenses that remain. it's a beautiful area. that was to guard the chain bridge the only fixed bridge between d.c. and the ferry. across the riff is the only fort that the park service has today that's in virginia. it was built again to protect leesberg park. if you know where you are going u you can enjoy it. crossing it to the other side of the river. before you're going this beautiful land up here, that is -- those are all the fort circle parks.

i often give this to the national capital planning commission when they had a hearing of the expansion of that of think people and how terrible it would be to destroy this great vista. here is the one on the side. anacostia. i will not show you every one. at least you'll get a flavor how beautiful they are. how historical they are. we will start at the bottom and fort foot and work my way up. here is fort foot. this is one of my favorites. it's high over the river. you can see the beautiful vista there. president go out and seize are the real canyons. they had fallen down the ravine

but put back up in the 80s. it's a wonderful place to go. halfway between washington d.c. and fort washington. here is fort stanton. some of the earth works. this is the view in p2003 when started getting involved in the park servie i services on some . this is not part of the fort circle parts or civil war defenses of washington but nobody can go up to fort stanton

and not drop by and see the douglas national park. fort ricketts. behind in the trees are defenses there. here is fort davis. this is the only part of the fort drive that was ever constructed. it was done during the ccc area in 1935. here is a picture of it being built. you can still go there and see what the defenses like like. here is fort dupont which is the second largest park in d.c. it has problems with exotic vegetation so our hope is -- i'm not the kind of person what can tell you what to do about exotic vegetation so something should be done. here in the hills all over in

the area east, these beautiful plants, native plants, endangered species that are up there. the ranger told me people drive all the way up there to see the mountain loral in the spring and you can walk up the hills and see those. it's well worth the visit. this is a hike i went on with the sierra club. they dove quite regularly and if you would like to join them go to the nature center at the park service at rock creek. fort chaplin is more of a park than a historic site but it's more of a park. here are the ones owned by local governments this is battery bailey. it was a place where they had a platform where they could put a

canon there. they weren't garrisoned. it was charming. there was display about what it did look like. 48th and allen, they did a wonderful job improving the e earth works but also improving the interpretation. they had a fabulous event. this is there now. they also have bathrooms. we don't have those at fort stephens. fort war, this is the gem of them all. it's been and restored. it has a great museum. it's in alexandria who owns and runs it. terrific. the displays are great. they are doing a lot of history in the african-american story

there. it's very controversial. they are trying to make up for past wrongs. look what the they did. here is a canyon. squint your eyes and you feel like you're back then. this is fort stephens. this is what it was the last couple of years. every year we have an event. the thoalliance group, the president susan cla if, if, y and our treasurer gary thompson and me. it's really important to have advocates. that's what we are for the alliance to preserve the civil defenses of washington. we're six years old. fighting very large for that legislation. we hope you'll help us support it.

i thank you for the chance to speak. [ applause ] >> well, again good afternoon. i just want to again thank our host the national archives for hosting us and having all of these folks here today to talk about the civil war forts of washington i'd like to thank our sister agency the nccp. i'm going to click this button here. it's been alluded to my colleagues here have said we have a lot of great things going on in these forts and we're ready to tell this story. this is an important place in history. the 150th anniversary battle of fort stephens the only battle

fought in washington d.c. we will have a lot of activities planned in fort stephens. we will have some events there some coming sunday. i did want to point out that many of you all have gotten this kmem ra commemorative program. it's just not fort stephens. the attack on washington is all here. if you have an opportunity to come out and visit with us, please do so. as we've noted, just this week tomorrow, today and tomorrow, we've got a lot of great things going on. we just learned that cspan will be out tomorrow evening on fort stephens to cover of the historian's round table. we're looking at fort stephen's day which we've been hosting for

the past three years. fort stephens on steroids with mr. lincoln, mrs. lincoln. we will be firing a canon from fort stephens. the first time in 150 years a canon will be fired in a d.c. fort. you've got to come out and share with that. as i mentioned on sunday, we'll have the memorial program at the battleground national cemetery where we will pay respect to the 38 soldiers who are buried there and the others who have given their sacrifice for this country. we didn't have a lot of time but i do encourage you all to tell your friends about it. visit us on our website at www dot nps.gov. again, thank you all so very much.

[ applause ] i think we have time for just one or two questions. if people would like to come to either of the microphones if folks have questions. we will go ahead and take them in turn. hi, david, thank you for all three of you for your presentations. i'd like to ask a little bit more about the legislation. you alluded to it but i wonder if you could get into it a little bit deeper and maybe focus on how local owned virginia forts will be incorporated into that plan. >> thanks is this on? i take it you're from virginia. what we try to do is making

rechb ne revenue neutral. it also provides for a cooperative agreements with the other locally owned forts so that the one in virginia and airy land. also prief private owners. we'd like to get better signage. for example i went out with my husband and said there's a fort bennett. they have a lovely sign there that says fort bennett. there's a ravine on the side there. so we will study ways to have a place in washington to study and commemorate the entire civil war on both sides, confederacy and

union. >> i'd like to ask about the compensation for folks land when we set up the forts. i've talked to the ranger and she was saying she wasn't compensated. i'm interested to know how we got the land then to set up the forts and what practices were in place at that time. what law -- >> she alluded to the fact a free black woman by the name of elizabeth thomas who owned a little over 11 acres of land. that's what we considered today to be imminent domain. you can do that in time of war. that's exactly what happened. >> and all of those other forts,

the same practice. >> this was called necessity in time of war. yes. descendants have always said that president lincoln promised her a great reward and she never got one and the descend ants will say they never saw a reward and so forth. the property owners would receive it back if it was there land and the timbre remaining in the forts. the claims after the war in archives and many record groups is where you go to fine the records of what had happened. this was universally used in the

south wherever the military had occupied land and destroyed property. fences, barns, everything else. that is kind of the story there. f some of these forts were retained with garrisons and gradually the fears of any resergeants of the rebellion or the threat from the french in mexico or the british, the army realized they were taking up a lot of money keeping these things so they would get rid of them. fort washington even more recently was still an active post. >> sir, i think you'll be our last question. >> i was wondering if you were familiar with a question i've

had for years and years. when earlie approached washington cavalry patrols were sent out but the one that will always intrigue me was a cavalry regiment on the western side of washington who really were a little lost and didn't know where they were reported that they entered one of the forts, found it completely unmanned. went up top and could see the capitol and the white house in the distance. do you think there's any credibility to that report? there's three legends you've wrapped into one. john mcausilin's army came down

