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Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Kansas:
Site history:
Built 1827 In use 1827–present Garrison information Past commanders LTG
David G. Perkins Garrison U.S. Army Combined Arms Center Command and General
Staff College 15th Military Police Brigade (705th Military Police Battalion)
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth
County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, roughly 20 miles northwest of
Kansas City. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army
post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest permanent settlement in Kansas.
Fort Leavenworth has been historically known as the "Intellectual Center
of the Army." During the country's westward expansion, Fort Leavenworth
was a forward destination for thousands of soldiers, surveyors, immigrants,
American Indians, preachers and settlers who passed through. On August 1, 1846,
a Mormon Battalion, led by Col. James Allen, arrived at Fort Leavenworth.
Colonel Allen became ill and died at the fort. A headstone marks his grave at
the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Today, the garrison supports the US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)
by managing and maintaining the home of the US Army Combined Arms Center (CAC).
CAC's mission involves leader development, collective training, and Army
doctrine and battle command (current and future).
Fort Leavenworth is home to the Military Corrections Complex, consisting of the
United States Disciplinary Barracks – the Department of Defense's only
maximum security prison – and the Midwest Joint Regional Correctional
Facility.
In addition, the Fort Leavenworth Garrison supports numerous tenant
organizations that directly and indirectly relate to the functions of the CAC,
including the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the
Foreign Military Studies Office. The fort occupies 5,600 acres (2,300 ha) and
7,000,000 sq ft (700,000 m2) of space in 1,000 buildings and 1,500 quarters.
It is located on the Frontier Military Scenic Byway (U.S. Route 69 and K-7
corridor), which was originally a military road connecting to Fort Scott and
Fort Gibson. Fort Leavenworth was also the base of African-American soldiers of
the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on 21
September 1866 at Fort Leavenworth. They became known as Buffalo Soldiers,
nicknamed by the Native American tribes whom they fought. The term eventually
was applied to all of the African-American regiments formed in 1866.
Tenants and organization Fort Leavenworth, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, and
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College device. The garrison commander is a
colonel reporting via IMCOM West to the Installation Management Command. The
fort is nicknamed the "intellectual center" of the Army because much
of its mission involves training. Major tenants include: United States Army
Combined Arms Center (CAC) which among its various responsibilities is the
United States Army Command and General Staff College, which includes a degrees
granting graduate school for U.S. and allied soldiers and officers. The school
trains almost all of the army's majors. All modern five-star army generals have
passed through the college including George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight
Eisenhower, Henry "Hap" Arnold, and Omar Bradley. Since 1978 it has
been commanded by a lieutenant general (3 stars). In 2007, its commander was
David Petraeus. It reports to the United States Army Training and Doctrine
Command (TRADOC).
United States Disciplinary Barracks, which is the only maximum security prison
for military personnel of all branches. Since a 2007 reorganization, its
commander is a colonel who reports to the United States Army Corrections
Command. Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility, a low security prison.
reports to the United States Army Corrections Command.
Foreign Military Studies Office (which reports to TRADOC) Munson Army Health
Center (Post hospital) University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies
(which includes teaching Red Teams among its courses) Sherman Army
Airfield—the Post airport (which reports to the garrison) Fort Leavenworth
National Cemetery TRADOC Analysis Center (which reports to TRADOC)
Headquarters of the National Guard's 35th Infantry Division (Mechanized)
Mission Command Training Program is the focal point for National Guard of the
United States division and brigade staff training and development. Army/ACE
Registry Transcript Systems (handles transcripts for all its training)
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. 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 20 miles (32 km) 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. 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 Fort 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 5,905-foot (1,800 m) 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.
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