Ft. Whipple/Ft. Myers

Last Sunday night, my sister, my wife, and I watched Washington's 4th of July fireworks from a hill on Ft. Myers that affords a sweeping view of the city.   This commanding view of Washington and  its Potomac River approaches did not escape the attention of U.S. military engineers as they designed the Virginia side of the Defenses of Washington. Ft. Whipple would be a key component of the Arlington Line.

In 1862, Union officers charged with strengthening the Defenses of Washington recommended construction of "a work on the spur behind Forts Cass and Tilinghast ... to 'see' into the gordes of these works and give important fire upon the high ground in front of the line."  To meet this need, Fort Whipple was constructed the following year and was described as one of the finest of the 68 fortifications that comprised the Defenses of Washington.

Ft. Whipple was located on a ridge along Arlington Heights rising 290 feet above the Potomac River.  
It had a commanding of the rolling Virginia countryside to the west from which an enemy might approach Washington.  :In an era in before environmental impact studies, Union efforts to establish clear fields fire resulted in extensive deforestation along Arlington Heights.  The fort's water needs were provided by an onsite spring.