the pike and were not sure why he deviates over to the 7th street road in georgia avenue. you should go up there if for no other reason there's a match that's on display out of the library of congress dated april, 1864, it is obviously taken from a union corp of engineer map, et cetera but whether or not he had this and presented it to earlie so he could come and see where to get into washington, we don't know. it's a great mystery. mysteries are still surging. he had on his staff a man by the name of luffborro. live johnston a washington

lawyer who had taken a diary of that family, he auftencibley ha dinner at his family's place and they looked down on quote unquote the dome of the lights of the capitol. mcauslin was happy to tell this story to general grant when he was in the white house after the war. you can imagine him chopping on a cigar. no fears nobody believed it. the confederate soldiers claimed to have seen the dome of the capitol. there's no place you can see the dome of the capitol. you can see it is below where a visual would have gotten it out in silver spring. probably saw the lights

georgetown. john b. gordon claims to have rode up on the lines in broad day light. no way of substantiating that. again, old soldiers have vivid memorie memories. >> one more little comment, i was land surveyor in washington d.c. it was a cool set of maps. i think the library of congress has them. >> with that i'd like to again, thank the national archives for hosting this really wonderful event. our speakers, dr. frank cooling, neumann, kym elder.

please join me one last time in a round of applause for them. thank you. [ applause ] >> with live coverage of the u.s. house on cspan and the senate on cspan 2 here on cspan 3 we compliment the coverage by showing you the most relevant public affair events. on weekends, we are the home to american history tv with programs that tell our nation's story, including six unique series. the civil wars o150th anniversary, touring museums and sites to discover what they mean about our past. the presidency looking at the policies and leg assies of our nation's commanders in chief. l lectures in history. our new series real america featuring archival government and education aal films from th 1930s through the

[ applause ] "american history tv" airs every weekend here on c-span 3. this month while congress is on recess, we're featuring highlights of our history programming. and tonight we continue our look at the civil war and the battle of fort stevens. coming up, officials from the national park service commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens. we also tour the battlefields as well as visit several survival forts in the nation's capital. now officials from the national park service and washington, d.c. commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens. the battle took place july 11th and 12th in 1864 when confederate forces probed washington, d.c.'s defenses before turning back.

speakers discuss the battle's significance and contributions by african-american troops. this is just over an hour. >> good morning, and welcome to fort stevens. my name is kim elder and i'm the program manager for the national park service for the civil war defenses of washington. i'd like to welcome and thank each of you all for joining us this morning for the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens. ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of colors and the singing of the national anthem by anita frasier.

♪ o say, can you see

by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? ♪ ♪ and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪

♪ oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave ♪ [ applause ] >> you may take your seats. the invocation will be delivered by the senior pastor of st. luke's baptist church, the reverend aubrey lewis.

>> let us bow our heads. eternal father, this morning we come to celebrate a historic occasion, one that has tremendous significance in the life of african-americans and to the life of washington, d.c. we thank you for the opportunity to be here, and we ask our blessings on this gathering. we ask, lord, that you continue to be with each of us as we go about doing the things that we do on a daily basis, and continue to allow us to be a shining beacon as we travel throughout the city. bless this occasion and all those that are part of it. . in jesus' name we pray, amen.

>> please welcome rock creek park superintendent tara morrison. [ applause ] >> good morning, everyone. on behalf of the national park service, welcome to rock creek park and the historic fort stevens. we are pleased that you have joined us today as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stooens. the national park service has been commemorating the ses kwi centennial with programming that have enlightened not only the visitors but the national park service. the fort stevens commemorative programs held over the last few months would not have been possible without the program manager kim elder and our friends from the alliance defenses of washington,

specifically president and vice president. they worked together over the last two years to plan a series of events that would not only interest and engage those already knowledgeable about the civil war, but would also include themes that would appeal to new audience. that is the key, ensuring that we are creating opportunities for new audiences to become engaged and informed about our nation's history. thank you kim, susan and loretta for your hard work in creating those opportunities. [ applause ] i'd also like to thank the national park service employees and volunteers who worked and are working today to execute the plan here this weekend. we'd also like to thank council member mary bouzer who has been supportive of our efforts to ensure that the residents of the district of columbia are aware of the battle of fort stevens and the role of the neighboring community during the war. we're pleased to have with us

today mr. c.r. gibbs and mr. bars. both will discuss the battle of fort stevens and will share why this battle played a pivotal role in our country's history. we again thank you for joining us this morning and hope that you stay for this afternoon's events and also for tomorrow's events at the battleground cemetery. thank you. [ applause ] >> good morning. my name is doug jimmerson and i'm going to sing a few very significant period songs that remain wonderful songs in our american musical heritage. the first was called at the time "red, white and blue", columbia

the gem of the ocean. ♪ ♪ ♪ when born by the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ when born by the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ when born by the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ thigh banners make tyranny tremble ♪ ♪ when born by the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ the wine cup, the wine crumb

bring hither ♪ ♪ may the reeds they have won never wither ♪ ♪ nor the star of their glory grow dim ♪ ♪ may the service unite never sever ♪ ♪ but they to their country so true ♪ ♪ the army and navy forever ♪ three cheers for the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ three cheers for the red, white, and blue ♪ ♪ three cheers for the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ the army and navy forever ♪ three cheers for the red, white and blue ♪ >> thank you, there you go. [ applause ]

i want you to participate. that's wonderful. all right, and this one honoring national hymn and please join me on the chorus. the battle hymn of the republican. ♪ he is trample iing out the vintage where the grapes of wrath have store ♪ ♪ of his terrible swift sword ♪ his truth is marching on ♪ his truth is marching on ♪ i have seen him in the watch fires of a hundred circling

camping ♪ ♪ they have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps ♪ ♪ i can read his righteous sentence ♪ ♪ by the dim and flaring lamps ♪ his day is marching on ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ glory, glory hall lie lieu ya ♪ ♪ glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ his day is marching on ♪ he have sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat ♪ ♪ he has lifted out the hearts of men before his judgment seech ♪ ♪ be jubilant my feet ♪ our god is marching on ♪ glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ glory, glory, glory, hall lie

lieu ya ♪ ♪ glory, glory, glory, ha hallelujah ♪ ♪ his truth is marching on [ applause ] >> thank you very much. you know, during the civil war that tune was probably sung more than any other, but not with those words. they sang john brown's body and it wasn't about the john brown of harper's ferry. it's about some obscure person in massachusetts. but the glory, glory, glory was from the original. that was not written by julia ward howe. that was in the original song. very interesting. and so i am going to make this a ra rather brief program. i'm going to do two more. and i think this next one is

arguably our greatest patriotic song and the one least remembered, unfortunately. but it was a significant come o composition for the civil war and when the union bands played this and the soldiers sang this, it just struck terrible fear in the hearts of the reds. the battle cry of freedom. ♪ ♪ ♪ down with the traitor, up with the star ♪ ♪ while we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again ♪

