The centerpiece of this 40-acre park is an important example of Civil War—Union side—military engineering. Fort Ward was a link in the Union defenses of sixty-eight forts that surrounded Washington, D.C. The northwest bastion, constructed and modified between 1861 and 1865, was part of fortifications equipped with thirty-six guns and manned by 1,200 troops. The city of Alexandria restored the bastion in 1961–1964 and reconstructed some faux Victorian structures and the ceremonial gate.