Fort Leavenworth

The People Behind the Names

Quentin W. Schillare

Combat Studies Institute Press

US Army Combined Arms Center 

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Staff Ride Handbook and Atlas

Battle of White Bird Canyon

17 June 1877

Charles D. Collins, Jr.
Cover graphic courtesy of Mrs. Virginia Perez Torchia. It is a post card of the area 

around Building #52 after the First World War.
Fort Leavenworth

The People Behind the Names

The story of the place-names and the people who have left their

mark on Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Quentin W.Schillare
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schillare, Quentin W.

Fort Leavenworth: The People Behind The Names: The Story Of The Place-Names And The People Who Have

Left Their Mark On Fort Leavenworth, Kansas /

Quentin W. Schillare

Editing and Layout by Carl W. Fischer.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-940804-15-6 (alk. paper)

1. Fort Leavenworth (Kan.)--History. 2. Historic buildings--Kansas--Fort Leavenworth. 3. Soldiers’

monuments--Kansas--Fort Leavenworth. 4. United States. Army--Biography. 5. Names, Geographical--Kansas-

-Fort Leavenworth. 6. Memorialization--United States. Title.

UA26.L4S37 2015

355.709781’38--dc23

2014031465

Combat Studies Institute Press publications cover a wide variety of military history

topics. The views expressed in this CSI Press publication are those of the author(s) and

not necessarily those of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. A

full list of CSI Press publications available for downloading can be found at:

http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/CSI/index.asp

The seal of the Combat Studies Institute authenticates this document as an official publication of

the CSI. It is prohibited to use CSI’s official seal on any republication without the express written

permission of the Director of CSI.

ii
Acknowledgements

Onomastics is the scientific study of the origins and forms of proper names of persons and places.

While researching a presentation to the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society a few years ago, I developed

an interest in the discipline. One of the first sources consulted was Dr. George R. Stewart’s American PlaceNames: A Concise and Selective Dictionary for the Continental United States of America (1970). His book

introduced me to the subject. This was followed by a serendipitous encounter which made available two

very helpful books from the collection of bibliophile (and semiretired cardiologist) John C. Carson of La

Jolla, California. At a son’s wedding, I met Dr. Carson, my daughter-in-law’s uncle. He mentioned that he

had a few books on place-names of Kansas in his library and that he would send some. He sent two real

gems, a couple of out-of-print books, Indian Place-Names (1968) and Kansas Place-Names (1973) by John

Rydjord, the late dean emeritus of the Graduate School at Wichita State University. Dr. Rydjord’s narrative

style weaves together the story of Kansas place-names with their historical context and interesting

information about the namesakes. I was hooked and Fort Leavenworth: The People Behind the Names is the

result.

Research on place-names at Fort Leavenworth was facilitated by excellent resources, both institutional and personal. The Army is a record-keeping institution. Both locally and elsewhere, Army records are

available that permit the creation of the mosaic of the lives of those who served at Fort Leavenworth and

the history of the post itself. The Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library has an extensive book

and periodical collection going back to the early 19th century. The reference department is staffed by helpful

and insightful librarians. The CARL archives and special collections have Army records, some going back

to the establishment of the post. Special collection librarians, Kathleen M. Buker and Elizabeth M.

Dubuisson, are invariably helpful at locating hard-to-find information. The Combined Arms Center

command historian, Kelvin D. Crow, has extensive knowledge of the post and its history. Kelvin is the

person post leadership turns to when looking for an appropriate namesake for a new place-name. The

fort’s Frontier Army Museum has an archive and specialty library stacked with books and periodicals on

the Army and the west. Among its resources are maps and other drawings of the post going back to the

1830s and post directories from the 1870s, making it possible to determine who lived where, when. Former

director Stephen J. Allie has encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the post gained in more than 25

years on the job. Robert L. Beardsley, Jr., former historical architect/cultural resources manager at the

Directorate of Public Works/Logistics Resource Center, has extensive knowledge of the bricks and mortar

history of the installation. His maps, historical files, architectural drawings, and databases provide

information on the streets, buildings, and place names. Peter J. Grande, the long-time chief of staff at the

Military Correctional Complex, serves as that institution’s unofficial historian and freely shares his detailed

knowledge on the post’s correctional mission. Fort Leavenworth is fortunate to be close to the National

Archives and Records Administration’s Central Plains regional facility in Kansas City, Missouri,

facilitating archival research.

Colleagues at the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society encouraged the project. Past president, John

Reichley, took the time to read an early draft and provide copy and editorial comments. Valuable research

help was provided by retired Army command sergeant major John C. Webb. John grew up in Leavenworth,

the son of a career Army noncommissioned officer, and knows—literally—where the bodies are buried. No

published work is without editorial oversight and Carl W. Fischer made this a better manuscript. My wife, Gail,

provided encouragement and research support, including going to rural cemeteries and other out-of-theway places to take a photo or double-check a fact. Many hands have helped and many eyes have reviewed

this work to ensure its accuracy. Any errors of fact or interpretation that remain are my own.

Quentin W.Schillare

Lieutenant Colonel, US Army (Retired)

Leavenworth, Kansas, June 2015

iii

Preface

For thousands of years people have named geographical features; those rivers, mountains, plains, settlements and other features that are part of their world. Furthermore, throughout history groups have sought

to memorialize their most important members. They often did this by naming something after them. We

call these physical reminders monuments. The word monument comes from the Latin word “moneo,” to

remind. The named streets, buildings, and other monuments say to those who follow that “we remember.”

Memorials document history. This is the story of the people and organizations behind the names used at

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The scores of men and women of distinction associated with the United States

Armed Forces who have served at this “Dowager Queen of Frontier Posts.”1

The people behind the place-names are an interesting lot, ranging from a teenage Girl Scout to crusty

old generals. Although some of those commemorated are well known iconic figures such as Grant, Eisenhower, Patton, and Marshall, most are little known today regardless of their considerable renown among

their contemporaries. As with so much of Army life, there is a regulation dealing with naming things on

military installations. Army Regulation (AR) 1-33, The Army Memorial Program,

2 details the program,

lists responsibilities, identifies what qualifies as a memorial, and describes the procedure to get it done. The

intent of the memorial program is to do lasting honor and to pay tribute to deceased military and civilian

personnel with records of outstanding and honorable service.3 It recognizes the contribution to national defense of persons whose careers or actions were important to the locality where they are memorialized. Fort

Leavenworth policy implements AR 1-33. Command Policy #49-08, Memorials and Dedications,

4 directs

the establishment of a committee to review requests for memorialization.

Most of those honored have a local connection, although, ironically, on Fort Leavenworth the individual with the most things named for him, Ulysses S. Grant, never served at the post in uniform and only

visited once while he was running for president in 1868.5 He profited from a distinguished career during the

Civil War and by his election to two terms as the 18th president of the United States. Nothing succeeds like

success. Conversely, nothing fails like failure. Scores of officers with southern roots served at Fort Leavenworth in its formative years but resigned from the Army to fight for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

None is the namesake for a place-name on post.

Honorees fall into several groups. In the first are those stationed at the installation before the establishment of the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry in 1881. They served with troops, in the

ordnance depot, the military prison, or were the commanders and staff of the department, later division, of

the Missouri. Major General Philip St. George Cooke is in this category. He served in command of troops at

the post in 1829-30, 1842-43, 1846, and 1855-56. In his final year he was the post commander. The second

group contains those who served at the post from 1881 through the temporary closing of the Army Service

Schools in 1917 because of the World War. During that time, Fort Leavenworth was both a school and a

troop post. Honorees from this period served with troops, were associated with the military prison, matriculated as a student, or served with the school staff and faculty. Major General John F. Morrison is typical

of this group. He was stationed on post twice with his regiment, the 20th Infantry (1881 and 1899), served

at the military prison (1883), studied at the Infantry and Cavalry School (1884-85), taught at the Infantry

and Cavalry School (1897-98), and finally served as an instructor, senior instructor and commandant of the

Army Service Schools (1907-12). The group with the most namesakes on post served at Fort Leavenworth

after the schools reopened in 1919. These officers were primarily associated with the US Disciplinary Barracks6 or the Command and General Staff School and its immediate post-war predecessors. Some of the

honorees were both students and instructors, and some just students. In the former group is General Lesley

J. McNair who served at the Army Service Schools in 1919-21 and returned as the commandant of the

renamed Command and General Staff School for the 1939-40 school year. The latter group includes such

luminaries at General George S. Patton and General Joseph W. Stilwell who all served on post for one year

as students.

v
There are those who have a weaker claim to service at Fort Leavenworth. This group includes General

Ulysses S. Grant. Grant was stationed with the 4th Infantry at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri, in

1843-44 as a company grade officer and may have visited the post briefly on official duty. While he visited

on 16 July 1868 while running for president, this is stretching the definition of “service.”

One last group includes those who never served on post at all, but still are namesakes for a Fort Leavenworth place-name. The most prominent example of this is the Honorable Elihu Root who served as

secretary of war, 1899-1904. He was too busy reorganizing the Army, establishing the Army War College,

creating the Army general staff, and honing those skills that would later earn him the Nobel Peace Prize to

take the trip out west. It is apparent that the formula for success is to become distinguished and the local

memorial committee will find a way to establish your Fort Leavenworth credentials.

Service at Fort Leavenworth during most of its existence was defined as men serving in uniform. Except during wartime and peacetime duty as nurses, there were not many military women on post. There

were always women on the installation, but, for the most part, they were spouses, children of soldiers, or

part of the civilian workforce. That changed during World War II. The expansion of the Army from a peacetime active force of 189,867 in 19397 to wartime strength of over six million brought many women into the

Army and its school system. This was reflected at Fort Leavenworth when the first Army women graduated

from the Service Staff Class (8 February – 10 April 1943).8 They now had a chance to have “service at Fort

Leavenworth.”

Some place-names are well known while others are not. Everyone sees the street signs but may not

know whom they commemorate. A few streets are named but do not have a have a sign indicating they have

a name. Some locations are always identified by their name, such as the Lewis & Clark Center, the home of

the Command and General Staff College. Others are better known by their building numbers, even though

they have names. The headquarters of the Center for Army Lessons Learned is usually called building #50,

seldom Rucker Hall. Still others are identified by function. Barth Hall, building #44, is most often called

MCTP Headquarters for the resident Mission Command Training Program. And finally, some buildings

are identified by a recognizable attribute such as Grant Hall, Building #52C, which is known as the “clock

tower” building.

A brief historical overview will help provide context for this review of memorialization activities.

From its founding in 1827 until 1881 it was a frontier outpost, home for various regiments of the Army

cycling through for duty at the fort. From 1881 until the United States’ entry in World War I Fort Leavenworth served as a headquarters, troop, confinement, and school post. During this period, there were several

instances when student officers and soldiers in support of the school deployed for action against Native

Americans.9 In its earliest years the fort’s mission included keeping Americans separated from Indians,

monitoring the fur trade, and protecting the booming trade along the Santa Fe Trail. The cantonment served

as a base to outfit expeditions sent to explore the West and as a center for negotiating with the Native

tribes, especially after the Eastern Tribes moved—or were “removed”—west of the Mississippi River in

the 1830s. With varying degrees of success, the post protected, negotiated, and enforced peace between

American traders and the indigenous population. Soldiers also inspected trader licenses, examined cargo,

and enforced the embargo on the sale of liquor to the Native tribes. From 1846 to 1848, Fort Leavenworth

played a significant role in the war with Mexico and Manifest Destiny. The post was the headquarters of the

Army of the West, one of three field armies. Volunteer troops mustered into service, outfitted, trained, and

joined regulars as they departed for the remote battlefronts. During the 1850s and 1860s, the post became

an administrative and training center.

From 1858 to 1874 the post had two separate entities, Fort Leavenworth and the Leavenworth Ordnance

Depot (after 1860 it became an arsenal)10 under separate commanders with different missions. Although

joined today as part of the old Main Post area, in the 19th century they were separated by open space along

what is today Scott Avenue. Fort Leavenworth served as a headquarters for infantry, artillery and cavalry

vi
regiments, and the depot/arsenal supported western Army forces. The garrison’s responsibilities increased

in 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act organized the Kansas Territory and opened it for settlement.11 Starting in 1859, Fort Leavenworth became an Army departmental headquarters, first as the Department of the

West, the Department of the Missouri (1861), the Division of the Missouri (1865), and finally the Military

Division of the Missouri (1866). The Military Division of the Missouri was responsible for the states of

Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Colorado, and the territories of New Mexico and Wyoming, and Indian Territory

(parts of present day Oklahoma12). The headquarters of the department of the Missouri, a subordinate of the

Military Division of the Missouri, remained at Fort Leavenworth when the division headquarters moved to

Chicago. With the opening of the west between 1848 and 1881, the fort served as a major supply point for

all military posts further west. When the Arsenal moved to Rock Island, Illinois, in 1874, the US Military

Prison opened, so two separate entities remained.13

As a frontier post, Fort Leavenworth and the troops stationed on it had a complex relationship with

Native Americans. The Army’s first role was to keep the white man out of Indian Territory when that term

meant all land west of the Missouri and Arkansas Rivers. Its second role was to protect the US citizens who

travelled and traded in Indian Territory and with Mexico. The Army’s third role was to protect Americans

once the area west of the Missouri was opened to settlement in 1854. Finally, the Army protected the Indians from encroachment into Indian Territory when it was established in eastern and southern Oklahoma. As

is frequently the case with these types of missions, the party being protected did not always welcome the

protection. In all these missions, the Army was only partially successful. The size of the force and the vast

expanse to cover was just too much.

The school at Fort Leavenworth has had many names. Established in 1881 with its first class graduating

in 1883, it was first known as the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry. The school provided both

remedial and post-commissioning instruction to Army officers on constabulary duty in isolated frontier garrisons. As the Army strove for increased professionalism in its officer corps, the school gradually evolved

from its humble beginnings to the degree-granting institution it is today.14 Since the Root reforms at the

turn of the 20th Century, Fort Leavenworth has been recognized as the Army’s senior tactical school. The

post-1881 evolution:

• 1886 – US Infantry and Cavalry School.

• 1902 – General Service School and the Army Staff College.

• 1905 – The Infantry and Cavalry School and Army Staff College.

• 1907 – The Army School of the Line.

• 1908 – The Army Service Schools: the Infantry and Cavalry School, the Signal

School, the Field Engineer School, the Chaplains’ School, and the Army Field Service and

Correspondence School for Medical Officers.

• 1922 – The Command and General Staff School.

• 1946 – The Command and General Staff College.

For simplicity’s sake, the biographical parts of this work use the highest rank attained by the individual

honored. During the existence of Fort Leavenworth, the Army has grown from a small constabulary and

seacoast defense force to the large military force of today. Army components have had several manifestations: Regulars, state militia, state volunteers, US Volunteers, the Organized Reserve, the National Army,

the Army of the United States, the National Guard, and the Army Reserve all serving under one flag. Often

the soldiers memorialized on Fort Leavenworth served in more than one component at the same time.15

In the 19th century, the Army used brevets extensively in lieu of awards.16 An example familiar to many

readers is George Armstrong Custer who was brevetted to major general of Volunteers during the Civil War,

but was a Regular Army lieutenant colonel when he entered the valley of the Little Big Horn River in late

June of 1876. During the wars of the 20th century, Regular Army officers and noncommissioned officers

were often “jumped up” several pay grades during a conflict or national emergency but reverted to their

permanent grade at the end of hostilities. Sometimes an officer could “game” the system to retain wartime

vii
rank. Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur commanded a division in France with distinction at that rank

in the First World War and left Europe for West Point where he became the superintendent, a one-star position in those days. To cite another example related to Fort Leavenworth; during the Philippine War, Master

Signal Electrician Harry Bell served as a first lieutenant of Philippine Scouts and then a captain of US

Volunteers—and was awarded the Medal of Honor—but again became a noncommissioned officer when

mustered out of Volunteer service. Even though he retired from the Army in 1915 with 27 years of service

and the rank of master signal electrician (the highest enlisted rank in the signal corps at the time), he is

recognized in this work as a captain.

Although there are many footnotes in this book, many of the biographical descriptions do not have footnotes per se. Each entry is generally a combination of information obtained from several sources. A footnote

is included where a fact or item of information is obscure, or the information in the footnote expands on

that presented in the main entry. As Dr. Chris Gabel, a thesis advisor for a long-ago master degree at the

Command and General Staff College used to say, “The reader does not want to know everything you know

about a subject, just what you want them to know.”

viii
Notes

1. The apt title of an article by the Honorable Arthur J. Stanley, Jr., “Dowager Queen of Frontier Posts,” Kansas

Historical Quarterly, Vol. XLII, Spring 1976, Number 1.

