Fort Myer

In 1861, the land that Fort Myer would eventually occupy was part of the Arlington estate, which Mary Anna Custis Lee, the wife of Robert E. Lee, owned and at which Lee resided when not stationed elsewhere (see Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial).[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022444346;view=1up;seq=8 Staff of the Fort Myer Post, p. 4] When the Civil War began, the Commonwealth of Virginia seceded from the United States, Lee resigned his commission, and he and his wife left the estate. The United States Government then confiscated the estate and began to use it as a burial ground for Union Army dead (see Arlington National Cemetery), to house freed slaves (Freedmen's Village),(1) {{cite journal|last=Schildt|first=Roberta|url=http://www.arlcivwar.net/articles/vol7no4.pdf|title=Freedmen's Village: Arlington, Virginia, 1863–1900|journal=Arlington Historical Magazine|year=1984|volume=7|number=4|publisher=Arlington Historical Society, Inc.|location=Arlington County, Virginia|pages=11–21|access-date=September 28, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151215040308/http://www.arlcivwar.net/articles/vol7no4.pdf|archive-date=December 15, 2015|df=mdy-all|via=Arlington's Civil War Memorial Website}}{{Cite web |url=http://arlcivwar.net/ |title=Arlington Civil War |access-date=March 8, 2018 |archive-date=May 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520154001/http://arlcivwar.net/ |url-status=dead }}.
(2) {{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/arho/learn/historyculture/emancipation.htm|title=Freedman's Village|work=Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial|access-date=September 28, 2016|year=2016|publisher=National Park Service: United States Department of the Interior|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714094821/https://www.nps.gov/arho/learn/historyculture/emancipation.htm|archive-date=July 14, 2016|url-status=live}}
(3) {{cite web|url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Notable-Graves/Minorities/Black-History-at-ANC|title=Black History at Arlington National Cemetery|work=Arlington National Cemetery|publisher=United States Army|location=Arlington, Virginia|access-date=September 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123151016/http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Notable-Graves/Minorities/Black-History-at-ANC|archive-date=January 23, 2016|url-status=live}} and for military purposes, including the Civil War defenses of Washington (see Washington, D.C., in the American Civil War).[https://books.google.com/books?id=3qRIuDHJoTEC&pg=PA4 Cooling and Owen, pp. 4-7.]: The Most Heavily Fortified City in North America: The First Response.

File:Fort Craig VA Map.jpg and surrounding area including Fort Whipple and Fort Cass (1865)]]

File:Fort Cass (Marker Number 13), (Defenses of Washington marker series) (3364889380).jpg

Shortly after the Union Army's rout at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in late July 1861, the Army constructed in August 1861 a lunette (Fort Ramsay) on the future grounds of Fort Myer. One of the first fortifications built on the Arlington Line, the lunette was located at and near the present post's Forest Circle. Later renamed to Fort Cass, the lunette had a perimeter of {{convert|288|yard|m}} and emplacements for 12 guns.(1) [https://books.google.com/books?id=3qRIuDHJoTEC&pg=PA104 Cooling and Owen, pp. 104-105]: Touring the Forts South of the Potomac: Fort Cass.
(2) {{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420001108/http://www.arlingtonhistory.org/learn-2/history-of-arlington-county/the-arlington-line/|archive-date=2012-04-20|url-status=live|url=http://www.arlingtonhistory.org/learn-2/history-of-arlington-county/the-arlington-line/|title=The Arlington Line|work=History of Arlington County|location=Arlington, Virginia|publisher=Arlington Historical Society|access-date=2018-03-05}}
(3) {{cite web|editor=Swain, Craig|url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5141|title="Fort Cass" marker|date=2008-02-03|work=HMdb: The Historical Marker Database|access-date=2018-03-11}}

A May 17, 1864, report from the Union Army's Inspector of Artillery (see Union Army artillery organization) noted the following:

