Trading Post's fort

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Trading Post's fort
Trading Post, Kansas
Coordinates 38°14′54″N94°41′06″W / 38.2483°N 94.6850°W / 38.2483; -94.6850 Coordinates: 38°14′54″N94°41′06″W / 38.2483°N 94.6850°W / 38.2483; -94.6850
Type United States Army post
Site information
Controlled by various Army units
Site history
Built 1842
In use 1842, ca. spring 1861 - summer 1865
Materials wood, stone
Garrison information
Past
commanders		 various, including Col. Charles R. Jennison, Capt. Benjamin F. Goss, Col. Edward Lynde, Lieut. Col. George S. Hoyt, Capt. Ezekiel Bunn, Capt. John L. Thompson, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, Capt. Charles O. Smith, Lieut. Henry L. Barker
Garrison same

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. [1]

United States Army Land warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As the oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States of America was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself descended from the Continental Army, and dates its institutional inception from the origin of that armed force in 1775.

Winfield Scott Union United States Army general

Winfield Scott was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early stages of the American Civil War, and various conflicts with Native Americans. Scott was the Whig Party's presidential nominee in the 1852 presidential election, but was defeated by Democrat Franklin Pierce. He was known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" for his insistence on proper military etiquette, and as the "Grand Old Man of the Army" for his many years of service.

Dragoon mounted infantry soldiers

Dragoons originally were a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 18th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry, trained for combat with swords from horseback.

In spite of the considerable work going into the fort's construction, it was used for only a short time, possibly only weeks. The troops there abandoned the fort and moved further south to build Fort Scott. Private individuals made use of the fort and troops did not use it until 1861, when the American Civil War erupted. [2]

Fort Scott National Historic Site

Fort Scott National Historic Site is a historical area under the control of the United States National Park Service in Bourbon County, Kansas, United States. Named after General Winfield Scott, who achieved renown during the Mexican–American War, during the middle of the 19th century the fort served as a military base for US Army action in what was the edge of settlement in 1850. For the next quarter century, it was used as a supply base and to provide security in turbulent areas during the opening of the West to settlement, a period which included Bleeding Kansas and the American Civil War.

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

The first time the use of Trading Post's fort was mentioned during the Civil War was when troops were stationed there in September 1861, although it appears they soon left. Between early 1862 and June 1864 Trading Post was almost continuously occupied by troops. In 1862 Col. Charles R. Jennison led troops stationed there, but the settlers complained about their unruliness. Jennison's men were then removed. [3]

Charles R. Jennison Union Army officer

Charles Rainsford Jennison also known as "Doc" Jennison was a member of the anti-slavery faction during Bleeding Kansas, a famous Jayhawker, and a member of the Kansas State Senate in the 1870s. He later served as a Union colonel and as a leader of Jayhawker militias during the American Civil War. He was famously quoted as refusing to allow any pro-slavery soldiers to serve with him, and said, "the slaves of [southerners] can always find a protection in... [my] camp, and they will be defended to the last man and bullet."

In October 1864 the troops at Trading Post were removed and sent to Missouri to meet Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Sterling Price. After Price was defeated October 23 in the Battle of Westport, his forces moved south along the Kansas-Missouri border. The next day some of his men occupied Trading Post and two imposing hills north of town. Price himself was with them. Union forces arrived in the evening and at 3 AM October 25 the Battle of Marais des Cygnes began. The Union forces dislodged the Confederates from the hills and then about daylight charged into Trading Post, capturing 100 Confederates. All Confederate forces retreated south and later that day the Battle of Mine Creek forced the Confederates to continue their southward march toward Arkansas. [4] [5] [6]

Missouri State of the United States of America

Missouri is a state in the Midwestern United States. With over six million residents, it is the 18th-most populous state of the Union. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia; the capital is Jefferson City. The state is the 21st-most extensive in area. In the South are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center of the state into the Mississippi River, which makes up Missouri's eastern border.

