Washington D.C.'s Fort McNair/Washington Arsenal-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Fort Lesley J. McNair is a U.S. Army post at the tip of Greenleaf Point, the peninsula formed at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers in Washington, D.C..  It is the third-longest existing Army post  after the USMA and Carlisle Barracks.

It was established in 1791 as a major site of defense for the new U.S. capital.  An arsenal first occupied the site and defenses were commenced in 1794.

The fort/arsenal did not, however, make much of a difference when the British troops came a-calling in the War of 1812.  They arrived in 1814 after American troops had evacuated northward carrying what powder they could and dumping the rest into a well.  The British troops found the powder magazine empty, but at one point a lit match was tossed into the well, causing a tremendous explosion where about 30 of their soldiers were killed and the rest mangled.

--Old Secesh