5076221 ACR 20-214, "Battle of Fort Stevens 150th Anniversary Recognition Resolution of 2014"

A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION

 

20-214 

 

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

June 24, 2014

 

 

To commemorate and celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Stevens.

 

 

WHEREAS, Fort Stevens, originally named Fort Massachusetts for the home state of the soldiers who constructed it, was built to defend the District of Columbia against attacks from the Confederate army from the north along the 7th Street Pike now known as Georgia Avenue;

 

WHEREAS, Fort Massachusetts was renamed Fort Stevens after the death of Brigadier General Ingalls Stevens at the Battle of Chantilly on September 1^st, 1862;

 

WHEREAS, in the summer of 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant moved most Union troops to the south, leaving only approximately 9,000 troops to defend the District of Columbia;

 

WHEREAS, on July 11^th and 12^th, 1864, the Battle of Fort Stevens occurred and was the only Civil War battle to take place in the District of Columbia;

 

WHEREAS, the Union Army’s Sixth Corps brought reinforcements to Fort Stevens, where President Abraham Lincoln met them and became the only sitting President in United States history to come under hostile fire from an enemy combatant;

 

WHEREAS, on the evening of July 12^th, 1864, Confederate troops began to withdraw from Fort Stevens and from the District of Columbia;

 

WHEREAS, this victory saved the nation’s capital, helped ensure Lincoln’s re-election, and aided in the preservation of the Union;

 

WHEREAS, following the battle of Fort Stevens, the Military Road School, one of the first schools to educate African American children, was established on the grounds of Fort Stevens;

 

WHEREAS, the Military Road School, although closed in 1954, remains an essential part of the history of Fort Stevens and of the Civil War for the District of Columbia; and

 

WHEREAS, Fort Stevens Park now serves as one of many Civil War defenses operated and maintained by the National Park Service in the District of Columbia as a place of enjoyment and a memorial to all those who served to save our country.

 

            IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, that the Council of the District of Columbia celebrates the Union victory at Fort Stevens on July 12^th, 1864 and forever thanks the brave soldiers who held the fort and our city

 

Sec. 2. This resolution may be cited as the “Battle of Fort Stevens 150^th Anniversary Recognition Resolution of 2014”.

 

Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.