Fort Cass, Maj. N. Shatswell commanding.–Garrison, two companies First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery—8 commissioned officers, 1 ordnance-sergeant, 220 men. Armament, three 6-pounder field guns (smooth), five 20-pounder Parrotts (rifled), three 24-pounder siege guns (smooth), one 24-pounder F. D. howitzer (smooth), one 24-pounder Coehorn mortar. Magazines, two; dry and in good condition. Ammunition, full supply, well packed and in serviceable condition. Implements, complete and serviceable. Drill in artillery, fair. Drill in infantry, fair. Discipline, fair. Garrison sufficient for the work.{{cite book|last=Howe|first=A.P.|author-link=Albion P. Howe|section=Report on the inspection of the defenses of Washington, made by the order of the Secretary of War: Fort Cass, Maj. N. Shatswell commanding|date=1864-05-17|page=887|editor=Scott, Robert N.|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.49015002000736;view=1up;seq=895|title=The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Published under the direction of the Secretary of War (1880-1891) |series= 1 (Military Operations) | volume = 36|location=Washington, DC|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|lccn=03003452|oclc=224137463|via=HathiTrust Digital Library|access-date=2018-03-15}} (See: Official Records of the War of the Rebellion)

Although the Army abandoned the lunette in 1865 at the end of the Civil War, the United States War Department continued to control its property.

File:Fort Whipple (Marker Number 12), (Defenses of Washington marker series) (3364068185).jpg

File:Arlington, Va. Capt. Nevins and officers in front of headquarters, Fort Whipple; mourning crepe drawn over doors and windows LOC cwpb.03813.tif

File:The photographic history of the Civil War - in ten volumes (1911) (14576160848).jpg

Following the Union Army's defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in August 1862, the Army constructed Fort Whipple on the grounds of the former Arlington estate during the spring of 1863. The fort was located a short distance southeast of Fort Cass. The Army named the fort after Brevet Major General Amiel Weeks Whipple, who died in May 1863 of wounds received during the Battle of Chancellorsville.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022444346;view=1up;seq=10 Staff of the Fort Myer Post, p. 6] The fort was considered to be one of the strongest fortifications erected for the defense of Washington during the Civil War. It had a perimeter of 658 yards and places for 43 guns.[https://books.google.com/books?id=3qRIuDHJoTEC&pg=PA101 Cooling and Owen, pp. 101-104]: Touring the Forts South of the Potomac: Fort Whipple — Forerunner to a Modern Fort.{{cite web|editor=Swain, Craig|url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5140|title="Fort Whipple" marker|date=2008-02-03|work=HMdb: The Historical Marker Database|access-date=2018-03-11}}

The May 17, 1864, report from the Union Army's Inspector of Artillery noted the following:

Fort Whipple, Major Rolfe commanding.–Garrison, three companies First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery– l major, 13 commissioned officers, 1 ordnance-sergeant, 414 men. Armament, six 12-pounder field guns (smooth), four 12-pounder field howitzers (smooth), eight 12-pounder James guns (rifled), eleven 4.5-inch ordnance Magazines, four; two not in a serviceable condition. Ammunition, full supply; good condition. Implements, complete and serviceable. Drill in artillery, fair. Drill in infantry, fair. Discipline, fair. Garrison sufficient; interior work.{{cite book|last=Howe|first=A.P.|author-link=Albion P. Howe|section=Report on the inspection of the defenses of Washington, made by the order of the Secretary of War: Fort Whipple, Major Rolfe commanding|date=1864-05-17|page=887|editor=Scott, Robert N.|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.49015002000736;view=1up;seq=895|title=The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Published under the direction of the Secretary of War (1880-1891) |series= 1 (Military Operations) | volume= 36|location=Washington, DC|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|lccn=03003452|oclc=224137463|via=HathiTrust Digital Library|access-date=2018-03-15}} (See: Official Records of the War of the Rebellion)

The Civil War ended in 1865. Fort Whipple, with its fortifications abandoned, then became the home of the Signal School of Instruction for Army and Navy Officers, established in 1869.{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/civilwar/hrs2-1.htm|work=The Civil War Defenses of Washington: Historic Resource Study: Part II, Chapter I: Silenced Guns|title=Retained Fortifications|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2018-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712060228/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/civilwar/hrs2-1.htm|archive-date=2017-07-12|url-status=live}}

On February 4, 1881, the Army post containing Fort Whipple was renamed Fort Myer as an honor to Brigadier General Albert J. Myer, who had commanded the newly established Signal School of Instruction for Army and Navy Officers from 1869 until he died in August 1880. Since then, the post has been a Signal Corps post, a showcase for the US Army's cavalry, and, since the 1940s, home to the Army's elite ceremonial units—The United States Army Band ("Pershing's Own") and the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment ("The Old Guard").

