Virginia Forts

American Forts: East

VIRGINIA

Last Update: 13/JUNE/2020

Compiled by Pete Payette - Š2020 American Forts Network

Fort George (2)
(1755 ?), Leesburg
A very vague reference to a post of this name is made for this area, located at or near a tavern operated by Nicholas Minor.

Civil War Defenses of Leesburg
(Ball's Bluff Battlefield Regional Park)
(1861 - 1862), Leesburg
Fort Evans, a CSA rectangular work located two miles east of town overlooking Edwards' Ferry. It was later occupied by the Union in March - April 1862. Still exists on the grounds of the Rehau Company at 1501 Edwards' Ferry Road (group tours by appointment). The Battle of Ball's Bluff occurred near here in October 1861. State marker on US 15.
Fort Beauregard (1), a CSA work located two miles southeast of town on Tuscarora Creek, about one and one-half miles southwest of Fort Evans. Built after the Battle of Ball's Bluff, it was later occupied by the Union in March - April 1862. Site located in the gated Beauregard Estates subdivision. A small portion may still exist on top of the hill encircled by Fortress Circle and Beauregard Drive.
Fort Johnston, a CSA star fort located one and one-half miles west of town on Catoctin Mountain, on the north side of present VA 7. Built after the Battle of Ball's Bluff, it was later occupied and renamed Fort Geary by the Union in March - April 1862. Traces still exist on private property.
Confederate forces had retaken control of the area by September 1862, but the town changed hands several more times before the end of the war. It is unclear if the three forts saw continued use.

Traces of CSA trenches still exist in Ball's Bluff Park. A 300-foot long, six-foot deep CSA trench also exists on private property spanning Edwards' Ferry Road. About 70 yards of the so-called Masked Battery still exists on Edwards' Ferry Road at Cattail Branch Creek.

Bacon's Fort
(1755 - unknown), Philomont
A VA colonial militia defense on Colchester Road, possibly built by a Lt. John Bacon. It was used as a supply base on the wagon road between Winchester and Alexandria.

Guilford Signal Station
(Claude Moore Park - Lanesville Heritage Area)
(1862 - 1864), Sterling
A Union signal station. Marker at scenic overlook along the Little Stoney Mountain nature trail.

(For Defenses of Alexandria and Washington, DC please see page 2)

Civil War Defenses of Centreville
(1861 - 1863), Centreville
The Confederates began fortifying the town before the First Battle of Manassas (July 1861). Centreville Fort, a ten-gun circular fort with extensive earthworks, was built on "Artillery Hill" soon after the battle. Carved and blackened trees were used to resemble cannons (Quaker Guns) in most of the emplacements. "Artillery Hill" was destroyed and levelled in 1943, now the site of Alto Plaza Restaurant (5800 Old Centreville Road). The Union later intermittently occupied the town until September 1861. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia used the area as part of the winter encampment of October 1861 to March 1862, building six additional earthen redoubts and five miles of earthwork trenches and batteries around the town and towards Union Mills to the south. Camp Harman and Camp Strange were two of the named camp sites of the area. A known camp site was concentrated in the area now covered by the Newgate Shopping Center. A small unnamed fort (no remains) was located at the Centre Square Business Center (5700 Centre Square Drive) off Braddock Road. Fort Johnson (1), once located on the south side of Lee Highway (US 29), was destroyed before 1929 and is now the site of Pickwick Shopping Center. Union troops again reoccupied some of the works after the Second Battle of Manassas (August 1862) to cover their withdrawal to the Washington Defenses, and yet again in October 1863 during the Bristoe Station campaign. State marker at the Centreville Regional Library (14200 St. Germain Drive) at St. Germain Drive and Machen Road.

Component parcels of Historic Centreville Park (county park) include: Mount Gilead Battery (still extant) located on General Johnston Place in Mount Gilead Village, adjacent to Historic Mount Gilead (5634 Mount Gilead Road) along Braddock and Mount Gilead Roads; West Fort (2) (aka Chantilly Road Redoubt) (still extant) on Lawrence Mill Lane at Wharton Lane; Middle Fort (degraded remnants) located at the Covered Way Trail access at 5606-5608 Pickwick Road in the Walney Glen neighborhood ; and Apex Fort (seven guns) (still extant) located at the Covered Way Trail access at 13706-13708 Shelburne Street.

Two earthwork batteries (four and five guns) are still extant on Stone Road at Battery Ridge Lane in the Centre Heights area.