2. AR Regulation 1-33, the Army Memorial Program available on line at www.adp.army.mil/pdffiles/r1_33.pdf

,accessed on 25 June 2015.

3. Department of the Army, AR 1-33, The Army Memorial Program, 30 May 2006, 3. Army Directive 2008- 03,

The Army Memorial Program, dated 20 October 2008, stipulates that the secretary of the Army may honor a living 

Soldier or spouse during their lifetime based on exemplary service.

4. Undated, but probably 2006.

5. John Rydjord, Kansas Place-Names (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972), 383.

6. Renamed from US Military Prison in 1915.

7. US Army in World WarII, The Western Hemisphere (Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 1960), 5.

8. Emails from Elizabeth J. Dubuisson, archives librarian, and Karin Brightwell, registrar assistant, on 26 August

2009.

9. John W. Partin, ed., A Brief History of Fort Leavenworth, 1827-1983 (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat

Studies Institute, 1983), 43.

10. It was established by an order of the Secretary of War order dated 21 May 1860 and discontinued by general

order #8 of the Adjutant General on 2 February 1874. Generally a depot is a place to store military arms and equipment,

while an arsenal is an establishment for the manufacture, repair, or storage of arms and equipment.

11. Officially titled An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, this act repealed the Missouri

Compromise, which outlawed slavery above 36o 30’ latitude. The act reopened the national debate over slavery in new

territories and led directly to “Bleeding Kansas,” the “Border War,” and America’s greatest struggle, the Civil War, seven

years later. Accessed online at http://ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=28 on 25 June 2015.

12. What is now the state of Oklahoma was composed of two former territories, Indian Territory in the eastern and

southern parts of the state and Oklahoma Territory in the north and west. Separated after the land “run” of 1889, they 

remained separate until statehood in 1907. In the period discussed here, it was just Indian Territory.

13. In 1915 the military prison was re-designated as the US Disciplinary Barracks and it still exists today at Fort

Leavenworth.

14. Students in three of the six components of the Command and General Staff College, the Command and

General Staff School, the Advanced Military Studies Program, and the Advance Operational Arts Studies Fellowship can

complete the requirements for a Master of Military Art and Science degree during their time at CGSC.

15. The anomaly of serving in two components of the Army at the same time is illustrated by Maxwell D. Taylor.

While he served as division chief of staff and commander of the division artillery of the 82d Airborne Division and later

commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Europe—including the nighttime jump into Normandy on

5-6 June 1944—he was a major general in the Army of the United State. At that time he was also a major of field

artillery in the Regular Army.

16. The brevet is usually defined as a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank

temporarily because of valorous or meritorious service, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank. An

officer so promoted may be referred to as being brevetted. The promotion would be noted in the officer’s title.

ix

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................................iii

Preface ................................................................................................................................................................. v

Chapter 1 The Dowager Queen of Frontier Forts....................................................................................... 1

The Beginning

The Evolution of the Post

Geography The Setting

Private Parts

Wartime Temporary Construction 

Preservation

Chapter 2 The Naming of Things............................................................................................................... 17

Eponym and Toponymy

The Naming Puzzle

Memorials

Stained Glass Windows, Shadow Boxes, and Oil Paintings

Memorial Plaques

Old Glory

Most Famous Namesake 

Native Americans

Requiescat in Pace

The Legacy Areas

Chapter 3 Streets and Trails................................................................................................................................ 39

Introduction

Street Name Rationale

Happy Trails to You

I’ve Been Working on the Railroad

Who’s Next?

Chapter 4 Buildings..................................................................................................................................... 49

Common Building Identification

Building Numbers

Post Housing

Mellow Yellow

Hidden Places

xi
Designated Quarters 

Previous Occupant

Those Little Houses

How Suite It Is

“...And the Horse You Rode In On.” For

Whom the Bell Tolls

Chapter 5 Conclusion............................................................................................................................... 69

Appendices

Appendix A Street Biographical Summaries......................................................................................... 73

Appendix B Building Biographical Summaries...................................................................................117

Appendix C Other Feature Biographical Summaries........................................................................ 187

Bibliography............................................................................................................................................ 227

About the Author.................................................................................................................................... 233

xii
Figures used in this Work

Figure 1. Weston Bend opposite Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. From contour map in the late 1940s

Figure 2. Annotated Contour Map of Fort Leavenworth

Figure 3.Scott Avenue Quarters, 1841 - 1921

Figure 4. World War II War Department Temporary Construction south of Merritt and Smith Lakes

Figure 5. Fort Leavenworth Housing Areas

Figure 6. Pioneer Chapel stained glass windows

Figure 7. The Boughton Memorial building

Figure 8. Command and General Staff College shield at the Grant Gate

Figure 9. Former Command and General Staff College Complex

Figure 10. Command and General Staff School general orders re-designating Merritt Place as Sherman 

Avenue

Figure 11. Composite Fort Leavenworth Trail Map. Undated, but probably from the late 1950s

Figure 12. The Railroad History of Fort Leavenworth

Figure 13. Fort Leavenworth Railroad Rights of Way

Figure 14. Former Fort Leavenworth Terminal Railway tracks on the south side of building #341

Figure 15. Major Yellow Painted Buildings on Main Post Fort Leavenworth

Figure 16. Quarters #1, 1 Scott Avenue

Figure 17. Previous Occupant Plaques on Fort Leavenworth

Figure 18. Building #10, Constructed in 1897 near Wagner Hall, moved to Gibbon Avenue in 1915

Figure 19. Eisenhower Suite Plaque dedicated when Army Major John S.D. Eisenhower 

Figure 20. Still existing Fort Leavenworth stable facilities

Figure 21. Buildings along West Warehouse Road

Figure 22. Inscription on the Grant Hall Clock Tower bell

Figure 23. Lieutenant Colonel James Allen Tombstone

Figure 24. Lieutenant Colonel Irene C. Blochberger Grave, Mount Muncie Cemetery

Figure 25. Captain Harry Bell grave, Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

Figure 26. Virginia M. Hastings Tombstone, Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

Figure 27. Major General Irvin McDowell 

Figure 28. Sergeant Major Truman Organ Tombstone, Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

Figure 29. Major General Eben Swift

Figure 30. First Sergeant Jacob Widmer Tombstone, Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

Figure 31. Lieutenant General Frank M. Andrews

Figure 32. Barth Hall, the first home of the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry in 1881

Figure 33. Façade of the South face of Engineer Barracks, aka Bell Apartments or the Beehive

Figure 34. Captain Charles T. Boyd

Figure 35. General of the Army Omar Bradley at the dedication of Bradley Elementary School

Figure 36. Orders dedicating Flint Hall, 1951

Figure 37. Command and General Staff School General Orders announcing the naming of Fuller Hall

Figure 38. Grant Hall Sally Port

Figure 39. Original 1934 aluminum sign for Gregg Apartments at ground floor level on north side of 

building

Figure 40. Gruber Gym dedication plaque

Figure 41. Harrold Tombstone, Mount St. Joseph Cemetery

Figure 42. Private Fitz Lee Tombstone

Figure 43. Leigh Hall Plaque on building #313

Figure 44. First Sergeant Percival G. Lowe’s Grave

Figure 45. Captain Percival Lowe Tombstone

Figure 46. Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Maxey

Figure 47. Major Hugh J. McGrath

xiii
Figure 48. Meade Apartments on Meade Avenue at Fort Leavenworth

Figure 49. First Lieutenant Dennis M. Michie

Figure 50. First Lieutenant William C. Neary

Figure 51. Lieutenant Colonel Emory J. Pike

Figure 52. Schofield Hall 

Figure 53. Period Photograph of the raising of Sheridan Hall

Figure 54. Sergeant Major Lacey W. Ivory

Figure 55. Janzen Grave, Baptist Cemetery

Figure 56. First Lieutenant William McBryar

Figure 57. Colonel Hamilton A. Smith

Figure 58. Major Christopher J. Splinter

Figure 59. Gate Post, Fort Stotsenburg, Pampanga, Luzon, Philippines

Figure 60. Hiram Rich Grave

Figure 61. Erasmus T. Carr (1915)

Figure 62. Excerpt from the Annual Report of the Army Service Schools, 1915

Figure 63. Colonel Charles Young

Figure 64. Bust of “Triple Nickle” First Sergeant Walter Morris und.

Figure 65. Sergeant First Class Brunner Tombstone

Figure 66. Buffalo Soldier Monument

Figure 67. Camp Miley Plaque, Fort Leavenworth

Figure 68. Second Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper bust 

Figure 69. French 5.5” Bronze Cannon L’Impetueuse and Bicentennial Memorial Plaque 

Figure 70. Dedication of Hiram Rich Plaza, 28 April 1997 

Figure 71. Morrison Plaque at entrance of Sherman Hall

Figure 72. Bust of General Roscoe Robinson Jr.

Figure 73. Trusty Unit Complex on Sylvan Trail

Figure 74. The former USDB compound looking south from wing #3 of the “castle”

Figure 75. USDB Farm Colony Sign 

Figure 76. West Normandy Cantonment Area

Figure 77. Kansas and Missouri (Whiskey River) Bridge

xiv
Chapter 1

The Dowager Queen of Frontier Forts

Fort Leavenworth was established in 1827, during the administration of John Quincy Adams, the 6th

president of the United States. It is the oldest active military installation west of the Mississippi River. The

fort is the third oldest continuously active Army post after the United States Military Academy at West

Point, New York (1778), Fort McNair (formerly Washington Barracks), in Washington DC (1791). In terms

of the number of historic buildings it is third after West Point and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The story of Fort

Leavenworth begins in the spring of 1827.

The Beginning

Fort Leavenworth sits on land that was part of the Louisiana Purchase, the 828,800 square mile parcel

of French territory purchased by President Thomas Jefferson from Napoleon in 1803. Among the first

United States citizens to see it were the soldiers and civilians of the Corps of Discovery, led by Army

captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They camped by the Missouri River near what is today Fort

Leavenworth in early July 1804. The post occupies nine square miles of river bottomland and limestone

bluffs. It is the high ground, about 300 feet above the Missouri River, that attracted Colonel Henry

Leavenworth and his soldiers of the 3d Infantry when they arrived in May 1827. Directed by the War

Department to establish a cantonment on the eastern bank of the Missouri River in the new state of Missouri

(admitted to the Union as a state in 1820), instead, Leavenworth ascended the bluffs in the belief that they

would be healthier than the swampy river floodplain.

There were few Native peoples living in the area when Colonel Leavenworth arrived, however,

archaeological evidence suggeststhat people had lived in the area for thousands of years. The Archaeological

Research Center at the University of Kansas has conducted fieldwork in the area and writes that there is

evidence of human habitation going back 10,000 years.1

The history of Fort Leavenworth is interrelated with that of the Native peoples. That the Indian and the

soldier together span the history of the “wild west” is no accident. Historian Robert W. Frazer in his Forts

of the West, states that as the United States expanded west in the 19th century it could do so because of the

soldier. The primary reason for stationing troops in the west was to control the Native peoples.2 The Army

also explored the west. Starting with the Corps of Discovery’s journey from the Mississippi to the Pacific

and back in 1804-06, the Army established military installations progressively westward keeping pace with

migration.

The Evolution of the Post

Why is Fort Leavenworth where it is? Why not establish it further down the river at the confluence

of the Kansas and the Missouri Rivers, the present location of Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City,

Kansas? Why not place it in the state of Missouri to the east? The answers have to do with military orders,

topography, and the mosquito. Colonel Leavenworth’s orders directed him to establish a cantonment, or a

temporary military installation, on the banks of the Missouri River in the state of Missouri near the lowland

confluence of that river with the Little Platte River. Leavenworth knew that swampy lowlands were not the

best place to locate a military camp. The colonel probably did not know that the mosquito was the root of

his fear of wet low ground, but he knew such ground ought to be avoided. He probably selected the site

upriver from the Little Platte River for several reasons. It was on high ground away from the floodplain,

but near enough to provide easy access to the river which was his link to resupply and a source of fresh

water for drinking and sanitation. Most of Fort Leavenworth sits on limestone bluffs high above the river,

but there are gaps where the limestone collapsed over geologic time providing access to the interior.3 These

gaps still exist today on Sylvan Trail along Quarry Creek leading down to the airfield and to a lesser extent

along Riverside Avenue near the Trails West Swale.

1
In the early years its soldiers built Fort Leavenworth.4 To construct the cantonment the soldiers

needed access to nearby building materials. The area around the post has timber and workable stone—

mostly limestone, and sand to make mortar. The Missouri River bottomlands supplied required wood for

construction timber and fuel. The area also had an abundance of forage for animals. Land transportation in

the 1820s meant horses, mules, and oxen. The nearby woods and streams provided food for the soldiers.

Deer, small mammals, and birds were available to hunt in both the upland and lowland areas on or near

the post. So Cantonment Leavenworth had it all: it was somewhat near its proposed location, it was on a

transportation link, it had a fresh water supply, it had nearby building materials, it had forage, local food

sources, and, being on high ground, it was somewhat defensible. The location of Fort Leavenworth was

officially sanctioned by the War Department in a letter from the Adjutant General on 19 September 1827.5

Why does Fort Leavenworth look the way it does? Why was there no tall stockade of sharpened wooden

timbers with imposing “Fort Apache” blockhouses enclosing a defensible stronghold? Why is the only

structure on post that looks like a palisade a squat and oddly shaped stone wall on Kearny Avenue near a

statue of General Grant perfectly positioned to block the view from the area around the former fort front

gate of officers’ ladies as they visited their backyard “convenience” in the days before indoor toilets? The

answersreflect the past.

Fort Leavenworth was never a fort in the classical sense: a location designed primarily for defense.6 It

has always been more of a garrison location. Forts of the American Frontier, 1820-91, Central and Northern

Plains, by Ron Field7 discusses the four types of forts built on the frontier: open, stockade, stone-built, and

adobe or brick. Fort Leavenworth was the first, and still the longest serving, open fort on the plains. Even

in its earliest days, Fort Leavenworth looked like a residential settlement around a village green. Early

records, including a sketch completed in the 1830s, show a blockhouse, but there are no records of it being

maintained for very long. There were no plans for defense and no need for the post to look fierce and

unconquerable. An annotated drawing of the cantonment made in 1828 shows more huts for laundresses

than fighting positions for soldiers.8 The only “hostiles” who visited the post were upset Native Americans

who came with yet another grievance to negotiate with the Army and the Upper Missouri Indian Agency

located on post. The early layout of the fort and the design of its buildings owed much to military tradition.

Colonel Leavenworth and his command were familiar with the military installations where they had served.

They had little professional engineering help. Only the most able United States Military Academy graduates

were commissioned into the Corps of Engineers and in this period most were posted to seacoast defense,

harbor improvement, and construction of navigation aids.

There were few precedents for western forts. The military architecture of the young Republic responded

to the need for coastal and harbor defense against European adversaries, which included naval powers

Britain, France and Spain. Early inland military posts followed coastal fort design with wooden stockades

until Army leaders realized that hostile Native Americans rarely attacked fortified positions.9 Perhaps

reflecting the military’s need for balance and order, by the late 1820s many frontier posts had a common

design with a central open parade ground surrounded by barracks, quarters for officers and the necessary

support buildings for the type of regiment stationed there.10 As much as possible, given the lay of the land,

the forts were symmetrical. Fort Leavenworth was no exception.

In the beginning, Fort Leavenworth was centered on a small square parade ground measuring about 500

feet on a side, now known as the Main Parade.11 At the end of a long river and road supply line, the post

was mostly constructed of local materials. The original structures lining the parade ground in the 1820s and

1830s were constructed of stone, brick, and wood. Two of the oldest structures from the period still exist.

The Rookery, constructed of masonry and wood from 1828 to 1834, and the Sumner House, built of brick in

1840, were modeled on the French Colonial architecture common for the period.12 The other early buildings

around the Main Parade were of wood frame construction and replaced by newer structures of brick and

wood in the last decades of the 19th century. Various support areas were located apart from the Main Parade

such as the hospital, guardhouse, and shops. Improvisation was the word of the day because there were

2
few nearby towns. In the early years the new Army post was on its own. The closest towns were Liberty,

Missouri, settled in 1826, and Weston, Missouri, opened for settlement as part of the Platte Purchase in 1836.

