7/12/2008:
On this day in 1864, General Jubal A. Early and 20,000 Confederate troops attacked Fort Stevens, just outside Washington DC. President Abraham Lincoln and the First Lady traveled to the fort to watch the battle.
On hand to witness the event was future North Dakota resident and politician, Smith Stimmel. Serving as one of Lincoln’s personal bodyguards, he had been ordered that morning to accompany the President. “On arriving at the Fort,” Stimmel wrote, “the President left his carriage and took his position behind the earthworks...”
It was a short fight, ending by sundown with the Confederates in retreat, but not before sharpshooters had wounded an officer and a doctor standing next to Lincoln. The Battle of Fort Stevens, witnessed by Smith Stimmel, not only saved Washington DC, but also marked the only battle in which a sitting U.S. President came under direct enemy fire.
Written by Christina Sunwall
Sources:
"Fort Stevens", National Park Service http://www.nps.gov/archive/rocr/ftcircle/stevens.htm.
Stimmel, Smith. "Experiences as a Member of President Lincoln's Body Guard." North Dakota Historical Quarterly 1, no. 2 (January 1927): 5-33.