U.S. Army (Civil War)

The United States Army occupied Alexandria on May 24, 1861, hours after Virginia’s secession from the Union took effect; the city remained under Federal military control for the duration of the Civil War. The Army’s Quartermaster, Engineer, and Medical departments transformed Alexandria’s waterfront into a hospital, supply, and rail-staging complex feeding the Army of the Potomac. The Defenses of Washington — an arc of sixty-eight forts and ninety-three batteries by war’s end — included Forts Ward, Worth, Lyon, Ellsworth, Williams, and others built on or commanding Alexandria-area high ground ^[1] Source 1 LOC, Civil War Defenses of Washington Government record .

This entity is a placeholder: future research will replace it with specific regimental or staff entities (e.g., the Quartermaster’s Department, the U.S. Sanitary Commission, individual fort garrisons) where occupancy or event records warrant the granularity.