The Day Fort Lyon Blew Apart

On June 9, 1863, a thunderous explosion tore through Fort Lyon, just outside Alexandria. Eight tons of gunpowder accidentally ignited, killing 21 soldiers from the 3rd New York Heavy Artillery instantly. Two more died of their wounds in the days that followed. The blast shattered windows throughout the city and was heard as far as Georgetown. The 23 victims now lie side by side in Section A of Alexandria National Cemetery—a quiet row of gravestones that marks one of the Civil War’s deadliest accidents away from the battlefield.

Gravestones of the Fort Lyon explosion victims lay in a solemn row in Section A of Alexandria National Cemetery. Two red arrows meet at an apex above the line, marking the first and last in the sequence—Private Ferdinand Wetterer (A:818) and Lieutenant Leo Kuchns (A:838). Approximately 21 of the 23 soldiers who died from the June 9, 1863, blast are buried together here. Two others—Corporal Gottleib Messinger (A:842) and Private John Eckert (A:928)—rest elsewhere in the cemetery, having succumbed to their injuries days or weeks later.

Read more in [The Sad Fate of the New York Volunteers]