| | | | 
By Craig Swain, August 7, 2008 | |
| | | 1. Battery Ricketts Marker | | |
Inscription. Earthworks of Battery Ricketts are visible inside the wooded area in front of you.
Battery Ricketts, built to defend an area in front of Fort Stanton, was named for Maj. Gen. James B. Ricketts.
Erected by National Park Service.
Marker series. This marker is included in the Defenses of Washington marker series.
Location. 38° 51.401′ N, 76° 58.512′ W. Marker is in Anacostia, District of Columbia, in Washington. Marker is at the intersection of Bruce Place SE and Raynolds Place SE, on the right when traveling north on Bruce Place SE. Click for map. Located in Fort Stanton Park. Marker is in this post office area: Washington DC 20020, United States of America.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, as the crow flies. The Growlery (approx. 0.7 miles away); Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (approx. 0.7 miles away); The Big Chair (approx. 1 miles away); The World’s Largest Chair (approx. 1 miles away); St. Elizabeths Hospital (approx. 1.1 miles away); Swift Boat PCF1 (approx. 1.5 miles away); U.S. Experimental Model Basin (approx. 1.6 miles away); Navy Gun Car (approx. 1.6 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Anacostia.
More about this marker. | | | | 
By Craig Swain, August 7, 2008 | |
| | | 2. Close Up of the Fort Plan and Map of other Forts | | |
The marker displays a plan of Battery Ricketts from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drawing. A map shows other Civil War fortifications surrounding Washington, D.C. administered by the park service. The bottom of the marker is a wartime photo, used on many markers of this series, of a gun at Fort Totten, captioned During the Civil War, Washington's forts overlooked farm land.
Also see . . .
1. Fort Ricketts. National Park Service page on the fort. (Submitted on August 22, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.)
2. Fort Stanton. Wikipedia entry covering Fort Stanton and surrounding fortifications. (Submitted on August 22, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.)
Additional comments.
1. Battery Ricketts Particulars
From "Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington," by Benjamin Franklin Cooling III and Walton H. Owen II:
Noted as a "Fort" in some references, this work had a perimeter of 123 yards. The form was an enclosed battery or redoubt. Its purpose was to defend an exposed ravine, which was a blind side to nearby Fort Stanton. Thus Forts Stanton, Ricketts, and Fort Snyder (further to the south) defended the approaches to the Navy Yard Bridge.
The fort's armament evolved over time. In February 1862 it boasted four 32-pdr seacoast guns. By March 1864 these were replaced by three 12-pdr howitzers and one 8-inch siege howitzer. A year later the howitzers were upgraded to 12-pdr Napoleons.
Units stationed at different times at the fort included the 59th New York Infantry, 4th, 9th, and 10th New York Heavy Artillery, 88th and 99th Pennsylvania Infantry, 9th Rhode Island Infantry, 17th and 19th Maine Infantry, 3rd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Batteries F and G Independent Pennsylvania Artillery, and the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery.
The fort was likely named for General James B. Ricketts. But may also have been named for Captain R. Bruce Ricketts, later chief of artillery of the IX Corps. | | | | 
By Craig Swain, August 7, 2008 | |
| | | 3. Battery Ricketts Marker | | The remains of Battery Ricketts are behind the marker in the overgrowth. | | |
— Submitted August 22, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.
Credits. This page originally submitted on August 22, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 873 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. Submitted on August 22, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia. |
Subscribe
— Privacy Policy
— Terms of Use
— About Us
— Contact Us
HMdb.org