Battery Rodgers

Battery Rodgers
Alexandria, Virginia
The layout of Battery Rodgers as it existed during the Civil War. Gun emplacements can be seen at the center bottom of the picture, while the remainder of the battery complex is located in the center.
Battery Rodgers
Coordinates	38°47′43″N 77°02′36″W / 38.795167°N 77.0433°W / 38.795167; -77.0433
Site information
Condition	demolished
Site history
Built	1863 (1863)
In use	1863-1865
Materials	earth

Battery Rodgers was a gun emplacement that composed a portion of the American Civil War defenses of the American capital city of Washington, D.C.

Construction

Built in 1863, Battery Rodgers was constructed with the ability to interdict sea traffic sailing up the Potomac River to Washington. From its position on a 28-foot high cliff overlooking Battery Cove, it was positioned with a clear view of fire and was ably suited to guarding the southern Potomac River and Accotink Road (Fort Hunt Rd.) approaches to Washington. The battery was named for George W. Rodgers, a captain in the Union Navy who was killed during an attack on Fort Wagner.^[1]

It was 185 feet long with sides of 60 and 80 feet.^[2] During the war, the battery mounted one 6.4 inch (100 pounder) Parrott rifle and one 15-inch Rodman Gun, one of the largest guns in the world at that time. The guns were supplied by two adjacent powder magazines, and the battery complex included a hospital, barracks, mess hall, and prison. It was garrisoned by 6 commissioned officers, 1 ordnance sergeant, and 256 men. Following the conclusion of the war, the Battery was disbanded and its guns were removed to other locations in Washington. The land on which the battery rested was sold soon afterward, due in no small part to its location in the center of Alexandria, Virginia.

Today, no portion of the battery still stands, but it is memorialized by a small marker in the town of Alexandria, at the intersection of South Lee Street and Green Street and the corner of Jones Point Park. The Rodman gun used at the battery was moved across the Potomac to Fort Foote, and can still be seen there today.

View of Battery Rodgers with 8-inch (200-pdr) Parrott rifle in front and 15-inch Rodman gun behind.
A 15-inch Rodman gun in Battery Rodgers.
Another view of Battery Rodgers showing the 8-inch (200-pdr) Parrott rifle and the 15-inch Rodman gun.
One of the dug-in ammunition magazines at Battery Rodgers.
The site of Battery Rodgers in 2009

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battery Rodgers.

References

"Out of the Attic: Battery Rodgers". The Alexandria Times. Alexandria, VA. 3 June 2010.
Cooling III, Benjamin Franklin; Owen II, Walton H. (6 October 2009). Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6307-1.
Howe, A.P. (1891). "Report from Headquarters, Inspector of Artillery, May 17, 1864.". The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. XXXVI (II): 883–897. Retrieved 2007-11-25.

External links

American Civil War Defenses of Washington, D.C.

Departments	Department of the East Department of Washington, D.C. Department of the Potomac Military District of Washington Department of the Rappahanock Defenses of Washington, D.C. Department of Washington

Union Army Forces	Army of the Potomac XXII Corps

Potomac Approaches	Fort Washington Fort Foote Battery Rodgers

Arlington Line	Fort Willard Fort O'Rourke Fort Weed Fort Farnsworth Fort Lyon Fort Ellsworth Fort Williams Fort Worth Fort Ward Battery Garesche Fort Reynolds Fort Barnard Fort Berry Fort Richardson Fort Albany Fort Scott Fort Runyon Fort Jackson Fort Craig Fort McPherson Fort Tillinghast Fort Cass Fort Whipple Fort Woodbury Fort Morton Fort Corcoran Fort Haggerty Fort Bennett Fort Strong Fort C. F. Smith Fort Munson Fort Ramsey Fort Buffalo Fort Taylor Fort Ethan Allen Fort Marcy

Northwest Quadrant	Battery Kemble Battery Vermont Battery Alexander Fort Sumner (MD) Fort Sumner (VA) Fort Mansfield Fort Gaines Fort Simmons Fort Bayard Fort Reno Fort Kearny Fort DeRussy Fort Stevens

Northeast Quadrant	Fort Slocum Fort Totten Fort Slemmer Fort Bunker Hill Fort Saratoga Fort Thayer Fort Lincoln Fort Mahan

Eastern Branch	Fort Chaplin Fort Meigs Fort Dupont Fort Saratoga Fort Davis Fort Baker Fort Wagner Fort Ricketts Fort Stanton Fort Snyder Fort Carroll Fort Greble

National Park Service (Web) Map of defenses in 1865

Coordinates: 38°47.71′N 77°2.598′W / 38.79517°N 77.043300°W / 38.79517; -77.043300

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