War at our Doorstep (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker:

War at our Doorstep
While its location on the Potomac was usually a blessing—both for its beautiful views and commercial opportunities—Mount Vernon's safety was threatened by activities on the river during times of war.

American Revolution (1775-1783)

In 1781, the captain of the British warship, HMS Savage, threatened to burn Mount Vernon unless supplied with adequate provisions. Lund Washington, George Washington's cousin and farm manager, at first refused, but then agreed to the demands in order to safeguard the Mansion. The general was upset at Lund's concession, writing to him in April of 1781 that "it would have been a less painful circumstance to me, to have heard, that in consequence of your non-compliance, with their request, they had burnt my House, and laid the Plantation in ruins."

It was during the transfer of supplies that 17 of Mount Vernon's enslaved workers boarded the Savage in hopes of finding freedom with the British. A few months later, 7 of the enslaved people were returned to the estate following the British surrender at Yorktown.

War of 1812 (1812-1815)

In 1798, George Washington wrote Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, suggesting that fortifications be created along the Maryland shore of the Potomac River to protect the nation's new capital, noting that if defenses were constructed on land owned by his friend William Digges, "it would not be in the power of all the navies in Europe to pass that place."

The fort General Washington envisioned was eventually constructed in 1809 and named Fort Warburton in recognition of Digges' home, Warburton Manor. On August 27, 1814, just days after the burning of Washington, D.C., at the hands of the British Army, a British naval force made its way past Mount Vernon and up the Potomac, intent on destroying the fort. Fort Warburton's undermanned garrison demolished the structure to prevent it from being captured and occupied by the British.

Many believed the ships sailing up the Potomac would destroy Mount Vernon, but the estate was spared by British Captain James Gordon out of respect for General Washington.

Washington, D.C., was not as fortunate as Mount Vernon. This watercolor captures the British burning of the White House in Washington, D.C.

American Civil War (1861-1865)

During the Civil War, Mount Vernon - just 16 miles from Washington, D.C. but located within the boundaries of a Confederate state - was considered neutral territory. As early as May 1861, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association made it clear that soldiers were only permitted to visit if they removed or covered their uniforms and laid down their arms. In July 1861, Union General Winfield Scott ordered "Should…our war take the United States troops in that direction, the General Officer does not doubt that every man will approach with due reverence, and leave undisturbed, not only the Tomb, but also the house, groves, and walks which were so loved by the best and greatest of men."

Visiting the estate by boat was made even more difficult after April 1861, when the federal government seized the riverboat Thomas Collyer for use as a troop transport. This was problematic, as the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association began its restoration of the estate just as the Civil War started and visitors were the Association's main source of income for the project.

In the spring of 1862, Union Major General George B. McClellan used the Potomac River to transport his massive army down to the Chesapeake Bay, then up the James and York rivers to approach Richmond. Local resident Anne Frobel wrote that "…the Potomac River…as far as we could see was one solid mass of white canvas—You could only get a glimpse of the water here and there so thickly were the vessels…packed together…"

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Look Through The Spyglass to see historic Fort Washington across the Potomac River in Prince George's County, Maryland. Constructed in 1824 on the site of the former Fort Warburton, the masonry fort was extensively remodeled in the 1840s and 1890s and was turned over to the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1946, after its last military personnel departed.