entitlement program, built a house, and helped preserve what loretta is going to tell you about right now. thank you. [ applause ] >> well, thank you, frank. he is amazing. everything i'm going to show you, and i'm the picture girl, i've learned from him and a few others like him but especially frank. especially the civil war defenses from washington, there's a bible and frank and co-author wrote mr. lincoln sports. if you really care about the issue, that's the book to read. i wish i would have brought it with me but i encourage to get that book. i'm going to go as fast as i can. the nice thing about youtube, you can watch it later and pause and look at your leisure.

you can read faster than i can talk so i won't read the slides. i want you to see beautiful places i love. they are history and parks and recreation and national resources and frankly the lungs of the city are largely these forts and the parks. so there we start. as frank said the city was unprotected down below. this is fort washington. if you haven't been there, you should go. it's quite different from the forts that were built during the civil war. after bull run, lincoln knew the city was vulnerable. that's when he ordered director -- major general john g. barnard to design forts around the city to protect it. here they are. these are the ones available there. it was quite an amazing feat to build all those. it was just tremendous.

here they are there. i've circled them here on this old map, the ones that are under government ownership today. the park service owns all the ones in washington, d.c. and one in maryland and one in virginia. the ones in virginia are owned by local governments. you'll see some of them as well. on another part of the story, and it's a story as well, in 1902, senatef)m@qmdk mcmillan n report on the parks planning for parks in d.c., and one of their major recommendations had to do with civil war defenses of washington. they saw these forts highly placed were both beautiful to look at and they were beautiful to look from. they saw these as potential parks, linking them up with fort circle drive, which they proposed and congress funded until 1930s. i have a newspaper article that says that all but about one mile of it was bought. there's land linking all those

forts. these are all the different forts. they are under three different management systems, unfortunately, it's something we're hoping to change. eleanor holmes norton introduced legislation with republican from virginia to establish civil war defenses from washington historical national park and have it under its own superintendent and hopefully own staff and be able to do the things we would like to see done. i'm going to give you quickly fort stevens, historical photos. you can see they are an amazing place. a few other slides you can see, too, all this farmland around it. some houses. many of them got hit by the shells and burnt. reconstructed much of fort stevens. you can get the flavor of what

it was like back then. it's well worth a visit. cannons, a magazine. the boulder. sorry i didn't get a picture of the boulder. it's there, too. it's also important in african-american history then and now. it was the earliest black settlement in d.c. this woman, elizabeth thomas, she was a free african-american, owned 11 acres. i think back then women didn't tend to own land at all. free black woman was really unusual. her land was taken for fort stevens. just down from fort stevens is this land right here. goes right up behind the trees. this was private property. it was threatened with townhouse development. it was awful. some of us got together and said we've got to do something, national park trust to get it out into fort stevens. down here two african-american historically significant properties. i encourage you later to read

about them, the military road school. here is a map. this will help most of all knowing around fort stevens. the battle all the fortifications manned up, didn't know where the confederates might go down, down from the south, they were coming from the north. it's this whole range up here, the northern tier that come into play. here is fort bunker hill. that's in brookland. taughton, slocum, manner park. a neighborhood of ours. my husband and i live in tacoma. fort stevens. we live here, fort stevens. fort derussy was in play, very much so. fort reno. fort reno was huge. you'll see a picture of that in a moment. i also have down here fort bared and battery kimball. you'll see pictures of others.

fort bunker hill quickly it's a square block and high. the park service is now repairing the trails that lead up there. it should be a great recreation spot that doesn't have any defenses left. leaving from there coming into where fort totten is is this stretch of land. it's along gallatin street. that's part of the land bought for fort circle drive. there is a drive along it here, but i spoke of it. they didn't. this is leading into it. this is part of the fort circle drive land. here is fort totten, some historical photographs. you'll notice that i have every one of these i've tried to get the real person's name. the more i study this and the more i get to learn, i love the land, love the parks, love all that. these are real people. i'm trying to bring the human

element into the story as well. here are the real people who manned them. fort totten today. unfortunately it's not doing so well. the entrance is closed off. when i first started taking pictures 15 years ago, this gate was open. they closed it when they had some trouble and never opened it since. erosion from dirt bikers. this is a real defense, the earth works there. it's beautiful land, could be a beautiful park. it needs staffing and resources and programs. it needs what the park service does best, run parks. fort slocum in manner park as i mentioned before. here again, you can see around it. this is farmland. u.s. color infantry there. these are colored officers here behind them soldiers that are african-american. fort slocum, a great park. just interpreting it, could get

a cannon there and now and then have a ranger give a talk for people who live around it, they could learn about it. this is part of the fort circle drive land again that was never built on, along the side, makes a lovely boulevard. fort derussy, it's so beautiful. come up to oregon avenue, drive in and pull off. it's very easy to find. there's this huge tree when you go to the nature center and walk down towards fort derussy. they call it a witness tree because they think it was there during the battle. sometimes when they got cut off, the trees grew back. it might have been a regrowth but still about 150 years old. here earth works, massive. you can go all the way around. my picture doesn't do justice. some hiking trails. it's just a terrific park. again, fort reno is the highest

point in d.c. on top of that to boot they had some power. up here they could see the confederates coming. they knew uh-oh, we're in trouble. similarly when early looked out of his eye glass at fort reno, that's pretty well fortified, high, big, strong, down to fort stevens. here is modern reno. even though there's nothing of defenses, if you climb up top and take a look, which i did, it's in the distance. it's evocative, you can feel what it would have been like. it's definitely worth a visit. nearby more land. land bought for civil war defenses, fort circle park. i took this a couple weeks ago.

i'm driving along on 36th street. i'm thinking what a beautiful wilderness in the city, amazing great space. this is more manicured. this is terrific, too. i guess people don't use it as a park. i saw this guy. i looked over here. sure enough, a guy on the tree reading a kendall book, i guess. politics and prose not far away. that's a park. battery kimball, park service has been like this, community loves it for dog walking. back in the trees. that was to guard chain bridge, only fixed bridge between washington and harpers ferry. very important. across the river and potomac the only fort the park has today in virginia, fort marcy. it was built again chain bridge and leesburg pike. it's got massive pretty good size defenses there.

