One of President Lincoln’s Forts built for the defenses of Washington, D.C. Vermont troops constructing the fort named it in honor of Ethan Allen, the famous commander of the Green Mountain Boys who at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War supported the patriot cause and played a prominent part in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. The fort was also called Fort Baker by some of the construction troops in honor of Colonel Edward Barker, who was later killed at the Battle