Category:Fort Belknap: Difference between revisions

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Fort Belknap (1851-1859)(1864-1875) - One of eight forts authorized by Bvt. Maj. Gen Persifor F. Smith in the 1850's. The fort was founded on 24 Jun 1851, at the site of present Newcastle by Bvt. Brig. Gen. William G. Belknap. Commanding officer, Capt. C. L. Stephenson, 5th Infantry could find no water on the original site and he relocated the fort two miles south, where where spring water was available.

It was a post without defensive works. From it troops pursued raiding bands of Indians, and on occasion mounted expeditions from the fort carried the war to the enemy on the plains as far north as Kansas. Fort Belknap became the hub of a network of roads stretching in every direction; the most notable of these was the Butterfield Overland Mail route from St. Louis to San Francisco.

Fort Belknap was a four-company post. Among the companies stationed there during its existence were some from the 5th Infantry, the 2nd Dragoons, the 7th Infantry, the 2nd Cavalry, and the 6th Cavalry. Among the commanding officers were Col. Gustavus Loomis, Maj. Enoch Steen, Capt. Paul, Maj. George H. Thomas, Maj. Samuel Henry Starr, Lt. Col. Samuel Davis Sturgis, and Capt. Richard W. Johnson.

U.S. Civil War

In early 1861, believing that war was imminent, Gen. David E. Twiggs ordered Col. William H. Emory to gather all federal troops and move them north to Fort Leavenworth. On 9 Feb 1861, General Twiggs, in San Antonio, surrendered all United States forts and military equipment in Texas. Although it was abandoned before the Civil War, the fort was occupied from time to time by state troops of the Frontier Regiment under Col. James M. Norris.

Post U.S. Civil War

Fort Belknap was reoccupied on April 28, 1867 by Major Starr, with troops of the 6th Cavalry. The fort was abandoned in September of 1867 when Fort Griffin was founded in Shackelford County.

Some of the buildings have been restored and rebuilt.

Location: Three miles south of Newcastle, Young County, Texas Latitude: 33.15083 Longitude: -98.74056

Links:

• Texas Handbook
• U.S. Army on the Texas Frontier

Books:

• Roger N. Conger, et al., Frontier Forts of Texas, Waco: Texian Press, 1966
• Carrie J. Crouch, Fort Belknap, Graham, Texas: Graham Leader, n.d
• Barbara Neal Ledbetter, Fort Belknap Frontier Saga: Indians, Negroes and Anglo-Americans on the Texas Frontier, Burnet, Texas: Eakin Press, 1982
• Kenneth F. Neighbours, Robert Simpson Neighbors and the Texas Frontier, 1836-1859, Waco: Texian Press, 1975
• Robert B. Roberts, Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, New York: Macmillan, 1988
• Bill Winsor, Texas in the Confederacy, Hillsboro, Texas: Hill Junior College Press, 1978