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| Napoleon gun in battery no. 2, Fort Whipple: peace at the defenses of Washington The lush, waving grass beautifies this Union fort, one of the finest examples of fortification near Washington. The pieces of ordnance are in splendid condition. The men at the guns are soldierly but easy in their attitudes. They are evidently well-drilled crews. The forked pennant of the artillery flies defiantly above the parapet. But there are no longer any Confederates to defy. The nation is again under one flag, as former Confederate leaders proved by leading Union troops to victory in 1898. Fort Whipple was a mile and a half southwest of the Virginia end of the Aqueduct bridge. It was a “semi-permanent” field work, completely closed, having emplacements for forty-one heavy guns. The gun in the foreground is a 12-pounder smooth-bore, a Napoleon. During four years it has been carefully oiled, its yawning muzzle has been swabbed out with care, and a case has been put over it to keep it from rusting in foul weather. In the case of larger guns, the muzzles were stopped up with tampions. Now the rust may come, and cobwebs may form over the muzzle, for nearly fifty years have passed and Americans have fought side by side, but never again against each other. As splendidly as the Confederates fought, as nobly as they bore themselves during the Civil War, still more splendid, still more noble has been their bearing since under the common flag. Nothing could add more luster to their fame than the pride and dignity with which they not only accepted the reunion of the parted nation, but have since rejoiced in it and fought for it. |
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[152]
Review of Reviews. New York. 1912.
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