Fort Harrison served as one of the principal works in Richmond's defenses during the Civil War. On 29 Sept. 1864, Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the James launched a two-pronged attack against Richmond's defenses as Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had ordered. While African American regiments assaulted Confederate positions below New Market Heights to the east, Maj. Gen. Edward O. C. Ord led part of XVIII Corps against Fort Harrison, located south of here. Captured after heavy resistance, the fort then became a Union stronghold. The next day, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee personally supervised several fierce counterattacks to regain the position, but the Federals held on.