The town of Leavenworth was incorporated in 1854 when the Kansas Territory was established. The town is

named for the fort. Like many settlements associated with a military installation, the Leavenworth area was

settled long before it was formally incorporated as soldier’s families, traders, squatters, and those engaged

in the hospitality industry congregated outside the gate. The post grew to accommodate its expanding

missions in the 19th century. At various times it served as a garrison, field depot, arsenal, Indian agency,

headquarters, and school. Each use required different facilities and barracks, stables, shops, storehouses,

administrative structures, and classrooms sprung up. Throughout its early years, there was never a unified,

coherent plan beyond the focus around the Main Parade.13 Each major organization reported to separate

headquarters and because each received funding from different sources they spent available money and

built pretty much as they wanted.

The 1840s and 50s were a time of growth. During the Mexican War (1846-48) the West End Parade

and associated structures were constructed to handle the volunteer units that passed through the fort, but as

late as 1850 the post was still centered on the Main Parade. Officer’s quarters lined the north and east sides,

much as they do today, stables were located on the south side, and troop barracks were in the southeast

quadrant.14 Because it grew up around the Main Parade, Fort Leavenworth always had some element of

town planning. In the 1850s the post started to push beyond the Main Parade.15 Expansion moved primarily

to the west and north with some construction along the bluffs to the southeast. As it did so, streets were

added in a rough grid pattern oriented on the cardinal directions. Even though the post was expanding, it

stayed focused around its central core. The Main Parade served as a drill field for the soldiers assigned to

the fort, but it also became the hub of the social and community center of post life. During this era the Main

Parade served as a training ground for man, horse, and wagon; it was not the tree-lined, grass-covered green

space it is today.

The period just before and just after the Civil War saw a building boom as increased population

required more barracks and housing for officers and civilians working at the various locations on post. As

the post grew, Army Quartermasters expanded the storage depot to the north of the Main Parade. In 1858

an ordnance depot opened to the southeast of the parade ground in the area now occupied by Grant Hall

and nearby buildings.16 Each command added streets, buildings, and generally converted the land under its

control to its own use. The space along Arsenal Road (now Scott Avenue), between the arsenal and the Main

Parade, began to fill in with officer’s quarters. Surprisingly, during the Civil War the post saw only three

permanent buildings constructed as the federal government directed its financial resources to the defeat of

the Confederacy. One of these buildings, building #1, also known as Quarters 1, was constructed early in

the war for the arsenal commander, a captain. Since then its status has increased somewhat from its humble

origins as the rank of its occupant increased.

Following the Civil War the Army protected the nation’s coast line and major harbors, supported

Reconstruction, and facilitated westward expansion. As the nation’s railroads pushed across the Mississippi

and Missouri Rivers, the Army surveyed many of the new rail road routes across the plains and mountains

to the west coast.17 The Army built forts to protect the railroad corridors, and settlements sprang up around

many of them. In addition to protection, the Army was an economic force in the early west. As military

historian, Brigadier General John Sloan Brown has written: the Army inevitably secured the leading

waves of settlements. Most often the first engineers, surveyors, town planners, map makers, and medical

practitioners were soldiers.18 Through construction, transportation, and subsistence contracts, and direct

payments to Native tribes in accordance with treaty agreements, the Army served to transfer American

dollars that helped support many local economies. As it is today, a nearby Army installation was a boon to

many municipalities.

3
Geography

Most of Fort Leavenworth sits on a limestone bluff above the Missouri River, ten miles northwest of

Kansas City, Kansas, and 400 river miles from the Missouri’s confluence with the Mississippi at St. Charles,

Missouri. To the east across the river is another limestone bluff above the hamlet of Beverly, Missouri.

Between the two is the two-mile wide Missouri flood plain. Fort Leavenworth’s Sherman Army Airfield and

some additional facilities sit on four square miles of river floodplain, while the rest of the fort, five square

miles, occupies rolling hill uplands to the west.

Figure 1. Weston Bend opposite Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas. From contour map in the late 1940s

(FrontierArmy Museum)

The soils on the floodplain are alluvial: clay, sand and silt deposited by the river over the ages.

This area is mostly forested with fast-growing softwood trees such as willow, poplar, and cottonwood, and

lowland hardwoods, like pecans, maples and oaks. The area is pocketed with small ponds. It is populated

with beaver, muskrats, raccoons and other fur-bearing animals and deer who value the seclusion and the

nearby river. Red Tail Hawks, owls and—occasionally—Bald Eagles live in the lowlands. The bend contains

a pecan grove (Carya illinoinensis) of several hundred trees that Fort Leavenworth forester, Mr. Matthew

C. Nowak, thinks was planted either by Native peoples or the French during the time they occupied a fort

nearby in the middle of the 18th century. Mr. Nowak says that because the Weston Bend is unoccupied

and has been under military protection since the early 19th century, it is the only part of the Missouri

River valley that looks today the same as it did when the Corps of Discovery, commanded by Captains

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, past it in 1804 and 1806.

The upland part of the post has windblown loess soils on top of layered limestone. It is a combination

of flat, open areas and gently rolling hills. There are two lakes, Smith and Merritt, in the middle of post.

The upland woods and grasslands are home to raccoons, opossum, skunks, turkey, and deer. Vegetation

consists of prairie grasses and a mixed deciduous forest consisting of various oaks, walnut, hickory, and

other hardwood trees. On the bluffs in the northern end of post is a 40 acre stand of sugar maples (Acer

saccharum) which contains 90% of all the members of this species in the state of Kansas. Much of the

western and northern hills, now wooded, were formerly covered in prairie grass. The reduction of military

tactical activities on the fort in the early 20th century meant that the hills were left without the constant beat

of animal hooves, soldier boots, and wagon wheels. Without constant wear, “volunteer” tree species took

over the hills and crowded out the grasses.

4
Figure 2. Annotated Contour Map of Fort Leavenworth

(Original map from the Frontier Army Museum)

Natural drainage systems on post generally run east-west. Corral Creek in the low ground about 700

meters north of the main gate drains the southern end of post. One Mile Creek drains Merritt and Smith

Lakes. Quarry and Shady Creeks rise in the western hills, combine, and run northeast to near Sherman

Army Airfield.

Fort Leavenworth has streams, valleys, hills, cuts and other points of geography to help orient resident

and visitor alike. Those on main post are familiar: Merritt Lake, Smith Lake, Main Parade, Corral Creek,

and the old Disciplinary Barracks compound. However, there are many parts of post with names that are

little known today including Grant Hill, Pope Hill, and Bluntville on the east and Jesse James Cut and 

the Blue Cut in the west.19 These locations were more familiar before World War II when the post was

less crowded and had fewer buildings. Buildings often have a way of supplanting a geographical feature.

People on Fort Leavenworth don’t talk of Arsenal Hill, Grant Hill or Engineer Hill; they talk of the

clock tower building, Patton Junior High School, or the Frontier Conference Center.

The Setting

With the exception of the confinement facilities in the extreme northwest corner of the post, Fort

Leavenworth is a headquarters and school location, more like a college campus than a troop post. A visitor

will not find anything like Custer Hill at Fort Riley, Kansas, Gruber Road at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, or

Battalion Avenue at Fort Hood, Texas, where clusters of headquarters buildings, barracks and motor pools

indicate the presence of those at the sharp end of the Army’s mission. On Fort Leavenworth the visitor has

to hunt for the barracks and will find a transportation motor pool filled with sedans, VIP vans, and support

vehicles. A drive north on Grant Avenue reveals a campus-like setting with a golf course, the Buffalo

Soldiers Monument, and the two primary academic buildings, Eisenhower Hall and the Lewis and Clark

Center, with lakes and green lawns. Fort Leavenworth could be mistaken for any one of many land-grant

public universities found around the nation.

Fort Leavenworth was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and further designated as a

National Historic Landmark District in 1966. The Fort Leavenworth National Historic Landmark District

5
includes most of the post north of Merritt and Smith Lakes and encompasses 217 buildings, including 64

remaining from the 1860-1889 period, six archeological sites representing pre-historic Native peoples, three

structures, and two objects for a total of 228 historic properties. Most of the 64 buildings remaining from the

1860 to 1889 period are brick, but some are wooden frame dwellings, sheds, and stables. Few of these are of

standard design. However, this does not mean that every building from this period was one-of-a-kind. There

are a number of structures built during the last three decades of the 19th century on or near the Main Parade,

along Scott Avenue, down Riverside Avenue, and elsewhere on post that were constructed in duplicate

and even triplicate indicating a desire to conserve on design cost and achieve some level of construction

economies of scale. The construction quartermaster recommended the location for each building to fort

senior leadership. Some duplicate buildings are side-by-side while others are at separate locations as post

engineers fit them in where there was open space. The duplicate buildings in chronological order:

• Buildings #20 and #21, built in 1855, are 21⁄2 story wood frame double officer

quarters facing the Main Parade on Sumner Place.

• Buildings #52A and 52C were built in 1859 as 2 story brick warehouses on

ShermanAvenue.

• Buildings #15 and #16, built in 1870, are 2 story wood frame single officers

quarters facing the Main Parade on Sumner Place

• Buildings #432 and #433, built in 1875, are 2 1⁄2 story double officer quarters on

RiversideAvenue.

• Buildings #437 and #438, built in 1875, are 2 1⁄2 story wood frame single officer

quarters on Riverside Avenue.

• Buildings #434 and #435, built in 1878, are 2 1⁄2 story wood frame double officer

quarters on Riverside Avenue.

• Buildings #2 and #4, built in 1883, are 2 1⁄2 story brick single senior officer quarters

on Scott and Grant Avenues, respectively.

• Buildings #3 and #6, built in 1883, are 2 1⁄2 story brick single senior officer quarters

on Pope and Scott Avenue, respectively.

• Buildings #37 and #38, built in 1889, are 2 1⁄2 story brick and wood frame double

officer quarters on Thomas Avenue.

• Buildings #39, #40, and #41, built in 1889, are one-story brick single officer

quarters on Thomas Avenue.

Of these buildings, only the architect of buildings #20, #21,#37, and #38 is well known to us today,

one-time Leavenworth resident Erasmus T. Carr.20 He began his career in Kansas as a construction

supervisor on Fort Leavenworth in the 1850s but later branched out into building design on post and

across the state and the region. He was the state architect of Kansas from 1870 to 1885.21 Most design

and construction supervision was the work of anonymous officers or private architects.

Post building booms in the late 19th century relate to three events: the establishment of the

headquarters for the Department of the Missouri in 1866, the selection of Fort Leavenworth as the site

for the US Military Prison in 1874, and the founding of the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry

in 1881. These three building booms expanded the post from its roots around the Main Parade into areas

recognizable as main post today. Each was associated with a separate area of post. Quarters to support

the Department of the Missouri headquarters were erected on the Main Parade and along Scott Avenue

near the former arsenal buildings that now served as its headquarters. These buildings were brick single

and double family quarters for department officers. When the Leavenworth Arsenal moved to Rock

Island, Illinois, in 1874, the post Quartermaster depot took its place on Arsenal Hill and the newly

authorized US Military Prison occupied the location vacated by the depot to the north of the Main

Parade.22 Over the next few years, military prison officials authorized construction of a series of single

and double family wood frame dwellings of local design on what is now Riverside Avenue. Mr. Bob 

6
Beardsley, former post historical properties manager, suggests they were built under contract to a local

construction firm to accommodate in influx of officers, noncommissioned officers and civilian employees

of the rapidly expanding military prison.23 In the late 1870s the prison housing footprint also expanded to

the ridgeline east of the prison compound. The area, called Bluntville after a former prison commander,

consisted of small single and double family cottages built for noncommissioned officers and lower

ranking civilians on the prison staff. All military prison construction was of wood to save money and

funded from the prison budget. In the 1880s the newly established School of Application for Cavalry and

Infantry had to compete for quarters with the two older institutions. Initial school construction occurred

south and west of the Main Parade along Thomas Avenue near the West End Parade.24 The initial five

buildings were brick single and double officer quarters. As the Army experimented with standard

building designs in the late 19th century, it allowed for local variation. Buildings could be the same

design but use different basic building materials depending on what was available at each location; For

example: brick at Fort Leavenworth, limestone at Fort Riley, Kansas, and wood at many locations where it

was plentiful. Policy permitted local modification.

The period 1890-1917 the Quartermaster General’s Office (QMGO) introduced more

complex building designs with modern conveniences now common “back east.” In addition to officer and

noncommissioned officer housing, there were plans for barracks, headquarters, gymnasiums, post

exchanges and other building types reflecting the increased presence of families on post. Included in

construction budgets during this period were funds for storm sewers, water treatment facilities, sewage

treatment plants, steam heat, natural gas, and post-wide electricity. These upgrades complicated the

duties of the post engineer but were necessary so the post could keep pace with the folks outside the gate.

Several early examples still exist on post.

• Building #61, Townsend Hall, sits between Organ and McPherson Avenues, built

between 1890 and 1894 to QMGO standard plan 2-441, as a 2-story service club of brick with

a masonry foundation.

• Buildings #9, #11, and #18, built in 1894, are 21⁄2 story brick double officer quarters on

Scott, Sherman Avenue (called Merritt Place when they were built), and Sumner Place,

respectively. They are identical with the exception of two large additions to the east and west

wings of building #11.

• Buildings #12, #439, and #440, built in 1898, are 21⁄2 story brick and wood frame

double officer quarters with a masonry foundation basement, the first on Sumner Place and the

last two on Scott Avenue. Constructed to QMGO standard plan 115.

While Fort Leavenworth has buildings dating from 1830s, the decade most represented is 1900 to 1909.

This decade coincides with the modernization of the Army and the establishment of the general staff by

Secretary of War Elihu Root after the administrative, logistical, and operational embarrassments of the

War with Spain. President Roosevelt sent the Navy’s Great White Fleet around the world and was

determined to have a first class Army. The president believed that a first class Army needed first class

facilities and the Army followed through. Most of the structures erected on Fort Leavenworth during this

boom time still exist. With the possible exception of the temporary structures built to support the two

world wars, at no other time did the post see so much construction. At least 155 buildings, most of brick,

were built from 1890 to 1917. This is by far the largest number of structures built in any period in the life

of the post. And 80% of these were erected from 1900 to 1909. That decade must have been an amazing

and very busy time on the fort as quarters, barracks, riding halls, warehouses, gun sheds, and stables

were built. Because many of these buildings are on busy main post arterial streets, they are today the

historical and architectural face of Fort Leavenworth. They include the field grade quarters on the upper

end of Grant Avenue near the Trolley Station (itself built in 1905 from a QMGO standard plan).

The largest single area of construction was in the vicinity of Pope Avenue and Doniphan Drive. Thirteen

imposing 21⁄2 story brick buildings were built during 1902-1903 to serve as barracks for infantry

regiments. They were built using a barracks plan, but did not remain barracks for long.25 The expansion

of the Army schools on post before and after the World War led to a reallocation of space. The barracks

7
were initially converted to bachelor officer quarters soon after the war. In 1934 they were remodeled

into 98 officer family apartments. Additionally, a polo field was laid out just across Doniphan Drive to the

south of these newly renovated quarters. With the completion of what is now commonly called PopeDoniphan, the main post area was just about complete. With some exceptions such as the print plant, the

post theater, and the post office/Masonic Lodge building, main post Fort Leavenworth north of Merritt

and Smith Lakes looks today just as it did then.

The 1900-1909 decade saw the implementation of other features of town planning on Fort

Leavenworth. A gridiron pattern of residential streets was laid out between Grant Avenue and the old

arsenal grounds. These streets in the vicinity of what would later become the General Staff College were

the site of an ambitious building program of quarters for the faculty and staff of the school, what

the National Historic Landmark District application called the “college section.”26 However, as the post

started to pull away from the 19th century frontier-focused Main Parade toward the 20th century military

education-focused Grant Hall, it retained a community feel. Visitors walking along tree shaded Meade,

Augur, upper Grant, upper Pope, or McClellan Avenues find themselves in a pleasant middle class

neighborhood.

Structures in the college section are constructed of brick with finished limestone foundations, white

wooden porches with raised seam tin porch roofs, and peaked roofs with raised seam tin or asphalt

shingles. The asphalt shingles are modern replacements for the original slate roofs. Officer family housing

standard plans were rank-specific reflecting the rank consciousness of the period in which they were

built.27 Times have changed. Lieutenant colonels and their families today occupy imposing brick

duplexes designed for lieutenants.

