Entrance Gate to Fort Ward

Completed in May 1865, the entrance gate to Fort Ward provided the only access to the fort’s interior. Its decorative details included stands of cannonballs and the castle insignia of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which designed and supervised construction of the Defenses of Washington. The current gate is a reconstruction based on the original Corps of Engineers drawing. A ditch, or dry moat, surrounded the entire fort, and the earthen walls rose approximately 20 feet from the bottom of the ditch to the arch of the gate. The walls were 12 to 14 feet thick and could absorb artillery fire. Behind the fort, near the present-day museum, stood officers’ huts, soldiers’ barracks, and a mess hall built in a board-and-batten style with decorative trim typical of the period. Throughout the war, companies of the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery and units from New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio manned Fort Ward. The fort could accommodate approximately 1,200 soldiers, although records indicate that only 300 to 400 men were stationed there at one time.

Alexandria, Virginia · United States