The National Weather Service was originated there by General Albert J. Myer in 1870.{{cite web|last=Grice, Ed.|first=Gary K.|title=THE BEGINNING OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: THE SIGNAL YEARS (1870 - 1891) AS VIEWED BY EARLY WEATHER PIONEERS; Chapter: Evolution to the Signal Service Years (1600-1891)|url=http://www.nws.noaa.gov/pa/history/evolution.php |publisher=NOAA's National Weather Service Public Affairs Office|access-date=4 January 2014}}

Fort Myer was the site of the first flight of an aircraft at a military installation. Several exhibition flights by Orville Wright took place there in 1908. On 17 September 1908 it became the location of the first airplane fatality, as Lt. Thomas Selfridge was killed when on a demonstration flight with Orville, at an altitude of about {{convert|100|ft}}, a propeller split, sending the aircraft out of control. Selfridge suffered a concussion in the crash and later died, the first person to die in powered fixed-wing aircraft. Orville was badly injured, suffering broken ribs and a leg.{{cite book |last1=Combs |first1=Harry |title=Kill Devil Hill: Discovering the Secret of the Wright Brothers |date=1979 |publisher=TernStyle Press, Ltd. |location=Englewood |isbn=0940053020 |pages=304–311}}

Quarters One on Fort Myer, which was originally built as the garrison commander's quarters, has been the home of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army since 1908 when Major General J. Franklin Bell took up residence. It has been the home of every succeeding Chief of Staff, except for General John J. Pershing.

The United States Navy established the nation's first radio telecommunications station, NAA, near Fort Myer in 1913. In 1915, the station's radio towers, "The Three Sisters", transmitted to Paris the first wireless communication that crossed the Atlantic Ocean.(1) {{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=134969|title=The Arlington Radio Towers|work=HMdb.org:The Historical Marker Database|access-date=August 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019000547/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=134969|archive-date=October 19, 2020|url-status=live}}
(2) {{cite book|first=Donald|last= Wilhelm|date=February 1923|chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011441048&view=1up&seq=308|chapter=NAA|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011441048&view=1up&seq=7|title=Radio Broadcast|volume=2|issue= 4|pages=292–296|oclc=563135669|location=Garden City, New York|publisher=Doubleday, Page & Company|access-date=August 23, 2021|via=Hathi Trust Digital Library}}

File:Lee Boulevard addition to Fort Myer Reservation LOC 89692768.jpg

During World War I, Fort Myer was a staging area for a large number of engineering, artillery, and chemical companies and regiments. The area of Fort Myer now occupied by Andrew Rader Health Clinic and the Commissary were made into a trench-system training grounds where French officers taught the Americans about trench warfare.

General George S. Patton Jr., who was posted at Fort Myer four different times, started the charitable "Society Circus" after World War I.{{cite news|last=Michael|first=John|title=Society Circus on Fort Myer Virginia Between Wars|url=https://historic-fortmyer.com/index.php/2011/04/20/fort-myer-and-the-society-circus/|work=Images of America: Fort Myer|publisher=historic-fortmyer.com|access-date=5 June 2013|location=Ft. Myer, VA|date=20 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502112448/http://www.historic-fortmyer.com/2011/04/20/fort-myer-and-the-society-circus/|archive-date=2 May 2012|url-status=live}} He ultimately was post commander and commanded the 3rd Cavalry Regiment that was stationed at Fort Myer from the 1920s to 1942 when the regiment was sent to Georgia to get mechanized.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115225416/http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfh/docs/Harmon14.pdf|archive-date=2014-11-15|url=http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfh/docs/Harmon14.pdf|title=The Many Faces of George S. Patton, Jr.|work=USAFA Harmon Memorial Lecture #14|first=Martin|last=Blumenson|year=1971|publisher=United States Air Force Academy|location=Colorado Springs, Colorado}}

In late 2001, troops, deployed in response to the September 11th attacks, were bivouacked at Fort Myer. These troops were under Operation Noble Eagle.Operation Noble Eagle These included both active and National Guard Military Police units from around the nation. In 2005 the last remaining deployed responders were demobilized.{{cite web|last=Campbell|first=Jeffrey|title=Specialist|url=http://osd.dtic.mil/news/Aug2002/n08222002_200208221.html|work=144th Military Police Company|publisher=Department of Defense|access-date=2 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823204749/http://osd.dtic.mil/news/Aug2002/n08222002_200208221.html|archive-date=23 August 2011|url-status=dead}}