not much interpretation, if any. you know what you're seeing, where to go, you can enjoy it. i would love to see it in the future. better interpreted. across anacostia, other side of the river, before you're going, this beautiful land up here. those are all the fort circle parks. the connecting land and the forts. i gave this to national capital planning commission when they had a hearing on the act the he. think what would happen, it would destroy that, looking out. you see a couple of pictures of them, how terrible it would be to destroy this great vista. now, here are the ones on the side of the anacostia. i'm not going to show you every one of them. at least you'll get a flavor. you'll see how beautiful, how historic, the potential they have. we'll start at the bottom of

fort foote and work our way up. this is fort foote, one of my favorites. frank's too. high up the river, see the beautiful vista there. president lincoln did go out and visit it. it's historically important. here is me under the cannon. not to show off me but to show you how big the cannons are. these are real cannons. you see here. they had fallen down the ravine and put back up in the '80s. it's a wonderful place to go. halfway between. here is fort stanton. to enter it, you have to come through lady of perpetual health driveway and get on their parking lot. some earth works did get destroyed for the building there. this is the view when i started getting involved with the park service on these things. and last fall here is the same

view. they got covered. i complained to the program manager about it. she fought and fought and fought and said she wanted it by fourth of july to have a cut and i went and took this picture. thank you, kim. this is not part of the park, civil war defenses of washington but nobody can go to fort stanton and not stop by and see frederick douglass historical site. too important in history, former abolitionist, speaker, states meadowlands, the house is fabulous. down the way is fort ricketts. here is fort davis. this is the only part during ccc area. here is a i picture being built.

it's overgrown. you can see what defenses were like, earth works were like. fort dupont. it has problems with exotic vegetation. i don't know what -- i'm not the kind of person that can tem you what to do about exotic vegetation but it does hurt earth works so something should be done. fort circle, all over anacostia, beautiful plants, native plants, endangered species up there, a ranger told me people drive all the way to the shenandoah mountains to see mountain laurel in the spring. can you walk up the hills to see those. well worth a visit. there is a hike. that's a hike i went on with the sierra club. this afternoon from facilitator derussy to fort stevens. if you would like to join them, can you do that. go to the nature center at park

service at fort creek. this is more of a park than historic site but wonderful park. here are runs in maryland and virginia owned by local governments. real quick, i'll go fast. this is battery bailey. i love battery bailey. it was just a battery. if you know a battery was a place they have, i don't know, a platform where they could put a cannon there. there weren't troops there. they are charming, displays of what it looked like. interesting. right off the avenue as you go out of the city. fort ethan allen, improving earth works and doing interpretation. a fabulous event. fort c.f. smith, it's historic. it's there now. they also have bathrooms there.

we don't have those at fort stevens. fort ward. this is the gem of them all. i hate to admit it. it is. it's big, restored, 90% of earth works restored. it has a great museum. it's in alexandria, alexandria owns and runs it. terrific. the displays are great. they are also doing a lot of history on the african-american story there, which i won't get into. it's very controversial. they are at least trying to make up for past wrongs. fort willard, a traffic circle. those are earth works, ruins, a cannon. squint your eyes and you feel like you're back then. fort stevens. this weekend, this is what it was the last couple of years. every year the closest date we have an event. the one this year is going to be

on steroids. she's going to tell you about it. it's going to be fabulous. this is kim. this is our alliance group. our president, treasurer gary thompson and me. it's real important to have advocates, and that's what we are the alliance for civil defense of washington. we're six years old. we're fighting very hard for that legislation. it, and i thank you for the chance to speak. [ applause ] >> again, good afternoon. i just want to thank our host, national archives for hosting us, having folks to talk about civil war of washington. i'd like to thank our sister agency, ncpc. again, i'm going to click the

button here. as been alluded to, we have a lot of great things going on, we're ready to tell the story. this is 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens, the only civil war battle fought in washington, d.c. over the next couple of days, we're going to have lots of activities, plant the ground at fort stevens including the second national cemetery also managed by the park service. there are 38 union soldiers buried there. a wonderful place to come visit and we'll have that this coming sunday. i did want to point out many of you all may have a couple of this program here. it's just not fort stevens but the attack on washington by jubal early. it's all here. we ask you to take a look at it.

if you have an opportunity to take a look, please do so. as you've noted just this week tomorrow, today and tomorrow, we've got a lot of great things going on. we just learned c-span will be out at fort stevens to cover civil war roundtable. we have noted speakers for that. then as loretta alluded to, looking at fort stevens today, hosting in my tenure last four years, fort stevens day on steroids. we're going to have mr. lincoln there, mrs. lincoln, nikolay and we'll be firing a cannon from fort stevens. the first time in 150 years a cannon fired at a d.c. fort. you have for 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 soldiers buried and many, many others who have given the ultimate sacrifice for this

country. again, i know we didn't have a lot of time. i'm not sure we're going to be able to open it up for questions. i do encourage you all to tell your friends about it. visit us on our website at www.nps.gov/cwdw, civil war defenses of washington. again, thank you all so much. [ applause ] >> i think we have time for one or two questions, if people would like to come to either of the microphones. if folks have questions, we'll take them in turn. if you can give us a minute, sir. please, go ahead. >> hi, i'm david balducci, thank you all three of you for your presentations. i'd like to ask a little more about the legislation. you alluded to it.

i wonder if you could get into it a little deeper and maybe focus on how the local government owned virginia forts will be incorporated into that plan. >> thanks. >> i take it you're from virginia. what the bill would do, we tried to make it revenue newutral. basically redesignating the ones the park service owns as a national historical park. it also provides for cooperative agreements with the other locally owned forts. four in virginia and one in maryland. also with private owners, there's still somewhere private owners have portions of old forts on them. we'd like to get better signage. even where the forts aren't there now. for example, i went out a few weeks ago with my husband, dan smith, who is here. he loves to go with me photographing. i said, there's a fort bennett. i want to find that. that's in virginia. there's a sign. they had a lovely sign there

that says fort bennett. there's a ravine on the side. i thought maybe that ravine was there, even though there's an apartment building on the side. it probably was. we'll study a way to have a place in washington to study and commemorate the entire civil war, both sides, confederates and union. >> yes? >> i'd like to ask a question about the compensation for folks' land when we sat up the forts. i talked to the ranger at the fort stevens site. she's saying she wasn't compensated. i'm interested how we got the land to set up the forts and what practices were in place at the time, what law was in place. >> due to the fact we have a free black woman elizabeth