♪ shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ we are springing to the call for 300,000 more, shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ and we'll fill the vacant ranks ♪ ♪ of our brothers gone before ♪ shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ the union forever hurrah, boys, hurrah ♪ ♪ down with the traitor, up with the star ♪ ♪ while we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again ♪ ♪ shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ [ applause ] >> hurrah! thank you. and then i have discovered in my research, i'm a muse kolgs and

historian. i have a real passion for the life of lincoln, of course. and what i have discovered is that during lincoln presidency, you know, the marine band was at every significant occasion, and usually they closed their program with "yankee doodle." so we'll close with "yankee doodle" ♪ ♪ along with captain gordon ♪ we saw the men and boys as thick as hasty pudding ♪ ♪ yankee dood l, keep it up ♪ yankee dan and whip the girls be handy ♪ ♪ and there was general washington on a snow white charger ♪ ♪ he looked as big as all outdoors and said he looked much larger ♪ ♪ yankee doodle, keep it up

♪ yankee doodle demandy and whip the girls me handy. ♪ ♪ yankee doodle went to town riding on a point pony, stuck a'er in his hat and called it macaroni ♪ ♪ yankee doodle, keep it up ♪ yankee dandy, mind the music and the step and with the girls be handy ♪ [ applause ] >> thank you. thanks so much. enjoy your wonderful day here at fort stevens. >> our first speaker this morning is mr. cr gibbs. mr. gibbs is noted local historian, international

lecturer, author and historian of the african dees. he's also among the scholars at the smithsonian featured on its online academy. he has conducted research on black civil war units as well as served as technical adviser to 9 francis thomas company on a film. he has written numerous books, and friends of frederick douglas. his articles have appeared in numeral respected journals in. colluding the bulletin and african-american inventors. please welcome mr. c.r. gibbs. [ applause ] >> good morning, everyone. i will leave it to my esteemed colleague to describe the ebb and flow of battle that occurred

here. what i want to do for a few minutes today is to offer some reflections on the contributions of african-americans to the defenses of washington. frr all too often, our understanding of what happened here and the movement within the city is that, okay, we know about elizabeth thomas whose house was destroyed by lincoln. the fort itself sits on part of an african-american neighborhood called vinegar hill. but the story is actually much larger than that, and i think perhaps the best way to begin is by sharing with you a portion of a letter written on june 7th, 1862 from the engineer in charge of the defenses of washington to the military governor of the district of columbia. general, i had the honor to request a detail of contrabands for work on the maryland side of the potomac. as the government insists, it would be advisable to get some

return for the expense. i could easily employ 250 and discharge the hired laborers now working on these forts and thus very much diminish the expense of finishing the work. posted as follows. at forts franklin, alexander and riply, at fort gaines and pennsylvania, massachusetts and slocum, 30. totten, 20. bunker hill and saratoga, 20. lincoln, 20. migs, dupont and davis, 20. and it goes on and on. the point here is that by june of 1862 only the most ardent folk seemed to be against. the use of black men in at least building the forts and securing the gair sons that helped to

fortify the city. in fact, this very same request would ultimately not go filled because the other authorities were reluctant to give up their contrabands to work on forts north of the potomac. there was much. greater use of contraband later made on the outside of the potomac. these men, these self-emancipated black folk who would decide they wouldn't necessarily wait for a federal executive decree and proclamation, but they took it upon themselves to risk life and limb in order to answer the clarion call that beats in the hearts of all of us. the desire to be free. to be self-determining, to be independent. and in fact, when these laborers came to many of the forts surround i surrounding the district, many of the soldiers were happy to see them. a member of the 50th regimen

reported that a detail was sent in every morning to work on the forti fortificatio fortifications, but from north carolina was sent to take our places in the ditches and we willingly turned over our picks and shovels. one soldier who had done duty in fort lincoln and here at fort stevens who served at the search regimens said the time for drafting as come. speaking of fort stevens, everyone around here, from fort lincoln, walker wrote our first work will be to dig or help dig a chain of pits connecting these forts. though we hear 500 nebrasgros w be here soon.

they were not spectators during the earliest attack on washington, d.c. for example, a unit of the colored troops marched up streets tailing alongside and black men in the neighborhood were in the services. for this unit of colored troops on 12th street we have no authority than the daughter of joseph henry, the director of the smithsonian at the time. also e we know in addition to 500 white troops called up to defend alexandria, 800 colored men were also called up with the journal adding these men will no doubt do good work should their services be required in the defense of the city. no less authority than noah brooks in washington and lincoln's time says, quote, contraband were also thrust into the service. and at 12:00 on july 11th, there were in the fortifications of washington 60,000 men armed and

equipped for fight. you must understand that this desire to be free, this desire to participate did not simply occur at this, but all throughout the forts and batteries and camps that comprise the military defenses of washington. we are amazed at the black people that were able to across the potomac and make their way to battery. those who took life and limb in hand and went to fort stanton or port dupont or fort carol and this is part of the untold story of the importance of the defenses of washington. you see, these installations typified hope, but not simply hope, not simply freedom or security, they also sim bymbol liezed opportunity. a black men was caught on the

navy yard bridge trying to get into d.c. he told the union troops he had walked 60 miles just to come here. he believed that under the capital dome, there would be freedom as well as justice, as well as opportunity. but we don't have to go to the capital to find that out. if you were to walk with me down georgia avenue about half a mile, quarter mile to the intersection of georgia and missouri, we'd probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of another camp. and in that camp, we would find in the book when this crew war was over, the touching story of a place called camp wrightwood and how this union officer, this man from the tenth massachusetts was changed when he met a freedom-seeking black men just a quarter mile down the road who came in and worked for him, he's

