18th century The fort is 10 miles south of the 18th century French
Fort de Cavagnal, which was the farthest west fort in
Louisiana (New France). Its commandant was
François Coulon de Villiers, a brother to
Louis Coulon de Villiers, who was the only military commander to force
George Washington to surrender (after avenging the murder of his half brother
Joseph Coulon de Jumonville while in Washington's custody, which was the incident that set off the
French and Indian War). The French abandoned the fort after ceding its territory to
Louisiana (New Spain) at the conclusion of the French and Indian War. Early American explorers on the
Missouri River to visit the area of Fort de Cavagnal include
Lewis and Clark on 26–29 June 1804 and
Stephen Harriman Long in 1819. The fort location had been chosen then because of its proximity to a large
Kansa tribe village.
19th century Colonel
Henry Leavenworth, with the officers and men of the
3rd Infantry Regiment from
Jefferson Barracks at
St. Louis, Missouri, established Fort Leavenworth in 1827 to be a forward base protecting the
Santa Fe Trail. Leavenworth's instructions had been the following: Colonel Leavenworth of the 3d Infantry, with four companies of his regiment will ascend the Missouri and when he reaches a point on its left band near the mouth of
Little Platte River and within a range of twenty miles above or below its confluence, he will select such position as in his judgment is best calculated for the site of a permanent cantonment. The spot being chosen, he will then construct with the troops of his command comfortable, though temporary quarters sufficient for the accommodation of four companies. This movement will be made as early as the convenience of the service will permit. , photographer with the
Simpson Expedition.
Library of Congress. Leavenworth was to report that spot around the confluence on the east side of the Missouri River (near present-day
Farley, Missouri) would be prone to flooding and on 8 May 1827 recommended the location upstream on the west bank in the bluffs above the river. The first army installation in
Cantonment Leavenworth (its original name) was located on Scott Avenue, south of the Post Chapel with initial strength of 14 officers and 174 enlisted men. The Cantonment almost immediately increased in importance as it became the eastern terminus for the Santa Fe Trail and
Oregon Trail. After
Indian Removal Act of 1830 attempted to remove all Indians west of the Missouri–Kansas border, the fort which is west of the border assumed even more importance. In 1832, it was renamed "Fort Leavenworth". Between 1832 and 1834, the Rookery was built as bachelor officer quarters. The Rookery is the oldest building in Kansas and would be the office of the first territorial governor and thus the first capitol in Kansas from 1854 to 1855 when the capitol was moved to
Pawnee, Kansas. In 1836,
William Clark at the fort presided over the transfer of Indian land directly across the Missouri River from the fort to the U.S. government in the
Platte Purchase which involved the entire northwest corner of Missouri. In 1839, Col.
Stephen W. Kearny marched against the
Cherokees with 20 companies of
dragoons, the largest U.S. mounted force ever assembled. Throughout the
Mexican–American War, Fort Leavenworth was the outfitting post for the
Army of the West. In 1854,
Kansas Territory Governor
Andrew Reeder set up executive offices on post and lived for a short time in the quarters now known as the Rookery. During the 1850s, troops from Ft. Leavenworth were mobilized to control the "Mormon Problem" in what became known as the
Utah War. Monument From 1858 to 1874 Fort Leavenworth was also home to the Fort Leavenworth Arsenal (originally called the Leavenworth Ordnance Depot) which supplied
ordnance to the army in the western United States which was located at what today is the Combined Arms Center headquarters complex on what is called Arsenal Hill which was reached by Arsenal Avenue (which today is called Scott Avenue). The arsenal moved in 1874 to the
Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois. Two surviving buildings from the arsenal are Sherman Hall and Sheridan Hall which are now in the same complex as Grant Hall and are among the most iconic buildings of the fort.
