Fort Chaplin Marker

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Benning Heights in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Fort Chaplin
Civil War Defenses of Washington
— 1861-1865 —

Fort Chaplin Marker Photo, Click for full size

By Craig Swain, August 7, 2008

1. Fort Chaplin Marker

Inscription. Earthworks of Fort Chaplin are visible through the wooded areas at the top of the hill.

Fort Chaplin was named in honor of Col. Daniel Chaplin, who was mortally wounded on August 17, 1864, at Deep Bottom, Virginia.

Erected by National Park Service.

Marker series. This marker is included in the Defenses of Washington marker series.

Location. 38° 53.231′ N, 76° 56.436′ W. Marker is in Benning Heights, District of Columbia, in Washington. Marker is at the intersection of Texas Avenue SE and C Street SE, on the right when traveling south on Texas Avenue SE. Click for map. Located in Fort Chaplin Park. Marker is in this post office area: Washington DC 20019, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, as the crow flies. A Whirl on the Ferris Wheel (approx. 1 miles away); Designed to Compete (approx. 1.1 miles away); Original Federal Boundary Stone NE 9 (approx. 1.5 miles away); Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Bridge (approx. 1.6 miles away); In Honor of the Men and Women of Fairmount Heights who Served in World War II (approx. 1.6 miles away in Maryland); Original Federal Boundary Stone East (approx. 1.7 miles away); George Preston Marshall (approx. 1.8 miles away); Clark Calvin Griffith (approx. 1.8 miles away).

Close Up of the Fort Plan and Map of other Forts Photo, Click for full size

By Craig Swain, August 7, 2008

2. Close Up of the Fort Plan and Map of other Forts

More about this marker. The marker displays a plan of Fort Chaplin 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 . . . Fort Chaplin. National Park Service page on the fort. (Submitted on August 22, 2008, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.)

Additional comments.
1. Fort Chaplin 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:

Fort Chaplin was part of a group of works defending the approaches to Benning Bridge. Other forts included "Fort of Circular Form," also called Fort Craven or Skaggs after the landowners, which stood to the south. Another fort in this set was "Fort on Kennedy's Hill," also named Fort Sedgwick.

Fort Chaplin, and likely none of the other forts for that matter, were garrisoned full time. However Fort Chaplin had one 24-pdr seacoast gun mounted.