Scott Avenue is the street with the greatest architectural diversity. As shown in table 1-1 below, there

are thirteen different buildings, the first constructed in 1841 and the last in 1921, representing nine

architectural styles, including one—the 1865 United Kingdom liaison officer’s designated quarters—

described as Victorian Steamboat Gothic. Of course, there are areas on post with homogeneity of design.

The eight double noncommissioned officer family quarters on Wint Avenue (QMGO standard plan 85)

stand out for theirsober Georgian architecture and because they are not near any other quarters.

The employment of standard designs did not mean that the structures were used as the War Department

planners envisioned. When the Department of the Missouri headquarters moved to the post after the Civil

War, it moved into a remodeled warehouse on Arsenal Hill. In 1890 when the department headquarters

moved to St. Louis, its former headquarters buildings were remodeled again to serve as classroom and

office space for the Infantry and Cavalry School. In 1904-1907 Grant Hall was constructed to connect

the two former warehouses, now named Sherman and Sheridan Halls. During the construction of Grant

Hall, the height of both Sherman and Sheridan Halls had to be raised and a third floor added to each to

match Grant Hall. More recent examples of diverted buildings include Gruber Hall, built as a riding hall

in 1908, but converted in 1941 to classrooms to meet World War II educational needs. More recently it

became a bowling alley and finally a gymnasium. Fuller Hall is still another example. Constructed as a 

stable in 1901, it was later used as a workshop. In 1937 it became the college bookstore, and more

recently it was remodeled to serve as executive office space.

8
Built Bldg Address Description

Post Sutler’s House (now general officer’s quarters)

CAC Commander’s House

UK Liaison Officer’s House; Rural Gothic style.

(now vacant)

Memorial Chapel

Deputy CAC Commander’s House; Queen Anne style

CAC Chief of Staff’s House; blend of Georgian, Queen Anne, and

Eastlake styles

Colonel’s Double Quarters; Italianate influences.

Colonel’s Double Quarters; Greek Revival Influences.

Lieutenant Colonel’s Duplex Quarters

Lieutenant Colonel’s Duplex Quarters

Colonel’s Duplex Quarters; Georgian Revival Influences.

Riverside Apartments, now administrative space

1841 5 611 Scott

1861 1 1 Scott

1865 7 620 Scott

1875 53 700 Scott

1875 54 626 Scott

1883 2 605 Scott

1883 6 624 Scott

1894 9 610-612 Scott

1894 14 602-604 Scott

1898 439 755-757 Scott

1898 440 751-753 Scott

1905 247 606-608 Scott

1921 427 770 Scott

Figure 3.Scott Avenue Quarters, 1841 - 1921

Private Parts

Not everything on Fort Leavenworth is government owned. Fort Leavenworth today is smaller than

it was in the 19th century. Over the years, the Army used revocable licenses, leases, and easements

to grant access to the post for private enterprises. When extensive training land became less important

as the post transitioned to more academic pursuits, it began to be nibbled away. As early as 1868 the

Leavenworth Coal Company received permission to mine coal along the Missouri River on the

southeastern part of post.28 More recently the land on the hills on the southwest of post overlooking Salt

Creek Valley, formerly a Nike-Hercules launch site, was sold to civilian developers. Various

transportation companies received easements to occupy buildings and maintain rights of way on Fort

Leavenworth. One example still observable today is that granted to the Kansas City and Western Electric

Railway (and its successors). The right of way is very much in evidence from the Trolley Station at the

intersection of Grant and Pope Avenues running south on the west side of Grant Avenue through the heart

of post. It is recognizable by the double line of trees on either side of the route. Another right of way is

still an active rail line running generally along the Missouri River and separating Sherman Army

Airfield from the rest of post. Modern diesel-electric locomotives pull freight and coal trains over the

right of way many times a day.

One of the more interesting agreements relating to Fort Leavenworth land is the act of Congress of 27

July 1868, which gave a strip of land 100 feet wide on the south side of post to serve as a border between

the city of Leavenworth and the military reservation.29 This strip, now named Metropolitan Avenue, runs

from the Missouri River to the western boundary of the reservation.

Those private entities most recognizable on post are the commercial enterprises licensed to the

Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), a government entity. They include food courts in the

PX and the Lewis and Clark Center, the Burger King, the laundry and dry cleaning pick up point,

and various other shops. These are joined by representatives of the financial services industry. The

main branch of the Armed Forces Bank, its PX branch, and several automatic teller machines around

post are emplaced through an agreement with the Army. Another financial services building is the main

office of Armed Forces Insurance on Biddle Boulevard and the main office of the Frontier Community

Credit Union, formerly the Fort Leavenworth Credit Union, on Kansas Avenue.30 There are also several

substations owned by public utilities and private natural gas transmission companies.

After commerce and banking, the most visible private enterprise on Fort Leavenworth is Michaels

Military Housing. In terms of dollars spent each year, privatized housing is the largest private enterprise

on Fort Leavenworth. In 2006 Michaels Military Housing signed a 50-year lease with the Army to

form Fort Leavenworth Frontier Heritage Communities to build and manage on-post housing. The initial

9
phase was a nine-year multimillion dollar project to demolish older student quarters and replace them

with new construction. The Frontier Heritage Communities coalition is also rehabilitating the homes in

the Fort Leavenworth National Historic Landmark District.

One of the largest private enterprises on post is often not recognized as a private enterprise at all.

The Fort Leavenworth School District, also known as Kansas Unified School District #207, operates

three elementary schools and a junior high school from its headquarters on Education Way off Biddle

Boulevard.31 It was established under Kansas state law in 1901. It is the only school system in Kansas

wholly inside the boundaries of a military installation. USD #207 is a private enterprise with its own

school board appointed by the Combined Arms Center commander. It hires its own staff and faculty,

operates its own transportation services, and performs all other activities associated with a public school

system. The school buildings belong to the school system on land leased from the federal

government.32 Because the system has no high school, students go to Leavenworth High School,

Immaculata Catholic High School or other nearby high schools off post.33 Permission for Fort

Leavenworth studentsto attend Leavenworth public schools wasfirst granted in 1902.

There are several private structures on Fort Leavenworth of special interest, either because of how

they came to be located on post or for their use. Armed Forces Bank is relatively new, but its predecessor,

the Army National Bank, was granted a revocable license to operate on post in July 1907. Another

commercial organization grandfathered to remain on the post is Armed Forces Insurance. Originally

called the Army Co-Operative Fire Association, it was founded by officers at Fort Leavenworth in

1887. Its name was later changed to Armed Forces Co-Operative Insurance Association. Its present building

on Biddle Boulevard was built in 1953 to replace an earlier structure. The private building with a unique

story is the Masonic Lodge / US Post Office, building #342. An imposing structure, it was completed in

1922.34 It was constructed by the Boughton Memorial Association under public law which stipulates, in

part, “That the use of such portion of the ground floor of said building as may be necessary shall be

given to Post Office Department of the United States free of charge.”35 This building today is perhaps the

only Masonic lodge on a government reservation. It is also different in that it is one of the few public

buildings on post made of gray rather than red brick.

Wartime Temporary Construction

Not all construction on Fort Leavenworth was permanent. Some construction was temporary. Army

classified construction as permanent, semi-permanent or temporary. However, these terms were more

conceptual than descriptive. The distinction was whether the buildings were intended to be used for

an indefinite period or for just a short time, generally the period of mobilization. Just prior to and during

both world wars Fort Leavenworth was a hub of military activity. The Quartermaster Corps was in

charge of mobilization construction for World War I and the beginning of World War II.36 In 1917 it

quickly created standardized designs for temporary wooden buildings. During the war it constructed

scores of buildings connected with induction, mobilization, and demobilization. Temporary cantonments

were constructed on both sides of Grant Avenue north of Corral Creek and elsewhere on post. The

designs, called 600-series buildings, included the barracks, officer’s quarters, mess halls, latrines and

other structures required to support the mobilization and training of millions of new soldiers. At the end

of the war, Congress tightened the purse strings and the Army was greatly reduced in size. Funds for

military construction dried up. In the twenty-one years from 1918 to 1939 only twenty-four permanent

structures were constructed on Fort Leavenworth. These included such things as the front gate, the Hunt

Lodge, facilities for the Army airfield, and a garage for Quarters #1. When war started in Europe in 1939,

the Quartermaster Corps again created standardized designs, the 700-series and later the 800-series, to

prepare for the expected expansion of the Army as the Nation readied for eventual entry into World War

II. These structures, known as “World War II wood” to later generations of soldiers, included more than

300 different types of buildings.37 These were more elaborate and better built than their 600-series

cousins. They were designed for a two-year life span.

10
Figure 4. World War II War Department Temporary Construction south of Merritt and Smith Lakes

(FrontierArmy Museum) 

The War Department Personnel Center was an example of 700-series construction. It occupied three 

areas on Fort Leavenworth (see figure 1-1). The largest of the World War II cantonment areas, West 

Normandy south of Cody Avenue, contained more than 100 temporary buildings build from standard 

plans for 700 series buildings. The area had headquarters, barracks, support buildings and even a 

chapel.38 These buildings were constructed of wood, concrete, and cinderblock.

Post-World War II construction completed the transition of Fort Leavenworth from a frontier Army 

post to a modern installation with an educational and corrections mission.39 Fort Leavenworth now looks 

more like the college campus it is than the frontier outpost it once was. Since 1947, post construction has 

centered on the primary educational, structures to support Unified School District #207, housing areas, 

and the various activities to support the post population.

11
Preservation

Fort Leavenworth is an historical and architectural treasure, rich in the history of the Army and the

United States. These characteristics are the reason for much preservation work on the post. The fort has

been able to retain its mid-19th century and early 20th century character primarily because of its education

mission and an accident of geography. As the frontier disappeared and the Army became mechanized, it

had a need to conduct maneuver and live-fire training in wide open spaces. Fort Leavenworth had little

wide open space to offer. The nature of the terrain was less suited for modern training than other Army

installations. Further, the conservative nature of the Army as an institution helped keep the post as it was.

The institutional Army likes old things, and as they get older the Army is willing to pay to ensure that they

get older still. This is evident in the money spent to rehabilitate and otherwise preserve the structures in

the Fort Leavenworth National Historic Landmark District. There are few other places in Kansas—and

probably elsewhere in the United States—outside of a military installation where people actually live in

National Historic Landmark District buildings. The post is not Old Sturbridge Village or Colonial

Williamsburg where re-enactors come to work each day to demonstrate what the place looked like

two hundred years ago.40 Main post Fort Leavenworth is a living organism. The Department of the

Interior has established a 50-year criterion to identify an historic building or object. On Fort

Leavenworth hundreds of people live and work in buildings more than a hundred years old.

Everything has a life cycle. With regard to buildings the life cycle includes the construction, use,

maintenance, condemnation, and final disposition. With so many old buildings, and with more than 200

of them in the Fort Leavenworth National Historic Landmark District, the post faces special challenges.

Post engineers must treat each building as a special case. In addition to normal maintenance to keep the

buildings serviceable and the landscape as it was, the Army budgets funds to retain the historic character of

the installation. They use several techniques.41

• Preservation. Retention of as much of the historic fabric of a building through conservation,

maintenance, and repair. This is the primary technique used for the outside of the buildings on Fort

Leavenworth to keep things looking the same. The insides are a different story. Although the post

engineers have tried to maintain the key interior decorative features of the homes in the historic

landmark district—ceramic fireplaces, ornate molding, oak flooring, original mirrors, decorative

steam heating radiators, dumb waiters, ornamental staircases, and tin ceiling tiles—the desire of

the residents during the last century to have the same creature comforts available outside the main

gate has meant change. Old or decorative features now frequently sit alongside recent remodeling.

• Rehabilitation. Retention and repair using historic materials to retain building features,

finishes, spaces, and spatial relationships that, together, give a property its historic character. More

latitude is provided for replacement because it is assumed the property is more deteriorated prior to

the start of the work. A Fort Leavenworth example of rehabilitation is the replacement of porches

on quarters in the historic landmark district. The decking, spindles, and other milled wood items

used in the original construction and subsequent rehabilitation efforts are of different dimensions

from that commonly used today. To retain the character of the porches the government special

orders these materials from the US Disciplinary Barracks wood shop and provides them to the

contractor at cost.

• Restoration. Focuses on the retention of a structure or one of its components from the

most significant time in a property’s history, while permitting the removal of materials from other

periods.

42 Because of the decades-long ongoing maintenance of the historic buildings on post there

is little need for complete restoration.

• Reconstruction. The rebuilding of resources that no longer exists. Because of the ongoing

preservation, rehabilitation, and restoration of structures at Fort Leavenworth there are no

reconstructed buildings.

12
Not every action to maintain the condition of the buildings on Fort Leavenworth was the result

of deterioration. Since its inception, the post has changed many structures to modernize them or

make them suitable for other uses. A primary example is building #198, Lowe Hall, on Thomas

Avenue. Completed in 1902 as a hospital to replace nearby Dickinson Hall (building #55), it has

been altered repeatedly since its construction.43 Plans drawn up by the Quartermaster General’s

Office, and reviewed by the Surgeon General’s Office, show alternations inside and out from 1909

to its closure as a hospital in 1961. Improvements such as a refrigerated morgue, a prison ward,

a contagious disease isolation ward, and a women’s ward created a multi-building complex and

demonstrate a desire to keep pace with both medical science and the changing needs of the post. In

1961 the station hospital complex was replaced by a new facility. The old complex became office

space. Eventually, building #198 became the garrison headquarters and later still the post resilience

center providing one-stop in and out processing and other services for soldiers and their families.

13
Notes

1. An Archaeological Site at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Archaeological Research Center, University of Kansas.

Accessed online on 25 June 2015 at http://www.arc.ku.edu/~arc/exhibits/db.shtml. Recent field work by the Kansas

Archaeological Field School in the summer of 2010 found artifacts and document living conditions of a culture that

lived along Quarry Creek nearly 1,800 years ago.

2. Robert W. Frazer, Forts of the West (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965), iv.

3. Post forester Mr. Matthew C. Nowak pointed this out to the author during a discussion in his office on 5

February 2009.

4. Along with contracted craftsmen and laborers. There is no record of African American slaves working on

construction at the fort, a common practice in the construction of the Southeast and Gulf coastal forts.

5. Henry Shindler, A Compendium of Laws Covering Interests Upon the Fort Leavenworth Military

Reservation (Fort Leavenworth: Staff College Press, 1909), 1.

6. Quentin Hughes, Military Architecture (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1974), 242.

7. Ron Field, Forts of the American Frontier, 1820-91: Central and Northern Plains (Oxford: Osprey

Publishing, 2005).

8. Edward A. DeZurko, “A Report and Remarks on Cantonment Leavenworth” Kansas Historical Quarterly,

XV, 4, November 1947, 3.

9. Alison Hoagland, Army Architecture in the West: Forts Laramie, Bridger, and D. A. Russell, 1849-1912

(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 5.

10. Hoagland, Army Architecture, 5.

11. Department of the Army, Study/Survey of Historically Significant Army Family Housing Quarters (Fort

Leavenworth: Mariani & Associates Architects, August 1988), vol. 1, 17. The Main Parade of today is larger than the

early version.

12. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, National Historic Landmark District Registration (Draft), National Park Service

Form 10-900 (Fort Leavenworth Kansas: Undated, but probably 1965), sec 7, 6. They are reputed to be the oldest stone 

and brick structures, respectively, in Kansas.

13. Mariani, Study/Survey, vol. 1, 17.

14. Mariani, Study/Survey, vol. 1, 17.

15. National Historic Landmark District Registration, sec 7, 5.

16. Quartermaster and Ordnance are different Army branches with different functions. The quartermaster corps

is the oldest Army logistics branch responsible for supplying and provisioning the force, whereas ordnance is

responsible for maintenance, weapons, and munitions; one is beans and the other bullets.

17. US Army Corps of Engineers, Context Study of the United States Quartermaster General Standard Plans,

1866-1942 (Seattle District, US Army Corps of Engineers, November 1997), 3.

18. John S. Brown, “Our 50-Star Flag at 50,” Army, Arlington, Virginia: Association of the US Army. Vol. 60,

No. 7, July 2010, 86.

