Constant drill at the guns went on in the defenses of Washington
throughout the war. At its close in April, 1865, there were 68 enclosed
forts and batteries, whose aggregate perimeter was thirteen miles, 807
guns and 98 mortars mounted, and emplacements for 1,120 guns, ninety-three
unarmed batteries for field-guns, 35,711 yards of rifle-trenches, and
three block-houses encircling the Northern capital. The entire extent of
front of the lines was thirty-seven miles; and thirty-two miles of
military roads, besides those previously existing in the District of
Columbia, formed the means of interior communication. In all these forts
constant preparation was made for a possible onslaught of the
Confederates, and many of the troops were trained which later went to take
part in the siege of Petersburg where the heavy artillery fought bravely
as infantry.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: WHERE LINCOLN WAS UNDER FIRE