Fort Greble - Post-war Use

Post-war Use

After the surrender of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, the primary reason for manned defenses protecting Washington ceased to exist. Initial recommendations by Col. Alexander, chief engineer of the Washington defenses, were to divide the defenses into three classes: those that should be kept active (first-class), those that should be mothballed and kept in a reserve state (second-class), and those that should be abandoned entirely (third-class). Fort Greble fell into the second-class category.

To this end, the 22nd Army Corps issued General Order 89, which stated (in part) that the guns and ammunition removed from the dismantled forts should be kept in storage. Fort Greble was chosen as one of the storage locations. As a second-class fort, Fort Greble continued to receive regular maintenance and upkeep. By the end of August 1865, however, with funds running low, and no further appropriations likely, this work began to slack off. As the money ran out, more and more forts were designated as second- or third-class locations, and were dismantled and the land returned to its original owners.

In August 1867, the commander of the Department of Washington wrote to the Chief of Ordnance, asking how much longer he needed Fort Greble as an ordnance depot for materiel removed from dismantled forts. When it could do so, the Ordnance Department removed its property to the Washington Arsenal, now Fort McNair, or transferred it to a still-garrisoned fort, though with post-war budget cuts, these were becoming few and far between.

The infant Army Signal Corps, which had played a valuable part in the Civil War, had a need for a post-war training ground. In 1866, the Army allowed the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, General Albert J. Myer, to use Fort Greble for this purpose. Then, in 1868, Myer requested and received control over Fort Greble as a signal communications school for instruction in electric telegraphy and visual signaling. In January 1869, however, Myer moved the school from Fort Greble and soon established it at Fort Whipple, Virginia.

Following that move, the fort was sold back into private ownership, where the land was later purchased for use as a park. Throughout the 20th century, various attempts were made to include Fort Greble as the terminus of a "ring" of parks surrounding the city of Washington. The parks would be connected by a 23.5-mile (37.8-km) Fort Circle Drive, but these plans never made it off the drawing board, due to budget concerns and the political issues involved. Though many of the forts—including Fort Greble—did become parks, they were not connected in a grand plan surrounding Washington. Today, the site of Fort Greble is home to Fort Greble Recreation Center, a community center for local youths and neighborhood events. In 2006, a lighted baseball field was built at the site as part of a Washington-wide renovation of city parks.