Rockville's post

Last updated
Rockville's Post
southern Miami County, Kansas
Coordinates 38°25′57″N94°39′08″W / 38.4325°N 94.6522°W / 38.4325; -94.6522 [1]
Type U.S. Army post, local militia post
Site information
Controlled byvarious Army units from Kansas, local militia
Site history
Builtca. August 1863
In useca. August 1863 - ca. spring or summer 1865
Garrison information
Past
commanders		various, including Capt. Benjamin F. Simpson, Capt. Joel Huntoon
Garrisonsame

Rockville's post, in southern Miami County, Kansas, was established at the small town of Rockville, Kansas, founded in 1859 by those loyal to the southern cause in Kansas. The other side, the free-staters, soon gained control of the town and it was loyal to the Union when the Civil War broke out in 1861. Rockville was located on the top of a hill surrounded by rolling plains. During the American Civil War, the area was almost bare of trees, allowing troops holding the town to see anyone coming from some distance away. Rockville's post was one of the many posts established in the War to help guard the Kansas-Missouri border area. [2] [3]

The first time a military presence was mentioned at Rockville was in August 1863, when probably fewer than fifty men garrisoned the post there. Nothing more was mentioned until February 1864, when twenty-five men were at Rockville. After that troops were possibly not always there, but they were there most of the time until October 1864. [4]

In September 1864 Maj. Gen. Sterling Price invaded Missouri and the invasion quickly became a large raid, as Price failed to permanently hold any localities. Somewhere around this time a stockade was constructed around the town's stone church. A lookout tower was built at the top of the stockade. For a time all the residents of Rockville lived inside the stockade. [5]

On October 25, 1864, Price's troops were spotted from the tower; some of the troops headed toward Rockville. The residents carried everything they could into the surrounding countryside and hid it. When Confederates reached the town, they raided the town and stockade, but Union troops were close behind. This prevented them from taking the time they needed to search the countryside. [6]

After Price's raid, a company of troops returned to Rockville, but they probably soon permanently left as no further entries in the official records of the Civil War exist. The stockade, especially the tower, probably was used by the town until the end of the War. Rockville languished and eventually disappeared as a town. In 1993 only two apparently abandoned buildings remained and satellite imaging as of 2013 showed even those were gone. [7] [8]

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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.

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.

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.

In 1864 Gen. Samuel R. Curtis established a military camp at the Fort Riley-Fort Larned Road crossing of the Smoky 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.

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Fort McKean is a fort located inside Kansas along the Kansas-Missouri border. On November 14, 1862, Company C of the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, led by Lieut. James B. Pond, established a camp at Morris Mills on Drywood Creek. It was fifteen miles southeast of Fort Scott. Sometime later this camp was given the name of Fort McKean. The post was probably on the Fort Scott-Fort Gibson Military Road, and many, including Pond, thought the post was inside Missouri. Throughout its history, Fort McKean was a small post, ranging in strength from 20 to 60 men. It is unknown what buildings or defenses were erected there.

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Mound City's post was established by 1860 in Mound City, Kansas, United States. In August 1861 U.S. Senator James H. Lane reported to the commander of Fort Leavenworth that the post was to be fortified. In fact, Mound City's post became one of the important posts guarding against Confederate guerrilla attacks along the Kansas-Missouri border. Through the War usually 200 to 300 troops at a time were stationed at the post.

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.

The Salina Stockade was built in Salina, Kansas, to provide the residents with protection from the American Indians in the area, many of whom were hostile toward white settlement. Salina had been raided in 1862 by Native Americans and then Confederate guerrillas, but it was not until May 1864 when residents decided they needed to build a stockade for protection. On May 17, 1864, a makeshift stockade, consisting of wagons placed in a circle around the town's flagpole, was erected. The local militia then drilled and guarded Salina. On the northeast corner of 7th Street and Iron Avenue stood a small building. Around this a permanent stockade was erected in May and June 1864.

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.

References

  1. ↑ Wiliam C. Pollard, Jr., "Forts and Military Posts in Kansas: 1854-1865" (Ph.D. dissertation, Faith Baptist College & Seminary, 1997), p. 112.
  2. ↑ William G. Cutler, History of the State of Kansas (Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1883), p. 895.
  3. ↑ "Rockville and the Civil War, Miami Co. Kansas,," in Blue Skyways website, at http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/civilwar/rockville.html .
  4. ↑ Maj. John M. Laing, report, The War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891), Series I, Vol. XXXIV, Part II, p. 765.
  5. ↑ "Rockville and the Civil War."
  6. ↑ "Rockville and the Civil War."
  7. ↑ "Organization of Troops in the Department of Kansas, Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, U.S. Army, Commanding, October 31, 1864," The War of the Rebellion (1893), Series I, Vol. XLI, Part IV, p. 379.
  8. ↑ Standard Atlas of Miami County, Kansas (Chicago: George A. Ogle & Co., 1901), p. 45.
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