{{further|Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall}}

As a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission initiative to create more efficiency of efforts, the Army's Fort Myer and the Marines' Henderson Hall became the first Joint Base in the Department of Defense. Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall (JBMHH) consists of military installations at Fort Myer, Henderson Hall, The Pentagon, and Fort Lesley J. McNair. These installations and departments serve over 150,000 active duty, DoD civilian, and retired military personnel in the region.{{cite web |url=http://www.jbmhh.army.mil/JBMHHhomepage.html |title=Myer-Henderson Hall |publisher=Jbmhh.army.mil |access-date=2014-01-11 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711210303/http://www.jbmhh.army.mil/JBMHHhomepage.html |archive-date=2012-07-11 }}

The fort was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972, for its well-preserved concentration of cavalry facilities and officers' quarters, and for its importance in military aviation history.{{cite web|url=http://focus.nps.gov/nrhp/GetAsset?assetID=819e0cc7-5a17-4b8e-85b5-3c81144c18a2|title=NPS nomination for Fort Myers Historic District |publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2016-01-25}} On September 1, 1970, the United States Postal Service issued its first day cover of a postcard celebrating the 100th anniversary of Weather Services at Fort Myer.

A pamphlet and one book have been published about Fort Myer.(1) [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022444346;view=1up;seq=3 Staff of the Fort Myer Post.]
(2) [https://books.google.com/books?id=8k8MLoJ9MC4C Michael] The book, Images of America: Fort Myer, contains a copy of a handwritten letter from Abraham Lincoln that appointed General Whipple's oldest son to the United States Military Academy at West Point.(1) [https://books.google.com/books?id=8k8MLoJ9MC4C&pg=PA15 Michael, p. 15.]
(2) {{cite web|title=About|work=Images of America: Fort Myer|date=February 13, 2011|url=http://historic-fortmyer.com/index.php/about/|publisher=historic-fortmyer.com|access-date=2018-03-07}}

• List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Arlington County, Virginia

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|first1=Benjamin Franklin |last1=Cooling III|first2=Walton H.|last2=Owen II|title=Mr. Lincoln's Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3qRIuDHJoTEC|year=2010|edition=New|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810863071|lccn=2009018392|oclc=665840182|access-date=March 5, 2018|via=Google Books}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8k8MLoJ9MC4C|title=Fort Myer: Images of America|last=Michael|first=John|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2011|isbn=9780738587356|lccn=2010936703|oclc=701016030|location=Charleston, South Carolina|access-date=2018-03-07|via=Google Books}}
• {{cite book|author=Staff of the Fort Myer Post|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022444346;view=1up;seq=3|title=The History of Fort Myer Virginia: 100th Anniversary Issue (Special Centennial Edition Of The Fort Myer Post)|location=Arlington, Virginia|publisher=Fort Myer Post|year=1963|oclc=7903755|lccn=58061390|access-date=2018-03-07|via=HathiTrust Digital Library}}

{{commons category|Fort Myer, Virginia}}

• {{cite web|url=https://www.army.mil/jbmhh|title=Joint Base Myer – Henderson Hall|work=Army.mil|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103112422/https://www.army.mil/jbmhh|archive-date=November 3, 2013|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/aviation/ftm.htm|title=Fort Myer Historic District|work=Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary|date=November 18, 2003|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508180421/http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/aviation/ftm.htm|archive-date=May 8, 2012|url-status=dead}}
• Images of Fort Myer in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) via Library of Congress:

1. [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20va1749&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true Quartermaster Workshops at Arlington Boulevard & Second Street]
2. [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20va1748&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true Quartermaster Garage at Arlington Boulevard & Second Street]
3. [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20va1484&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true/ Commissary Sergeant's Quarters on Washington Avenue between Johnson Lane & Custer Road]
4. [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20va1485&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true First Sergeant's Quarters on Washington Avenue between Johnson Lane & Custer Road]
5. [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?va=exact&sp=1&st=gallery&q=Photograph%3A+va1486&fi=number&op=PHRASE Noncommissioned Officers Quarters on Washington Avenue between Johnson Lane & Custer Road]

• [http://www.Historic-FortMyer.com/ Historical Perspective]

{{Civil War DC forts}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia}}

Category:Air transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places

Myer

Category:Buildings and structures in Arlington County, Virginia

Category:Civil War defenses of Washington, D.C.

Myer

Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia

Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia

Category:National Historic Landmarks in Virginia

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Arlington County, Virginia

Category:United States Army posts

Category:Victorian architecture in Virginia