19. Post legend has it that outlaw Jesse James robbed a train in this cut through the Loess hill leading to Salt Creek

Valley. The documentary evidence is lacking. Post forester Matt Novak says that this cut is named for the blue shale rock 

formation it penetrates.

20. Erasmus T. Carr, born in 1825 in Greenville, New York, was a bricklayer and mason. He worked in Syracuse

as a builder. In 1855, he came to Fort Leavenworth and worked as a foreman on various building projects. The E. T.

Carr collection of plans and drawings reside at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas, 

Lawrence.

21. Kansas Preservation, Designing Leavenworth, vol. 29, Nov–Dec 2007 (Topeka, Kansas: Kansas State

Historical Society), 3. Accessed on 25June 2015 on line at http://www.kshs.org/resource/ks_preservation/

kpnovdec07.pdf. Carr also designed several of the buildings in downtown Leavenworth, Kansas.

22. After the establishment of the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry in 1881 the post quartermaster

depot was forced to move once again to the present warehouse area in the low ground along Warehouse and Riley

Avenues.

23. Discussion on 28 May 2010.

14
24. The West End Parade no longer exists. The Frontier Chapel and its parking lot now occupy its footprint.

25. QMGO Standard Plan 150 for the twelve barracks and Plan 61-6 for Bldg #220, the Band Building.

26. National Historic Landmark District (Draft), sec 7, 5.

27. And of course, that same rank stratification exists today with enlisted, noncommissioned officer, company

grade officer and field grade officer housing most often in different areas.

28. Hunt, History, 248.

29. Shindler, Compendium, 58.

30. The sign on the front of the building says it’s the Fort Leavenworth Credit Union, a subsidiary of the Frontier

Community Credit Union.

31. In August 2013 construction started on a new school building west of Hancock Avenue to replace the current 

MacArthur Elementary School. (Fort Leavenworth Lamp, 31 January, 2013, 1).

32. Fort Leavenworth Lamp, 22 July 2010, B-1.

33. Because of this unique relationship between the post and local schools, Leavenworth and Immaculata and

local elementary schools have an unusually high number of military alumni.

34. According to a plaque embedded in the north side of the building at the second story level it was started in

1921.

35. Hunt, History, 253.

36. Corps of Engineers, Context Study, 4. The War Department transferred all construction activities to the Army 

Corps of Engineers on 1 December 1941 so the QM Department could concentrate on its supply and subsistence 

functions. All construction on Fort Leavenworth after that date was—and still is—supervised by the Army Corps of 

Engineers.

37. Mark A. Berhow, editor. American Seacoast Defenses: A Reference Guide (2d Edition), Bel Air, Maryland: 

Coast Defense Study Group Press: 2003, 522-23.

38. The chapel, building T-101, was moved off post in the late 1950s and re-erected for civilian use near the

intersection of 2d Avenue and Kiowa Street in northeast Leavenworth, Kansas.

39. Corrections is an important but lesser mission based on sheer numbers. Each year some 1,200 Army, Sister

Service, US Government civilians, and international military students matriculate at the Command and General Staff 

College, while the US Disciplinary Barracks and the Joint Regional Correctional Facility host less than 750

40. Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, is a recreated 1700s-1800s New England country town.

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, is the authentic and detailed reconstruction of the largest town in colonial Virginia.

41. Jeanne Chandler, “Updating Homes, Conserving History.” Defense Communities (September-October 2006),

accessed online at http://www.mmhusa.com/images/phma.pdf, 24.

42. Pacific Northwest Preservation Partnership. Historic Fortification Preservation Handbook (Olympia,

Washington: Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 2003), 1.7.

43. Blue prints in records group 92.16, the Cartographic Records collection of the Central Plains regional

facility of the National Archives and Records Administration show almost continuous renovation.

15

Chapter 2

The Naming of Things

The origin of naming locations is lost to history. Around 6,000 years ago humans began to abandon a

nomadic lifestyle for a more settled existence. They lived together in family or kinship groups for security

and recognized a need to identify important locations related to hunting, gathering, agriculture, and religious

observance. Early examples of named locations have come down to us such as the temple at Luxor on the

banks of the Nile River in Pharaonic Egypt and the temple of Zeus at Olympia in Ancient Greece. The

tradition of naming things was carried to the Americas by the first explorers.

Eponyms and Toponymy1

The users of a language employ certain devices to identify place-names. George R. Stewart, author of

the book American Place-Names identifies several classifications for naming things.2 Descriptive names

are those that distinguish a place by noting some permanent or semi-permanent characteristic. Examples

on Fort Leavenworth include Riverside Avenue, Warehouse Road, and US Disciplinary Barracks Road.

A commemorative place-name intends to conserve a memory or to do an honor. The Buffalo Soldiers

Monument and the Lewis and Clark Center are just two of the scores of commemorative place-names

on post

One of the basic principles of toponymy, the naming of things, is that there is some rationale. Fort

Leavenworth has three categories of honoree: Soldiers and others who died after a long and

distinguished career; those killed during military operations; and those in a special category. The first

two categories are self-explanatory; the last group is best conveyed by an example. Biddle Boulevard is

named in honor of Mr. William I. Biddle, Leavenworth newspaperman, politician and former warden of

the US Penitentiary in Leavenworth. He was recognized for his support of the post. He is among

those honored while still alive. When selecting a namesake, a local connection is usually important, but

timing is more important. There has to be something available to name. Generally, the naming of streets,

structures, and other objects coincides with a period of construction or period of conflict.

The Naming Puzzle

Definitive information on Fort Leavenworth namesakes is illusive, especially for the early years. There

is no complete list of each item memorialized. Determining what was named when, why and for whom, is

an exercise in forensics. The records of the garrison public affairs office, the historical properties manager

at the Directorate of Public Works/Logistics Resource Center, the archives and special collections

department of the Combined Arms Research Library (which includes the library and archives of the Frontier

Army Museum), and the Combined Arms Center historian’s office all have pieces of the puzzle. Interested

individuals with knowledge of the post and its history supplement these organizations.

The oldest named things are frequently named for their use. The oldest named location on Fort

Leavenworth is the Main Parade. The oldest structure on the Main Parade, the Rookery, building #19, was

completed in 1834. Other houses around the Main Parade were informally named, i.e. there are no general

orders and they were not formally dedicated. Even the two Syracuse Houses were named as a result of an

environmental condition—they were designed by someone from Syracuse, New York. The same goes for

the nearby Sutler’s House on Scott Avenue, named for the post sutler, or trader, who sold items not available

through the Army supply system to soldiers and military families.

Not everything is guesswork. For some of the named locations and objects on Fort Leavenworth we

have the exact date of dedication, especially for the most important structures. Copies of the general orders,

letters to and from the adjutant general, and reports on the naming ceremonies still exist. The Lewis and

Clark Center, home of the Army Command and General Staff College, was completed in the middle of

17
2007 and dedicated on 13 August 2007.3 For others, records exist that get to within the month or year of

dedication. For some of the older structures or streets it is possible to approximate a decade. Without a paper

trail a suitable approximation is possible by applying a few simple rules such as that something cannot be

named before it is built or when it appeared on maps or in printed matter.

There is a distinction between naming as an official act and by folk process.4 Typically, things are

named informally before they are recognized by an official process. In the early days, the Missouri river

was the high-speed transportation artery. The earliest road on post was almost certainly a path connecting

the river to the area that is now the Main Parade. With the settlement of the land to the south of the fort,

another early road, Garrison Avenue, ran from the town of Leavenworth to the Main Parade area. As the

post expanded from the central core around the Main Parade so did the streets. Post directories from the late

1870s record the evolution of the streets and their names. The 1879 directory mentions only two streets and

a location: Garrison Avenue, Arsenal Avenue, and “corner of Parade.” From 1879 through 1886 in addition

to Garrison and Arsenal Avenues, most of the addresses are actually descriptions of how to find the location:

“Wood Cottage East of Headquarters,” “Southeast Corner of Main Parade,” “Near Guard House,” “Arsenal

Grounds.” These informal street names were formalized in the 1880s.

In 1887, Brigadier General Orlando B. Willcox, commanding the department of the Missouri, directed

that a board of officers convene to confer names on the thoroughfares. The board decided to name all

avenues running to and from the river in honor of officers of the Navy, and all others in honor of officers

of the Army.5 Perhaps General Willcox was prodded by the town of Leavenworth, which had recognizable

street names in the 1850s. Most are street names recognizable today: Kearny (occasionally spelled

incorrectly as Kearney on a modern post street signs), Grant, Meade, Sumner Place, and Thomas Avenue

originate from this time. Apparently, some were not renamed without a fight. In 1888, when Major

General Wesley Merritt directed that Arsenal Avenue, which led from the cantonment around the Main

Parade to the Fort Leavenworth Arsenal on Arsenal Hill, be named for Lieutenant General Winfield

Scott, the board of officers convened to name the streets the previous year refused to change it. They

felt it was too well known as Arsenal Avenue.6 However, generals usually get their way, and it is now

known as Scott Avenue, perhaps because the obstructionist members of the board found themselves

reassigned to lonely adobe forts in rural Arizona and New Mexico.

Many streets were named for those considered most worthy by post senior officers who were their

friends, colleagues, or superiors during the Mexican War, Civil War, and in the post-war Army. As the

main post area filled out in the last half of the 19th and the early decades of the 20th century, the

namesakes became those of long serving Army regiments, officers of lesser prominence in the Civil War,

and men who served with distinction in the campaigns against Spain, Philippine insurgents, and the

Kaiser. The foreman of the Staff College Press, Henry Shindler, wrote that all avenues located in the

college section of post were named by Major General Bell during his time as commandant of the service

schools.7

Formal building names followed the streets in the late 19th century, although informal names such as

the Rookery had been used for a long time. The first two formally named buildings on Fort Leavenworth

were St. Ignatius Chapel, named when it was completed in 1889, and Sherman Hall, named in 1890 after

the Army received written permission from the retired Civil War hero. There followed a series of official

dedicationsin the first decade of the 20th century astheArtillery Barracks(1901), Infantry Barracks(1902-

03), and the Grant/Sheridan/Sherman complex were completed. The namesakes for these buildings were

soldiers killed in the war with Spain, the Philippines, Mexico, and in France. They were all named in 1921.

The naming of natural and generic features is a mixed bag, just like the features themselves. Natural

features such as hills and streams were named informally from the earliest days. Beginning in 1947, housing

areas for the most part were named for Native American tribes. Two housing areas, Oregon and Santa Fe

Villages, are named for the feeder trails west passing through Fort Leavenworth. One housing area is named

for the Normandy campaign of World War II. The post outdoor swimming pools are named for the streets

18
closest to them, while the indoor pool is named for the physical fitness center to which it is attached. There

are at least fifteen plaques, obelisks, and other memorials commemorating individuals and groups and

seventeen historical kiosks telling the story of the post.

Place naming is never free of controversy. There are frequently competing candidate names, pressure

from influential members of the community, and politics is never far away. Conflict may even arise after

a thing is named. Army Regulation 1-33, the memorialization regulation, strongly suggests that things not

be renamed. However, renaming does happen. Part of Sherman Avenue running along the Missouri River

once was named Farragut Avenue, after a famous naval officer. Not all name changes are controversial.

An example of a peaceful name change (and a very appropriate one considering the venue) occurred in

16 January 1966.

 8 This was when the new Main Post Chapel, Building #56, on Pope Avenue was

dedicated.9 The former main post chapel, Building #54, at the corner of Scott and Riverside Avenues

was renamed. Fort Leavenworth General Order #252, dated 28 December 1965, changed its name to

Memorial Chapel in recognition of the commemorative plaques and other memorials on its walls.10

More recently, to avoid confusion, the former Main Post Chapel was renamed Pioneer Chapel when

nearby Frontier Chapel was completed in 2010

Memorials

There seems to be a rough order of merit in assigning namesakes. At the very top are those with

exceptional service and stellar reputation who are eligible to have their name placed on a building or

an auditorium in a building. This is no different from colleges, universities, and other entities that select

important people for honors.11 A distinguished but obscure, in today’s understanding of distinction, Soldier

or civilian with a meritorious record is an excellent candidate for a street. Next is the long-serving general

officer who made a name for himself on the field of battle or as an Army educator and trainer.12 He is a good

candidate for the Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame. Occasionally someone breaks the paradigm. The newest

major building on Fort Leavenworth is named for two Army captains, and one actually a lieutenant, who

made a name for themselves on an extended military operation. However, it is almost certain that when the

Corps of Discovery they commanded passed the future site of the Lewis and Clark Center on 2 July 1804

on their way to the Pacific Ocean, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark did not look at each other and ask,

“You think there’ll be a building named for us on that bluff some day?”

There are more than 200 people memorialized on Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Most are officers,

generally white men, but not all. There are five women, including an Army nurse who graduated from

Leavenworth High School and the local St. John Hospital School of Nursing who got her start in the Army

at the post hospital. There are several African-Americans, including the first black graduate of the US

Military Academy, the highest ranking black officer in the Army during World War I, and the first black

man to achieve the rank of full general in the Army. Several honorees are noncommissioned officers who

earned their renown together with their Medals of Honor. And there are two foreigners memorialized,

one a Spanish knight and the other a French marquis. In addition to individuals, Fort Leavenworth has

many memorials to groups. Most are Army regiments that served on post. Others include eleven Native

American tribes, and the twenty-three men who had the distinction of not only serving under arms during

the American Revolution, but later signing the Constitution of the United States.

Some are memorials to abstractions, such as the Berlin Wall Memorial in recognition of the human

need for self-determination, the Memorial Chapel to recognize the desire to perceive a higher power, the

Circle of Firsts Memorial Park to mark the achievements and aspirations of America’s minority citizens,

and the Santa Fe Trail Ruts as a reminder of the desire to search for a better life. Still other locations are not

strictly memorials at all, and some are only memories, but they are important to the history of the post. In

this group are the former US Disciplinary Barracks compound, the hill where Bell Hall stood, and the West

Normandy cantonment area.

19
There are over 1,200 structures on Fort Leavenworth tracked by the Directorate of Installation Support

as buildings. About 100 buildings are named. Naming often seems random. For example, buildings #2 and

#4 were built the same year (1883) from the same plans and both have housed similar residents (senior

officers) over the years. However, Building #4 is the Henry Leavenworth House, while building #2 is

identified simply as the deputy commandant’s residence at 605 Scott Avenue. Building #2 is important, but

somehow below the threshold required to receive a name. The answer is probably related to a combination

of factors such as prominence of former occupants, historical significance of the structure, and luck. The

Henry Leavenworth House illustrates this. In 1968 post leadership wanted to name a house after Colonel

Henry Leavenworth, the founder of the fort. Candidates included four imposing single family senior officer

residences of the similar style built in 1883 (buildings #2, #3, #4, and #6). They picked #4.

Some named houses on post are remarkable primarily because a famous individual at some point lived

in the house or visited it, the “George Washington Slept Here” syndrome. These structures are usually

identified as special after the namesake resident or visitor becomes well-known. One example is the

apartment in Otis Hall occupied by then Major Dwight D. Eisenhower. When he and his family lived in

the quarters in 1925-26 he was just another student at the Command and General Staff School. Eisenhower

graduated first in his class at CGSS so he gained some renown at the time, but nothing to match his later

fame. It would be another eighteen years before he would become a household name when he served as the

overall commander for the Normandy invasion. Regardless of his lack of fame in 1926, his later prominence

caused the post leadership to name and put a plaque on his former on-post apartment.

Fort Leavenworth has over 200 buildings over 100 years old. Being old does not confer automatic

historical significance on a particular building, especially when surrounded by scores of buildings of equal

or greater age. Yet, a 100-year old building has the potential to be significant if it can combine age with

other factors such as design, location, or an important occurrence. The Sutler’s House illustrates this. It was

constructed in 1841, partially of logs. Through the years it has served as a general store, post office, and

more recently as designated quarters for an Army general officer. It’s old, but has been an important part

of the life of the fort for a long time. It also has a great setting, next to Zais Park and surrounded by broad

lawns with stately old trees. Further, it has a unique design; no other set of quarters on Fort Leavenworth

approach it in form. So, although it is not tied to an historic event or activity, it is historically significant in

the life of Fort Leavenworth.

Many things on Fort Leavenworth that memorialize distinguished soldiers and civilians are actual

memorials in the traditional sense. There are almost seventy memorials in this group. The most notable is

the statue of Ulysses S. Grant, which sits at the northern end of Grant Avenue in front of Memorial Chapel.

