Fort Leavenworth
Leavenworth, Kansas
Grant Hall, the symbol of Fort Leavenworth and headquarters of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center
Type	Army post
Built	1827
In use	1827–present
Controlled by	U.S. Army
Garrison	U.S. Army Combined Arms Center Command and General Staff College 705th Military Police Battalion
Commanders	LTG David G. Perkins

Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years.^[1] Fort Leavenworth has been historically known as the "Intellectual Center of the Army".^[2]

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. The garrison supports the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) by managing and maintaining the home of the United States Army Combined Arms Center (CAC). CAC's mission involves leader development, collective training, 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 ac (2,300 ha) and 7,000,000 ft² (70,000 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 National Historic Site and Fort Gibson.

Tenants and organization[link]

The garrison commander is a colonel reporting via IMCOM West to the Installation Management Command. The fort claims to be the "intellectual center" of the Army because much of its mission involves training.

Major tenants include:^[3]

• 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.^[4] All modern five-star army generals have passed through the college including George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, Henry “Hap” Arnold, and Omar Bradley.^[5] 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 (base hospital)
• University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies (which includes teaching Red Teams among its courses)
• Sherman Army Airfield—the base airport (which reports to the garrison)
• Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery
• TRADOC Analysis Center (which reports to TRADOC)^[6]
• Headquarters of the National Guard's 35th Infantry Division (Mechanized)
• Battle Command Training Center is the focal point for National Guard of the United States division and brigade staff training and development.^[7]
• Army/ACE Registry Transcript Systems (handles transcripts for all its training)^[8]

Schools[link]

See Fort Leavenworth School District

History[link]

18th century[link]

The fort is 10 miles north 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,^[9] a brother to Louis Coulon de Villiers, who was the only military commander to force George Washington to surrender (after revenging 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 June 26–29, 1804^[10] 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[link]

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.^[11]

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 May 8, 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.^[12] 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.^[13]

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.

Buffalo Soldier Monument

Civil war[link]

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 July 17, 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.^[14]

Reconstruction and Indian wars[link]

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 H. Grierson. Today, a monument stands at Fort Leavenworth in tribute to the "Buffalo Soldier" of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments.^[15]

The United States Disciplinary Barracks, now a maximum-security military prison, was established in 1875 under the command of Lt. Col. Edmund Rice.^[16]

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.^[14]

20th century[link]

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 N. 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 K. 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.^[17][18]

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.

Freedom's Frontier Heritage Area[link]

Fort Leavenworth is considered one of the most significant historic military installations in the Department of the Army, as well as to the nation. The fort's 5,634 ac (2,279 ha) contain a 213 ac (86.1 ha) National Historic Landmark District (NHLD), which was established in 1974.

A number of historic preservation investigations have been conducted over the past few decades at Fort Leavenworth. In 1970, for example, two historic sites were listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP): the Main Parade Ground and the Santa Fe Trail Ruts.

During 2006, this historic military site became part of a new Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fort Leavenworth

• Freedom's Frontier
• Frontier Army Museum
• Fort Leavenworth Home Page
• Guide for visitors to Fort Leavenworth
• The Fort Leavenworth Lamp Online - Fort Leavenworth's Newspaper
• U.S. Army Combined Arms Center
• U.S. Army Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
• TRADOC Schools
• TRADOC Website
• Fort Leavenworth History Collection Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library
• USD 207, local school district

v t e United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Sub-commands Accessions Command Center for Army Lessons Learned Combined Arms Center Combined Arms Support Command / Sustainment Center of Excellence TRADOC Analysis Center Installations Aberdeen Proving Ground Carlisle Barracks Fort Belvoir Fort Benning Fort Eustis Fort Gordon Fort Huachuca Fort Jackson Fort Knox Fort Leavenworth Fort Lee Fort Leonard Wood Fort Rucker Fort Sill Presidio of Monterey Redstone Arsenal Schools Air Assault School Air Defense Artillery School Airborne School Armor School Aviation School Basic Training CBRN School Sniper School Combatives School Command and General Staff College Defense Language Institute Engineer School Field Artillery School Infantry School Intelligence Center Jumpmaster School Army Logistics University Mountain Warfare School Officer Candidate School Pathfinder School Prime Power School Quartermaster School Ranger School School of Advanced Military Studies Sergeants Major Academy Special Forces Qualification Course Soldier Support Institute War College Warrant Officer Candidate School United States Military Academy (West Point)

v t e Municipalities and communities of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States County seat: Leavenworth Cities Basehor Bonner Springs‡ De Soto‡ Easton Lansing Leavenworth Linwood Tonganoxie CDPs Fort Leavenworth Unincorporated community Wadsworth Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Coordinates: 39°21′18″N 94°55′16″W / 39.355°N 94.92111°W / 39.355; -94.92111

Sir Joseph Jordan (c1603–1685) was a naval officer and admiral. From a Thames shipowning family, he is initially recorded as importing tobacco from Nevis and Barbados aboard the Amity.^[1]

During the English Civil War, he served in the parliamentary navy commanding the merchantman Caesar in the summer guard of 1642; later that year he was recorded taking castles around the Isle of Wight. In 1643 he served as rear-admiral in the Irish guard and the following year was active off the Channel Islands and at the relief of Lyme Regis and, in 1645, the siege of Weymouth.^[1] He remained loyal to parliament during the 1648 naval revolt and in February 1649 signed remonstrance congratulating the army and the Commons for restoring liberty.^[1]

Following a short period abroad, Jordan resumed his naval career in 1650, was a flag-officer in the First Anglo-Dutch War and a member of the expedition against Algiers and Tunis under Robert Blake in April 1655. He was brought into service again in 1664 and served as a flag-officer in the Second Anglo-Dutch War, 1665-7,^[2] knighted in 1665 after the Battle of Lowestoft; was rear-admiral of the Red squadron, with George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, in the inconclusive Four Days Battle, 1–4 June 1666, and vice-admiral of the Red at the victory in the St. James's Day Battle, 25 July 1666.^[3]

In the Third Anglo-Dutch War, 1672-4., as vice-admiral of the Blue, he led the fleet into action in HMS Sovereign of the Seas, 100 guns, in the Battle of Solebay, 28th. May 1672.^[3] At the time it was alleged he had deliberately chosen to expose to danger Admiral Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, HMS Royal James, who died in the battle, in order to protect the Duke of York, later James II of England.^[2]

After the war he was granted a pension and lived in retirement.^[2]

References[link]

Robert Latham and William Matthews ed. 'The Diary of Samuel Pepys', Volume X, (1983) Companion; entry 'Jordan, Sir Joseph'