The Confederate Fortifications Historic Site (county park) (formerly Union Mills Historic Site) is located adjacent to Westfields Golf Club near Union Mills, about 1.5 miles northwest of the former village, which consists of extant works that protected the McLean's Ford crossing of Bull Run. Component parcels of the park include the remnants of the 1861 - 1862 winter camp Camp Early, Battery Hill Redoubt (nine guns), the so-called "A" Fort (for its shape), and an old road trace to McLean's Ford. Park access (currently restricted to guided tours) is via a trailhead on Balmoral Greens Avenue near Cannon Fort Drive.

Mitchell's Ford Earthworks
(1861 - 1862), near Manassas Park
CSA earthworks on the south side of Bull Run along Old Centreville Road that protected the railroad crossing. Private property. Marker at Yorkshire Elementary School at corner of Yorkshire Lane and Old Centreville Road.

Camp Carondelet
(1861 - 1862), Manassas Park
CSA winter encampment for Louisiana troops, site with marker located in a wooded lot at the end of Cougar Court, near Manassas Park Elementary School.

Signal Hill (1)
(1861 - 1863), near Manassas
A CSA signal station, also known as Wilcoxen Signal Station, located on Signal View Drive, across from the entrance to Signal Bay Waterpark, just east of the city limits. The hill was treeless at the time, foregoing the need for a tower, which offered excellent sight lines in all directions. Site still exists, with monument and marker. Abandoned in March 1862, and used by the Union afterwards in August 1862 and October 1863. This was the location of the first use of the semaphone (wigwag flag) signalling system during combat, during the Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) in July 1861.

Three other signal stations were set up by the Confederates before the First Battle of Manassas, including Artillery Hill in Centreville (abandoned as Union troops advanced through); Wilmer McLean's house "Yorkshire" (south of McLean's Ford) which was used as CS field Headquarters by General P.G.T. Beauregard; and the Van Pelt Signal Station at the Stone Bridge.

Civil War Defenses of Manassas
(Manassas Museum System)
(1861 - 1864), Manassas
Union Cannon Branch Fort (1864) is preserved along the railroad on the western side of town (on a knoll above Cannon Branch Creek near the airport, at 10611 Gateway Blvd.).

Confederate Mayfield Fort has been reconstructed along the railroad on the eastern side of town (at 8401 Quarry Road). This is the last remaining of anywhere from eleven to seventeen Confederate forts and redoubts (depending on the source) that protected this important railroad junction, all built beginning in May 1861. The area was abandoned by the Confederates in March 1862. Held by the Union in October 1863 and later through 1864. The town was later developed around the railroad junction beginning in the 1870's.
Fort Beauregard (2) was once located near the vicinity of Fort Drive and Portner Ave.. It was reoccupied briefly by Confederate troops in August 1862 during the skirmish around Bull Run Bridge (part of the Second Manassas campaign). It was leveled for development in the 1960's (now the site of Battlefield Ford Commercial Truck Center and the adjacent Bowl America Manassas).

CSA Camp Pickens (1861) was the main troop encampment prior to the First Battle of Manassas (July 1861). Most of the present-day Manassas Historic District encompases the site of the former encampment grounds. The initial defensive entrenchments here were armed with twenty-two 32-pounder naval guns, in nine separate emplacements, that were earlier captured at Norfolk.
CSA Camp Barton (1861) undetermined location.
Of interest nearby is Manassas National Battlefield Park.

Bristoe Station
(1863 - 1864), Bristow
Two Union stockades protected the railroad bridge over Broad Run, both about 80 by 25 feet.

The Battle of Bristoe Station was fought in October 1863. Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park is at 10708 Bristow Road.

Kettle Run Stockade
(1864), near Nokesville
A Union stockaded encampment protected the railroad bridge over Kettle Run. A battle was fought here earlier in August 1862. Marker located at corner of Nokesville Road (VA 28) and Aden Road.

Fort Nelson (3)
(1863 - 1864), Warrenton
A Union stockaded encampment.

Tanxsnitania
(c. 1600), Fauquier White Sulphur Springs
A major Manahoac Indian town noted on John Smith's map of 1608. Probable site located at the river bend just upstream from the Springs Road bridge (County Rt. 802). Unknown if palisaded. The Manahoacs here relocated to Manakin Town on the James River in 1654, after constant raids by northern Iroquois Indians (see page 9).

