Fort Foote

Fort Foote
Prince George's County, Maryland
This drawing of Fort Foote shows a view of the fort looking from above the Potomac River. Much of the interior buildings can be distinguished, as can the two sites of the Rodman guns mounted at the fort.
Fort Foote
Coordinates	38°46′00″N 77°01′40″W / 38.7667°N 77.0278°W / 38.7667; -77.0278Coordinates: 38°46′00″N 77°01′40″W / 38.7667°N 77.0278°W / 38.7667; -77.0278
Type	Earthwork fort
Site information
Owner	U.S. National Park Service
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	Partially preserved, multiple guns at site
Site history
Built	1863
Built by	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
In use	1863–1878
Materials	Earth, timber
Battles/wars	American Civil War
Garrison information
Garrison	9th New York Heavy Artillery, others

Fort Foote was an American Civil War-era wood and earthwork fort that composed a portion of the wartime defenses of Washington, D.C., by helping defend the Potomac River approach to the city. It operated from 1863 to 1878, when the post was abandoned, and was used only briefly during the First and Second World Wars. Today, the fort is operated as Fort Foote Park, which is maintained by the U.S. National Park Service as part of the National Capital Parks-East system. The area's mailing address is Fort Washington, MD.

In the opening days of the American Civil War, the defenses of Washington D.C. were primarily concerned with an overland attack on the capital city of the United States. In 1861, the Arlington Line was constructed to help defend the city from attack via the direct, Virginia approach. Additional forts were constructed on the city's northern approaches to defend against any attacks from Maryland. At sea, however, only Fort Washington, a fort originally built to defend the city in the War of 1812 blocked the approach along the Potomac River.

Fort Washington's vulnerability was highlighted in the 1862 clash of the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia, two wholly ironclad ships. Although the Virginia never attacked Union ships again, Washingtonians were concerned that an ironclad similar to the Virginia might be able to slip past the isolated guns of Fort Washington and begin a bombardment of the city. They were also concerned with the potential intervention of European nations on the side of the Confederacy, possibly adding a major naval threat to the city. A commission appointed by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to examine the defenses of Washington came to the conclusion that although sufficient defensive works had been constructed in order to defend the city from land attack, the city was still vulnerable to attack from the water.