Sterling Price American politician

Sterling "Old Pap" Price was an American lawyer, planter, soldier, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican–American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil War. Price is best known for his victories in New Mexico and Chihuahua during the Mexican conflict, and for his losses at the Battles of Pea Ridge and Westport during the Civil War–the latter being the culmination of his ill-fated Missouri Campaign of 1864.

Battle of Westport battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West," was fought on October 23, 1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General Sterling Price. This engagement was the turning point of Price's Missouri Expedition, forcing his army to retreat. The battle ended the last major Confederate offensive west of the Mississippi River, and for the remainder of the war the United States Army maintained solid control over most of Missouri. This battle was one of the largest to be fought west of the Mississippi River, with over 30,000 men engaged.

Soon after Price left the area troops were sent to garrison Trading Post again. A stable and some living quarters were built in February 1865. Troops remained until at least early June 1865. After troops left for good, the old fort was occupied for a time by two families. Later it was demolished, as a road was built through the fort. [7] [8] [9] [10]

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

On March 7, 1862, Confederate guerrillas under William C. Quantrill raided the small Kansas town of Aubry, southwest of Kansas City, Missouri, and just west of the Kansas-Missouri border. Three residents were killed in the raid and much property was carted away by the guerrillas.

In early May 1863 a temporary camp, Camp Hooker, was established at the site of what later became Baxter Springs, Kansas. This area was located in what was known as the Cherokee Strip (Kansas). In late May while the camp commander, Col. James M. Williams, was in Fort Scott, the troops moved the camp three blocks to the east to what is now Washington School Hill. The new camp, Camp Ben Butler (named after Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, was in a highly defendable position. It occupied a plateau that covered more than two square blocks. Only a small area to the south allowed easy access to camp. In fact, much of the surrounding area was practically impenetrable by men or horses.

Camp Hunter was established in June 1862 or a bit earlier at what is now Baxter Springs, Kansas. It was established by Union troops. At the same time Indian Home Guard regiments established a camp nearby on Little Five Mile Creek.

During the Civil War, Coldwater Grove existed 13½ miles east of Paola, Kansas. 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 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.

Mound City's post was established by 1860 in Mound City, Kansas. 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.

Osage Mission's post was located at the Osage Catholic Mission, which was established in 1847. Eventually, Osage Mission became the town of St. Paul, Kansas, inside what would become Neosho County, Kansas. The Mission was located about 35 miles (56 km) north of the Kansas-Indian Territory border. Indian Territory eventually became the state of Oklahoma. When the Civil War erupted, Father John Schoenmakers wanted to keep the Mission as neutral ground and thus out of the conflict. Although at one point Schoenmakers had to flee for a time, he pretty much succeeded in keeping Osage Mission itself out of harm's way.

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.

Salina's 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. While Salina had been raided in 1862 by Native Americans and then Confederate guerrillas, 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.

References

  1. ↑ "Trading Post Is One of Oldest Settlements in the Entire State," Fort Scott Tribune and the Fort Scott Monitor, May 30, 1942, anniversary ed., historical sec., p. 8.
  2. ↑ William A. Mitchell, Linn County, Kansas: A history (Kansas City: Campbell-Gates and Charno Bindery, 1928), pp. 116, 197-8.
  3. ↑ Mitchell, pp. 116, 197-8.
  4. ↑ Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, report, The War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891), Series I, Vol. XLI, Part I, pp. 493-5.
  5. ↑ Mitchell, p. 116.
  6. ↑ Lumir F. Buresh, October 25th and the Battle of Mine Creek (Kansas City: Lowell Press, 1977), pp. 85-6.
  7. ↑ Untitled story, The Border Sentinel (Mound City, Kans.), February 3, 1865, p. 3.
  8. ↑ Lieut. Col. D. J. Hynes, report, The War of the Rebellion (1896), Series I, Vol. XLVIII, Part II, p. 707.
  9. ↑ Mitchell, p. 116.
  10. ↑ Col. U. B. Pearsall, report, The War of the Rebellion (1896), Series I, Vol. XLVIII, Part II, pp. 785-6.
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