Wolfe Street General Hospital (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact location where the hospital once stood. Today the building is a private residence.


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Here follows an excerpt from the City of Alexandria website:

History of the Wolfe Street General Hospital
510 Wolfe Street

The Wolfe Street General Hospital occupied the large private residence of Francis L. Smith. Smith is known for acting as Robert E. Lee’s attorney in 1870, in his unsuccessful attempt to regain possession of Arlington House.

Smith’s house was first used as a residence or office by Gen. John Slough, Alexandria’s military governor, and then as a hospital with 100 beds.

The house is once again a private residence.

First Person Account
From a letter by aid worker Julia Wilbur, Nov. 12, 1862. Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society Papers, 1851-1868, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan.

I can’t look up without looking into it [Wolfe Street Hospital]. The two large confiscated houses --- on another corner of a large 2 story old brick house which they call the Quaker Church, this is full too, & these 3 buildings constitute one hospital. Suffering & misery meet me at any time.


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Here follows an excerpt from the "Out of the Attic" column published in the Alexandria Times newspaper:

From Opulent Home to Military Hospital and Back Again
Alexandria Times, June 8, 2014

The massive Italianate villa dating back to the Civil War visible in this photograph still stands at 510 Wolfe St.

In the early 19th century, a much smaller, two-story wood-frame house — owned by John Vowell, a local merchant — occupied the parcel. The property later was transferred to his daughter, wife of one of Alexandria’s wealthiest and most influential lawyers: Francis L. Smith.

The well-known attorney replaced the Vowell homestead with one of the largest homes ever built in Alexandria. The three-story brick structure was topped by a roof deck, which offered sweeping views of the Potomac and rolling hills of the countryside to the west and south.

At the start of the Civil War, Smith and his family fled Alexandria for safer environs in Richmond. Federal authorities quickly seized the home — as well as other elegant houses around it — for military use.

Smith’s dwelling initially was converted into the headquarters of Gov. John Slough, an aggressive, idiosyncratic man known for his peculiar behavior and hostile temper. Once a member of the Ohio legislature, Slough was expelled after assaulting another lawmaker.

His military career proved more fruitful. He advanced rapidly after defeating a Confederate force in New Mexico. The victory led to his appointment as military governor of Alexandria.

The promotion came despite the fact that he launched his successful attack in New Mexico in defiance of his superior’s direct orders. President Lincoln, eager for positive news from the front, overlooked the blatant disregard for military discipline.

As the war waged on, the Smith home was transformed again, this time into a military hospital where upwards of 100 soldiers recuperated in its opulent rooms. Several of the sick and wounded men allegedly carved their names in the substantial woodwork. The towered Tuscan villa in the background of the photograph, also served as a hospital ward.

Smith returned to Alexandria after the war and restored his sacked dwelling as a residence. It is there, in 1870, that Smith explained to his well-known client Robert E. Lee the tremendous challenges associated with regaining the title to his wife’s family estate known as “Arlington,” which had been seized and converted into a national cemetery.

As a major Alexandria landowner, Smith was no stranger to such issues. A parcel of his property at Church and South Washington streets also had been confiscated to create the Freedmen’s Cemetery.

“Out of the Attic” is published each week in the Alexandria Times newspaper. The column began in September 2007 as “Marking Time” and explored Alexandria’s history through collection items, historical images and architectural representations. Within the first year, it evolved into “Out of the Attic” and featured historical photographs of Alexandria.

These articles appear with the permission of the Alexandria Times and were authored by Amy Bertsch, former Public Information Officer, and Lance Mallamo, Director, on behalf of the Office of Historic Alexandria.