Maryland Heights Fortifications, Part 5
A series of fortifications extended across Maryland Heights to cover any approach from the north. These are known as Stone Fort, Interior Fort, and Exterior Fort. Collectively I will refer to them as the northern forts, which is not historically accurate, but is my shorthand. The forts were built to deter a recurrence of McLaws’ seizure of the Heights, during the Battle of Harpers Ferry, September 12-15, 1862. Markers for these fortifications are:
Stone Fort was first built in the winter following the battle. Plans called for a stone blockhouse to cover the ridge line. It stood on the eastern side of the crest, about a thousand yards north of the 100-pdr Battery. The structure was never fully completed or at least never used for the intended purpose, instead serving as a storage structure for the larger garrisons of the later forts. Today traces of the fort are easily made out by the visitor to the site, but blend into the Interior Fort works. Archaeological investigations confirmed the size and layout of the fort as a 100 by 40 foot rectangle, with bastions on the north east and south west corners.
Interior Fort used the Stone Fort as an anchor point, but extended the works further to the western side of the crest. The works became the most important section of fortifications in the northern forts complex. Layout was a set of simple liner faces forming a rectangle, enclosing magazines and support structures. Roughly measured on site by pace count, I would call the enclosure as about 500 by 300 feet. Impressive are the high walls. Even today these stand over the surrounding hill crest forming a berm of 8 to 10 feet. Several gun emplacements are still visible along the north side of the wall. The armament included a mix of five howitzers and 30-pdr Parrotts. While the siting afforded the Parrotts a vantage point to clear portions of the Heights and the valleys to the east and west, it is hard to see these were of much use against infantry attack down the ridge line. Howitzers or Napoleons certainly were more fitting the fort’s main function.
Exterior Fort was essentially an extension from Interior Fort to cover the remaining top of the Heights to the west. Two parallel stone walls based on the western corners of Interior Fort offered breastworks. The northern section is listed as 560 feet long. The southern section is a shade shorter at 520 feet. These lines are about 500 feet apart. The west flank of the works is open ended, ending at the steep slope of the Heights in that sector. Method of construction, as with the other structures in the northern forts, was dry laid stone, covered with some earth.
Several encampments for the garrison units stood to the south of Exterior Fort, on the ground between the various To the west of the Heights were a set of infantry breastworks and Fort Duncan, serving to prevent both flanking of the Maryland Heights forts and support the northern most defenses of Bolivar Heights.
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