Fort Quitman was established on September 28, 1858, by units of the
8th Infantry Regiment. The first troops were under the command of
Captain Arthur T. Lee and included 86
officers and
men. Their mission was to protect the
San Antonio–El Paso Road. It was a station on the route of the mail coaches of the
San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line and later the
Butterfield Overland Mail. By 1860 the
garrison had been reduced to one officer
Second Lieutenant Zenas Bliss (who would retire from the Army in 1897 as a
brigadier general) and 20 men. On the outbreak of the
American Civil War, Texas joined the
Confederacy. Lieutenant Bliss and his men were ordered to march to
San Antonio with other troops evacuating
West Texas garrisons. They believed they would be put on ships and sent to the
North, but instead were captured and held as
prisoners of war. Bliss was later
exchanged and rose to the rank of
colonel of volunteers. His promotion to
general grade was probably hindered by his having been a prisoner of war. Confederate Texas troops under Brigadier General
Henry Hopkins Sibley passed through the post on their way to the
New Mexico Campaign in December 1861. The remnants of his army also passed by the post after their defeat. There is no evidence that Confederate troops ever permanently garrisoned the fort. The fort was inspected by troops from the
California Column looking for any evidence of further Confederate activity or stragglers in 1863, but did not see any need to garrison the post. The Fort was regarrisoned in January 1868 by
Buffalo Soldiers of the
9th Cavalry Regiment and 42 Infantry under command of
Major Albert Payson Morrow of the 9th Cavalry. Much of the post was in bad condition and was never fully restored. Soldiers would complain about
adobe from the walls falling into their bunks as they slept due to the poor condition of the buildings. It has been stated, "No worse site for a military post could ever be conceived." It was all but totally isolated from civilization with mountain ranges running down both sides of the river. Any attempts at cultivating gardens to help with food supplies met with little success. Expeditions against the
Apache in the
Sacramento Mountains were mounted from Fort Quitman, but they met with little success. Gradually the garrison was reduced to a single company of infantry. The last unit, Company B of the
25th Infantry Regiment, left in January 1877. The post itself was burned later that year by an angry mob from
San Elizario during the
San Elizario Salt War. The rioters destroyed it in protest of
federal support of a rival faction. It was temporarily reoccupied as a sub-post of
Fort Davis by troops from the
10th Cavalry Regiment from 1880 to 1882 during
Victorio's War. The building of the
Southern Pacific Railroad through the pass in the mountains north-west of the post, effectively by-passing it, eliminated the need for this post. ==References==