Creating a quick way across a river during wartime is a question that has plagued generals since the dawn of warfare. As early as 480 BC, clever engineers had come up with a quick solution: A bridge that was, in essence, a series of boats tied together. These pontoon bridges could be rigged up quickly, […]
The beginning of the Civil War brought all sorts of troubles to the Washington Navy Yard. On top of the need to ramp up the production of ordnance, there was the issue of saboteurs, the question as to how to secure the yard; not to mention, the logistics of putting up hundreds of troops and […]
During my recent talk for the Smithsonian Associates, I was asked if any research on radio equipment had been done at the Washington Navy Yard. I was not aware of any (though it turns out that there was some activity in that regard during the First World War; more on that in a later column) […]
The Washington Navy Yard was used not just for the building, repair, and outfitting of ships, as well as the manufacturing of ordnance, it also was an important entryway to Washington, especially back in the day when the water was the best way to approach the capital. Curiosity drove many people to the Navy Yard […]
Today’s post is less an explication of a piece of Capitol Hill history and more a set of questions. These questions are raised by a series of short articles/advertisements that ran in D.C. newspapers in August, 1861, so it seems unlikely that they will ever be answered. Nonetheless, I think they’re worth asking – for […]