Fort Blair (Fort Scott)

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In spring and possibly through summer 1864, three blockhouses were constructed to help defend the town and post of Fort Scott. These were Fort Blair, Fort Henning and Fort Insley. Fort Blair was enclosed by a rectangular wall of log palisades covered on the outside by earthworks, which in turn were surrounded by a wide, deep ditch. These were to be used by armed men and cannon in case the town and post were attacked by Confederate guerrillas or regular forces. A drawing of Fort Blair and its stockade showed the stockade as about waist high. [1]

Fort Blair was named for Gen. Charles W. Blair. This fort contained two 24-pounder guns. The blockhouse was built of sawed or thick boards, which was covered with rough boards. It had openings for rifles and small cannon and was roofed with wood shingles. Three of the gun ports were on the second floor and a fourth was on the first floor. The structure was two stories tall. [2]

Fort Blair was the second largest of the three blockhouses, measuring sixteen by sixteen feet. It was in south Fort Scott, located between Main Street and Scott Avenue. The fort was several blocks south of the main part of the post of Fort Scott. [3]

Fort Blair was used to guard Fort Scott when Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price passed through the area in late October 1864 near the end of his failed raid into Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas (see Price's Missouri Raid). Price wanted to overrun the defenders at Fort Scott, but not one shot was fired when Price passed within sight of the post. [4]

Fort Scott was closed as military post in October 1865. The Fort Blair blockhouse was the only of the three not to be torn down. It was disassembled and moved at least twice. Finally it was reconstructed and placed adjacent to the Fort Scott National Historic Site, where it remains today. [5]

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Kansas has always been home to many forts and military posts.

Barnesville's Post located near Barnesville, in Bourbon County, Kansas, was the site of military camps for stretches of time during the American Civil War. The first mention of a camp there came from a report written on September 4, 1861, by Sen. James Lane. This was during the time Lane had evacuated Fort Scott and moved his forces to areas north of that post. A post was established at Barnesville. Lane wrote to Capt. W. E. Prince, then commanding Fort Leavenworth, "I am holding Barnesville. .. with an irregular force of about 250 men, stationed in log buildings, and am now strengthening their position with earth entrenchments."

In 1862 the citizens of Burlingame, Kansas, constructed a stone fort around the town well, in an intersection in the business district. This was done to prevent the burning of Burlingame by Confederate guerrilla William Anderson, later known as Bloody Bill Anderson. He and his family had lived in a neighboring county up to 1862, but Anderson got into considerable trouble and was forced to leave. Upon leaving, Anderson threatened to burn Burlingame.

During the Civil War, Coldwater Grove existed 131⁄2 miles east of Paola, Kansas, in Miami County. It straddled the Kansas-Missouri border, being partly in both states. About June 1863 a Union military post was established on the Kansas side of the community and the post was put under the command of Lt. Col. Charles S. Clark. Clark also commanded four nearby posts.

Council Grove's Post is a trading post on the Santa Fe Trail that operated in Council Grove, Kansas. It was established around 1861 and decommissioned around 1864, with ties to the Civil War.

In spring and probably into summer 1864 Fort Henning was constructed. It, along with Fort Blair and Fort Insley, was built to help protect the city and post of Fort Scott. Fort Henning, located at the intersection of Second and National Streets, was almost in the center of town. Fort Henning was an octagonal structure and measured fourteen feet across. It was the smallest of the three blockhouse forts.

In spring and summer 1864 Fort Blair, Fort Henning and Fort Insley were constructed to help protect the town and post of Fort Scott from Confederate forces. Fort Insley was named for Capt. Martain H. Insley. It was located just northeast of town, about 1½ blocks northeast of the main part of the post of Fort Scott. It overlooked Buck Run Creek.

Fort Brooks, in northwest Clay County, Kansas, was located three miles west of Clifton, Kansas. Built on the north bank of the Republican River in August or September 1864, it was named for George D. Brooks. Brooks, an ensign in the Shirley County Militia, owned the farm on which the fort was located. Capt. Isaac M. Schooley, the militia commander, was also the fort's commander.

