Fortifications

Along a trail in Rock Creek Park near Military Rd and Oregon Ave NW lie the well preserved but unrestored earthworks of Fort DeRussy. A parapet of high earth mounds with openings where guns were mounted and a deep ditch are easily identified. Rifle pits also extend out in both directions. There is evidence of where the powder magazines were located. Built by men of the 4th New York Heavy Artillery on the farm of Bernard S. Swat, it is probably named for Brigadier General Rene Edward DeRussy, a former superintendent of West Point and well-known engineering officer.

Because of its proximity to the waters of Rock Creek and nearby farms, Fort DeRussy was considered a good posting and the garrison’s troops often entertained visitors from Washington City. Men of the 31st New Jersey worked on improving Military Road near the fort in the fall of 1862, prompting Major Robert R. Honeyman to remark “This is the wildest and most romantic country you were ever in…The woods are full of game and the streams stocked with fish.”

During the Battle of Fort Stevens, the fort’s 100-pound Parrott rifle rained 32 shells on the advancing Confederate troops and their supply train at a distance of more than 4,200 yards. Smaller caliber cannons peppered Early’s troops advancing on Fort Stevens. Soon after the war, the land reverted to civilian ownership. Later, its inclusion in Rock Creek Park, maintained by the National Park Service, helped to preserve the fort‘s remains.