Grant stands on a pedestal holding a map and looks toward Zais Park with its historic gazebo. Zais Park, in

turn, is named for a distinguished soldier with World War II and Vietnam service. To General Grant’s left

down the hill behind Memorial Chapel is the Trails West Swale, the deep grooves made in the hillside by

generations of ox and mule drawn wagons carrying freight to the Quartermaster Depot and beyond to the

trails leading west. Further along the bluff to the south of the trail ruts is Dragoon Glen. This hillside in front

of Grant Hall is named for the mounted riflemen who were the early 19th Century forerunners of the horse

cavalry. Continuing south on Sherman Avenue is the Lewis and Clark Memorial, an obelisk overlooking

the Missouri River. It commemorates the Army’s Corps of Discovery by 52 Soldiers and civilians.

13 This 

was led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark who passed the future site of Fort

Leavenworth on 2 July 1804 on their way west to the Pacific Ocean.14

The twenty-one housing areas are the largest single collection of memorials on Fort Leavenworth.

There are six housing areas in the historic Main Post area and fifteen to the south and southwest.15 With

the exception of specific buildings, Main Post housing is not memorialized. Until 1947, all housing was on

Main Post, the area north and west of Merritt and Smith Lakes. These included the old buildings on main

parade, the wooden single-family houses and duplexes on upper Scott and Riverside Avenues, and the brick

quarters running from Thomas Avenue in the west to Wint Avenue to the east of Smith Lake.16 Three named

brick barracks complexes remain from earlier periods but are put to other uses: Artillery Barracks as home

20
for operations groups of the Mission Command Training Program; Infantry Barracks, now officer housing;

and Engineer Barracks (the Beehive), now the National Simulation Center. As their names suggest, they

initial housed a certain type of soldiers, but through usage now memorialize those soldiers.

Until 1945 Main Post quarters, with augmentation from temporary construction during the World Wars,

were enough to support the post population. As the post population expanded so did the need for family

housing to support the increased number of faculty, staff and students for the Command and General Staff

College and for the other post activities such as the Army garrison, the post hospital and the Disciplinary

Barracks. Normandy Village came first in 1947. For the first time permanent housing for staff, faculty

and students was constructed south of the lakes. With the war still fresh in everyone’s memory, this area

of two-story brick two- and three-family quarters honored those who fought in the 1944 Normandy

Campaign in France. It was not until eleven years later that the next housing area was built. 17 Sitting

south of the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, Oregon Village consists of older one-story wood frame

duplexes and recently constructed two-story wood frame duplexes. It was named for the destination of the

feeder road that passed it on the way to join the Oregon Trail heading west. Since 1959, new housing was

constructed in every decade but the 1980s. With the exception of Nez Perce Village to the north of the Fort

Leavenworth National Cemetery and the replacement of the Normandy Village houses, all new housing

has been built in the southwest and southern parts of post along Hancock Avenue and Biddle Boulevard.

With some irony, all housing areas since 1959, except Santa Fe Village commemorating another trail west,

have been named for Native American tribes. The Indian names are ironic because during the 19th century

the Army and the Native peoples were on often opposite sides of the struggle by the tribes to maintain a

presence in modern day Kansas.18

 

Figure 5. Fort Leavenworth Housing Areas

Stained Glass Windows, Shadow Boxes, and Oil Paintings

Recognition by place is not the only means of memorialization on Fort Leavenworth. There are stained

glass windows in various locations and a series of paintings.19 It is long standing tradition that every year

the classes at the Command and General Staff College donate a gift to the college. Over the years, the type

of class gift has varied. The class of 1971-72 donated the money to pay for the limestone block wall at the

Grant Gate with the words “United States Army, Fort Leavenworth, Active Since 1827.”

HousingArea Built

NormandyVillage 1947and

2014-15

OregonVillage 1958and

2007

LowerKansaVillage 1959and

2013-14

SantaFe Village 1961

UpperKansaVillage 1964

DelawareVillage 1971and

2011

KickapooVillage 1972and

2011

ShawneeVillage 1972and

2011

OttawaVillage 1990

OsageVillage 1991and

2013

PawneeVillage 1992

IowaVillage 2006

CheyenneVillage 2007

Nez PerceVillage 2007

PottawatomieVillage 2008

21
Subject Dedicated To Presented By

Apostle Paul The members of the United States Army on duty

around the world

The Roman Catholic Congregation of

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (1967)

Apostle Peter The United States Military Academy, source of

spirit and ethics in the US Army

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of

Kansas City in Kansas (1967)

Centurion The American Soldier, defender of his faith and

country

The Protestant Congregations, Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas (1967)

Commissioning of

the Disciples

The chaplain graduates of the Command and

General Staff College

The Chief of Chaplains of the United

States Army (1967)

Resurrection The citizen Soldier, contributor to victory The Altar Rosary Society, Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas (1967)

Crucifixion

The graduates of the United States Army

Command and General Staff College who have

died in combat

The Chief of Chaplains of the United

States Army (1967)

Jesus and

Disciples

The members of the United States Army who

offer an example of Patriotism to their Children

The Daughters of the United States

Army (1967)

Jesus Stilling the

Waters

The CGSC graduates who as general staff

officers brought victory from the chaos of war

The Holy Name Society, Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas (1967)

Jesus Healing the

Sick

The members of the United States Army who are

practical Humanitarians

The Young People, Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas (1967)

The Holy Family The establishment of Religion as a foundation of

the United States Army

The Protestant Congregations, Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas (1967)

Our Western

Shores The men and women who built the west The Chief of Chaplains of the UnitedStates Army (1970)

The Founding of

the West The Soldiers who secured the way to the west The Chapel Congregations of FortLeavenworth, Kansas (1970)

Our Eastern

Shores The founding fathers of America The Chief of Chaplains of the UnitedStates Army (1970)

Abraham The Non-commissioned Officers of the United

States Army, the backbone of the Service The CGSC Classes of 1966-1967

Moses The Chaplains who have served at Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas

The Chief of Chaplains of the United

States Army (1967)

Joshua The CGSC graduates who as commanders used

their strength and wisdom to keep us free

The Bachelor Officers, Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas

Ruth The gentle and loving influence of the Army Wife

The Protestant Women of the Chapel

and Fort Leavenworth Thrift Shop

(1967)

David The commanders-in-chief of the United States

Army

Colonel Clinton I. McClure, USA (RET)

and Mrs. Lea B. McClure (1968)

Solomon The members of the United States Army who

built the pathways to progress

The Masonic Bodies, Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas (1967)

Isaiah The members of the United States Army who

have stood firm in adversity

The Protestant Men of the Chapel, Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas (1968)

Malachi The members of the United States Army who

have served on the staff and faculty of the CGSC

The Protestant Congregations of Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas (1968)

Figure 6. Pioneer Chapel stained glass windows

Since 1981, the gift in most years has consisted of original artwork addressing a current military

topic.20 Stained glass windows represent an earlier era of gift giving. The CGSC stain glass in the Lewis

and Clark Center portrays an Army campaign. The Pioneer Chapel stained glass depicts a religiously

themed vignette of military interest. Where a Pioneer Chapel scene depicts the landing in Normandy in

June of 1944, the closest Lewis and Clark stained glass window theme commemorates all of World War

II. The first window was presented to the college in 1969 and the last in 1986. During the relatively short

nineteen year “stained glass era” at Fort Leavenworth (1967-86) at least fifty-one windows were installed

in Bell Hall / Lewis and Clark Center and Main Post / Pioneer Chapel.

22
While stained glass windows have a long history at Fort Leavenworth in Memorial Chapel and the

former St. Ignatius Chapel, the Pioneer Chapel was first with commerative stained glass in the modern era.

Pioneer Chapel was completed in late 1965 and dedicated on 16 January 1966, has twenty-one windows

dealing with both religious and secular themes: ten based on the New Testament on the western side of the

chapel, three based on American history in the vestibule, and eight on the east side of the chapel based on

the Old Testament.21 All have a military connection reflecting the Army and the world situation in the period

1967 to 1970 when they were installed.22

Table 2-1 reveals something of what was important to those associated with the Army in the late 1960s

and early 1970s. The window sponsors are both those to be expected as well as some quite unexpected.

Nine of the windows were funded by organizations associated with Fort Leavenworth religious life such

as the Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations. Five are a gift of the chief of chaplains of the United

States Army. Three come from generic, and probably ad hoc, groups assembled for the purpose of giving

a window: The Daughters of the Army, The Young People of Fort Leavenworth, and the bachelor officers

of Fort Leavenworth. Local Masonic bodies and a private citizen couple provided additional windows.23

Major General John H. Hay, Jr., commanding general of Fort Leavenworth, dedicated the windows in May

1969. Two of the windows come from organizations that reflect how different the 1960s were from today.

The window of the Apostle Peter dedicated to the spirit and ethics taught at the United Stated Military

Academy was funded by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. The archdiocese,

consisting today of more than a hundred parishes in twenty-one counties in eastern and central Kansas, is

presided over by an archbishop. In those halcyon days a Catholic archbishop could donate a stained glass

window in an Army chapel and draw little attention.

There are thirty stained glass window appliqués emplaced over certain windows on the top three floors

of the four-story Lewis and Clark Center facing north toward Smith Lake and Eisenhower Hall. Each

window was the gift of an organization, military unit, or individual. The windows fall into two groups:

Army units and Army campaigns. Two are unique, one recognizes the Army wife and her service to the

nation since 1775, and the other is to the memory of the founding of Fort Leavenworth by Colonel Henry

Leavenworth. The unit windows were commissioned first, followed by the Army campaigns and the unique

windows. For some reason the stained glass window gift tradition ended around 1986 before the War

with Spain was recognized. The benefactors were members of the resident and non-resident Command

and General Staff College classes of that era, members of the commemorated units stationed around the

globe, and individuals. The first eight windows were installed in July 1969 with funds from the Bell Hall

Memorials Association.24 Over the next ten years the rest of the windows were purchased and installed. The

units commemorated on five stained glass windows also have streets named for them.

The Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame honors outstanding members of the Army, who after being

stationed at Fort Leavenworth significantly contributed to the history, heritage and traditions of the Army.

The Hall of Fame is located in the main lobby of the Lewis and Clark Center, the home of the Command

and General Staff College. Each honoree has a shadow box with a picture and, for some, artifacts related to

their service. The hall has more than one hundred honorees are grouped into five eras: Pre-Civil War; Civil

War to World War I; The World Wars; Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War; and Post-Cold War. The earliest

recognized include Colonel Henry Leavenworth, the founder of the fort in 1827 and Lieutenant Colonel

Nathan Boone, the youngest son of Daniel, who served on post from 1837 to 1853. The Civil War to World

War I cohort includes Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Major General Arthur MacArthur (Doug’s father)

and early airpower theorist Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. The Hall of Fame recognizes three officers

not otherwise memorialized on post who resigned their US Army commissions to fight for the Confederacy.

They are recognized for their service to the Army before they resigned.25

23
The soldiers in the World War I and II group are the most recognizable to the modern reader,

names like George S. Patton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Hap Arnold. Until 2009, only one

noncommissioned officer was a member of the Hall of Fame, long ago dragoon and politician Sergeant

Percival Lowe. That year, recognized as the Army as the Year of the Noncommissioned Officer, two

NCOs were inducted, one from long ago and one more recent retiree. First Sergeant William McBryar,

was a Medal of Honor recipient and veteran of the Indian campaigns, the War with Spain in Cuba, and

the Philippines War. Also honored was retired command sergeant major Larry Smith, a Vietnam combat

veteran who served 35 years in the Army, much of it in Germany. During his distinguished career,

Command Sergeant Major Smith served as such at every level from battalion to the Combined Arms

Center.26

One of the unique aspects of the Command and General Staff College student body is that in addition

to US officers from the Army, the other Services, and from other government agencies, each class contains

military officers from other nations. The tradition started in 1881 when the first class at the School of

Application for Cavalry and Infantry for a time had a Swiss observer. The first international graduates were

two Mexican officers in the class of 1908. The International Military Student Officer program provides

these officers the same education as their American classmates. In a typical year, almost 150 officers from

around the world join their American classmates, distributed one or two to an 18-person staff group. They

experience the educational curriculum along with their staff group colleagues and participate in a special

program that affords them the opportunity to observe the place of the armed forces in American democracy.

The program includes visits to local, state, and national government to see United States democracy in

action. Family members may participate in a special orientation program on America and can take English

language classes. School age children attend local schools.27

The International Officer Hall of Fame recognizes those International Officer graduates who have

achieved distinction in the armed forces or political life of their nation. Over 7,500 international officers have

graduated from the Command and General Staff College and its predecessor institutions. The International

Hall of Fame recognizes about 3% of the total International graduates and currently has more than 250

members from 70 countries. The International Officer Hall of Fame is on the third floor of the Lewis and

Clark Center where each honoree is recognized with a photograph, a description of his distinction, and the

year of Command and General Staff College graduation.

There is another unique commemoration on Fort Leavenworth that is so exclusive that only forty-four

men have been recognized in the last 226 years.28 Army leaders have little to do with the selection process,

other than exercising their right to vote. The Lewis and Clark Center has a Commander in Chief’s Hallway

with portraits of all the presidents of the United States. It is a reminder to the faculty, staff, students, and

college visitors of the principle of civilian control of the military. Article 2, Section II of the Constitution

of the United States reads, in part, “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army.” In December

1981 the college received a collection of thirty-nine oil paintings of the presidents by renowned portrait

painter Lawrence P. Williams (1905-1996), a gift from Mrs. Alice Slaysman of Phoenix, Arizona.29 The

collection is officially entitled the Gallery of the Presidents and each portrait is 24 inches tall by 20 inches

wide with an antique style gilt gold frame. Since the last painting by Mr. Williams, an oil portrait in the

same style has been commissioned for each new president/commander in chief. Executed in a rather severe

style with the men in period attire of dark grey or black, the subjects have a serious demeanor.30 It is a

reminder of the weighty responsibilities, described in the Preamble to the Constitution to “provide for the

common defense,” conferred on our nation’s chief executive by the Constitution.

Memorial Plaques

There is a category of place-name memorial on Fort Leavenworth with many examples in limestone,

marble, granite, copper, bronze, aluminum, and steel. The dictionary defines a plaque as a flat thin piece

of material used for commemoration or information.31 There are plenty of plaques on Fort Leavenworth,

especially the eighty-eight in Memorial Chapel. Many of the important buildings such as the Lewis and

Clark Center have commemorative plaques lining their walls. Many other buildings and organizations have

memorial plaques of a more personal nature. They are placed in memory of a colleague, frequently one who

24
died too young. An example of this was a plaque formerly in the atrium of the Ike Skelton Combined

Arms Research Library honoring the contributions of Martha A. Davis. Ms. Davis was a professional

Army librarian who began her career in 1967. She retired for health reasons in 2001 having served as

the director of the Combined Arms Research Library for fourteen years.32 She died in 2002. The plaque

from the Army Library Program reads:

Martha A. Davis

Army Librarian

1967-2001

24 April 2002

There are many plaques scattered around post that frequently go unnoticed, or rather are seen so often

that they become a part of the landscape and, though noticed, are no longer remarkable. The oldest plaque

on post is the marble tablet emplaced high up on the southern face of building #473 which was completed

in the fall of 1863. It marks the completion of one of the buildings in the Fort Leavenworth Quartermaster

Depot and honors the commander of the depot, Major Langdon C. Easton. Little remembered today, Major

Easton served at Fort Leavenworth four times in various Quartermaster positions—assistant quartermaster,

1847-49 and 1852-53, depot quartermaster, 1861-6333, and chief quartermaster of the Department of the

Missouri, 1866-72. A veteran of active service in the Seminole Wars, on the frontier, and in the Civil War,

he retired as a major general in 1881 with 43 years of active duty. The plaque is positioned so that very few

notice it.