a bright-looking group that described him, 17 years old and since his master paid $40 for him six years ago, he was the only slave his master had and his master will never get him again if i can help it. ladies and gentlemen, you must understand that this person to person connections between freedom-seeking black folk and the soldiers in the union army forged bonds that would not be forgotten once the guns were over. and we find out, in fact, that black folk in defense of the city is actually nothing new. we know that free blacks wielded pick axes and shovels to help guard the nation's capital. in fact, one commenter would say that the free people of this city speaking of the war of 1812 acted as it becomes patriots. there's the exception of any failing to be on the spot conducted themselves with us

most order and priority. and indeed when news of the war struck this city, when what had happened reverberated back to the district, a black explorer, a man who had served and explored with john charles fremont offered the services of the black men in the war to protect the city. finally, it's important that we acknowledge not simply the activities of free blacks or contraband to the defenses of washington, but that we also acknowledge members of the united states colored troops for we also had this idea that they were somewhere missing in terms of this great contest and yet we have evidence now of only the sixth u.s. city or 28th or the wonderful job the 45th u.s. colored troops did as they helped to repair fort mcpherson

on the grounds of arlington national cemetery. but i have an article from the evening star from december 14th, 1865 that also mentions u.s. colored troops after the end of the war when these posts were still important. i know many of you will recall george patten that a soldier does his duty. he goes where he is told and that's what these men did. so we find colored troops in slocum and lincoln and mayhem and baker and stanton and carol, according to the evening star from december the 14th, 1865. these men, freedom-seeking black folks, self-emancipated contrabands had all one thing in common. they were willing warriors. willing workers and willing defenders of their national capital in times of crisis. thank you. [ applause ]

>> thank you, mr. gibbs. please welcome d.c. council member were ward four, moour y'all bouzer. [ applause ] >> good morning, everybody. and welcome to ward four and i'm certainly delighted to be here with you to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens. there's really so much great history here in our capital city, and i am often and proud to celebrate the part that ward four played in the history of our city and certainly in the history of our nation. we're very proud of it. we know that the only civil war

battle to take place in the district of columbia took place here at fort stevens. the only time a sitting president in the united states in the history of our country has come under hostile fire from an enemy combatant was here at fort stevens. and we know at the battle of fort stevens, the nation's capital was saved from eminent attack. you may also know that even before fort stevens was built to detective the capital from confederate soldiers, this land fgs taken from a free black woman named elizabeth thomas. we were very proud here in ward four and in the district of columbia to recognize elizabeth thomas forever and ever here at this land by naming this street in her honor, the elizabeth thomas way. we know, too, that she was never

fully kpcompensated for her lan or for her sacrifice for our great country, but fortunately today we in this city have a wonderful relationship with our federal partners and we really want to acknowledge the hard work that they have done to acknowledge this great anniversary and to build a great relationship with our community so that our parks, our national monuments are really a part of the communities and the people they serve. so i hope you will join me in acknowledging really two great women who are leading the national park service in d.c. and fort stevens and right here in ward four. our superintendent, give her a round of applause. [ applause ] and our park manager kim elder, give her a round of applause. [ applause ]

they have -- and i know the difference between leaders who want us in the parks and leaders who don't. and we have people that want to keep these parks alive and we need to acknowledge their service. we have 150 great years of history to celebrate here, and i wanted to calm not only to represent the 75,000 people of ward four and the 20 great neighborhoods i have the privilege to serve, but also our city. i went to the council and there was unanimous decision to acknowledge today with the resolution. so superintendent morrison, may i present you with the following. i'll read a few of the statements here. this resolution says, whereas fort stevens originally named fort massachusetts from the home state of the soldiers who constructed it was built to

defend the district of columbia against attacks from the confederate army from the north along seventh street pike now known as georgia avenue. whereas fort massachusetts was renamed fort stevens after the death of general stevens at the battle of chantilly on september 1st, 1862. whereas in the summer of 1864 general grant moved most union troops to the south leaving only 9,000 troops to defend the district of columbia. whereas on july 11th and july 12th, 1864, the battle of fort stevens occurred and was the only civil war battle to take place in the district of columbia. whereas the union army's sixth corps brought reenforcements to fort stevens where president lincoln met them and became the only sitting president in our history to come under hostile attack. and whereas on the evening of

july 12th, 1864, confederate troops began to withdraw from fort stevens and from the district of columbia. this victory saved the nation's capital, helped ensure president lincoln's reelection and aided in the preservation of the union. following the battle of fort stevens, the military road school, one of the first schools in the district to educate african-american children was established on the grounds of fort stooeevens. whereas the military road school although closed in 1954 remains an essential part of the history of fort stevens and the civil war history of the district of columbia. fort stevens now serves as one of many civil war defenses operated and maintained by the national park service and the district of columbia as a place of enjoyment and a memorial to all those who served and saved our country. be it resolved by the council of

the district of columbia that this resolution be cited the battle of the 150th anniversary recognition resolution of 2014. [ applause ] >> thank you, council member. please welcome members of the 2014 civil war junior ranger campers. >> as i mentioned earlier, part

of our responsibility is ensuring that we are engaging new audiences in sharing this history. so for the first year and in honor of the 150th anniversary of the civil war, we conducted our first civil war junior rangers camp and we today would like to pin our three representatives here today, cooper, na veed, and nita.

>> they are now officially junior rangers. [ applause ] thank you, ladies. >> our next speaker today is mr. ed vars, he's a united states marine corps veteran of world war ii. in military historian and author known for his work on the american civil war and world war ii eras. he's especially known for his historic tours and extremely

popular tour guide with historic battlefields for the smithsonian associat associates. he served as chief historian of the national park service from 1981 to 1994. please welcome mr. ed vars. [ applause ] >> first off, i want to thank my colleagues of the national park service and the people in the neighborhood for working so well together to commemorate the battle of fort stevens. an important milestone in the reyun any indication of our country and the emancipation of

american blacks. let us turn back the clock to the last days of june 1864. at that time it was not a given that the union will triumph in the civil war. in fact, things were not going well. the new general chief of the union army has in his campaign against general lee's army has lost over 100,000 men in a period between the third day of may and the 18th day of june. that is twice as many men as

robert e. lee had in his army. and the first lady of the land who referred to general grant as a butcherer. even worse than the disaster at pearl harbor had been the disaster that befell the union army on the 18th day of june at petersburg. at this time the president of the united states is confronted by a number of problems. his great army in the east are undoubtedly not accomplishing their mission, which is to give the union victory by the time of election day in november 1864.

