Click to enlargeThe historic fort provides visitors with an excellent understanding of Civil War-era military engineering. About 90% of the fort's earthwork walls are preserved and the Northwest Bastion has been restored and reconstructed to its original condition.
Self-guided tours begin at the reconstructed Fort Ward entrance gate. This structure, based on a period engineer plan, stands on its original site. To the right and left of the gate, the fort's extant earthen walls are visible. Visitors proceed to the right, following the rear wall of the fort to a carryover stairway that leads into the fort. Among the fort's preserved elements are two long earthen mounds that represent the remains of the underground bombproof shelters, North Bastion, the defensive ditch which surrounded the fort and the reconstructed Northwest Bastion.
The Northwest Bastion is the focal point of the historic site. A viewing platform allows visitors to see the Bastion's restored exterior walls, which rise to a height of almost 20 feet. The interior of the Bastion features wooden pole revetment, six gun platforms with ordnance pertaining to this section of the fort, banquette ledges where infantry troops would perform guard duty and station themselves for battle, and entrances to the magazine and filling room. Informative signage describes the Bastion's guns and the practice of firing a cannon.
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