A similar plaque, almost as old, sits two miles to the south. This second oldest plaque is embedded

into the western face of a limestone block culvert over Corral Creek on Grant Avenue. It is just above the

keystone of the arched passageway for the creek. While the plaque on building #473 is rarely seen because

it is positioned high up on a building, the plaque on the Grant Avenue culvert is never seen because it is

below the level of the roadway and is only visible to those who walk down to the creek level and look up

above the arch of the culvert. Hundreds of people drive over the culvert every day without knowing the

plaque exists. However, it is of interest for more than its obscurity. It is a marble block with a similar font

and style to the Easton plaque at the old Quartermaster Depot/USDB, but its exposed location has led to

severe weathering. Most of the text has abraded away so that determining what it says is a bit of an exercise

in forensics. The only readable text is the top line and three characters on the second line of this four-line

plaque. The readable text is “Erected March 186” with several random letters barely discernible on the third

line. Fortunately, a photo of the plaque was taken in 1957 and preserved in the Frontier Army Museum’s

collection. While the text on the plaque in this photo is only slightly more readable than today, an unknown

individual deciphered it and made a note on the back. It says:

Erected March

186_ by

Henry C. Hodge

AQM USA

A search of 19th century records indicates that Captain Henry C. Hodges was an assistant

quartermaster and the Depot Quartermaster at Fort Leavenworth from December 1863 to February 1865.34

Since the only March that Captain Hodges served on post was 1864, it seems that the missing digit in the

date is a 4. Not many of those hundreds of people traveling on Grant Avenue every day realize they are

driving over a 150 year old culvert.35

There is an interesting series of signs engraved on thin copper plate scattered around the old Main

Post area. It is unknown how old they are or when they were emplaced, but there is one on the Grant

Gate, which was erected in 1936, so it is reasonable to assume they are younger than that. Other copper

plaques of the same type designate the Memorial Chapel, the Main Parade, and several of the buildings

constructed in the late 1850s to serve as the Leavenworth Arsenal.36 Many of these plaques are mounted

on wooden backing and either affixed to the structure they are identifying or mounted to a concrete stand.

25
Many more recently emplaced plaques are made of bronze. Bronze is less expensive than copper and wears

well. Bronze memorial plaques are found at Zais Park, McNair Hall, Fuller Hall, and the dedication plaque

for the Eisenhower Hall complex.

Another unusual bronze plaque commemorates a legal transaction, the transfer of the title to the former

St. Ignatius Chapel building from the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas to the United States

Army. Prior to the transfer the chapel and its priests were the responsibility of the archdiocese and as a cost

saving move the chapel was given to theArmy who would supply theCatholic priests and, more importantly

from the archdiocese’s point of view, be responsible for maintenance of a late 19th century brick building.

Figure 7. The Boughton Memorial building

A few of the plaques are cornerstones or their modern equivalent. Reminders in stone or metal of the

dedication of a structure laid or unveiled at a formal ceremony. Examples of these include the cornerstone

of the former St. Ignatius Chapel, laid in 1889. With the surrounding original bricks it survived when the

building burned in 2001. In 2006 it was rededicated as the cornerstone of the St. Ignatius Chapel Memorial.

Another private building on post has an atypical cornerstone. It is unusual because it is not actually a

cornerstone but a granite plaque embedded in the bricks on the front of the building. The Boughton

Memorial building houses three Masonic lodges and further is unusual in that one of the requirements for it

to remain on post is that it has to provide space on its ground floor for the fort’s United States Post Office.

This continues a tradition of a US post office on post. The first post office in Kansas was established on 28

May 1828, one year after the post’s founding.37

Most plaques on Fort Leavenworth were emplaced by the Army or some large component of it, such

as the Combined Arms Center or the US Army Garrison. However, there are at least four memorials on

post that were the work of private citizens. Lee Bradley was a retired Army lieutenant colonel who worked

as a leadership instructor in Eisenhower Hall. A Vietnam veteran who also served in Germany and Korea,

Lieutenant Colonel Bradley served in the Center for Army Leadership for twelve years before his untimely

death from cancer in August 1996 at age 61.38 As a monument to his memory, his colleagues planted a tree

and emplaced a bronze plaque near the building where he worked.39 A similar memorial sits to the north

side near the front of Memorial Chapel, where an aluminum plaque commemorates the life of Timothy L.

Pizzi. The son of Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. Lawrence Z. Pizzi and a member of the Memorial Chapel

Lutheran congregation, he died of a brain tumor in February 1996 at the age of 13. His memorial is affixed

to the face of a rose colored boulder under a tree, a very peaceful setting.40 Both Lieutenant Colonel Bradley

and Timothy L. Pizzi are buried in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. Still another private memorial

plaque is affixed to a brick pillar on the south side of the Combined Arms Research Library to honor the

memory of Malcolm Crowley. Mr. Crowley (17 October 1980 - 3 November 2005) was an ironworker

killed during the construction of the covered walkway connecting the CARL with the Lewis and Clark

Center to its south. The plaque honoring Mr. Crowley may be the only one on Fort Leavenworth with no

direct link to the Army or the Armed Forces.

A more recent private memorial is on an interior wall of Pope Hall (building #470) inside the walls of

the former Disciplinary Barracks on Harrison Avenue. It was dedicated to the memory of Army Lieutenant

Colonel Jeffrey B. Harper who died of cancer while on active duty on 6 July 2007. It was emplaced by

26
colleagues and friends at the Combined Arms Center’s Current Force Integration Directorate.41 Jeffrey

Harper joined the Army in 1984. After several years of service as an enlisted man and

noncommissioned officer, he graduated from officer candidate school in 1991. Commissioned as an air

defense artillery officer, he served in the United States, twice in the Republic of Korea, and once as an

exchange instructor with the Australian Army. The memorial displays a detailed biography and a photo

collage.

Another memorial sanctioned by the post but emplaced unofficially by Army Medical Department

representatives is in a small park between the Smith Dental Clinic and Munson Army Health Center. It

is built around a small circular park with several park benches and a tree in the middle. The Veteran’s

Memorial was dedicated on 16 August 1991. The original plaque reads:

We dedicate this tree to the American Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen

Of all Conflicts, to all who have sacrificed their lives in the cause of Freedom.

And to the patriotism and unity found in the hearts of the American people. Let this tree stand as a new

beginning.42

This memorial actually has two plaques. In October of 2003 the Veteran’s Memorial was reconditioned

as a Boy Scout Eagle Project led by Eagle Scout candidate Ian Hall and the Scouts of Troop 3, sponsored

by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of Leavenworth, Kansas.43 The second plaque reports on

this project and lists the many individual and business contributors to the project.

There are some plaques on Fort Leavenworth that have no direct connection to the post at all. One of

them marks a tree planted in front of the Frontier Army Museum, building #801. Although it has no formal

connection to the post, it has a very strong indirect tie. It was planted by the Fort Leavenworth Historical

Society on 6 June 1984—the 40th anniversary of the amphibious and airborne landings on the Normandy

coast of France during World War II. The tree was planted in soil from the Normandy beaches. Many

graduates of the Command and General Staff School, who participated in the Allied assault on Fortress

Europe, had studied at Fort Leavenworth.44

Figure 8. Command and General Staff College shield at the Grant Gate, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

(Author’s collection)

A number of plaques emplaced by national or state organizations commemorate the history of the nation

as embodied by events on Fort Leavenworth. They are found scattered across the post. Across McPherson

Avenue from the oldest plaque on post is a tablet commemorating a bit of Kansas history. The KansasNebraska Act of 1854 organized the northern Great Plains, established the Kansas and Nebraska territories,

and opened land west of the Missouri River to white settlement. The first territorial governor of Kansas was

Andrew H. Reeder. He was appointed governor of the territory of Kansas by President Franklin Pierce in

June 1854. It was a contentious appointment and he established the first territorial capital on post for safety.

The plaque was placed by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Kansas and

recognizes the location of the first territorial capital building at what today is the corner of McPherson and

Scott. The building, long gone, was occupied as the territorial capital, 7 October to 24 November 1854.45

27
Another third-party bronze plaque is affixed to the Grant Gate. Placed by the Captain Jesse Leavenworth

Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, it commemorates the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails,

the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Scott Military Road, and the Doniphan (1846-47) and Fremont (1848-49)

Expeditions.46 The plaque is a reminder of the thousands of emigrants who jumped off from the post and

elsewhere to trek to California, New Mexico, Utah, or the Oregon Country. It also commemorates the

days when the post was the base camp for many Army expeditions that left the post to explore the west.

And finally, it remembers the military road that connected Fort Leavenworth with Fort Scott in

southeastern Kansas after that post was established in 1842.

A final third-party plaque is found near the front door of the Patch Community Center, building #345.

It informsthe reader that the building was erected for the Army by The Army Department of the International

Committee of the Young Men’s Christian Association in 1907. The building was dedicated by American

heiress and philanthropist Helen Miller Gould in memory of her father Jay Gould.47 Although little known

today, Jay Gould was a financier and railroad developer; what in an earlier age some would call a robber

baron. The donation of funding for YMCA buildings by Ms. Gould was similar to the donation of library

buildings by Andrew Carnegie.

A final plaque is one found at several locations around post. The visitor sees it for the first time coming

through Grant Gate. It is the crest of the Command and General Staff College, adopted by the Army General

Service Schools in June 1907.48 The central shield has three lamps of learning, one each for the Regular

Army, the Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard. The eagle is a copy of the granite bas relief eagle

over the north side of the sally port of Grant Hall, except the sally port eagle is looking left and the shield

eagle is looking right.49 On a scroll at the base is the college motto Ad Bellum Pace Parati: Prepared in

Peace for War.

Old Glory

Fort Leavenworth is a military reservation and displays the national colors from several flag poles.

They include the flag pole at the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, which displays the American flag

24-hours a day as a tribute to the honored dead. Shorter poles stand in front of the four schools in the

Fort Leavenworth School District (Unified School District #207), the school district headquarters, the

headquarters of the US Disciplinary Barracks (building #1144), the post fire headquarters in Bowen Hall

(building #701), in front of the Herbert R. Temple Jr. Mission Training Complex (buildings #1591 and

1592) on Sherman Avenue. These flags fly during the school and duty day. Another short pole is part of the

Buffalo Soldiers Monument south of Smith Lake. This memorial to the African American soldiers of the

9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments also flies its American flag 24-hours a day. There is no post flag pole, per

se, but that in front of the Lewis and Clark Center, the home of the Army’s Command and General Staff

College, comes closest.50 The most recently constructed flag pole is at the Grant Gate near building #2003, a

small guard house. Erected in the summer of 2014, it has yet to see a flag.

Although flag poles are not actually memorials, there are two poles on post that serve as de facto

memorials. They typically stand empty, but remain as reminders of their previous service.51 The oldest

abandoned pole sits on the northwest corner of the main parade at the corner of McClellan Avenue and

Sumner Place. It saw its heyday when the Main Parade was the center of post activity. One hundred feet

tall, it was erected in 1906 to Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 47A and identified in old post

records as building #319.52 When installed this flagpole was unique in that the design was similar to the mast

of a ship with two masts, one offset by a platform half way up. It had ship-like rigging for stabilization. In

the wooden flag post era before the widespread use of iron or steel the two piece pole was use to enable two

shorter poles to attain the height necessary for a post flagstaff. At some point the 1906 pole was replaced

by a straight steel pole requiring less maintenance. The Main Parade flag pole probably entered caretaker

status when Bell Hall was opened in 1957. Four hundred and fifty feet away to the south at the southwest

corner of the main parade is a spot that is commemorated as the location for a former flag staff. In the early

days of the fort this spot held the post flag pole and many of the distances on post and in the Leavenworth

area are measured from this spot.53

28
Another flag pole abandoned and out of place stands in the former location of the US Disciplinary

Barracks. Situated today in a grassy median on Harrison Avenue, it was once the flag pole standing in front

of the “castle,” the main cellblock complex for the USDB. Now that the DB has moved to its new

location on the northwestern corner of post and the castle demolished, this flagstaff, built in 1911

according to Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 47B, stands as a 100-foot tall memorial to the

location’s 132 years of service to the Army’s correctional mission.54 Post engineers removed a final

flagstaff in the middle of 2010 to make way for a parking lot. The pole stood to the north of the previous

location of Bell Hall on Reynolds Avenue and served as a silent memorial to the location which hosted

the Army Command and General Staff College from 1957 to 2006.55

Old Glory is frequently joined on Abrams Loop by flags from around the world. At the start of each

Command and General Staff College class, the International officer class members parade their national

colors and place them in prearranged bases surrounding the Lewis and Clark Center flag pole in the

appropriately named International Flag Ceremony.56 These same bases are used for state flags during VIP

visits and certain holidays.

The Most Famous Namesake

Figure 9. Former Command and General Staff College Complex. (l to r) Sherman Hall, Grant Hall (with clock tower)

and Sheridan Hall.

(Author’s collection)

Who is the most famous namesake on Fort Leavenworth? It depends on the era under discussion.

There are many candidates. In terms of service, Philip St. George Cooke has a claim; he served at Fort

Leavenworth in each of four decades. In terms of achievement, Dwight D. Eisenhower or George C.

Marshal certainly would be in the top ten.57 With regard to the fort’s educational mission, the list would also

include Arthur L. Wagner, John F. Morrison, and J. Franklin Bell, obscure today, but educators who crafted

the Army education system for officers. However, Ulysses S. Grant is the most representative namesake.

No one else comes close.

Grant Avenue runs for two miles from the Grant Gate to the Grant statue. If you look to the right as

you travel north on Grant Avenue you can see the clock tower on Grant Hall. Inside Grant Hall is Grant

Auditorium. Further on, if you look to the left, you can see Grant Pool. In addition, a stained glass window

in the Lewis and Clark Center shows General Grant looking at a map. The reasons for the proliferation

of his name are obvious. Regardless of his lack of success immediately prior to the Civil War and his

troubled presidential administration after it, Grant was, in the words of British historian J.F.C. Fuller, “the

greatest general of his age and one of the greatest strategists of any age.” He was the general-in-chief of

the victorious Union Army.

The popularity of things Grant on Fort Leavenworth is also true in the rest of Kansas. Except for

Abraham Lincoln, no name is more represented in the place-names of Kansas than Grant. Historian John

Rydjord says that Kansans have many reasons to remember US Grant, “after all, he won the war that

Kansas started.”58 In the state there is a Grant County and 29 townships named for the general.

29
Grant may have the most memorials on Fort Leavenworth, but he never served at the fort. He visited

the post once in 1868 when he was running for president. According to an article in the Leavenworth

Times of Friday, 17 July 1868, General Grant, accompanied by Lieutenant General Sherman, arrived in

town on the 16th, visited local politicians and social and political clubs and attended a gathering at the

Fort Leavenworth home of Major General Sheridan, then the commander of the Division of the Missouri.

Newspaper articles on the visit from the Leavenworth Times, the Leavenworth Bulletin and the New York

Times are silent on where he stayed on post, but Grant and Sherman probably enjoyed the hospitality of

their old comrade in arms in his quarters on Arsenal Avenue (after 1888 called Scott Avenue).

Besides Grant, several presidents have visited Fort Leavenworth before or after taking office.

Abraham Lincoln was the first. He passed through the post on 3 December 1859 while traveling by

horse drawn coach from Atchison to Leavenworth while campaigning for the Republican nomination

for president. Truman participated in summer camp for the Field Artillery Reserves during the early

1920s. He also visited on 15 December 1961 after he left office and retired to Independence, Missouri.

Eisenhower served as an instructor for wartime reserve officers on post from December 1917 to March

1918 and again from July 1925 to June 1926 when he attended the Command and General Staff School.

Franklin Roosevelt passed through the post for the briefest of time in his special train on 26 April 1943

while travelling from Omaha, Nebraska, to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, while on an inspection tour of

defense plants. No president has visited the post since.

Native Americans

The ancestors of the Native peoples living in the vicinity of Fort Leavenworth left traces of their

civilization in the archaeological record going back 10,000 years. When the Corps of Discovery passed the

area that is now Fort Leavenworth, several Native American nations, including the Kickapoo, Pottawatomie,

Osage, and Kansa (Kaw), inhabited the area.59 These closely-related tribes had permanent villages with

corn fields and gardens along the principal rivers and streams. To supplement their diets they took seasonal

hunting expeditions to the buffalo range to the west.60 They were enemies of the Pawnee who lived along

the Platte River in Nebraska and the Republican River in central Kansas. When Fort Leavenworth was

founded there were no Native American tribes living in the vicinity.