Rappahannock Station
(1862 - 1864), Remington
Two CSA two-gun redoubts (1862) with connecting earthworks were located on the north bank of the river upstream of the railroad bridge. They were captured by the Union in November 1863. Traces of one redoubt may still exist, between present US 29 Business and the railroad. A Union stockaded encampment was then built near town in the spring of 1864. (To the north of here is a Fort Union Drive.) On the south bank of the river in Culpeper County the Union built two redoubts and a blockhouse to protect the railroad crossing.

Kelly's Ford Earthworks
(1863), Kelly's Ford
Union rifle pits and trench lines still exist along the north side of the Rappahannock River. Traces of CSA earthworks still exist on the south side of the river, located on the grounds of the Inn at Kelly's Ford. Scene of battles in March, June, and November 1863.

Germantown Fort
(1719 - 1721 ?), Germantown
A palisaded settlement of 12 German families that moved away from Fort Germanna (see page 3). Site located along Licking Run. A land grant was issued to them in 1724 by Thomas Fairfax.

Catlett Station
(1864), Catlett
A Union stockaded encampment protected the railroad bridge over Cedar Run.

Brent Town Fort
(1687 - 1694 ?), near Sowego
A blockhouse located on the south side of Town Run at the settlement established by George Brent. Also called Brenton. The settlement failed after the death of Brent in 1694.

Camp Bally
(1918), near Colchester
A U.S. Army 300-man tent camp housing the 28th Engineer Regiment (Quarry), located on the farmland of John McElroy. Also known as Camp McElroy. Active from April to August 1918, the regiment trained in all aspects of rock quarry operations at the nearby Lorton Workhouse at the old Occoquan Quarry for building roads and railroad beds before shipping out to France.

White House Point Battery
(1814), Fort Belvoir
A temporary U.S. Naval battery with 13 guns and trenchworks, set up to harrass the British fleet sailing downriver after attacking Alexandria in September 1814. Now called Whitestone Point. (see also Indian Head Battery in MARYLAND)

Fort Belvoir (U.S. Military Reservation)
(1918 - present), Fort Belvoir FORT WIKI
An Army Corps of Engineers training camp and replacement center, later a demobilization center. Originally named Camp Humphreys (2). Renamed Fort Humphreys in 1922. Renamed again in 1935. A four-gun 120mm AA battery was located on post (Gum Springs) in 1951 - 1958. The U.S. Army Engineer School was located here from 1918 until 1988 before transferring to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The U.S. Army Engineer Museum was located here until 1989 before also transferring to Fort Leonard Wood. Future site of the National Museum of the U.S. Army. State marker on US 1. On the post reservation is the archaeological site of "Belvoir", William Fairfax's manor estate built in 1741. It was burned in 1783.

Neabsco Creek Encampment
(1861 - 1862), Woodbridge
CSA fortified winter camp sites located along Neabsco Creek. Marker located at the Prince William County Government Building at 15941 Donald Curtis Drive. Camp Wigfall was a site used by Texas infantry troops.

Freestone Point Battery
(Leesylvania State Park)
(1861), near Woodbridge
A well-preserved CSA four-gun battery on the shore of the Potomac River, located along a short walking trail in the park. This was mainly a decoy battery used to mask the presence of the larger Cockpit Point Battery to the south. The park's visitor center has a small museum with artifacts and history of the site. Admission fee.

Cockpit Point Battery
(Cockpit Point Battlefield Heritage Park)
(1861 - 1862), Dumfries
A CSA work located halfway between Freestone Point and Quantico, it consisted of six guns (one heavy gun) in three distinct batteries, a powder magazine, and rear-facing rifle pits, on top of a 75-foot high cliff known as "Possum Nose". The earthworks and the powder magazine still remain in good shape. Some hut sites can also still be found. The 16-acre site was recently acquired by the Prince William County Historic Preservation Division. Marker on Cockpit Point Road. A field battery was located on the actual geographic Cockpit Point, but that site was destroyed in the 1970's for a landfill project.

Camp Quantico
(1861 - 1862), near Dumfries
A CSA encampment (mostly Texas infantry) on Quantico Creek just east of town. Marker located at William's Ordinary (1765) in town, at 17674 Main Street, which was used as the local headquarters for the area encampments.

Other CSA encampments located in the vicinity included Camp Law (Alabama infantry) and Camp Fisher (North Carolina infantry).