Civil War At the outbreak of the
Civil War, Camp Lincoln was established on post as a reception and training station for Kansas volunteers. In 1864, news of the approach of
Confederate General
Sterling Price prompted construction of Fort Sully, a series of earthworks for artillery emplacements on Hancock Hill, overlooking what is now the
Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. (See
Fort Sully (Fort Leavenworth)). However, Price's forces never reached Fort Leavenworth, having met defeat at
Westport, which is now part of
Kansas City. During its long history, the post was never subject to enemy attack. For three decades following the war, the Army's chief mission was control of the
American Indian tribes on the Western plains. Between 1865 and 1891, the Army had more than 1,000 combat engagements with
Apache,
Modoc,
Cheyenne,
Ute,
Nez Perce,
Comanche,
Kiowa,
Kickapoo and other tribes. The Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery is one of the
national cemeteries established by
Abraham Lincoln on 17 July 1862. Veterans since the
War of 1812 have been laid to rest in the cemetery. One veteran of the War of 1812 is the cemetery's most famous occupant, Brigadier General Henry Leavenworth, who gave his name to the fort, the cemetery, and the town and county they are located in. Others buried in the cemetery include 10
Medal of Honor recipients, seven
Confederate prisoners of war as well as soldiers killed in
Operation Desert Storm,
Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Enduring Freedom. Although there is no longer space for new burial sites, burials frequently take place for those who already have family members interred in the cemetery.
Reconstruction and Indian wars In 1866, the
U.S. Congress authorized the formation of four black regiments, which were the
24th and
25th Infantry Regiments and the
9th and
10th Cavalry Regiments. The 10th Cavalry Regiment was formed at Fort Leavenworth under the command of Col.
Benjamin Grierson. Today, a statue of a cavalry rider stands at Fort Leavenworth in tribute to the "
Buffalo Soldier" of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments. Just off Fort Leavenworth in the City of
Leavenworth, The
Richard Allen Cultural Center, housed in a former home of a Buffalo Soldier, also highlights the history of the Buffalo Soldiers and African-Americans serving in the U.S. Army. The United States Disciplinary Barracks, now a maximum-security
military prison, was established in 1875 under the command of Lt. Col.
Edmund Rice. In 1877 some 400
Nez Perce were shipped to Fort Leavenworth after being pursued and captured in the
Nez Perce War. In 1889 they were sent to
Tonkawa, Oklahoma. The fort's first Catholic church was built in 1871 and was later replaced by St. Ignatius Chapel in 1889. St. Ignatius Chapel was destroyed by fire in December 2001. The first Protestant chapel, Memorial Chapel, was built by prison labor in 1878 of stone quarried on post. The round window behind the chapel's front altar was intentionally installed slightly askew by an inmate who was angry at his work boss. This chapel has brass cannon embedded in the walls at the sides of the church, and photos of many of the officers involved in the early history of the fort, including some of the Custer family. In 1881, Gen.
William T. Sherman established the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry. That school evolved into the
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. The Western Branch National Military Home ("
old soldiers' home"), now called the Veterans Medical Center, or Dwight D. Eisenhower Medical Center Historic District was established in 1885 as part of the
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers system. The soldier home is closely associated with the nearby cemetery that became the
Leavenworth National Cemetery in 1973.
20th century World War I was the first opportunity to evaluate the impact of Sherman's school. Graduates excelled in planning complex
American Expeditionary Forces operations. By the end of the war, they dominated staffs throughout the AEF. In the years between the world wars, graduates included such officers as
Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Omar Bradley and
George S. Patton. During
World War II, some 19,000 officers completed various courses at Fort Leavenworth. By the end of 1943, commanders and staffs of 26 infantry, airborne and cavalry divisions had trained as teams at the school. General
Michael Joe Costello of the army of the newly formed
Irish Free State attended Fort Leavenworth from 1926 to 1927, passing with such distinction that he was recommended for the
United States Army War College. In 1946, the school was given its current name. In 1959, the college moved to the newly built
J. Franklin Bell Hall on Arsenal Hill. In 1985, the
Harold Keith Johnson wing was added to house the Combined Arms and Services Staff School (CAS3). Classes for the
School of Advanced Military Studies and the School for Command Preparation, as well as the
Combined Arms Research Library, are located in Eisenhower Hall which was dedicated in 1994. It was declared a
National Historic Landmark in 1960. Until the early 1970s, a battery of four
Nike-Hercules Missiles were deployed at Bell Point on a hill on the west side of the fort. The base is served by the
Sherman Army Airfield which has a runway and operates under a joint agreement with the city of Leavenworth, Kansas that permits civilian aircraft to use it all hours. The airfield was inundated by the Missouri River in levee breaches during the
Great Flood of 1951, the
Great Flood of 1993, and the Great Flood of 2011. ==Freedom's Frontier Heritage Area==