Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Craig Swain
Taken: September 22, 2007
Caption: East Field of View from the Battery
Additional Description: The Potomac threads it way through the mountains in the center. On the right side is Short Hill Mountain. The bridge over the Potomac in the far distance is at Brunswick, Maryland, nearly five miles away, where a pontoon bridge crossed the Potomac in 1863. The trees around the platform were cleared when the battery was active, giving a similar field of view to other sides of the heights.

The gun fired a 6.4 inch diameter projectile to ranges approaching five miles. So the Parrott gun here could have theoretically ranged forces crossing at that point. Interestingly the gun's range falls just short of Boteler's Ford to the west and upstream on the Potomac, where the Confederates crossed into Maryland on several occasions.
Submitted: November 29, 2007, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.
Database Locator Identification Number: p11004
File Size: 0.976 Megabytes

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