When Lincoln stood in the line of fire

Ft Stevens 1 and Monocacy prologue

Starting a blog post like this after a 2 days of living history, conversations at 2 connected but vastly different landscapes and narratives is a feat that ‘gives me pause’. Pause to consider the many personal stories that are arrayed on each battlefield as well as the implications of the carnage and heroism that all of these ‘sacred’ places bring to mind. Though my relatives came well after the civil war, as an avowed northerner  without history or personal family stories related to these battles, I find that being a listening post and witness is a role that is satisfying.

Ft. Stevens #1

Walking onto the small corner field that is the remnant and replica of the Ft. Stevens battlefield, I see a man dressed in khaki vest, floppy canvas hat, both covered with buttons and ribbons. He walks past me and in an instant of curiosity I ask him my, by now, standard question “What is your relationship to this event?”  He turns to face me with eager and upright attention to answer proudly ‘My uncle (great uncle?) fought at Monocacy.”

 He continues telling me that while attending the Monocacy events during the week he was asked to read some of the names of the fallen during the formal commemoration. And there was his relatives name on the list. “I got to read my relatives name,” he poured out to me almost shaking, and I, almost in tears. In fact, he told me the story two times over as if he couldn’t believe it himself. “So I had to come down here today to see where the battle ended”.

The reconstructed Ft is small lot on the corner of Piney Branch Road and 13^th Street near Georgia Ave. These are all streets and intersections that I have crossed 100s of times in my life on the way to sites in the heart of Washington only a few miles down the road. Yet, "Who knew?" (not the first or last time I will say these words) and also, why didn’t anyone ever tell us these things when we were in school?:

• That the capital was nearly breached, which could have led to a very different outcome to the war (Lincoln being defeated, a treaty with the South on their terms, foreign powers recognizing the south)

• That Lincoln was in the line of fire and his surgeon who sat 3 feet away was shot .

• That sharpshooters were in trees where the current Walter Reed hospital stands a mile away

• That Washington was the most heavily fortified city in the world at the time, yet had only the “Invalid Corps’ and mustered clerks and other office workers to defend the city.

• And that just up the road 40 miles north was a significant battle that set the stage for the skirmish at Ft. Stevens