Fort McIntosh was a U.S. Army base in Laredo,

Webb County, Texas Webb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 267,114. Its county seat is Laredo. The county was named after James Webb (1792–1856), who served as secretary of the treasury, secre ...

, from 1849 to 1946. Fort McIntosh was established on 3 March 1849 by the 1st US Infantry, under the command of Lt. E.L. Viele, to guard the Texas frontier at the site of a strategic river crossing. Originally named Camp Crawford, the fort was renamed Fort McIntosh in 1850 in honor of Lieutenant Colonel James Simmons McIntosh, a hero in the Battle of Molino del Rey during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

. The fort was abandoned by Federal troops at the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The Battle of Laredo took place near the fort on March 19, 1864, when 72 men repelled three attacks from a force of 200 federal soldiers sent from Brownsville, Texas. On October 23, 1865, the post was reoccupied by federal troops of the 2nd Texas Cavalry. In the late 19th century, several

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

units among them the 10th Cavalry, the " Buffalo Soldiers", were stationed at Fort McIntosh. Other forts in the frontier fort system were Forts

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

, Concho, Belknap, Chadbourne, Stockton, Davis,

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C ...

, McKavett, Clark, Richardson, Inge, and Phantom Hill in Texas, and

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Thesystem had "subposts or intermediate stations" including Bothwick's Station on Salt Creek between Fort Richardson and Fort Belknap, Camp Wichita near Buffalo Springs between Fort Richardson and Red River Station, and Mountain Pass between Fort Concho and Fort Griffin. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the fort was used as a training base, and had over 15,000 recruits pass through the gates. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the 8th Service Command, the 56th Cavalry Brigade, the Southern Land Frontier, the

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a Congressional charter, congressionally chartered, federally supported Nonprofit corporation, non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliaries, auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CA ...

, and battalion of military police all were stationed at the facility at one time or another. The fort was deactivated in 1946, and the land is now part of the campus of Laredo Community College main campus. The Laredo

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

340th Quarter Master Company is located within the fort.

National Register of Historic Places

The

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

added Fort McIntosh (#75002011) to its registered historic districts in 1975. Its areas of historic significance are its 1850-1924 Late Victorian Architecture and Military background. All of Fort McIntosh buildings have been preserved and remodeled, and today they serve as educational buildings for Laredo Community College. The former officers barracks has been renovated into Arechiga Hall, named for the third LCC president, Domingo Arechiga.

Gallery

File:Fort McIntosh Texas Historical Marker.jpg, Texas Historical Marker File:Fort McIntosh Texas Historical Marker 2.jpg, Texas Historical Marker for barracks File:Fort McIntosh Officers Row.jpg, Officers Row File:Fort McIntosh NCO row.jpg, NCO row File:Fort McIntosh Hospital.jpg, Hospital Image:Entrance to Fort McIntosh Cemetery IMG 1797.JPG, Gate to Fort McIntosh

Cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

in Laredo,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Image:Fort McIntosh Cemetery monument, Laredo, TX IMG 1798.JPG, This monument honors all the fallen at Fort McIntosh Cemetery; no individual graves remain.

Aerial view

References

External links

{{Laredo, Texas Texas in the American Civil War McIntosh Buildings and structures in Laredo, Texas History of Laredo, Texas Laredo, Texas Former installations of the United States Army McIntosh National Register of Historic Places in Webb County, Texas Historic districts in Texas

National Register of Historic Places

Gallery

Aerial view

See also

References

External links