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Humboldt is a city in Allen County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Neosho River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,953.
Fort Larned National Historic Site preserves Fort Larned which operated from 1859 to 1878. It is approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of Larned, Kansas, United States.
The Department of the Missouri was a command echelon of the United States Army in the 19th century and a sub division of the Military Division of the Missouri that functioned through the Indian Wars.
Kansas has always been home to many forts and military 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.
Fort Belmont, in southern Woodson County, Kansas, was built about 1860 near the town of Belmont. It was to protect the settlers there from attacks by Border Ruffians and Indians. The fort consisted of three or four officer cabins, a redoubt about a quarter of a mile to the north and a parade ground a mile to the east.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fort 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. Topeka had become the permanent capital of the State of Kansas in 1861, but no fortifications had been built to protect the city from guerrilla bands, which roamed eastern Kansas. Even the raid and massacre in August 1863 in Lawrence, Kansas, did not result in a fort being built to protect the capital, although plans had been made to build one by July 1864.
The following is a timeline of the history of Topeka, Kansas, USA.
The Lawrence blockhouses were a series of blockhouses built in the spring of 1864 in Lawrence, Kansas, to provide defensive structures in case of attack by Confederate guerrillas. On August 21, 1863, Lawrence had been attacked by 400 guerrillas and Confederate Army recruits under the command of William C. Quantrill. Lawrence was caught virtually defenseless and much of the town was destroyed and about 180 men and boys were killed, most of them defenseless. A militia became active by spring 1864 to prevent another attack.
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.
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.
Franklin is a ghost town in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. Established as a proslavery stronghold, the town played a key role in the "Bleeding Kansas" conflict that troubled the territory in the 1850s.
Franklin's Fort was a small fortification that had been erected in Franklin, Douglas County, Kansas by pro-slavery settlers. During the "Bleeding Kansas" period, the fort was the site of two minor battles between pro- and anti-slavery factions.
New Georgia's Fort was located in Miami County, Kansas, southeast of Osawatomie. During the partisan warfare in Kansas Territory in 1856, a colony of Southerners, possibly all Georgians, established New Georgia. This colony was located on the Marias des Cygnes River. A blockhouse fort was constructed there and entrenchments were begun but the fort destroyed before the entrenchments could be completed. Northern settlers in the area claimed settlers at New Georgia harassed them. In reality, some settlers from both the North and South had groups who caused trouble with their neighbors.
References
- ↑ Ralph Richards, The Forts of Fort Scott and the Fateful Borderlands (Kansas City: Lowell Press, 1976), p. 231; Charles E. Cory, "The Soldiers of Kansas. The Sixth Kansas Cavalry and Its Commander," Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 1909-1910 (Topeka: State Printing Office, 1910), Vol. XI, p. 230; William C. Pollard, Jr., "Forts and Military Posts in Kansas: 1854-1865" (Ph.D. dissertation, Faith Baptist College and Seminary, 1997), p. 128 (a copy can be found in the Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) archives, Topeka, Kans.).
- ↑ Leo Ol. Oliva, Fort Scott on the Indian Frontier (Topeka: KSHS, 1984), pp. 65-6.