page_title: Battery Kemble Park
section_title: Civil War defenses of Washington, or 'Fort Circle'
hierarchical_section_title: Battery Kemble Park / Civil War defenses of Washington, or 'Fort Circle'
caption_attribution_description: English: Relief shown by contours on some maps. Title from title sheet (sheet #1). Facsims. of Civil War fortification maps of Washington D.C. Original version: [S.l.&#160;: s.n., 1861?-1865]. LC sheets imperfect: Use-worn, punch-holed in left margin, rubber-stamped on verso to indicate sheet numbers. LC Civil War maps (2nd ed.) 689 Sheets variously include notes, captions, and/or index of facilities. Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image. DCP
context_page_description: Battery Kemble Park is a park in Northwest Washington D.C., administered by the National Park Service.
  Battery Kemble was a Union Army defensive site during the Civil War. The battery was located on Ridge Road, and included two 100-pound Parrott rifles, placed in such a way as to sweep Chain Bridge, Aqueduct Bridge, and Virginia beyond. Today, the parapet and gun positions are fairly well preserved and remain visible. The park is located south of Nebraska Avenue along Maddox Branch. Battery Kemble Park is bounded by Chain Bridge Road, MacArthur Boulevard, 49th Street, and Nebraska Avenue, NW. It is considered part of the Palisades neighborhood. The park is popular for running, sledding, and nature walks.
context_section_description: Battery Kemble was completed during the Autumn of 1861, as part of the Civil War Defenses of Washington, also known as the Fort Circle.  It was named after Gouverneur Kemble of Cold Spring, New York, former superintendent of West Point Foundry, where most of the heavy Army and Navy guns were made during the Civil War. Battery Kemble is on the high point of land, 387 feet (118 m) above mean low level of the Potomac River, where its guns could protect both Chain Bridge and Aqueduct Bridge. The artillery had "an extreme range of 3 miles, while it is under the direct fire, to a distance of at least 1,000 yards of the works." The earthwork remains of the battery are distinct and well preserved.
  Battery Kemble was one in a chain of fortifications directly protecting the DC side of Chain Bridge. Other nearby fortifications included Battery Cameron (two 100-pounder Parrott rifles), Battery Parrott (two 100-pounder Parrott rifles), Battery Martin Scott (one 8-inch Seacoast howitzer, two 32-pounder cannon; later changed to two 6-pounder cannon and two 12-pounder howitzers), and Battery Vermont (three 32-pounder seacoast cannon).  Battery Kemble was built to provide support to Fort Stevens and Fort Slocum and to guard northern approaches to the city.
  Wartime garrisons were manned by the 2nd U.S. Artillery, 9th New York Heavy Artillery, and Company A, 1st New Hampshire Heavy Artillery.
  In 1861, an Army report described the initial conditions there:
  The soldiers' quarters at Battery Kemble (and Battery Cameron) remained unfinished, and in need of materials for completion, as late as 1864. Contemporaneous accounts by Augusta Weaver, "a woman of means" living nearby, describe how soldiers stationed at Battery Kemble pillaged neighboring residents' pantries, her own included.
  The property on which Battery Kemble was constructed was relinquished to the U.S. government by William A.T. Maddox, a career U.S. Marine Corps officer.
  The land for Battery Kemble Park was reacquired by the federal government sometime between 1916 and 1923, a period of time during which much of the land for the D.C.-area Fort Parks was acquired.  The National Capital Parks and Planning Commission acquired approximately 2.8 acres (11,000 m²) for the "Fort Kemble" Park.  However, it was almost fifteen years before the government corrected the name to "Battery Kemble."
caption: Battery Kemble in 1861
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