Civil War Defenses of Quantico
(1861 - 1862), Quantico
Shipping Point Battery, actually two separate batteries with a total of 11 or 12 guns, was located at the site of the old Quantico Naval Hospital (1939) (aka Hospital Point). No remains. Site now the USMC Systems Command complex.
Evansport Battery, located downtown, was actually two adjacent batteries on the river bank, and another 400 yards inland on Waller (Rising) Hill protected with several rifle pits. Two large earth-covered magazines were also located to the rear of Waller Hill. No remains. A marker and gun display (2008) are on Waller Hill. The old Quantico Hotel was built here in 1871, became the USMC Waller Hall Officers' Club in 1918, closed in 1968 and was razed in 1970.
Chopawamsic Battery was located at the mouth of Chopawamsic Creek. No remains. Camp Chopawamsic was also here. The mouth of Chopawamsic Creek was rerouted in 1930-31 due to the construction of the Quantico MCAF runway (Turner Field). A CSA field battery was located where the creek now empties to the Potomac River.
All works were destroyed and abandoned by the Confederates in March 1862.

CSA encampments located at or in the vicinity of Evansport included Camp Holmes (Arkansas and North Carolina infantry), Camp French (Georgia infantry), and Camp Dave Curran (North Carolina infantry). Various other infantry and cavalry troops from Florida, Tennessee, Maryland, and Virginia also occupied several other unnamed encampment sites and picket posts.

Quantico Marine Corps Base (U.S. Military Reservation)
(History of Quantico MCB)
(1917 - present), Quantico
Originally established as Quantico Marine Barracks, renamed in 1948 to Quantico Marine Corps School, renamed again in 1968 as Quantico MCB. The original post was greatly expanded by 50,000 additional acres in 1942. The post is a major training command where many wartime fighting techniques and concepts have been developed. On post is the USMC Command and Staff College, the Marine Corps University, the Marine Corps War College, the USMC Officer Candidate School, and other various schools. Turner Field was built in 1931, replacing the smaller Brown Field from 1919. It was renamed Quantico Marine Corps Air Facility in 1941. Naval seaplanes were also based here before WWII. Post WWII training camps located within the reservation included Camp Goettge and Camp Upshur (both 1950), and Camp Onville (1951) (renamed Camp Barrett in 1952). The F.B.I. Academy and forensics laboratory has been located on post since 1939, and the D.E.A. Training Academy was located here in 1999. The National Museum of the Marine Corps (2006) is located off post on US 1, which replaced the former Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum on post that closed in 2002.

Camp Clifton
(1861 - 1862), near Mountjoy Store
A CSA winter camp used by Virginia infantry troops for the defense of Aquia Landing to the south, located at and around the old Clifton Church about one mile from the present-day intersection of Stafford County Rts. 611 and 635.

Aquia Creek Defenses
(Aquia Landing Park)
(1861 - 1863), near Aquia Landing
Confederate defenses built here in 1861 included:
Naval Battery #1 (originally four guns, later seven guns) at Aquia Landing, it was the very first Confederate fortification built in Virginia after hostilities broke out in April 1861. It was built to cover the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad terminus at the steamboat landing, not the ship channel in the Potomac River. At least two of the original guns came from captured stores at the Norfolk Navy Yard. The first engagement with Union ships occurred in May 1861. No remains.
Walker's Battery was on a hill one mile south of the boat landing, consisting of four rifled field guns. Took part in the May 1861 engagement. The guns were relocated to Brent's Point in June 1861. Most likely reused by the Union in 1863. Still exists, marked on trail off of Brooke Road at Patawomeck Band Memorial Park.
Brent's Point Battery (four field guns) was across Aquia Creek from the boat landing. Built in June 1861. Remnants still exist on private property.
Fort McLean was nearby on the bluff west of the boat landing, originally built in June 1861. Reused/reworked by the Union in February 1863 (Redoubt #2(a)). Possibly named by the Union (?). Still exists on private property near the western end of Brooke Ridge Lane.
Windmill (Marlborough) Point Battery (five guns) a field battery. No remains.
Camp Gary (1861) at Aquia Landing.
Aquia Landing was abandoned in March 1862 to Union forces. The first use of nautical mines (torpedoes) in the Civil War occurred here in July 1861 by the CSA.