general sherman is not doing much better in georgia as the union army is licking their wounds following the battle. so things were not going well on the military front. things were not going well on the political front. the president had felt well when the republican convention meeting in baltimore had renominated him for a second term. they had dumped maine who had been his vice president of first administration to replace him

with governor johnson of tennessee. and the ticket that they will go to the voters will be the union ticket, not the republican ticket. as the president and his family prepare to move from the white house to the sumger white house located about one mile from where we are on the grounds of the soldiers home the president is confronted with other problems politically. egotistical and o -- opinionated twice submitted his resignation and on the last day of the old

congress, which it turns on the 4th day of july, he hands in his resignati resignation. lincoln is going to take great courage because he has a revolt in a radical wing of the republican party, which is passed the wade davis bill that is taking the steps of reconstruction of the south out of the president's hands and transferring it to the congress and the president shows great courage as he vetoes the wade davis bill. things are not getting well in virginia. general lee has detached too

early with the second corps, and they have dealt with general hunter and lynchburg. early in his 15 to 16,000 men are now sweeping down the shenandoah valley. they well remember the valley of humiliation, the shenen do away valley from what happened there in 1862 and it had been the route that the confederate hs followed to their defeat in gettysburg in '63. it looks like a repeat as his men march through lexington on the 26th day of june. on the 1st day of july they

march through winchester, virginia, and on the 5th day of july they will cross the potomac river. is it going to be another repetition of what had happened in '62 and '63? general grant seemed to not be overly concerned about the threat to washington by the general's men. the president of the railroad is telling him it's a real threat and grant is going to move rather slowly. as the confederates will now move toward isolating the union troops, which evacuated harpers ferry on maryland heights and

close in on frederick, maryland. on frederick, maryland, they have occupied it on the 8th day of july. a union army has been assembled there on the banks of the river and on the 9th day of july at the battle, who would write the most popular novel written in the 19th century by american author ben purr. when evacuates and leaves the battlefield he falls back on baltimore leaving washington uncovered. many of the thousands of men who

had been manning the washington forts, the '87 forts and batteries had been called to fill the vacant ranks as we talked about in those wonderful songs we were led in as they are father abraham's call. and they are going to become instant infantrymen. many of them we have just heard from our lecturer, many by the black men and -- of what becomes originally fort massachusetts but is now fort stevens.

so the day or the 10th day of july is an unseasonably hot day. the men are wearing more uniforms and i'm an honorary member of company b of the mts regimen. the proudest things i have is attending some of their rallies. i'm glad to see they are here in full strength. [ applause ] the forts were e departure of the heavy ar till riss, one of them being fort massachusetts. heavy artillery which becomes a trivia pursuit question. you don't like to be.

what union regiment lost more men in 15 minutes in the civil war? it's the first massachusetts heavy artillery. one of these ones at the forts against lee's lines at peterburg. we'll lose 642 men out of a little over 850, losing more men in a single battle than any other unit in the civil war. that's a trivial pursuit question that you don't like to be one of the victims in it. so as they sweep down, they are tired and the confederates are going to reach rockville, just up the road from where we are wn

the evening of the 11th. on the 5th day of the month, the presidential family and their close advisers move from the white house into the soldier's home. on the night of the 10th, secondary staten, he's a rough customer. i heard the people weep about secretary rumsfeld. you don't know what a tough secretary of war staten is. if you wept about secretary rumsfeld, you'll commit harry caray over secretary staten, as he sends the message out, directing the president and his family to remove back to the white house.

the guard, in company of the 150th pennsylvania, the buck tails, have left the soldier's home and will be stationed in another fort. the president will be up early on the morning of the 11th. the confederates had paused at rockville and john mccauselin with his calvary sweeps down the georgetown pike, now wisconsin avenue, arriving at tenially circle while the rest of the confederate army moves cross-country on farm roads leading from rockville to turn in to the 7th avenue extended, now georgia avenue.

and by noon, they are approaching silver spring. the president, i can imagine the secret service. now, the secret service will not be responsible for the president's security until two other presidents have died at the hands of an assassin. not until the summer of 1902 does the secret service become responsible for the big man in the white house. you can imagine him on that day as the president goes out and visits fort stevens and other forts. yes, he is here at fort stevens on the afternoon around 1:00 on the 11th day of july.

the confederates are in silver spring. men moved across into the district line, moving into occupying ground now embraced by walter reid. and the president is going to be shot at, but this isn't the important one. the important one he gets shot at is going to be on the next day, as he circulates. he makes a stop down at -- there is no haines point at that time. where haines point is now, he watches the boats and ships arrive with the members of the 6th corps, two divisions of them

under wright and detachments of the 19th corps that have come all the way from louisiana to hampton road and have joined the troops up. and some of the troops could remember this tall man, seven foot tall when he has his top hat on, now if we knew we were going to have two 6'4" presidents, we would have had a better measurement of them. we have two 6'4" presidents, one is abraham lincoln, the other is lyndon baines johnson. you do not know which is the taller, because they don't go to have any such things as that. and they see the president nibbling on a piece of hard taft. they then move out throughout georgetown pike, out through

georgetown, because the first reports the general received, the confederates are in the area of rockville. but they are going to be detoured, turn in and move out 7th street extended georgia avenue. there's a lot of excitement in washington that night as the 6th corps arrive to help out with the militia, the 108 men, the imbi corps of the next day. the confederates are having a real ball up in silver spring. montgomery blair is going to lose his house, franklin, to the confederates, who show that they can burn houses pretty well, too.

