Civil War Defenses of Washington Civil War Defenses of Washington ( also known as Fort Circle Parks ) is a collection of National Park Service properties in and around Washington , D . C . joined by a similar historic theme . Other forts have become state and city parks , in the area . Together they commemorate the defense of the capital during the American Civil War . History . The Washington area had 68 major enclosed fort s , as well as 93 prepared ( but unarmed ) batteries for field guns , and seven blockhouse s surrounding it during the American Civil War . There were also twenty miles of rifle pits and thirty miles of connecting military roads . " " These were Union forts , and the Confederacy never captured one . Indeed , most never came under enemy fire . These were used to house soldiers and store artillery and other supplies . List of Historic Forts . The following forts are listed in the National Register of Historic Places nomination form . Development of " Fort Circle " . In 1919 the Commissioners of the District of Columbia pushed Congress to pass a bill to consolidate the aging forts into a " Fort Circle " system of parks that would ring the growing city of Washington . As envisioned by the Commissioners , the Fort Circle would be a green ring of parks outside the city , owned by the government , and connected by a " Fort Drive " road in order to allow Washington ' s citizens to easily escape the confines of the capital . However , the bill allowing for the purchase of the former forts , which had been turned back over to private ownership after the war , failed to pass both the House of Representatives and Senate . Despite that failure , in 1925 a similar bill passed both the House and Senate , which allowed for the creation of the National Capital Parks Commission ( NCPC ) to oversee the construction of a Fort Circle of parks similar to that proposed in 1919 . The NCPC was authorized to begin purchasing land occupied by the old forts , much of which had been turned over to private ownership following the war . Records indicate that the site of Fort Stanton was purchased for a total of $ 56 , 000 in 1926 . The duty of purchasing land and constructing the fort parks changed hands several times throughout the 1920s and 1930s , eventually culminating with the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service taking control of the project in the 1940s . During the Great Depression , crews from the Civilian Conservation Corps embarked on projects to improve and maintain the parks , which were still under the control of District authority at that time . At Fort Stanton , CCC members trimmed trees and cleared brush , as well as maintaining and constructing park buildings . Various non - park buildings were also discussed for the land . The City Department of Education proposed building a school on park land , while authorities from the local water utility suggested the construction of a water tower would be suitable for the tall hills of the park . The Second World War interrupted these plans , and post - war budget cuts instituted by President Harry S . Truman postponed the construction of the Fort Drive once more . Though land for the parks had mostly been purchased , construction of the ring road connecting them was pushed back again and again . Other projects managed to find funding , however . In 1949 , President Truman approved a supplemental appropriation request of $ 175 , 000 to construct " a swimming pool and associated facilities " at Fort Stanton Park . By 1963 , when President John F . Kennedy began pushing Congress to finally build the Fort Circle Drive , many in Washington and the National Park Service were openly questioning whether the plan had outgrown its usefulness . After all , by this time , Washington had grown past the ring of forts that had protected it a century earlier , and city surface roads already connected the parks , albeit not in as linear a route as envisioned . The plan to link the fort parks via a grand drive was quietly dropped in the years that followed . Administration . Forts Foote , Greble , Stanton , Ricketts , Davis , Dupont , Chaplin , Mahan , and Battery Carroll are administered by National Capital Parks - East . Forts Bunker Hill , Totten , Slocum , Stevens , DeRussy , Reno , Bayard , Battery Kemble , and Battleground National Cemetery are administered by Rock Creek Park . Fort Marcy is administered by George Washington Memorial Parkway .