Union forts built here in February 1863:
Redoubt #1 a 60-foot square moated work (for 100 men) (no guns) on Aquia Creek northwest of the depot, located off of Payne's Lane. Private property. The moat was infilled during the 1950's, making the site unrecognizeable.
Redoubt #2(b) (aka Courthouse Road Fort) (two guns) a 95-foot square moated two-gun work (for 200 men) at the eastern end of present-day County Rt. 630 (Courthouse Road) on Old Fort Lane. Still exists in good condition on private property.
Redoubt #3 a 50-foot square moated work (for 100 men) on Rose Hill. Three guns were emplaced outside the fort. Destroyed in 2005. Stone monument erected in 2006, located on Sentinel Ridge Lane.
A Union winter encampment site for an 800-man reserve force (1862 - 1863) was located between Redoubt #2(b) and the depot. Hutment traces still remain in the Brooke Ridge neighborhood.
Camp Bramhall (1863) was "near" Aquia Landing.
Camp Smith (1) (1863) was "near" Stafford Court House.
Windmill Point General Hospital (1863) was located at Marlborough Point.
Aquia Landing became a major Union supply depot in 1862 - 1863 until the Gettysburg campaign forced its abandonment in June 1863. The Aquia Landing Depot site is now a Stafford County park and beach. The actual battery sites are on private property nearby.

(some info provided courtesy of Thomas Mountz)

Potomac Creek Archaeological Site
(1300 - 1600), near Marlboro Point
A Late Woodland Period palisaded Potomeck Indian town located at Indian Point where Accokeek and Potomac Creeks converge. Site was excavated in 1965. Patawomeck, the later town that was noted on John Smith's map of 1608, was nearby, but that site has been almost completely eroded away. Pocahontas was kidnapped here by Samuel Argall in 1613, and brought back to Jamestown by ship. The town was already abandoned (1615 ?) before white settlement began in the area in 1635.

Camp Maury
(1861), Brooke
A CSA training camp.

Brooke Station Fort
(1863), Brooke
A Union 75-foot square moated work. Possibly still exists (?) on private property.

Accokeek Creek Bridge
(1863), near Brooke
A Union 30-foot square redoubt (for 100 men) (two guns) was on the high ground protecting the railroad bridge over the creek. A smaller redoubt (for 25 men) was at the other end of the bridge.

Accokeek Creek Encampment
(Stafford Civil War Park)
(1862 - 1863), near Brooke
A Union winter encampment area south of Accokeek Creek west of the village. Three extant Union earthwork batteries (built February 1863) and two log-hut encampment sites are located on a 25-acre site within the present-day Stafford County park on Mount Hope Church Road. Battery One is 248-feet long with two gun platforms and a nine-foot pit that was possibly a blockhouse or magazine, surrounded by a zig-zag trench and rifle pits. Battery Two is 210-feet long and possibly held four guns. Battery Three was a large six-gun work with a dug-in blockhouse/magazine. A small portion of Battery Four also exists, but is outside the present park boundary. Well-preserved traces of a pine-log corduroy road are also extant within the park.

Potomac Creek Bridge
(Potomac Creek Bridge Historic Site)
(1863), Daffan
The Union protected the vital Potomac Creek railroad bridge with a 50-foot square infantry redoubt (for 75 men) on the high ground, a two-gun five-sided redoubt about 40 yards long (for 75 men) on the lower ground, a 16-foot square blockhouse (for 30 men) on the north bank of the creek, a semi-circular earthwork to cover the blockhouse (still exists, private property), and a stockade (for 50 men) toward the river at the south end of the bridge. Marker and the southern stone bridge abutments are located in a small park on Leland Road. Winter encampment sites (1862 - 1863) were (are ?) also located in the vicinity.

Camp Sickles (1863) was "near" the Potomac Creek Bridge.

Waugh Point Batteries
(1862), Waugh Point
Two CSA earthwork batteries covering the entrance to Potomac Creek, located on the south shore opposite Indian Point.

Potomac Creek Battery
(1861), near Belvedere Beach
A CSA shore battery on the eastern side of Passapatanzy Creek, covering Fooke's Landing and the entrance to Potomac Creek.

Belle Plain Encampment
(1862 - 1863, 1864), Belle Plain
A Union winter encampment area around Belle Plain Landing on Potomac Creek, and extended east into King George County to Waugh Point. Named camp sites included Camp Isabella and Camp Way (1863).

A supply depot was established in May 1864 at Belle Plain Landing during the Wilderness-Spotsylvania campaign, but it was soon abandoned in favor of a new depot at City Point on the James River as the Union forces moved south towards Richmond and Petersburg.

White Oak Encampment
(1862 - 1863), White Oak
A large Union winter encampment area, part of which was known as Camp Seldon (1863). Of interest here is the White Oak Museum at 985 White Oak Road, which has a reconstruction of the crude log huts, and artifacts and exhibits of all the known military encampments of the area. Admission fee.