thomas who owned a little over 11 acres of land. just what we would consider today would be eminent domain. they came through and took the property. what we don't have is proof she was actually compensated. again, you can do that in a time of war and that's exactly what happened. unfortunately we don't know -- >> you might turn up -- >> the rest of all those forts, the same practice? >> this was called the law of military necessity. in time of war, you could take the property. >> okay. >> descendants of aunt betty, elizabeth thomas, have always taken what she would call veteran groups years later president lincoln promised her a great reward. everybody has been aghast of her since. descendants will tell you they have never seen a record of a reward at all. the property owners at the end of the war received back the

land, if they could prove it was their land. basically the timber and what was remaining in the forts that could be utilized. they could put in claims for damages. in fact, the claims after the war, a couple of other record groups, is where you go to find 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. >> i see. >> so that is kind of the story there. for a period of months after the end of the war, some of these forts were actually retained with garrisons. then gradually fears of any resurgence of the rebellion, or the threat from the french in mexico or british or whatever,

the army realized it was taking up a lot of money keeping these things and got rid of them. ft. hood retained its garrison into the 1870s, batteries in the spanish american war and fort washington even more recently was still an active post. >> thank you. >> sir, i think you'll be our last question. >> i was wondering if you were familiar or could help me with a question i've had for years and years. when jubal early approached washington, cavalry patrols were sent out on both the east and west sides of the city. in fact, there was an expedition to try and free the prisoners at camp lookout, which came to nothing. but the one that always intrigued 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 they entered one of the forts, found it completely unmanned, went up

on the rampart and could see white house and capital in the distance. do you think there's any credibility to that report and what fort could that possibly have been? >> let me explain, there's three legends you've wrapped into one. the army came down the rockville pike. we're not sure why early deviates or diverts over to the 7th road and georgia avenue. you should go up to monocacy, if for no other reason there's a jedidiah map on display at the library of congress, dated 1864. it's obviously taken from a corps of engineer, union cor co of engineer map, whether he presented it to early so he could come and see where to get

into washington, we don't know. it's a great mystery. mysteries are still surfacing all over the place in the official records or unofficial. he had on his staff a young chap loveboro. some realize it's named after the family. >> lough borough, had dinner at his family place. ostensibly took down quote, unquote, the dome of the lights of the capital. he was happy to tell this story to general grant when grant was in the white house after the war and can you just imagine grant chomping on his cigar, yeah,

right. for years nobody believed it. the confederate soldiers themselves claimed to see the dome of the capital. that's hock um. there's nowhere to see the dome of the capital. you can see it's below where visual would have gotten it out in silver spring. probably saw the lights of georgetown. but mccauslin had gotten up there. there's claims to ride up in broad daylight. no substantiating that. old soldiers have vivid memories. >> one little comment, not a question. i was a surveyor in washington, d.c. for 42 years. in our office we had 1880 i think u.s. gs topographic maps. first put out by the city and

government and fortifications still on there. cool set of maps. if you haven't seen them, library of congress i think has them. >> thanks. >> with that i'd like to again thank the national archives for hosting this really wonderful event. our speakers, please join me one last time in a round of applause for them. >> american history tv normally airs on the weekends, but with congress on recess throughout august we're featuring highlights during the week. coming up here on c-span3, we continue our focus on the civil war and a look at the battle of fort stevens taking place in the nationed capital july 11th and 12th, 1864. confederate forces under general jubal early probed defenses of the heavily fortified capital

city before deciding to turn back. coming up, watch as officials from the national park service commemorate 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stechts. also monocacy and fort stevens battle fields as well as surviving forts in the nation's capital. american history tv's look at the war continues tonight with the battle of the crater during the siege in virginia, union forces detonated explosives underneath lines to create a gap in the defenses but the attack failed with heavy losses for union troops. tonight watch as the national park service commemorates 150th anniversary of the battle. we'll also take a look at how the attack failed and why the u.s. colored troops were unjustly blamed. author kevin levine on the contribution of the u.s. colored troops and immediately following

the civil war. tonight at 8:00 eastern here on c-span3. 200 years ago 1814 british soldiered routed troops outside of washington, d.c. the victory left the nation's capital wide open to british forces who marched into the city and burned down the white house and the u.s. capital. you can learn more about the bernanke of washington during the war of 1812 thursday from author and historian. our coverage starts at 6:45 eastern. more about the burning of washington next saturday, august 23rd, as we take you live to the waterfront park for a panel discussion on the events of 200 years ago. that's live at 1:00 p.m. eastern here on american history teachs

here on c-span tv. battle of fort stevens, confederate forces under general jubal early attacked washington's defenses before turning back. speakers during this hour long event discuss the battle significance and contributions by african-american troops. good morning and welcomey? fort stevens. my name is kim elder, i'm the program manager national parks service for civil war defenses of washington. i'd like to welcome and thank each you for joining us for the commemoration of 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens. ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of colors and singing of the national anthem by miss frayser. frasier.

♪ o say, can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ o say can you see ♪ by the dawn's early light ♪ what so proudly we hailed ♪ at the twilights last gleaming ♪ through the perilous fight ♪ 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 ♪ that our flag was still there

♪ that our flag was still there ♪ oh say does that star spangle banner yet wave ♪ o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ [ applause ] you may take your seats.

the in vocation will be delivered by the senior pastor of saint luke's church, the reverend aubrey lewis. >> let us bow our heads. eternal merciful father, this morning we come to celebrate a historic occasion. one that has tremendous significance in the life of african-americans and especially to the life of washington, d.c. we thank you, lord, for the opportunity to be here, and we ask our blessings during 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 a 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 historic fort stevens. we're pleased you've joined us today as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens. the national park service has been commemorating this civic sesquicentennial since 2011 but programming and activities that have engaged, informed and enlightened not only the visitors that have joined us but the national park services and our many partners as well.

the ft. stevens commemorative programs held over the last few months would not be possible without the program manager kim elder and our friends to preserve the civil war defenses of washington, specifically the 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 knowledgeable of the war but would include themes that would appeal to new audiences. that is the key to ensuring that we are creating opportunities for new audiences to become engaged and informed about our nation's history. thank you, kim, susan and lorretta for your hard work in creating those opportunities. 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 councilmember mario bowser who has been supportive to commemorate this anniversary and insure the residents of the

district of columbia are aware of the battle of fort stevens and the role of the community during the war. we are pleased to have with us today mr. c.r. gibbs and mr. ed barrs. both will discuss the battle of fort stevens, the only battle to take place in the nation's capital, and share why this battle played a pivotal role in our nation's history. we thank you for joining us and hope 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, 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. ♪ o columbia, the gem of the ocean ♪ ♪ the home of the brave and free ♪ the shrine of each patron's devotion ♪ ♪ our world offers homage to thee ♪ my mandate of heroes assemble ♪ when liberty form stands in view ♪ ♪ they banners make tyranny tremble ♪ ♪ when borne by the red, white, and blue ♪ ♪ when borne by the red, white, and blue ♪ ♪ when borne by the red, white, and blue ♪ ♪ banners make tyranny tremble

