Category:Fort Leavenworth

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Fort Leavenworth (1827-Open) - Colonel Henry Leavenworth, with the officers and men of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment from Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis, Mo., established Fort Leavenworth in 1827.

For 30 years, Fort Leavenworth was the chief base of operations on the Indian frontier. In 1839, Col. Stephen Watts Kearny marched against the Cherokees with 10 companies of dragoons, the largest U.S. mounted force ever assembled. Throughout the Mexican-American War, Fort Leavenworth was the outfitting post for the Army of the West.

During these early years, soldiers from Fort Leavenworth protected wagon trains hauling supplies over the Santa Fe Trail, Oregon Trail, and other trails to most forts, posts and military camps of the West, some as far as the Pacific Ocean. When the Kansas Territory was organized in 1854, Governor Andrew Reeder set up executive offices on post and lived for a short time in the quarters now known as "The Rookery".

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Camp Lincoln was established on post as a reception and training station for Kansas volunteers. News of the approach of Confederate Gen. Sterling Price prompted construction of Fort Sully, a series of earthworks for artillery emplacements on Hancock Hill, overlooking what is now the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. But Price's forces never reached Fort Leavenworth, having met defeat at Westport, Mo., which is now part of Kansas City. During its long history, the post was never subject to enemy attack.

For three decades following the war, the Army's chief mission was control of the American Indian tribes on the Western plains. Between 1865 and 1891, the Army had more than 1,000 combat engagements with Apache, Modoc, Cheyenne, Ute, Nez Perce, Comanche, Kiowa, Kickapoo and other tribes.

In 1866, the U.S. Congress authorized the formation of four black regiments—the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments and the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiments. The 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiment was formed at Fort Leavenworth under the command of Col. Benjamin H. Grierson. Today, a monument stands at Fort Leavenworth in tribute to the "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments.

The United States Disciplinary Barracks was established in 1875.

The fort's first Catholic Church was built in 1871, and was later replaced by St. Ignatius Chapel in 1889. St. Ignatius Chapel was destroyed by fire in December 2001. The first Protestant chapel, Memorial Chapel, was built by prison labor in 1878 of stone quarried on post.

In 1881, Gen. William T. Sherman established the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry. That school evolved into the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

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Lat: 47.6570 Long: -122.4182

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