The Civil War at Upton’s Hill

The Civil War at Upton’s Hill. Park History Interpretive Series. During the Civil War, the area now known as Upton Hill Regional Park, then called Upton's Hill, served as a critical military outpost, home to Fort Ramsay and a Union observation tower, and even inspired Julia Ward Howe to pen The Battle Hymn of the Republic. These stories reveal how this land helped defend the nation's capital and gave voice to its enduring spirit., A Strategic High Ground , Upton's Hill was a strategic site during the Civil War, valued for its elevation and proximity to Washington, DC. Its height made it ideal for observing troop movements, signaling, and controlling the surrounding territory. At the time, the surrounding land was largely cleared, offering open views, initially to the east for Confederate troops, and later to the west for Union forces., Initially occupied by Union troops as part of Washington's defenses, the hill fell to the Confederacy after the First Battle of Manassas in July 1861. They established an outpost and held the position until September 1861, when they abandoned it as the Confederate Army withdrew from the area. The Union Army then reoccupied the site for the remainder of the war. The Federal Army constructed a large masonry fort called Fort Ramsay, which served as one of 68 forts that formed a protective ring around Washington. An observation tower was built atop the original Upton residence (now gone), giving soldiers a view of the Capitol and the Washington Monument from their elevated position., The Song That Stirred a Nation , After viewing the Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac military parade from the area around Upton's Hill in November 1861, poet and social activist Julia Word Howe was first inspired to write the lyrics for "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Howe, who was accompanied at the parade by Reverend James Freeman Clarke, heard soldiers singing a version of the marching song "John Brown's Body.” Clarke suggested she write new words for the tune and according to Howe: "I awoke in the gray of the morning twilight; and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind. Having thought out all the stanzas, I said to myself, 'I must get up and write these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them.' … I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper."