Fort Bunker Hill Informations

Fort Bunker Hill was one of seven temporary earthwork forts part of the Civil War Defenses of Washington, D.C., during the Civil War built in the Northeast quadrant of the city at the beginning of the Civil War by the Union Army to protect the city from the Confederate Army. From west to east, the forts were as follow: Fort Slocum, Fort Totten, Fort Slemmer, Fort Bunker Hill, Fort Saratoga, Fort Thayer and Fort Lincoln.. Unlike other forts, today very little remains of the structure.

The fort was built in the fall of 1861 by soldiers from the 11th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry on land owned by Henry Quinn and was named after the Battle of Bunker Hill of 1775 in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts. It was located between Fort Slemmer and Fort Saratoga and was intended to assist in the defense of the northeast approaches to Washington between Fort Totten and Fort Lincoln.

Company F of the 11th Vermont Infantry Regiment was assigned to Fort Bunker Hill to assist in the defense of the city until November 17, 1862. Thirteen guns were mounted in the rectangular-shaped fort, which operated until the conclusion of hostilities in 1865.

The following armament was assigned to Fort Bunker Hill:

The following troops garrisoned at Fort Bunker Hill:

A supporting field battery stood a few yards to the North.

The site of the fort is bounded by 14th, Otis, 13th, and Perry Streets in Northeast DC. Today, little remains of the fort, and the site is maintained by the National Park Service.

A marker by the National Park Service commemorates the Fort:

A nearby road was named Bunker Hill Road after the fort, but it was later renamed Michigan Avenue.

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