francis blair, adviser to all presidents from andrew jackson to abraham lincoln, he's not at home, but he has a good liquor closet, and some of the confederates, particular jubal early, is a good drinking man, and they are consuming francis p. blair's liquor supply, and they are very delighted as they get more and more, because one of the confederates there is john c. breckenridge. who is the youngest man ever to be vice president of the united states. being vice president under james buchanan, and the confederates are feeling good. now, lincoln had kept construction going on the capitol dome. the dome has been completed. you can see it from the soldier's home, and they are debating, because breckenridge had been expelled from the

senate in october 1861 as when he left the vice presidency and then the senate. as they get more and more influenced by what they are drinking, they boast, tomorrow we'll march down massachusetts avenue and we'll escort general breckenridge into the capitol, into the senate chamber, which he had presided over and place him back there. well, the president is going to pay a visit out here again on the wealth. he's going to arrive out here and he's going to bring mary with him. now mary and he, there have been causalities out here, and close to the walls of fort stevens is a hospital. they go in and visit several

wounded union soldiers there and then mary sits down. out here also is the secretary of state. the secretary of state, of course, is william seward. soon to arrive is going to be gideon wells, secretary of the navy, and his wife. now mary gets the one cabinet member that mary gets along well with, mrs. wells. she doesn't get along with others. the president will go up and stand on that paraben, where in the 1960s they'll put up a monument there. the principle speaker there will be one of breckenridge's soldiers that they put up that monument to commemorate where lincoln is standing there in his top hat, seven feet tall,

looking out over the sloping ground in front of him, where the confederates have taken shelter in the house in a grove about a quarter of a mile away. as he's standing there, there's a spat. standing next to him is dr. crawford of the 102nd pennsylvania. he is shot in the thigh and blood spurts over the president. now i often wonder what the secret service would do now, because the president has blood on him and now horacio g. wright has a tough job. that is, he's got to get the president off the banquet, the firing step, getting him down where he's not exposed.

there's two versions of how he does it. one, that he will ask the president politely to please step down. the other is, that he will put his hand on him, might have been bad for him in the days when we had secret service around, and they help him down off and he sits on the level ground, the step just back from the paraben and sits down with his back to the par apin. after awhile he'll go over and talk to mary. mary will swoon and the president will say mary will not make a very good soldier, as she swooned. so while the president has been under fire, a man has been shot

near him, and by 4:00, the 6th corps is ready to take the offensive. and they will move out from in front of fort stevens, moving across the ground, the slopes down to where walter reid is now, beyond battleground cemetery, where 40-odd men of the union soldiers who were killed here are buried and the union troops and the confederates pulled back. lincoln will not take his eye off the big picture. tuesday the 12th. on the 14th, he is back out at the -- taking care of business. so he is going to do, and i want you to take another little tune there, because he's going to

sign a bill calling for 500,000 more men. and there's one of the tunes in that, we are coming father abraham, 500,000 more. so he's showing his commitment to continuing the war. he's also curtailed negotiations carried out through on the same day with mr. blair, through frank blair, and horace greeley with meetings up in buffalo, where they are going to meet with confederate representatives and he's going to order them, direct them, they will not -- there are two things he will not compromise on. he will not step back on the

emancipation proclamation or that bill that's working its way through the house and the senate abolishing slavery by congressional amendment, and he will not step back on the confederacy having an independent nation. so great things have happened here. it's wonderful to see the group out here today to talk about these events. too often these events here in washington are kind of forgotten. and as early pulls back to virginia, he's going to say one thing. well, we didn't capture washington, but we sure as hell scared the hell out of abraham lincoln. we have to remember what abraham

lincoln is going to write on the 24th day of august, that is five weeks after this day. and that day things are still not going well. butler's army and stymied in front of richmond and petersburg. sherman is stymied in front of atlanta. and president will write a letter to the file and he will say, and the democrats have met in chicago, adopted a peace declaring the war a failure and nominating for president george b. mcclennan and pendleton of ohio as vice president. and the president will write that day, as of this day, we will probably lose the election.

therefore, we will have to work with the left to save the union after election day and before he's inaugurated as president on march 4th, because he will not be able to say it at at day. but, of course, just like everybody could remember, my age or younger can remember harry truman on the night, on election eve, a little after 12:00 in 1948 when he pulled out the headlines of "the chicago tribune," dewey wins. lincoln would do the same thing with the letter he'd written to the files. cabinet member, put it in an envelope, members of the cabinet signed their names on it, he opens it up and reads it to what

they had signed, because with that election, father abraham will be in for another term, and it's wonderful to come out here and be with this group here and think of the great events that took place here. thank you so much. [ applause ]

>> thank you, mr. bearss. before closing, we have a few announcements. >> thank you again, mr. bearss, mr. gibbs, everyone for joining us again today. we do want to acknowledge, we have a lot of special guests in the audience, but we actually have the great grandson of captain simon e. chamberlain of company k., the 25th new york calvary, the first calvary to deploy here on july 11th here at fort stevens when early's troops arrived. with mr. -- i'm sorry, would mr. chamberlain please stand. [ applause ] we will close the benediction, but we do hope each of you will come over and join us. just across the street you'll get some instructions. it's the moment to join us for

the first fine of the civil war here in the district of columbia since 1864, 150 years ago today. fire a canon, yes. >> please welcome again reverend louis as he leads us through the benediction. >> please stand. now lord we ask for our blessings that as we leave this place, that the street fellowship of the holy communion will rest, rule and abide with us now and forever more and all god's people said -- amen. american history tv in

primetime continues wednesday with the civil war battle of the crater, which took place during the siege of petersburg, virginia, on july 30th, 1864. the battle failed with heavy losses for union troops. at 8:00 p.m., the national parks service commemorates the 150th anniversary of the battle and honors the role of u.s. color troops. at 9:20, emanuele dabny discusses how the attack failed and why u.s. color troops were unjustly blamed. and at 10:15, author kevin la vigne discusses how color troops were remembered immediately following the civil war. the battle of the crater at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span3. here are some of the highlights for this weekend. friday on c-span in primetime, we'll visit important sites. saturday night at 8:00,

highlights from this year's new york's idea's forum. and on sunday, q&a with new york congressman charlie rangel at 8:00 p.m. eastern. friday night at 8:00 on c-span2, in-depth. saturday on afterwards at 10:00, retired neurosurgeon and columnist ben carson, and sunday at 11:00 p.m. eastern, lawrence goldstone on the competition between the wright brothers and glenn curtis to be the predominant name in manned flight, c-span3 on friday at 8:00 eastern, a look at hollywood's portrayal of slavery. saturday at 8:00. and sunday night at 8:00 p.m., former white house chiefs of staff discuss how presidents make decisions. find our television schedule one week in advance at c-span.org and let us know what you think about the programs you're watching. call us at 202-626-3400 or

e-mail us. join the c-span conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. each week american history tv's series "the civil war" marks the 150th anniversary of the conflict by bringing you lectures, discussions, and battlefield visits. 150 years ago in july of 1864, a confederate army of about 12,000 troops under the command of general jubal early nearly invaded washington, d.c. next, historian and journalist marc leepson takes us on a tour of battlefields in maryland and washington, d.c. to tell the story of the battle of monacacy, where confederates were delayed by union forces in the approach for the nation's capital where early probed the defenses of the heavily fortified city before deciding to turn back. >> july 1864, to give you a

