The Peculiar Incident at Fort Ward Park

Yesterday, I was reading the Friday edition of the Potomac Free Press. I found a curious article in the paper. The article was short and held little detail. The title simply stated “Fort Ward Park Vandalized by Unknown Trespassers”. The article went on to state that the local police, while on patrol, responded to a 911 call of “human screams and other horrific noises” coming from the closed park very late in the evening. As the first patrol officer came upon the entrance of Fort Ward Park he observed three adults (sex and age unknown) in dark hooded robes fleeing the park and into the nearby woods. A subsequent search of the park and surrounding area did not locate these trespassers. While the police searched for the trespassers, they came across a smoldering fire pit in the middle of the park. In the ashes of the fire were found some burnt pages, now illegible from the flames and etched in the dirt near that small fire pit, was what appeared to be a large twisted, five-pointed star with an eye shape in the center. The article contained nothing else of interest. Some sort of pagan cult perhaps?

Since Fort Ward Park is located not too far from my home in Arlington, I resolved to drive there and investigate further the following day. I have never been to the park before; it is a small park which was a former civil war earthen fort. Many of these small earthen forts were built to serve as supply depots south of the District of Columbia during the war. From the City of Alexandria website:

Construction of Fort Ward began in July 1861, immediately after the Union Army's defeat at the Battle of First Bull Run (First Manassas). The fort was completed in September 1861 and was named for Commander James H. Ward, the first Union naval officer to die in the Civil War. The initial earthwork fort had a perimeter of 540 yards and 24 guns. After the Battle of Second Bull Run, Fort Ward was scheduled for rebuilding beginning in 1863. When the war ended in April 1865, the enlarged fort had a perimeter of 818 yards and emplacements for 36 guns. Throughout the Civil War Fort Ward served as a deterrent and never came under Confederate attack. It was abandoned in December 1865, and salvageable materials were sold at auction. Commander James H. Ward was well known as a scholar and an authority on tactics and gunnery. He was instrumental in establishing the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. When Virginia seceded, a possible Confederate blockade of the Potomac River posed a serious threat to the main supply line for the capital city of Washington, D.C. Commander Ward was placed in command of a flotilla of seven ships charged with keeping the river open to shipping. While attempting to cover the withdrawal of a small Federal force at Mathias Point, Virginia, he was mortally wounded by gunfire from a Confederate sniper and died shortly thereafter.

http://oha.alexandriava.gov/fortward

I parked my vehicle in the first parking lot I came upon, a small gravel lot located just off of West Braddock Road on the right hand side. Not many people were in the park, just a few walkers and runners attempting to keep fit during this cold, windy dreary fall day. I did not know where to start so, with camera in hand; I strolled around the pretending to be a tourist interested in taking pictures of the local history. I took a few cursory shots of the museum and entrance to the park. As I walked over to the magazine storage and gun embankment, I noticed a few curiosities. The doors on the magazine storage doors were roped off, at closer inspection, there appeared to be tool marks around the edge of the door and the lock on the door appeared brand new. Had the vandals gone into the underground magazine?

After inspecting the outside of the magazine, it was then I noticed another roped off area to my left. I walked over to this area and as I did so, I took out my camera to snap a picture. The area looked as if fresh sod had been laid down very recently. A park ranger had noticed my camera and had walked to me from across the park. Before I could take the picture, he asked me why I wanted to take a picture of that particular area. He was very stern and perhaps a little frightened. He warned me not to disturb the roped off area. Feigning ignorance, I asked him what had happened. He simply stated that the area had to be repaired due to unspecified damage to the grass and soil. I walked around the park some more, searching for clues...feeling the watchful eyes of the park ranger on me at all times. That is all I could discover from my time at Fort Ward Park in Alexandria. If you have more information, I beg of you to email me!