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Battery Carroll and Fort Greble were two
defense sites north of the Potomac that guarded the gateway to Washington
during the Civil War. Their guns not only swept the Potomac opposite
Alexandria, standing ready to prevent attack on the Washington Arsenal and
Navy Yard, but also the ravines of Oxon Run giving access to the roads
leading to Washington. The two
sites were located on densely wooded land, thereby providing sufficient
lumber for the construction of the Fort Greble. Their plateau locations
enabled them to lay down a withering cross-fire between them. To deter the
possible advance of the enemy through the wooded hills surrounding the
sites, civilian construction gangs cleared paths which could be raked with
guns of the forts.
Construction work for Fort Greble was
started in September 1861 but was not completed until the second half of
1864. Fort Greble was never called upon to play a major role in the war,
but did provide training ground for various units prior to their
commitment in many cases of battle. The irregular, octagonal shape of Fort
Greble was built to conform to the terrain and the areas it defended.
When Congress ordered the closing of the
defenses, Fort Greble was offered to Thomas W. Berry who held the property
in trust for heirs "unknown." |