Camp Cary
(1861), near Chatham Heights
A CSA training camp near Claiborne's Run, between present-day Ferry Road (County Rt. 606) and White Oak Road (VA 218).

Falmouth Encampment
(1862 - 1863), near Falmouth
A large Union winter encampment area (November 1862 - June 1863), encompassing several individual sites including Grafton, Chatham Heights, and Ferry Farm.
Camp Humphreys (1) was located along present-day Forbes Street.
Camp Pitcher (1863) undetermined location.

Fredericksburg Powder Magazine and Depot
(1777 - 1781), Falmouth
A state militia powder magazine and supply depot for the Continental Army. James Hunter's Iron Works (aka Rappahannock Forge) (1759) was nearby, which was an important supplier to the Continental Army and Navy, and was garrisoned by soldiers in 1781.

Rappahannock River Fort
(1703), Fredericksburg
A settlers' stockaded fort that was attacked and burned by Manahoac (Mahock) Indians during some kind of dispute. Other buildings were also burned before the Indians crossed the river into Stafford County and destroyed buildings there owned by a Col. Carter. Pursued by the colonial militia, the remnants of the Manahoac tribe later merged with the Monacans to the south. Exact location undetermined, possibly the same site as Lawrence Smith's Fort (see below). Fredericksburg was founded and named in 1728.

Fredericksburg Battlefields
(Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania Battlefields National Military Park)
(1862 - 1864), Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County
The First Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in December 1862. The Second Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in May 1863. Located in town on Marye's Heights were the CSA two-gun Double Lunette Battery (or Marye's Heights Fort) (1862 - 1863), briefly captured by the Union in the Second Battle; CSA one-gun Landry's Lunette Battery (1862 - 1863), converted to two guns in 1863; and CSA Norcom's Redoubts (1863) two one-gun works on Byram's Hill (now part of University of Mary Washington campus). All earthworks on Marye's Heights survived the war, but were plowed under by the 1880's. The remnants of one of Norcom's Redoubts still remain on the UMW campus behind Jefferson Hall. Within the battlefield park are about five miles of extant CSA earthworks from Lee's Hill to Hamilton's Crossing, mostly constructed after the First Battle concluded.

Also once located in town was Confederate Camp Mercer (1861 - 1862), a training camp located at the former Mercer Square, the town's former fairgrounds before the Civil War.
Union works were the Hazel Run Blockhouse (1862), a one-story wooden structure with loopholes, located on the west side of the railroad on the south side of the creek, and also two other similarly built blockhouses located at both the Middle Pontoon Crossing (1862, built on a wharf, destroyed by a flood) and the Upper Pontoon Crossing (1862 - 1863). No remains.

Extensive CSA and Union earthwork trench lines and gun pits were/are located on the surrounding battlefields in various locations, including Chancellorsville (April 1863), The Wilderness (May 1864), Todd's Tavern (May 1864), and Spotsylvania Court House (May 1864).

Camp Cobb
(1898), Fredericksburg
A Spanish-American War training camp at Gunnery Springs for the "Immunes" recruited into the 4th U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Site located at the present-day City Office of Student Services at Gunnery Road and Dunmore Street. State marker at site.

This was originally the location of the Fredericksburg Gun Manufactory (1775 - 1783), the first state-run arsenal in the nation. The principal product was a version of the British Brown Bess musket.

Fort Hood (2)
(1862), near Greenfield
Located on the Rappahannock River just downriver from Fredericksburg, one mile upstream from the mouth of Massaponax Creek. It was a seven-gun CSA earthwork built to prevent Union gunboats from proceeding upriver. The Union captured it in December 1862, one month after it was built, but did not remove the guns. The earthworks still remain in good condition, but overgrown. Site located on private property, near Cosner Park. State marker located on US 17 / VA 2 at Benchmark Road.

Major Lawrence Smith's Fort
(1676 - 1682), near Greenfield
A VA colonial militia blockhouse built on the south side of the Rappahannock River opposite Little Falls Run. Garrisoned by 50 men. Also here was a 60-foot by 22-foot warehouse and a ten-foot square powder magazine. Site now on the grounds of the Fredericksburg Country Club, near the 10th hole of the golf course. Marker on US 17 / VA 2.

Massaponax Creek Encampment
(1862 - 1863), near Four Mile Fork
The CSA Army of Northern Virginia spent the winter of 1862-63 at various sites along present-day US 1 (Lafayette Blvd.), County Rt. 636 (Mine Road), and along the north side of Massaponax Creek south of Fredericksburg.

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