The Washington Arsenal in 1861
Fort Lesley J. McNair, historically known as the Washington Arsenal, is a US Army post located on the tip of Buzzard Point at the confluence of the Potomac River and Anacostia River in Washington DC. The military reservation was established in 1791 as part of Pierre Charles L'Enfant's plan for the capital, and it became hte site of one of the first two US arsenals in 1795. During the War of 1812, soldiers at the arsenal evacuated north with as much gunpowder as they could carry, and 47 British Army soldiers discovered that the magazines they had come to destroy were empty. After someone threw a match into the well, a tremendous explosion killed around 30 enlisted men and officers and injured the rest. The arsenal was rebuilt from 1815 to 1821, and four acres of marshland were reclaimed in the 1830s and added to the arsenal. From 1825 to 1831, the arsenal penitentiary was built. During the American Civil War, many working-class women, including Irish immigrants, worked at the arsenal's ammunition factory. On 17 June 1864, the accidental ignition of fireworks in the arsenal killed 21 women, many of whom burned to death in flammable hoop skirts. The fort was later the site of the trial and execution of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and David Herold on 7 July 1865. The arsenal closed in 1881, and a general hospital was located on the site from 1898 to 1909. The Army War College was relocated o the fort in 1903, and the Army Industrial College was founded at McNair in 1924. Renamed to Fort Humphreys in 1935, the fort was again renamed in 1948 to honor General Lesley J. McNair, who had been killed by friendly fire during World War II. In 1966, Fort McNair became the headquarters of the Military District of Washington. In January 2021, the NSA uncovered threats from Iran's IRGC paramilitary organization to launch suicide boat attacks on Fort McNair and kill Army Vice Chief of Staff Joseph M. Martin. During the 2021 United States coup d'etat attempt, senior members of Congress were evacuated from the United States Capitol to Fort McNair two miles away.