♪ when borne by the red, white, and blue ♪ ♪ the wine cup hither ♪ and fill it to the brim ♪ may the reeds they have won never wither. >> q. latifah: nor the star of their glory grow dim ♪ ♪ may the service united never receiver. ♪ ♪ the army and navy forever ♪ three cheers for the red, white, and blue ♪ ♪ three cheers for the red, white, and blue ♪ ♪ three 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, a very inspiring national hymn and please join me on the chorus. the battle hymn of the republic. ♪ he is trampleing out the vintage where the grapes of ♪ yet lose the fate for wrath are stored ♪ yet lose the fate for lightning of his terrible swift sword ♪ the truth is marching on glory, glory, glory alleluia ♪ glory, glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ glory, glory, glory, hallelujah

♪ his truth is marching on ♪ i have seen him in the watch piles of the hundreds circling camps ♪ 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, glory, hallelujah ♪ glory, glory, glory, ♪ glory, glory, glory, haleluia ♪ his day is watching on ♪ his day is marching on ♪ he has sounded forth the trumpet that should never call retreat ♪ ♪ he has lifted out the hearts of man before his judgment cease. ♪ be swift my soul to answer him. >> q. latifah: be jubilant my feet.

>> q. latifah: our god is marching on ♪ everyone! ♪ glory glory glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory glory hallelujah ♪ glory glory glory 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 that the john brown of harpers ferry, it was some obscure person in massachusetts. but the "glory, glory, glory," that was from the original. that was not written by julia ward howell. that was in the original song. it's very interesting. and so i am going to make this a

rather brief program. i'm going to do two more. i think this next one is arguably our greatest patriotic song and the one least remembered, unfortunately, but it was a significant composition for the civil war and the -- when the union bands played this and the soldiers sang this, it just struck a terrible fear in the hearts of the rebs. the battle cry of freedom. ♪ yes, we will rally around the flag, boys ♪ rally once again shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ we will rally from the hillside. >> q. latifah: we'll gather from the plain ♪ ♪ shooting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ the union forever, hurrah,

boys, hurrah ♪ ♪ down with the -- and up with the star ♪ ♪ while we rally around the flag boys ♪ ♪ rally once again. >> q. latifah: -- shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ we're springing to the call of 300,000 more ♪ ♪ shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ we'll fill the vacant ranks our brothers gone before ♪ ♪ shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ the union, hurrah boys hurrah ♪ ♪ we rally around the flag boys. >> q. latifah: rally once again. >> q. latifah: shouticry of fre. [ 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 >> i've discovered, i'm a musicalologist, what i've usually they 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 [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you so much. enjoy your wonderful day here at fort stevens.

>> our first speaker this morning is c.r. gibbs. mr. gibbs is a local award winning historian, international lecturer, author, c.r. gibbs is among scholars smithsonian featured. mr. gibbs conducted research on black civil war units as well as technical advisers on a film entitled "american years." he has written numerous books, most notably, black explorers, black inventors from africa to america, and friends of frederick douglass, a children's book. his articles and in numerous respected journals including negro 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 in july of 1864. 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. for 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, that the fort itself sits on part of an african-american neighborhood. but the story is actually much larger than that. i think perhaps the best way to begin is by sharing with you a portion of a letter written on june 7th, 186 2, from the engineer in charge of the defenses of washington to the military governor of district of columbia. general, i have the honor to request detailed contrabands for work on the fortifications of

the maryland side of the potomac. as the government subsists then, we 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. i propose to have the negroes posted as follows. at ft.s franklin, alexander and ripley, 20 negroes and ft. gaines in pennsylvania, 20 in massachusetts and slocum, 30 totten and slimmer, 20 bunker hill and saratoga, 20 it thayer and lincoln. 20 mahan, migs, dupont and davis. 20 -- and it goes on and on. the point here is that by june of 1862 only the most ardent negro folks seemed to be against the use of black men at least in

building the forts and securing the garrisons 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. in fact, as we know, there was much greater use of contraband labor made on the forts on the south side of the potomac. these men, these self-emancipated black folk who decided that they wouldn't automatically and necessarily wait for a federal executive to create a proclamation but they took it upon themselves to work for their freedom, 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 surrounding the district, many

of the soldiers were happy to see them. a member of the 50th new jersey voluntary infantry regiment reported that a detail of men was sought every morning to work on the fortifications but at least a force 2600 contrabands from north carolina were sent to take our places in the difference and we willingly turned our over picks and shovels. one soldier who had hdone duty n ft. lincoln and here at ft. stevens, freeman walker who served with several regiments, said hat time for drafting has come, speaking of ft. stevens. everyone around here, negroes and all, were enrolled yesterday. from ft. lincoln in northeast d.c., walker wrote, "our first work will be to dig or help dig a chain of rightful pits connecting these forts though we hear 500 negroes will be here soon. it is important as well that you

understand that black folk were not idle or passive spectators on the earliest attack on washington, d.c. for example, a unit of the colored troops marched up 12th street with wives and children trailing alongside and black men in neighborhoods. for this unit of color troops on 12th street, we have no less than authority of the dau of joseph henry, the director of the smithsonian at the time. also we know that in addition to 500 white troops who were called up to defend alexandria, some 800 colored men were also called up with the alexandria journal adding, these men will, no doubt, do good work should their services be required in the actual defense of the city. no less than authority than, "contraband negroes and refugees were also pressed into the service." and at 12:00 on the night of

july 11th, it was estimated that there were within the fortifications of washington 60,000 men armed and equipped for fighting. you must understand that this desire to be free, this desire to participate, did not simply occur at this war, but all throughout the forts and batteries and camps that comprise the military defenses of washington. we are amazed that the black people that were able to cross the potomac above the city and make their way to battery hill. those that took life and limb in hand and went to ft. stanton or ft. dupont. this is part of the untold story of the defenses of washington. you see, these installations typified hope, but not simply hope, not simply freedom or security. they also symbolized