bigger picture of the war, this was just after the bloodiest six weeks of the civil war, the wilderness campaign, spots of wilderness, over 60,000 union causalities dead or wounded. about 40,000 confederates dead or wounded. there was war weariness, especially in the north, but general grand grant, u.s. grant, was determined to -- this was his grand plan to end the war. he had richmond and petersburg surrounded and his idea, his plan, was to choke robert e. lee and force him to come out and fight what he thought would be the battle that would end the war. lee knew this, of course, too, so lee came up with a bold plan of his own and that is on july -- on june 13th in the

early morning hours, he took about 12,000 troops under general jubal early and took them outside of the defenses of washington on a bold plan, a four-part plan that he hoped would mess up general grant's grand plan to end the war. the first part was to kick the union forces out of the shenandoah valley. now, at this time of the war, robert e. lee's biggest problem was supply, including food, and most of their food came from the shenandoah valley. so the union forces under general david hunter had taken over just about the entire shenandoah valley. second part of the plan was to quote/unquote threaten washington, d.c. the third part of the plan was to free confederate prisoners at the point lookout prison camp, which was on the very tip of southern maryland in the chesapeake bay. and the fourth part of the plan, and i think the part that lee considered the most important, was to force grant to take troops outside of richmond and

petersburg and to ease this chokehold that grant had on him. so in the early morning hours of july 13th, 12,000, an entire corps of troops, left the defenses of richmond, about a third of lee's troops. they marched 70 miles to charlottesville, virginia, got on a rickety old train and arrived in lynchburg on june 17th and june 18th came the battle of lynchburg, which didn't last very long, because hunter who wasn't one of the great union generals to say the least, fled once he saw early's troops. so hunter fled over the mountain into west virginia, what is now west virginia. early thought about chasing him, they didn't, but he took one look and saw the entire shenandoah valley was cleared of union troops. this is big. so early marched his men down the valley, north because of the way the river flows, so they began to march down the shenandoah valley. they were very -- they were not very well supplied.

a third to the half of the men did not even have shoes. they tied burlap around their feet. they waited two days along the route for a shipment of shoes. they got up to harpers ferry in martinsburg, both in west virginia now, then in virginia, where another dim bulb of union generals, he was a political general, a german immigrant, he was made a general because he could bring in germans, he was from st. louis. he was the one who had the not very good experience at new market on may 15th, where he outnumbered the confederate troops and lost when the entire corps of v.m.i. cadets came up from lexington and defeated sigel, unofficially known as the flying dutchman. sigel fled martinsburg and harpers ferry and they had a nice 4th of july, the southern troops did, eating all the

yankees' food and drinking whatever beverages they found. the next day on july 5th, they crossed over the potomac river into maryland. this is the third invasion of the north by confederate troops. 1862, 1863, into what will be the battle of monacacy in 1864. seagal fled to the other side of the river from harpers ferry and were pretty well embedded up there. early thought about going after them, but he didn't. he made a right turn, now 50 miles from washington, d.c. and they did rest for a couple of days in maryland. then he headed towards washington, d.c. jubal was quite a character, to say the least. he went to west point, but not to be a military man, it was a good education at the time. he did take part in the seminal

wars and mexican war, but he didn't see any action. he was a member of the virginia assembly at one time, he was a warrior, and before the war started, he was part of the virginia secession convention. once virginia seceded, he became probably one of the most ardent confederate die hards. he quickly gained a reputation of being aggressive leader, he became a general, he was in all the battles in the eastern theater from manassas onward, and he was kind of a cantankerous guy. he was a hard drinking, tobacco chewing, -- he was famous for cursing, hated women. didn't get along with fellow officers, didn't get along with generals. the men sort of loved him and

hated him. robert e. lee really liked jubal early. lee called him "my bad old man," even though lee was older than early. early had arthritis, kind of hunched over, scraggly beard, wore the slouched hat and lee liked him because -- it's interesting that lee should depend on him and admire early so much, because lee's personality was 180 degrees opposite. he was a god-fearing man, he didn't curse, respected women, and so on. robert e. lee said it's good war is so horrible, otherwise men would love it, compares to jubal early, who probably, if there was something the opposite of that to be said, he would have said it. sths a man lee entrusted to go on this mission and he was one of the more aggressive southern generals, and it's interesting because of what happened later at washington, his aggressiveness. washington was just across the river from virginia. 90 miles from richmond, from the very beginning of the war, the

union was very concerned about a southern invasion of the nation's capital, so immediately troops were sent down into washington, d.c., and then after the battle of first manassas, the feet 35 miles from washington, they started building a series of forts and fortifications that by the time a couple of years later, washington was completely ringed by interconnected series of 67 forts. they were called the defenses of washington. they were kind of like a beltway. they even went across the po potom potomac. those forts, only one of those forts exists today and that's fort ward in alexandria, virginia. fort stevens, where we're going to go later, has been partially rebuilt and that's where the end of my story happens, outside of fort stevens. but these forts were very well built. they were all connected by fortifications and berms, and

they were designed to be manned by about 35,000 troops, but now we're in the summer of 1864, just about every able-bodied union troop is down outside richmond in petersburg in the eastern theater. we don't know the exact number, but we think only about 10,000 troops were on the barricades at washington, d.c. who were these 10,000 troops? well, they were members of what was called the veteran reserve corps. the veteran reserve corps had just changed its name before that. before that it was known as the invalid corps. they changed the name for obvious reasons. who wants to be named the invalid? most people, i think, know there were so many causalities that washington, d.c. was basically one giant hospital during the last years of the war. as troops got better but couldn't go back to the field, they were given these pale blue uniforms and did rear echelon

duty. so that's who was defending washington, d.c. when jubal early came here to monacacy on july 9th and the battle started. this was not a good example of union high leadership, what happened here during this. first of all, union intelligence was abysmal throughout the war and it was not good here. the union did not know that robert e. lee had taken an entire corps of troops outside leaving richmond where they left on june 13th. they didn't know really that an entire corps had left until july 5th, when they crossed the potomac river, then you had a little bit of panic going on. especially when the word got out that early was heading towards washington, or maybe baltimore. he didn't let people know. here at monacacy, strategically northwest and east/south

