Fort Simple (Topeka, Kansas)

Topeka · Kansas · Civil War

Quick BriefFort Simple was an American fort built in Topeka, Kansas, as a result of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Missouri Raid in the late summer and fall of 1864. Constructed by soldiers of the 2nd Regiment of the Kansas State Militia—including 65 Black recruits—the fort consisted of a circular stockade with trenches on Topeka's east side. Dismantled in April 1867 as an "eye-sore", the fort left no remains.

Civil War

History & Significance

Following Quantrill's raid on Lawrence in August 1863, Kansas feared Confederate assault on its undefended capital, but fortification efforts did not begin until General Sterling Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri. In October 1864, while most of the 2nd Kansas State Militia marched east to block Price's advance, 292 men remained in Topeka, including 65 Black recruits, to construct defensive works.

The fort was a circular stockade 40–50 feet in diameter, built from cottonwood logs driven into the ground to a height of ten feet, with a mountain howitzer and rifle ports on all four sides. On October 23, panicked reports of Union defeat at the Battle of Big Blue (now Westport) near Kansas City reached Topeka; the next day a rider brought news of Confederate defeat instead.

Remarkably, two women disguised as men briefly helped defend the fort before their discovery. Once the Confederate threat faded, residents grew tired of the fort; the city council shortened its walls and planted trees in 1865–1866, and by April 1867 the structure was dismantled entirely. Originally unnamed, the fort was later called Fort Simple for its humble design; a commemorative bronze tablet was erected in 1929 at the intersection of Sixth and Kansas Avenues, though it was lost during 1995 construction.