Fort Worth , Virginia Fort Worth was a timber and earthwork fortification constructed west of Alexandria , Virginia as part of the defenses of Washington , D . C . during the American Civil War . Built in the weeks following the Union defeat at Bull Run , Fort Worth was situated on a hill north of Hunting Creek , and Cameron Run , ( which feeds into it ) . From its position on one of the highest points west of Alexandria , the fort overlooked the Orange and Alexandria Railroad , the Little River Turnpike , and the southern approaches to the city of Alexandria , the largest settlement in Union - occupied Northern Virginia . In modern times , the site of Fort Worth sits within the boundaries the City of Alexandria ( the land west of Quaker Lane , was annexed from Fairfax County in the 1950s ) just off Seminary Road . Fort Worth Ave , a residential street approximates Fort Worth ' s Civil War location . Occupation of Alexandria . The occupation of Northern Virginia was peaceful , with the sole exception of the town of Alexandria . There , as Colonel Elmer E . Ellsworth , commander of the New York Fire Zouaves ( 11th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment ) , entered a local hotel to remove the Confederate flag flying above it , he was shot and killed by James Jackson , the proprietor . Ellsworth was one of the first men killed in the American Civil War . Throughout the remainder of the war , Alexandria would lean strongly towards the Confederate government , necessitating continued occupation by a Union garrison . Washington D . C . Fortifications . Over the seven weeks that followed the occupation of northern Virginia , forts were constructed along the banks of the Potomac River and at the approaches to each of the three major bridges ( Chain Bridge , Long Bridge , and Aqueduct Bridge ) connecting Virginia to Washington and Georgetown . While the Potomac River forts were being built , planning and surveying was ordered for an enormous new ring of forts to protect the city . Unlike the fortifications under construction , the new forts would defend the city in all directions , not just the most direct route through Arlington . In mid - July , this work was interrupted by the First Battle of Bull Run . As the Army of Northeastern Virginia marched south to Manassas , the soldiers previously assigned to construction duties marched instead to battle . In the days that followed the Union defeat at Bull Run , panicked efforts were made to defend Washington from what was perceived as an imminent Confederate attack . The makeshift trenches and earthworks that resulted were largely confined to Arlington and the direct approaches to Washington . On July 26 , 1861 , five days after the battle , Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan was named commander of the military district of Washington and the subsequently renamed Army of the Potomac . Upon arriving in Washington , McClellan was appalled by the condition of the city ' s defenses . " In no quarter were the dispositions for defense such as to offer a vigorous resistance to a respectable body of the enemy , either in the position and numbers of the troops or the number and character of the defensive works . . . not a single defensive work had been commenced on the Maryland side . There was nothing to prevent the enemy shelling the city from heights within easy range , which could be occupied by a hostile column almost without resistance . " To remedy the situation , one of McClellan ' s first orders upon taking command was to greatly expand the defenses of Washington . At all points of the compass , forts and entrenchments would be constructed in sufficient strength to defeat any attack . Alexandria , which contained the southern terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and one of the largest ports in the Chesapeake Bay , was an object of " anxious study . " Planning and construction . In August 1861 Gen . McClellan assigned Gen . John G . Barnard to take charge of construction to begin creation of a complete system of defenses . Gen . Horatio Wright , who had overseen the construction of Fort Ellsworth , and Gen . John Newton , who was in charge of the forts south of Four Mile Run , supervised the construction and managed the flow of men and materials . The fort was constructed upon Vaucluse , a plantation that was seized from the Fairfax family . Wartime use . On Wednesday , November 27 , 1861 , Col . J . Howard Kitching marched with the 6th New York Artillery to occupy the Fort , and complete construction . since . We received orders late Wednesday night to move our two companies which had been guarding Fort Ellsworth to Fort Worth , the next morning , Thanksgiving Day . So we were obliged to give up our comfortable quarters , and take up our line of march for an unfinished earthwork , on the outskirts of our line of fortifications ; where instead of spending our time drilling on the guns , and teaching our men something useful , we are forced to take up our axes and shovels , and go to work upon the Fort . In Ellsworth we had very nice quarters within the works , and everything convenient , and were able to crib a little time every day to ourselves . Here we are encamped on a side hill , outside the work , the mud about eight inches deep , very little to eat , and plenty of work . If you could just look in upon us now , and see how I live , you would scarcely believe your eyes . Major Doull has not , as yet , received his tents , and he and I have to occupy the same tent , which of course is pitched right in the mud , such things as boards for flooring being quite unheard of , and it is so full of trunks , cooking utensils , our beds , etc . , besides our saddles , which we have to keep there , having no stable , that it is almost impossible to move around . We almost froze the first night , and as I was sick in bed , and felt the cold very much , we foraged around and found a little cast - iron stove , which we rigged up in the tent , and except that we were smoked out like two woodchucks nine or ten times in twenty - four hours , we were more comfortable . Then our " Bill of Fare , " my I told the boys this morning when we succeeded in getting our morning meal ( a piece of government beef and a tin cup of coffee ) at one o ' clock , after running around in the cold and snow for three or four hours , that I thought I would give about one month ' s pay to have one good meal at home . You must not think that we complain , however . They moved on to Fort Blenker , on Friday January 17 , 1862 . Fort Blenker , January 19 , 1862 . . . . On Friday morning , while we were all hard at work in Fort Worth , Major Doull received orders to march , immediately to this post with two companies . In less than two hours ' time , we had torn down our nice winter quarters , which we had built with so much trouble ; left our nice log cook - houses and stables , and were on the march ; I , in command of the troops , Doull having gone ahead to arrange for our relieving the troops at Blenker .