opportunity. i recently wassing a story about a black man who 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 capitol dome there would be freedom, as well as justice, as well as opportunity. but we don't have to go to the capitol to find that out. if you were to walk with me down georgia avenue, about a half mile -- quarter mile to the intersection of georgia and missouri, we'd probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of the -- of another camp. and in that camp, we would find in the book when this cruel war is over, the civil war letters of charles harvey brewster, the touching story of a place called camp wrightwood and how this union officer, this man from the 10th massachusetts was changed

when he met a freedom seeking black man just a quarter-mile down the road who came in and worked for him. he is a bright looking ma la toe, 17 years old, he says 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, this person to person connections between these freedom seeking black folk and these soldiers in the union army forged bonds that would not be forgotten once the guns of sumter were over. we find out in fact that black folk in the defense of the city actually nothing new. we know that free blacks welded pit axes and shunts during the war of 1812 to help guard the nation's capitol. in fact, one commenter would say that the freed people of this city, speaking of the war of

1812, acted as patriots. there was scarcely an exception to be on the spot. indeed when news of the war struck this city, when what had happened in charleston's harbor reverberated back to the district, jacob dodson, a black exploer explorer, a man who had served and explored offered the services of 300 black pen in the first months of the war to protect the city. it is important that not simply the activities of free blacks or contraband to the defenses of washington, but that we also acknowledge members of the united states color troops. for we also have this idea that they were somehow missing in terms of this great contest, and yet we have evidence now not only the 6th usct, or the 28th, or the wonderful job the 45th

u.s. color troops did and they helped to repair ft. mcpherson on what is now 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. this is after the end of the war when these posts were still important. i know many of you will recall george patton's dicta that a soldier does his duty. he goes are where he is told. that's what these men did. we find u.s. colored troops in places like slocum and totten and lincoln and baker and stanton and carroll, according to "the evening star" from december 14, 1865. these men, free, soldiers, freedom seeking black folks, self-emancipated contrabands, had all one thing in common -- they were willing warriors.

willing workers. and willing defenders of the national capital in times of crisis. thank you. thank you, mr. gibbs. please welcome being d.c. council member for ward 4, muriel bouser. >> well, good morning, everybody. and welcome to ward 4. i'm certainly delighted to be here with you to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the battle of ft. stevens. there's really so much great history here in our capital city, and i often, and am very proud to celebrate the part that ward 4 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 ft. 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 ft. stevens. and we know that the battle -- at the battle of ft. stevens the nation's capitol was saved from imminent attack. you may also know that even before stt stevens was built to protect the capitol from confederate soldiers, this land was taken from a free black woman named elizabeth thomas. we were very proud here in ward 4 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 compensated for her land on for her sacrifice for our great country. but fortunately today, we in this city have a wonderful relationship with our federal partners. we really want to acknowledge the hard work that they have done to acknowledge this great anniversary and to build a great so that our parks, our national monuments are really a part of the communities and the people that they serve. so i hope that you will join me in acknowledging really two great women who are leading the national park service in d.c. and ft. stevens and right here in ward 4, our superintendent, tara morrison. give her a round of applause. and our park manager, kim eller.

gi give her a round of applause. they have been great allies and neighbors. this is something that we can't take for granted. now i have the great honor of representing a lot of national park service facilities in our city, 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 come not only to represent the 75,000 people of ward 4, the 20 great neighborhood i have the privilege to serve, but also our city. i went to the council and there was unanimous decision to acknowledge today with a resolution. so superintendent morrison, may i present you with the following. i'll read a few of the statements here. this resolution says, whereas

st. stevens originally named ft. 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 7th street pike, now known as georgia avenue. whereas ft. massachusetts was renamed ft. stevens after the death of brigadier general stevens at the battle of chantilly on september 1st, 1862. and whereas in the summer of 1864, general ulysses s. grant moved most union troops to the south leaving only 9,000 troops to defend the district of columbia. and whereas on july 11th and july 12th, 1864, the battle of ft. stevens occurred and was the only civil war battle to take place in the district of columbia. whereas, the union army 6th corps brought reinforcements to ft. stevens where president abraham lincoln met then 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 ft. stevens and from the district of columbia. this victory saved the nation's capital, helped ensure president lincoln's re-election and aided in the preservation of the union. following the battle of ft. stevens, the military schools in the district to educate african-american children was established on the grounds of ft. stevens. whereas the military road school, although closed in 1954, remains an essential part of the history of ft. stevens and the civil war history of the district of columbia. ft. stevens now serves as one of many civil defenses operated by the national park service in 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 ft. stevens 150th anniversary recognition resolution of 2014. >> thank you, council member bowser. please welcome members of the 2014 civil war junior ranger campers.

>> as i mentioned earlier, part of our responsibility censuring that we are engaging new audiences and sharing this history. so for the first year and in honor of the anniversary of the civil war, we conducted our first civil war junior rangers camp an we today would like to pin our three representatives here today, cooper rivera, nabid and nita sherzod.

and they are now officially junior rangers. >> our next speaker today is mr. ed bars. ed bars is a united states marine corps veteran of world war ii. a military historian and an

author known for his work on the american civil war and world war ii eras plp bars is especially moan for his historic tours and an extremely popular tour guide of historic battlefields for the smithsonian associates. mr. bars served as chief historian of the national park service from 1981 to 1994. please welcome mr. ed bars. >> first off, i want to thank the -- my colleagues of the national park service and the people of the neighborhood for working so well together to commemorate the battle of ft. stevens. an important milestone in the

reunification of our country and 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 and chief of the union army has, in his campaign, against general lee's army, has lost over 100,000 men in the period between the 3rd 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 referred to general grant as a butcherer. even worse than the disaster in 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 armies 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 of kennesaw mountain. so things were not going well on the military front. things were not going well on the political front. the president had felt well at republican convention, meeting in baltimore, had renominated him for a second term. they adopt adam hanlan of maine

to replace him with governor johnson of tennessee. and the ticket that they will go to the voters, all will be the union tent, not the republican tent. as the president and his family prepare to move from the white house to the summer 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. the egotistical and opinionated secretary of the treasury, mr. chase, who had twice already

