Lincoln Came Under Enemy Fire On A Civil War Battlefield

A memorial stone honoring Abraham Lincoln and his assistance to the fort on the second day of the Battle of Fort Stevens is situated atop the parapet of Fort Stevens. President Lincoln was directly targeted by Confederate sharpshooters on July 12, 1864, as he watched the battle from the fort's parapet. It is the only instance in American history where a president was actually shot by an enemy combatant.

Lincoln spent two of the last four days of the conflict, which the Union ultimately won when Confederate forces approached Washington, D.C., near the front lines at Fort Stevens. The president was at one time in risk of being seriously injured by gunfire. According to legend, future Supreme Court justice Colonel Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said, "Get down, you fool!" From the fort's parapet, Lincoln ducked down, escaping unharmed from the battle.

On July 12, 1920, the Battle of Fort Stevens veterans dedicated the memorial. The monument was originally erected near the Fort Stevens parade ground, but it was moved to its current location on the parapet following the Civilian Conservation Corps' restoration of the fort and powder magazine in the 1930s.