Fort Reno Park

Fort Reno Park
A closeup of an 1865 map of Washington, D.C.'s defenses, showing the location of Fort Reno and other defenses to the northwest of Tenleytown.
Location within Washington, D.C.
Location	Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°57′07″N 77°04′33″W / 38.952°N 77.0759°W / 38.952; -77.0759Coordinates: 38°57′07″N 77°04′33″W / 38.952°N 77.0759°W / 38.952; -77.0759

Fort Reno Park is a park in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.. It is the highest point in the city, and was involved in the only Civil War battle to take place in the District of Columbia. The highest natural elevation at Fort Reno, 409 feet (125 m), is lower than the top of the Washington Monument, which rises 555 feet (169 m) from nearly sea level. The Highpointers Foundation is working with the National Park Service to place a sign near the USGS marker so that the highest natural point is easier to locate.[1]

In early August 1861, engineers under Major John G. Barnard, in charge of the defenses of Washington, chose the highest point in the District of Columbia for the construction of a fort, with construction starting in earnest in August 1861 with the arrival of McCall's Division of Pennsylvania Reserves. The Utica Morning Herald (NY) of December 16, 1862 gives credit for the building of the fort specifically to the Ninth Regiment Pennsylvania Reserves, however it is known that other regiments of McCall's division were engaged in its construction and that of other forts in the vicinity. At the time the structure was named Fort Pennsylvania and was only renamed Fort Reno in 1863 in honor of Major General Jesse Lee Reno who died at the Battle of South Mountain in 1862.

It was one of a string of forts circling Washington to defend it against the Confederates. It had a perimeter of 517 yards, with places for 27 guns, and places for 22 field guns. It had one 100-pound Parrott gun.

Work on the fort was continued by the succession of regiments stationed at the Tennallytown encampment after McCall's division moved to Langley on October 9, 1861. Of these regiments the 119th Pennsylvania Infantry is popularly given credit for having "built the fort" in August and October 1862, however, Fort Pennsylvania had been worked on prior to the 119th Pennsylvania's arrival by the regiments of Peck's Brigade (which were stationed at Tennallytown from October 1861 through to March 1862), the 59th New York and the 9th and 10th Rhode Island Regiments, amongst others. A large signal tower was also constructed at the fort during this period. The location in the heights of North West D.C. was ideal for a signal tower, which likely would have relied on line-of-sight communications. Eventually the fort had a dozen heavy guns and a contingent of 3,000 men, making it the largest fort of those surrounding Washington.