In 1864 Gen. Samuel R. Curtis established a military camp at the Fort Riley-Fort Larned Road crossing of the Smokey Hill River in what is now Ellsworth County, Kans.

Fort Lincoln was established about August 24, 1861, by United States Senator James Lane. Earlier in August, Lane had reestablished Fort Scott as a military post. Soon Confederate troops under Maj. Gen. Sterling Price threatened to overrun the newly reopened post.

Sometime in 1864 a large log blockhouse was removed from Fort Lincoln, Kansas, and was relocated to the town of Fort Scott, Kansas. This blockhouse was placed at the intersection of Lowman and First streets. Probably a stockade, possibly also removed from Fort Lincoln, was erected around the blockhouse.

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Paola's post, sometimes called Post Paola, in Miami County, Kansas, was located on the west side of Bull Creek, just west of Paola, Kansas. It was probably established in December 1861, as that was the first time it was mentioned. This post became one of the more important posts along the Kansas-Missouri border during the Civil War. It became a district headquarters in 1863. Later, in September 1864, it was designated a subdistrict headquarters, when the district headquarters was moved to Lawrence, Kansas. The military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Gibson ran through Paola, thus ensuring the post always had some importance.

In 1842 a large log fort was built at Trading Post by the United States Army, upon the order of Gen. Winfield Scott. This fort was on the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Gibson Military Road. The completed fort was fairly elaborate. It included space to house a company of dragoons and their horses. Also, it contained a hospital and store houses. Gaps along the outside walls of buildings were filled in with stockade walls. The buildings were built around a large interior open area.

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References

  1. ↑ http://skyways.lib.ke.us/genweb/archives/history/1894/%5B%5D T. F. Robley, History of Bourbon County (Fort Scott: Press of the Monitor Book & Print. Co., 1894), p. 183; "KANSAS: Cyclopedia - 1912". Archived from the original on 2009-12-21. Retrieved 2010-01-26. Frank W. Blackmar, ed., Kansas: A Cyclopedia (Chicago: Standard Pub. Co., 1912), Vol. 1, pp. 657–8; William C. Pollard, Jr., "Forts and Military Posts in Kansas: 1854–1865" (Ph.D. dissertation, Faith Baptist College and Seminary, 1997), pp. 36–7, 128.
  2. ↑ "The Defences," The Daily Monitor (Fort Scott), June 8, 1864, p. 3; untitled story, The Daily Monitor, August 8, 1864, p. 3; "Our Fortifications," The Daily Monitor, September 6, 1864, p. 3; C. W. Goodlander, Memoirs and Recollections of C. W. Goodlander (Fort Scott: Monitor Print. Co., 1900), p. 52; C. E. Cory, "Old Block House," biographical scrapbook, p. 204 (from the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kans.); Cory, "The Old Blockhouse," The Bourbon News (Fort Scott), March 27, 1924, p. 3.
  3. ↑ "The Defences," p. 3; Robley, p. 183; untitled story, p. 3; "Our Fortifications," p. 3; Goodlander, p. 52; Lewis Barrington, Historical Restorations of the Daughters of the American Revolution (New York: Richard R. Smith, 1941), p. 191; W. R. Biddle, compiler, Full Proceedings at the Flag Raising on Dr. W. S. McDonald's Lawn, Fort Scott, Kansas, December 3, 1904 (Fort Scott: Monitor Binding and Printing Co., 1906), pp. 2, 24–5; Mary L. Barlow, compiler, The Why of Fort Scott (N.p.: 1921), p. 59 (from the Kansas Collection, U. of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence, Kans.); Leo O. Oliva, Fort Scott on the Indian Frontier (Topeka: KSHS, 1984), p. 65.
  4. ↑ Oliva, p. 65; Biddle, pp. 24–5.
  5. ↑ Cory, "The Old Blockhouse," p. 3; Barrington, p. 191; Biddle, pp. 2, 25.

Coordinates: 37°50′35″N94°42′13″W / 37.84306°N 94.70361°W / 37.84306; -94.70361

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