V. Civil War Resources

1861 to 1865

  • 5.01 Map of forts and roads in 1865
  • 5.02 Panoramic view of Washington (full & section)
  • 5.03 Panoramic seat of war (full & section)
  • 5.04 Closer view of Aqueduct Bridge
  • 5.05 Rear entrance, Fort Corcoran
  • 5.06 Guard House and Guard, 107th U.S. Colored Infantry Fort Corcoran
  • 5.07 Officers’ of 107th U.S. Colored Infantry at Fort Corcoran
  • 5.08 Band of 107th U.S. Colored Infantry at Fort Corcoran
  • 5.09 Soldiers with 24-pdr. siege gun on wooden barbette carriage at Fort Corcoran
  • 5.10 Officers of Company F, 2d New York Artillery at Fort C.F. Smith]
  • 5.11 Gun crew of Company K, 2d New York Artillery, in Fort C.F. Smith
  • 5.12 Big gun at Fort Woodbury
  • 5.13 Batteries in Fort No. 2 Fort Whipple
  • 5.14 Arlington House
  • 5.15 Arlington House, barns and soldiers’ barracks
  • 5.16 Field of the Dead
  • 5.17 The Long Bridge over the Potomac seen from the city
  • 5.18 Long Bridge and Washington, from Virginia shore
  • 5.19 Fort Richardson
  • 5.20 Convalescent camp
  • 5.21 A ward in hospital at convalescent camp
  • 5.22 4-Mile Run Valley
  • 5.23 Roach’s Mills
  • 5.24 Outskirts of Alexandria
  • 5.25 Building stockade, Alexandria
  • 5.26 Alexandria
  • 5.27 Fort Ellsworth
  • 5.28 Fairfax Seminary
  • 5.29 Bailey’s Cross Roads
  • 5.30 Rebel works beyond Munsons Hill
  • 5.31 Upton’s Hill
  • 5.32 Taylor’s Tavern, near Falls Church

Source 5.01: United States War Department. Engineer Bureau, Richard Delafield, and United States Government Printing Office. Defenses of Washington, extract of military map of N.E. Virginia: showing forts and roads [1865]. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 1891?] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

From the LOC’s metadata for S5.01 it appears this map was printed after 1865. However, if you compare this map to these two maps created in the 1860s, <https://www.loc.gov/item/91685689/> and <https://www.loc.gov/item/2005625089/>, the roads likely are accurate for the time.

If your pacing allows you to spend time on it, you could give each student or pair of students a copy of the map (S5.01), and then, project S5.02-32. With each photograph, you could announce where the photo was taken and allow students to find the location on their map, taking them on a tour of the area during the Civil War.  It is important to help students understand that the area that now encompasses Arlington was part of Alexandria during the Civil War.

Source 5.02: Magnus, Charles. Panoramic view of the fortifications around Washington. [New York, Chs. Magnus, 1861?] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Source 5.03: Bohn, Casimir, and E. Sachse & Co. District of Columbia and the seat of war on the Potomac. [Washington, D.C.: C. Bohn, 186-?] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.

Resources grouped by location in Arlington

Aqueduct Bridge

Fort Corcoran

Fort C.F. Smith

Fort Woodbury

Fort Whipple

Arlington House

Long Bridge

Fort Richardson Va

Convalescent camp

This convalescent camp (S5.20) was the second built in Civil War Alexandria, which included the county now called Arlington. This convalescent camp was located in the area south of Fort Richardson that is now the land of the Army Navy Country Club. More background information is available here. In this camp soldiers started a newspaper you can read here.

Area Landmarks

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