submitted his resignation, submits it again. and on the last day of the old congress, which adjourns on the 4th day of july, he has nds in s resignation. lincoln is going to take great courage because he has a revolt in a red cadical wing of the republican party which has passed the wade-davis bill, that is taking steps of reconstruction of the south out of the president's hands and trenz f transferring it to the congress. the president shows great courage as he pocket vetoes the wade-davis bill. things are not getting well in

virginia. general lee has detached too early with the 2nd corps and they have dealt with general hunter and his right to lynchburg. e and early in his 15,000 to 16,000 men are now sweeping down the shenandoah valley. the north well remembers the valley of humiliation, the shenandoah valley, and what had happened there in 1862, and it had been the route that the confederates had followed to their defeat in gettysburg in '63. and it looks like a repeat as early's men march through lexington on the 26th day of

june on the 1st day of july they marched through winchester, virginia. and on the 5th day of july, they were brought to the potomac river. is it going to be another repetition of what had happened in '62 and '63? the general grant seems to not be overly concerned about the threat to washington engendered by general early's men. president garrett of the baltimore-ohio railroad is telling him it's a real threat an grant is going to move rather slowly. as the confederates will now move toward isolating the union

troops which evacuated harbor's ferry and closed if on frederick, maryland. on frederick, maryland, they occupied it on the 8th day of june -- excuse me, the 8th day of july. a union army has beendr:rdidl a there on the banks of the river, and on the 9th day of july, the force commanded by new wallace who will write the most popular novel written in the 19th century by an american author, "ben hurr." when he 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, have been called to fill the vacant ranks as we talked about in those wonderful songs we were led in as they are answering father abraham's call. and they are going to become instant infantry men to be placed if the forts which have been constructed, many of them we've just heard from our lecturers and the black man and black lady whose land had been

taken over for originally what will become ft. massachusetts but is now ft. stevens. so on the 10th day of july is an unseasonably hot day. the men are wearing wool uniforms. i'm an honorary member of company b of the massachusetts regiment there. one of the proudest things i have is attending some of their rallies. i'm glad to see they're here in full strength. the forts, with the departure of the trained heavy artilleries, one of them being the 1st massachusetts heavy artillery

which becomes a trivia pursuit question. the type of trivia pursuit questions you don't like to be -- what union regiment lost more men in 15 minutes in the civil war? it's the 1st massachusetts heavy artillery. one of these ones that garrisoned the forts as they attacked too late against lee's lines at petersburg. and will 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're tired, and the confederates are going to reach rockdale just up

the road from where we are on the evening of the 11th. on the 5th day of the month, the presidential family and a close advisors moved from the white house into the soldiers home on the night of the 10th, secretary stanton -- he's a rough customer. i heard the people weep about secretary rumsfeld. you don't know what a tough secretary of war edward mcmaster stanton is. if you wept about senator rumsfeld, you would commit ha y hara-kiri over secretary

stanton. he sent a letter out directing the president and his family to move back to the white house. the guard of the 150th pennsylvania, the bucktails, have left the soldiers home and will be be stationed at another fort. the president will be up early on the morning of the 11th. the confederates had paused at rockdale. and tired john mccoslin with his cavalry sweeps down the georgetown pike, now wisconsin avenue. arriving in contintinley circle the rest of the confederate army moves cross-country on farm roads, leaving from rockdale 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 ft. stevens and other forts. yes, he is here at ft. stevens on the afternoon around 1:00 on

the 11th day of july. the confederates are in silver spring. men have moved across into the district line, moving into occupying ground now embraced by walter reed. 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 hains point at that point. where hanes point is now, he

watches the boats, ships, arrive with the members of the 6th corps. two divisions of them under horatio g. wright and detachments of the 19th corps that have come all the way from louisiana to hampton road and have joined the troops. some of the troops didn't remember this tall man. 7'0" 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 lindyndon baines johnson. you do not know which is the taller as they don't go to having settling such things as that.

and they see the president initialling on a piece of hard taffy. they then move out through georgetown pike, out through georgetown. because the first reports the generals received, the confederates are in the area of rockville. but then they're willing to be deterred, turned in and moved down 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 next day. the confederates are having a real ball up in silver spring montgomery player is going to lose his house. franklin to the confederates o

show that they can burn houses pretty well. francis player, adviser to all presidents, from andrew jackson to abraham lincoln, he's not home but he has a good liquor closet and some of the confederates, particularly general anderson early, is a good drinking man and they're consuming francis player's liquor supply and they're very delighted to get more and more. because whone of the confederat there is john c. breckenridge. who? the youngest man ever to be vice president of the united states. being vice president under james buchanan. the confederates are feeling good. now lincoln had kept construction going on on the

capitol dome. the dome has been completed. you can see it from the soldiers home. and they're debating, because breckenridge had been expelled from the senate in october 181.1 when he left the vice president, he entered the senate. as they get more and more influenced by what they're drinking, they will vote. tomorrow we will march down massachusetts avenue and we'll escort general breckenridge in to the capitol, in to 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. well, he's going to arrive out here and he's going to bring mary with him. now mary and he, there have been

casualties out here, and close to the parapit walls of ft. stevens is a hospital. they go in and visit several wounded june onsoldiers there. and then mary sits down. out here also is the secretary of state. the secretary of state, of course, is william sureward. soon to arrive is the secretary of the navy, and his wife. that's 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 parapit where, in the 1960s, they'll put a monument there. the principal 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, 70 tall, lo'0" tall, l at the sloping ground beyond and as he's standing there, there is 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 hill, and now horatio g. wright has a tough job. that is, he's got to get the president down where he's not

expos exposed. there are 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, may have been bad for him in days when we have secret service around -- and they help him down off and he sits on the level ground, the step just back from the parapit, and sits down with his back to the parapit. after a while, he'll go over and talk to mary. mary will swoon and the president will say, mary would not make a very good soldier as she swooned.

so, the president has been under fire. and by 4:00, the 6th corps is ready to take the offensive and they will move out from in front of ft. stevens, moving across the ground that slopes down to 1m7y(o reed is now, beyond battleground cemetery where 40-odd men of the union soldiers that were killed here are buried and the union groups and the confederates pulled back. lincoln will not take his eye off the -- tuesday is the 12th. on the 14th, he's back out taking care of business.