transportation connection. we have the 355 over here, which was here then, it was called the georgetown pike, and it goes directly on a line to washington, d.c. today, it's called the irbana pike here, it becomes the rockville pike, then becomes wisconsin avenue. goes right into washington. up the monacacy river we have the pike that goes straight to baltimore. then we have the railroad line, which comes straight down here from baltimore and the spur that goes straight from frederick, so you had north, south, east, west railroad hub and two roads that went right to baltimore. so it was not clear. there was panic in the streets in baltimore and in washington when they heard. and, of course, the rumors started flying. early had gained troops. they had about 14,000 troops on july 9th. the rumors were that he had 15,000, 20,000, 35,000 troops. so washington's command structure was fragmented. there were a lot of generals in

washington, d.c. in fact, general hallock, henry hallock, who was the army chief of staff, at one point said we have plenty of generals, what we need is privates here. we need people to get to the barricades of washington. so that was the situation in washington. now back down in richmond, grant, when he learned what was happening here, did not want to send troops outside of richmond and petersburg, this was his grand plan to win the war. you can read the telegrams that went back and forth between washington and outside of richmond. you can read the memoirs of people on his staff. you can read the letters that they wrote. grant would not send troops, and finally he gave in at the last minute and he sent two regiments of the 6th corps, woke them up in the middle of the night, marched out to city port, got on

these steamers, went down the james river, out into the chesapeake bay, up into baltimore harbor, they got off the ships, they marched to the railroad station, camden station, now camden yards where the baseball stadium is, and they arrived here at the monacacy junction at 1:00 in the morning on july 9th, 1864. union intelligence was not very good, but one man figured out through the intelligence and more or less what was happening, and that was lou wallace. now lou wallace was an interesting character and he was the other main character of this story. he was from indiana, he was from a prominent family. he did serve in the mexican war as a 19-year-old lieutenant, but he had no military experience other than that when the war started. he did have a unit in indiana before the war. those were those drill teams that dressed up in these colorful uniforms. they became the 11th indiana when the war started, he was their leader and he scored an

early victory at romney, west virginia, right after first manassas when the union was looking for heros. and the union press played him up really big and he became a general and that was sort of his high point. his low point happened at the battle of shiloh when his regiment got lost the first night. probably not his fault. it was rough terrain, bad weather, et cetera, dark, kind of a fog of war situation, but grant and hallock were very, very upset with wallace after shiloh. he did fight the second day, but they sort of shoved him to the side after that and his job was at this point in the war, he was the commander of the union's middle atlantic department, which was basically his job was he was military governor of baltimore. it wasn't a very plum assignment. well, reading the same intelligence that the union high command got and didn't do anything about, wallace did something. the other thing that helped him here was that the head of the b.n.o. railroad, a man named

john garrett, he had his network of intelligence who were the station masters all along the b. & o. railroad. they are heading your way. so wallace picked up on this and on his own, don't forget he was in hot water with grant and halllock, no orders, he gathered up 2800 men, about all he could get, and came down to the western most point of his jurisdiction, which was right here, and he set up on the eastern bank on the monacacy river. lou wallace, after the war, became a novelist and he wrote the second most popular novel of the 19th century, which was "ben-hur" and also wrote an 800-page memoir, which was really a god send for a historian, after reading these sort of dry memoirs and lots of them and letters and so on,

journals, and orders, here you get lew wallace who writes his memoir, you know, 40 years after the fact, writes it in a flowery 19th century novelist style. and when wallace says that they arrived here in the morning and lit their campfires, he'll say something like, you know, the steely sky gave way to a brilliant orange sun as we made our way down to the junction and the campfire smoke curled up, which was great. of course, you have to balance what wallace says in his memoir with his telegrams from the battlefield, his after-action report the day after, his after-action report two weeks later, because wallace had a way of making himself sound really good, and, you know s he did a very brave thing here, can't get away from that, and as i say in the book, i believe and i think the judgment of history is that what wallace did here, did save washington, d.c. so this battle took place on

july 9th, 1864. right now it's november 2nd of 2007 and it's a beautiful fall day, but one thing to keep in mind about this battle was that it was very, very hot. they didn't have thermometers or no one referred to a thermometer in their memoirs or at the time, but had to be in the mid to upper 90s and very humid. wallace set up headquarters in a very good tactical spot and that was on the east bank of the monacacy river on high ground, so he could overlook the entire battlefield and he was on the other side of the river, which made it difficult for -- to be attacked. it was a good defensive position. who were these 2,800 men? well, they were 100 days men. they joined just for 100 days, no one had fired a weapon in anger before. pretty gutsy thing, if you think about it. here was intelligence, a corps of troops, maybe as many as 35,000 are headed your way and he sets up right here with 2,800

unexperienced troops. that's what finally happened when grant sent up the troops. those troops got here at 1:00 in the morning on july 9th and now wallace had about 6,500 troops, including experienced 6th corps men and he knew what to do with them. he arrayed them along the bank of the monacacy river and i think we're going to go down there now and we'll talk about what happened when the battle started. we're at the very edge of the monacacy national battlefield and this monument was dedicated at the 50th anniversary of the battle to honor the confederates who died here. there are about 800 confederate causalities at the battle, dead and wounded. route 355 today runs through the battlefield, as it did back then. it was known as the georgetown pike, but what didn't go through the battlefield back then, of course, was interstate 270, which is, i think you can see it

right over there on the edge of the horizon, but this is where the confederate artillery was arrayed during the battle, and it's just an unfortunate thing that interstate highway runs through this entire battlefield. i think they've done a terrific job interpreting it. they have a lot of the farmfields that the battle took place, but it's sort of a difficult battle to envision, one reason being it took place in several different places at the same time and another reason being an interstate highway goes right through it. this is the actual junction itself. you can see it down there, and the bridge on route 355 was the old covered bridge over the junction. this is where some of the most brutal fighting of the battle took place. later on in the day, when a group of vermont soldiers took a stand against early's -- some of

early's top troops and they were at a very good strategic point down there. i don't know if it's that easy to see, but the confederates came this way and the vermont soldiers, there weren't very many of them, there was like a company of them, and they held off a regiment of early's troops for hours before they finally had to flee, and they were -- they had to flee back up the railroad track and then over the old railroad bridges, you can't see from here. the railroad bridge did not have a bed. it had just railroad ties, and these vermont soldiers while they were being fired upon by this confederates, had to run across the railroad ties, over the river, with the water 40 feet below, sort of a dramatic point of the battle. two vermont soldiers received the medal of honor for their actions that day. right where we're standing now is where the