Fort C. F. Smith is the best-preserved Civil War defensive fort in Arlington County. Built in 1863, it was one of several Union forts that encircled Washington, D.C., during the Civil War. Situated on the Potomac Palisades, it was designed and oriented to capitalize on the defensive advantages of the existing topography, which remains virtually undisturbed to this day. The fort was first called the “fort at Red House” or “Fort McDowell,” but in June of 1863, it was named to honor Major General Charles Ferguson Smith. A veteran of the war with Mexico, Gen. C.F. Smith had then commanded armies in the west prior to the Civil War.  Gen. Smith died of sepsis after an accident late in 1862 while serving in the Army of the Mississippi under Ulysses S. Grant. After the war, the fort was incorporated into a farm containing a house, barn, cottage, and shed built around 1870. The former Fort C.F. Smith and associated buildings now serve as the focus of a Arlington County recreational park.