so he is going to -- i want you to play another little tune there, because he's going to sign a bill calling for 500,000 more men. and one of the tunes in that, "we're coming, father abraham, a 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. player through 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. independent nation. so great things have happen . it's wonderful to see the group out here today to talk about these events.ten the too often these events here in washington are kind of forgotten.rly and as early goes 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. things are going -- now we've am got to remember what mr. lincol is going to write on the 24th n day of august. of that is five weeks after this day. andre that day, things are stil not going well. meade and butler's army are rather stymied in front of richmond and petersburg. sherman is stymied in front of atlanta. and the president will write a t letter to the fileso and he wi say, and the democrats have met in chicago, adopted to peace plan declaring the war a failure and nominating for president george b. mcclennan and e

pendleton of ohio as vice president. the president will write of thae day, as of this day, we will probably lose the election. therefore, we will have to worke with the president-elect to save the joounion after election dayf before he's inaugurated as president on march 4th because he will not be able to save it t but just like everybody can remember, my age, or younger, and remember har are rry 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 will do the same thing with that letter he'd written to

the files. he put it in an envelope, members of the cabinet had it signed their names on it and opens it up and reads it to what they had signed. because with that election, father abraham will be in for another term.o c and it is wonderful to come out that took placeth here. thank you so much.

>> thank you, mr. bars. before closing, we have a few announcements. >> thank you again. mr. bars, mr. gibbs, everyone, for joining us again today. we do want to acknowledge -- we th the audience but we actually have the great grandson of new captain chamberlain of company k, the 25th new york cavalry, yt the first cavalry to deploy herh on july 11th here at ft. stevens when early's troops arrived. would mr. taylor chamberlain please stand. we will close with a benedictioo but we do hope that each of you

all will come over and join us just across the street. s you'll get some instructions ge just a moment to join us for the first firing of a cannon in thee civil war forts here in the o ta district of columbia since y.18. 150 years ago today. firing a cannon.y yes. >> please welcome again refb rend li reverend lewis as he leads us through the benediction. >> let us stand.verend lewis as he leads us through the benediction. >> let us stand.rd we now lord, we ask for blessings and as we leave this place that the sweet fellowship of the holt communion will rest, rule and abide within us forever more and

all god's people said -- amen. >> tonight, american history tv's look at the civil war continues with the battle of the crater. occurring during the siege of petersburg, virginia, union forces detonated explosives underneath the confederate lines to create a gap in the defenses. but the attack failed with heavy losses for union troops. here's a preview. >> one regiment in the area was the 48th pennsylvania interfantry. some troops in this regiment were coal miners. they thought they could mine underneath the confederate battery, fill the end of the mine with gun powder around literally blow a hole in the confederate lines. but digging began on june 25th and the mine was completed a month later. the total length of the mine would be 586 feet. they removed 18,000 cubic feet of earth in the construction of the mine. the sounds of digging actually once they got up underneath this

confederate battery were heard by south carolinian infantry men and virginia artillery men locations in the positions here. the confederates were digging what they called listening galleries to see if they could hear the sounds of digging. there is one spot right out here where the confederate countermine goes over top of the union mine. they just didn't go deep enough. union mine was about 16 feet down at this point. the confederate listening galleries would go down about eight to ten feet. so they were right on top. yes, at night when it was quiet, they were hearing the sounds of digging below them. now the end of the mine would be filled with 8,000 pounds of gun powder. the initial battle plan was to blow up the gun powder, create a large hole in the confederate lines. the initial attack would be led by african-american troops and they would roll up the confederal lines to the north

back behind me to the south behind you, then the rest of the troops would go through -- around the hole and capture blanford cemetery about 1,000 yards behind us here. if grant could get guns up on top of that ridge, he might have petersburg. >> watch more about the battle of the crater, including a look at how the attack failed. also, author kevin levin on contributions of the u.s. colored troops and how they were remembered in the years immediately following the civil war. that's all tonight at 8:00 eastern here on c-span3. here's a great read to add to your summer reading list. c-span's latest book, "sundays at eight." a collection of stories from some of the nation's most influence people over the past 25 years. >> i always knew that there was a risk in the bohemian lifestyle and i decided to take it, of course. whether it is an ill lesion or not. i don't think it is. it helped me concentration.

it stopped me being bored. stopped other people being boring to some extent. it would keep me awake. it would make me want the evening to go on longer, to prolong the conversation, to enhance the moment. if i was asked would i do it again, the answer is probably yes. i would quit earlier, possibly, hoping to get away with the whole thing. easy for me to say, of course. not very nice for my children to hear. sounds irresponsible. if i say i'd do all that again to you. but the truth is, it would be hypocritical for me to say no, i'd never touch the stuff if i'd known. because i did know. everyone knows. >> soviet union and the soviet system in eastern europe contain the seeds of its own destruction. many of the problems that we saw at the end begin at the very beginning. i spoke already about the attempt to control all institutions and control all parts of the economy and political life and social life. one of the problems is that when you do that, when you try to

control everything, then you create opposition and potential disdensidents everywhere. if you tell all artists you have to paint the same one, and one artist says, no, i don't want to paint that way, i want to paint another way, you have just made him into a political dissident. >> if you want to subsidize housing in this country, and we want to talk about it anding it something the populace agrees, then put it on the balance sheet, make it clear and evident and make everybody aware of how much it is costing. but when you deliver it through these third party enterprises, fannie mae and freddie mac, when you dlifrt subsidy through a public company with private shareholders and executives who can extract a lot of that subsidy for themselves, that is not a very good way of subsidizing home ownership. >> a few of the 41 engaging stories in c-span's "sundays at

eight," now available at your favorite book seller. each week american history tv 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 early, nearly invaded washington, d.c. next, historian and journalist mark leepson takes us on a tour of battlefields in maryland and washington, d.c. to tell the story of the battle of monocacy where the confederates were delayed by union forces in their approach to the nation's capital and the battle of ft. stevens where general early probed the defenses of the heavily fortified city before deciding to turn back. >> july 9th, 1864, to get a bigger picture of the war, this was just after the bloodiest six

