Fort Leavenworth (Leavenworth County, Kansas)
Leavenworth County · Kansas · Indian Wars, Civil War, Westward Expansion
History & Significance
Colonel Henry Leavenworth, with the officers and men of the 3rd Infantry Regiment from Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis, Missouri, established Fort Leavenworth in 1827 to be a forward base protecting the Santa Fe Trail. The Cantonment almost immediately increased in importance as it became the eastern terminus for the Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail.
By the 1840s, travel to Oregon and California had begun and thousands of wagons passed through Fort Leavenworth on the way to the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. During the Civil War, the U.S. Government established Camp Lincoln on Fort Leavenworth as a reception and training station for volunteers.
In 1864, news of the approach of Confederate General 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. Price's forces never reached Fort Leavenworth, having met defeat at Westport, which is now part of Kansas City.
During its long history, the post was never subject to enemy attack. The 10th Calvary was formed at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas on September 21, 1866, under Colonel Benjamin Grierson, becoming part of the Buffalo Soldiers—regiments comprised of freemen, formerly enslaved individuals, and Civil War veterans. The college was established in 1881 by William Tecumseh Sherman as the School of Application for Infantry and Cavalry (later simply the Infantry and Cavalry School), a training school for infantry and cavalry officers.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
Sources
- https://home.army.mil/leavenworth/about/visitor-information/fort-leavenworth-history
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Leavenworth
- https://www.kansashistory.gov/kansapedia/fort-leavenworth/17810
- https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/fort-leavenworth
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/fort-leavenworth-and-the-establishment-of-the-10th-cavalry.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Command_and_General_Staff_College
- https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/show/leavenworth/fort-leavenworth
- https://kansassampler.org/8wondersofkansas-history/historic-fort-leavenworth