weeks of the civil war. the wilderness campaign, the battles of wilderness, cold harbor, over 60,000 union casualties, dead and wounded. 40,000 confederate dead and wounded. there was war weariness especially in the north. but general grant, u.s. grant, who was in charge now since february of '64 was determined to -- this was his grand plan to end the war. after wilderness, after cold car who are, he had richmond and petersburg surrounded. his idea, his plan, was to choke robert e. lee inside richmond petersburg and force him to come out and fight what he felt would be the battle that would end the war. lee knew this, of course, too. and so lee came up with a bold plan of his own. and that is, on june 13th, in the early morning hours, he took an entire corps of troops, 12,000 troops under general early, and he took hem 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 are 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. 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 "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 -- i think the part of the plan 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 entire corps of troops left the defenses of richmond. about one-third of lee's troops. they marched 70 miles to charlottesville, virginia. they got on old trains and they arrived at lynchburg on june 17th. and on june 18th came the battle of lynchburg which, not very many many people heard of because it didn't last very long because hunter, not 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 to 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 was big. so early marched his men down the valley. when we say down to shenandoah, we mean north because of the way the river flows. they began a march down the shenandoah valley. they were very -- they were not very well supplied. one-third to a half of the men didn't 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 paharper's ferry and martinsburg where general franz sigel, another dim bulb of -- he was a german immigrant, he was made a general because he could bring in germany. he was from st. louis. he was the one who had the not very good experience at newmark. on may 15th where he outnumbered the confederate troops and he lost when the entire corps of vmi cadets came up from lexington. franz sigel known as "the flying dutch men." sigel fled petersburg and harper's ferry when these forces came in. they ate all the yankees' food and drank all their beverages that 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 would become this battle in 1864. now, sigel fled to maryland heights, which is on the other side of the river from harper's ferry. early thought about going after them but he didn't. he turned, made a right turn. he was 50 miles from washington, d.c. and they did rest for a couple of days in maryland and then he headed towards washington, d.c. jubal early was quite a character. he came from a prominent family and 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 seminole wars and the mexican war but didn't see any action. he was a lawyer. and then before the war started he was part of the virginia succession council. but one var var succeeded, he became a confederate die hard. he was an aggressive leader. became a general. he was kind of a cantankerous guy. he was a hard drinking, tobacco chewing. famous for his cursing. he hated women. he was not a pleasant guy to be around. he didn't get along with his fellow officers or generals. the men sort of loved him and hated him. robert e. lee really liked early.

lee called him my bad, old man. lee had arthritis. lee liked him because he was an aggressive general. it's interesting that lee should depend on and admire early so much because he was 180-degree opposite. he didn't drink or disrespect women. he said it's good that war is so horrible otherwise men would love it compares to early if there was something to the opposite to be said, he would have said it. so this was the man that lee entrusted to go on this mission. he was one of the most aggressive southern generals. it's interesting because of what happened later. washington was just across the river from virginia. 90 miles from richmond.

from the beginning of the war, they were concerned about a southern invasion of the nation's capitol. and then after the battle of first manassas, the defeat 30 miles in washington, they started building a series of forts that by the time a couple of years later, washington was completely ringed by an interconnected series of 67 forts. they were called the defenses of washington. they were a beltway and they even went across the potomac. now those forts, only one of those forts exists today and that's ft. ward in a alex san dpree yeah, virginia. ft. stevens, where we're going to go later, has been built. but these forts were very well built and all connected by fortifications and berms. they were designed to be manned by about 35,000 troops.

now we're in the summer of 1864. just about every able bodied union troop is down in richmond and we don't know the exact number but we think that only about 10,000 troops were on the barricades at washington, d.c.. and who were these 10,000 troops? they were members of a veteran reserve corps. they had just changed their name before that. before that, it was known as the invalid corps. they changed the name for obvious reasons. most people, i think, know that there were so many casualties that washington, d.c., was one big hospital during the last years of the war. as troops got better but couldn't go back to the 2350e8d, they were given these pale blue uniforms and did rear echelon duty. that's who was defending washington, d.c., when jubal

early came here 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 business mall throughout the war. and it was not good here. the union did not know that early took an entire corps of troops leaving richmond where they left on june 13th. they didn't know that an entire corps had left until july 5th when they crossed it the potomac river and they were 50 miles from washington, d.c.. then you had a little bit of panic going on especially when the word got out to early that he was heading to washington or maybe baltimore. he didn't let people know because it's strategically a northwest and east/south connection. we have the 355 over here, which

was here then. it was called the georgetown pike that goes directly on a line to washington, d.c.. today it's called the urbana pike here. it becomes the rockville pike and then it becomes wisconsin avenue. it goes right into washington. a little ways up the river it goes straight to baltimore then we have the railroad line that comes straight down here from baltimore and the spur and then two roads that went right to baltimore. there was panic in the streets in baltimore and washington when they heard and, of course, the rumors started nyingful early had gained troops, had about 14,000 troops on july 9th. the rumors were that he had 15, 20, 30, 35,000 troops. washington's -- the command structure was fragmented. there were a lot of generals in washington, d.c.. in fact, general halleck, army

chief of staff at one point said we have plenty here. that was the situation in washington. now, backs down here in richmond, grant when he learned what was happening here did not want to send troops outside of richmond. this is his grand plan to end the war. you can read the telegrams that go back and forth outside of richmond. you can read his memoirs of people who were on his staff and read the letters that they wrote. grant would not send troops and finally he gave in at the last minute and sent two rej jents of the sixth corps. they went to hopewell, virginia, and got on these steamers and went out into the chesapeake bay

and into baltimore harbor and marched to camden station which is now camden yards is now. this was july 9th, 1864. union i intelligence was not very good but one man figured out who the intelligence and more or less what was happening. lew wallace was another interesting character and he was from indiana and 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. he did have the zoab unit before the war. those were the drill teams that dressed up in colorful uniforms. they became the 11th indiana when the war started. he was their leader. he scored an early victory right

after first manassas when the union was looking for heroes and the union press played him up very big and he became a general. that was his high point. his low point was at the battle of shiloh when his regiment got lost the first night. probably not his fault. rough terrain, bad weather, dark, fog of war situation. but grant and halleck were very upset after shiloh. he did fight the second day but they shoved him to the side after that. and his job was, at this point in the war, the commander of the unions middle atlantic department, which was basically his job was military governor of baltimore. well, reading the same intelligence that the union high command got, didn't do anything about, wallace did something about. now, the other thing that helped him here, the head of the b & l railroad, a man named john

garret, had his network and station managers sending tell grahams back saying there's an entire corps of confederate troops headed your way. wallace picked up on this on his own. he was in hot water with grant and halleck. he gathered up about 2800 men, about all he could get, and came down to the western most point of his jurisdiction, which was right here. he set up on the eastern back of the monday knock ka see river. lew wallace, after the war, became a novelist and wrote the most popular memoir which was bon-mur. and after reading these dry memoirs and lots of them and letters and so on and generals and