Whether or not the first Thanksgiving occurred as described in American folk mythology, Native

peoples helped Europeans become established in the Americas. While relations with the Indians in the

early years were not always friendly; proximity led to friction and often violence. After the War of 1812

relations between native tribes and the United States Government changed. With less fear of a British

invasion and the French long gone, the new nation became less conciliatory toward the Indians. Between

1816 and 1848 twelve states entered the Union.61 The great influx of trappers, merchants, gold seekers,

adventurers, and settlers disrupted the Indians way of life. By 1845 most large groups of Native peoples

lived west of the Mississippi.62 Numerous treaties were negotiated with Native tribes. Most required them

to give up ancestral lands and move west in return for varying types of compensation, a mix of money,

land, livestock, weapons, and trade goods. In the sixty years following the War of 1812, most Indian

tribes were removed from their ancestral lands. As the largest and best organized arm of the federal

government in Kansas and the Midwest, the Army was often called on to enforce the removal of Native

peoples. In the end resistance proved futile; it was never a fair fight. To be sure, there were Indian

victories, but in the end the organization, firepower, and sheer numbers of the US Army won out. The

final removals took place in the years following the Civil War.

30
In many cases, the names by which we know Indian nations are not the names they called themselves

or the names they were known by when first encountered by non-Natives. In the Missouri River basin,

the French often served as the linguistic middlemen between the Native peoples and English speakers.

The phonetics of French did not always fit the phonetics of English, as described by Kansas historian

John Rydjord in his 1968 book, Indian Place-Names. Everyone had a way of playing it by ear which

modified the English interpretation of the French interpretation of the original Indian words. After a while,

even the Indians got confused. An example will help to illustrate. Fort Leavenworth has a Kansa Village

housing area named for a Native nation with roots in this area. Since this tribe was first encountered by

large numbers of Americans after the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, these are just some of the

spellings and associated pronunciations documented: Kansas, Kansez, Kances, Kanzau, Kanzas, Konza,

Konzas, Kausaus, Konsee, Kanisse, Cannecis, Caws, and Kaws.63 In the early 19th century, or the early

21st century, the reader may think that the Kansas, Konza, Cannecis and Caw Indians are different tribes,

and not just alternative spellings of the same nation. Even today, the river which flows into the Missouri

River at Kaw Point in Kansas City, Kansas, is called both the Kansas and the Kaw. The pattern is repeated

with the other Indian names now gracing Fort Leavenworth housing areas. A native speaker of the language

of those commemorated may not recognize the name used to describe their nation today. However, the

intent is clear. The United States Army and Fort Leavenworth want to recognize the Native peoples who

populated this land before the arrival of outsiders from the east and west.

Requiescat in Pace64

Fort Leavenworth has had its share of another category of place-names: cemeteries. The Army is a

dangerous profession. Any job that, by definition, requires its members to place themselves in harm’s way

can be hazardous. However, World War II was the first American war in which there were more battle

deaths than deaths from other causes.65 When Fort Leavenworth was founded in 1827, it was far more

common for soldiers to die of disease or infection than to die in battle. Life expectancy at birth in 1850

was 35 years. This was before a thorough understanding of the germ theory of disease, the role of insects

as vectors in transmitting disease, and the development of effective treatments for many common

illnesses. Diseases such as smallpox, measles, and malaria resulted in high mortality rates. Cholera was a

major killer on wagon trains heading west.66

For most of the 19th century, the soldiers stationed at Fort Leavenworth were a long way from family

and friends “back East.” If they died in service they were either buried where they fell or their remains were

returned to the nearest Army installation for burial in the post cemetery. Fort Leavenworth experienced its

first deaths from disease and created its first cemetery, the Soldiers’ Burying Ground, during its first year.

Burial grounds were intended to get the deceased away from the living assoon as possible. Even in the early

days of public health awareness, the Army understood that burial of the dead would assist in the prevention

of disease. In those days ofsegregation by rank, officers were buried in one place and other ranksin another.

The first cemeteries on post were established on Arsenal Hill to the southeast of the Main Parade.

The enlisted cemetery was located where Quarters #1 now sits. The officer cemetery was located to the

southeast near where Wagner Hall (building #52D) is located. It was then called Rattlesnake Hill. Post

leadership later realized that the cemeteries were located on prime real estate. Subsequently, the land

occupied by both became construction sites. In 1858, just before the construction of what is now Sherman

Hall (Building #52C), the Army removed and reinterred the remains in both cemeteries to what is now

the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.67 In 1862 it became a national cemetery by order of President

Abraham Lincoln. The oldest known military grave in the National Cemetery was that of Lieutenant

Colonel James Allen, the first commander of the Mormon Battalion of the War with Mexico who died in

1846. The oldest civilian grave is that of Clarinda Dale who died in 1844. The Fort Leavenworth National

Cemetery served as the post cemetery as well as the resting place for those eligible from the surrounding

area.68 The Civil War resulted in a marked increase in burials. Another group of burials are those soldiers,

family members and others moved from Army installations further west. As the 19th century closed and

the threat to travel and settlement decreased, the Army consolidated its installations to save money. From

1885 to 1907 it moved graves from now-closed posts to Fort Leavenworth.69 Today the Fort Leavenworth

31
National Cemetery contains more than 23,000 graves.70

The US Disciplinary Barracks, at Fort Leavenworth, founded in 1874, is the Department of Defense

maximum/medium security confinement facility. It was called the US Military Prison until 1915.71 Located

on Sheridan Drive not far from Sherman Army Airfield is the Military Prison Cemetery. It was formally

established in 1884 as the last resting place for inmates who were executed or who died while in custody. It

contains about 300 graves, including fifty-six unknowns and fourteen German prisoners of war from World

War II executed for murder of fellow POWs. The last burial was in 1957.

There are two other burial grounds on Fort Leavenworth with no visible reminders and no memorial

markers. From November 1877 to July 1878, a band of about 700 Nez Perce Indians were confined in a

camp on the Missouri River bottomlands inside the Weston Bend on what is now Sherman Army Airfield.

During their nine month stay some twenty tribe members died and were buried in a makeshift burial ground

near their compound. The outline of the burial ground appears on old maps from that era. No trace of the

burial ground remains.72

A final burial ground on post is from the days when the dead were not just segregated by rank, but also by

skin color. And it is tied to a unique Army unit, Independent Battery United States Colored Light Artillery,

called Douglas’s Battery. Douglas’s Battery was the first African-American Army unit ever assigned to

Fort Leavenworth. During its time on post the battery suffered twelve casualties from disease, one officer

and eleven enlisted men.73 The officer who died was Second Lieutenant Patrick H. Minor, who died on 26

March 1865.74 As was the custom in the 19th century, these deceased soldiers were buried near where they

died. An map from the mid-19th century in the archive of the Frontier Army Museum identifies a plot of

ground on what was then called Grant Hill with a cemetery map symbol and the words “Graves Cold” in

the map notation of the day. The cemetery was just east of Grant Avenue where Patton Junior High School

is now located. The map is undated, but is signed by “Colonel J.A. Potter, Depot Quartermaster.” Colonel

Joseph A. Potter was assigned to Fort Leavenworth as a quartermaster from September 1864 to January

Given the attitudes of the Army toward race at the time of the Civil War, these dead artillerymen may

not have been buried in the recently opened Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. It is reasonable to

assume that the cemetery on Grant Hill was the first resting place of the soldiers from Douglas’s

Battery, men of African descent not altogether welcomed on Main Post.76 It is unknown what

happened to those interred, but they were probably moved to the National Cemetery.77No trace of the

graveyard remains

today.

Soon after the war there were other soldiers of African descent at Fort Leavenworth. The post was the

home and first duty station of the 10th United States Cavalry, one of the regiments composed of African

American enlisted men with white officers established immediately after the Civil War. Although the

regiment spent only a few months on post after its organization, in later years it returned for longer stays in

the 20th century. The General Service Schools Detachment (Colored) supported the post’s educational

mission. The detachment’s enlisted men and some noncommissioned officers lived in the barracks on

Douglas’s Battery

Toward the end of the Civil War, the US Army permitted the recruitment and mustering in of

an Independent Battery of US Colored Light Artillery. Since artillery batteries were often named after

their commanders, this unit was called Douglas’s Battery in honor of Captain Hezekiah Ford Douglas,

its founder. Officially mustered into Federal service at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on 23 December 1864,

it was mustered out on 20 July 1865. It had three officers. The battery was unique in that it was the only

Union Army unit to serve entirely under black leadership during the war. The battery was recruited in

eastern Kansas and four out of five of the 208 enlisted men were recruited in Leavenworth. During its seven

months of service it garrisoned Fort Sully on the high ground west of what today is the Fort Leavenworth

National Cemetery. Only one section of the battery saw combat. During the raid of Confederate General

Sterling Price on Kansas City, Missouri, in 1864, a section under the command of Second Lieutenant

Patrick H. Minor participated in the battles of the Big Blue and Westport on 22 and 23 October. No men

died in combat.

32
Sedgwick Avenue constructed from 1908-10. Some noncommissioned officers lived elsewhere, including

the Bluntville housing area. In the last years of the 19th and the early years of the 20th century, many

noncommissioned officers—and some officers and civilians, too—lived in one-story cottages scattered

around post. Later maps of the post show a collection of cottages on Grant Hill near the location of the

African American cemetery. Patton Junior High was built in 1957 and according to the director of the

Frontier Army Museum there is no record of unmarked graves found during the excavation.78

The Legacy Areas

Fort Leavenworth has ghosts. It may have the kind that go “boo” and are popular around Halloween,

but it does have areas still named for a previous use.79 Many of these no longer exist, but those who have been

around Fort Leavenworth for a while can tell the visitor where they are. These were all familiar locations a

few generations ago.

• The Disciplinary Barracks main cell block, “the castle,” vacated in 2003 when the DB

moved to its new location. Once the tallest structure on post, the castle was demolished in 2008.

• Riverside School. constructed at the northern end of Scott Avenue the same time as nearby

Riverside Apartments to serve as an elementary school and later as the home for Lewis and Clark

Junior High School. Demolished in the 1950s.

• Missouri Pacific Railway Depot at the foot of Riverside Avenue across the road from the

building #116 warehouse.

• Building #116, Which was once twice as long as it is now before a fire destroyed the

southern half in the 1990s.

• Bluntville. NCO housing area on the high ground to the east of the old DB. The roads still

exist.

• West Normandy Cantonment. west of Grant Avenue where Hoge Barracks, the Harney

Physical Fitness Complex and the PX / commissary now stand.

• Pershing Park. housing area to the east of Grant Avenue across from the PX, now the site

of South Osage Village.

• Headquarters complex for Battery D, 5th Missile Battalion, 55th Artillery, a Nike-Hercules

antiaircraft missile unit stationed on post, 1958-68, located where Lowe Avenue and Nez Perce

Village now sit.

• Officer’s Club Pool. just to the south of the Frontier Conference Center, the former post

officers’ club. It was declared structurally unsound and is now filled in and the area planted over

with grass.

• NCO Club. housed in a World War II service club on what is now a parking lot near

building #1058, a rest room facility on the post golf course.

33
Notes

1. Merriam-Webster Online (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/) defines eponym as one for whom or

which something is or is believed to be named. Toponymy is defined as the place-names of a region.

2. George R. Stewart, American Place-Names: A Concise and Selective Dictionary for the Continental United

States of America (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970), xxx-xxxii.

3. Army Times Online, Associated Press article, 13 August 2007, accessed on 25 June 2015 at http://www.

armytimes.com/news/2007/08/ap_lewisandclark_070813.

4. Stewart, George R., Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-naming in the United States (New York:

New York Review Books, 2008 reprint of a book first printed in 1945), 353.

5. Henry Shindler, A Compendium of Laws Covering Interests Upon the Fort Leavenworth Military Reservation

(Fort Leavenworth: Staff College Press, 1909), 57.

6. Shindler, Compendium, 57.

7. Shindler, Compendium, 57.

8. Chapels of Fort Leavenworth, pamphlet published by The Chapel Memorial Association, no date or page

numbers.

9. Now called Pioneer Chapel.

10. Richard H Wright, Memorial Chapel Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1878, (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Printing

underwritten by the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society, 2003), 11 and 29. Memorial Chapel is the building on post with

the longest period of time between its construction and its naming. Its cornerstone was laid on 5 May 1878, 85 years

before its naming and rededication.

11. With the exception of Brigadier General George Washington Cullum (1809-1892), who on his death left part of

his fortune to be used for the erection of Cullum Memorial Hall at West Point and for the continuance of his Biographical

Register, this writer is unaware of any Soldier giving money to get his name on a building or monument on an Army post.

12. So far there are just men, but as more military women attain high rank and distinguish service the day will come

when a woman is selected.

13. Charles G. Clarke, The Men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska

Press, 2002), 71. The official roster also included seven who joined the expedition after it was underway, including

interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau and his Shoshoni wife Sacagawea, who served as an interpreter. Clark’s slave “Ben”

York and Clark’s Newfoundland hound Seaman also made the trip.

14. On the way back in September 1806, they camped across the river from what is now Fort Leavenworth near the

present hamlet of Beverly, Missouri.

15. According to a map provided on 11 June 2008 by Mr. William R. Thomasset, the development manager for

Michaels Military Housing, the civilian housing partner with the Army.

16. In the Army, housing is often called quarters and before December 1941 it was primarily provided by the

quartermaster corps.

17. Those family quarters were demolished in 2013 and replaced with new construction in 2014-2015.

18. The relationship between the Army and Native peoples is complex. In general terms, the Army initially separated

Indians from white settlement, then facilitated white emigration, and finally protected the Native Americans from white

predation on Indian lands.

19. St. Ignatius Catholic Church, destroyed by fire in December 2001, also had stained glass windows with religious

themes. They were donated by parishioners, including one by William T. Sherman whose wife was Catholic.

20. In an email to the author on 17 September 2008, Mr. Allan R. Bockrath, the college director of logistics,

provided a complete list of class gifts. Since 1981 every class except those graduating in 1983-86, and 1991 have gifted

the college with an original oil painting.

21. Formerly called the Main Post Chapel, it was renamed on 18 July 2010.

22. An email on 20 July 2009 from retired Army lieutenant colonel Tom Schmidt, director of lay ministries for the

Leavenworth religious community, indicated that the windows were designed, fabricated, and installed by Hauser Studies

of Stained Glass, Winona, Minnesota (now Willet Hauser Architectural Glass, Inc.). The artist was Oliver Kugel. They

each cost about $2,600 in 1967

34
23. Colonel Clinton I. McClure (1890-1972) and Mrs. Lea B. McClure (d. 1974). Colonel McClure served in the

Army from 1916 to 1950 with campaign credit for the Mexican Border, WWI and WWII.

24. A Military History of the US Army Command and General Staff College, 1964-1970 (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas:

Command and General Staff College, 1970), 21-22.

25. While Joseph E. Johnston and Robert E. Lee, classmates in the West Point class of 1829, had long and

distinguished Army careers before their resignations, James E.B. Stuart (USMA 1854) served for less than seven years

before his resignation. And while he served extensively in Kansas and Missouri the author suspects that a romantic

rendering of his subsequent service with the Confederacy against the Unites States and the cause of union is the ironic

reason why he is in the Hall of Fame.

26. Since his retirement CSM Smith has been associated with Armed Forces Insurance and has held several

leadership positions in the local community.

27. Some foreign students take full advantage of this unique educational opportunity. A few years ago, the Swiss

family had two sons who played American football for Leavenworth High School; certainly an unusual athletic activity

for Swiss teenagers.

28. Since the ratification of the US Constitution on 21 June 1788.

29. The gift was recognized in a letter to Mrs. Slaysman from Lieutenant General Howard F. Stone, the CGSC

commandant, dated 23 December 1981. The acceptance letter and other correspondence relating to the paintings are

maintained by the interior designer of the Lewis and Clark Center, Ms. Roberta K. Proctor. Mrs. Slaysman gave similar

gifts to the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy.

30. Not every subject is in grays and blacks. Washington is wearing a scarlet waistcoat.

31. Merriam-WebsterOnline at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plaque.

32. Biographical information provided by email from current Ms. Davis’successor as CARL director, Mr. Edwin B.

Burgess, on 23 March 2009. Her colleagues think her greatest accomplishment was supervising the relocation of the

CARL from Bell Hall to the new facility in Eisenhower Hall in 1987.

33. According to his Cullum biography it was during this tour he was on the board of officers who selected the

location for Fort Riley, Kansas.

34. Captain Hodges was an 1851 infantry graduate of West Point and his Cullum biography includes his service at

Fort Leavenworth. During the Civil War he saw active service at the Battle of Chickamauga and during Sherman’s

Atlanta campaign. He retired as a colonel in January of 1895 with 44 years of active duty, most of it as a Quartermaster.

35. Although first built in 1864 it has been periodically reconditioned, the most recent in the fall of 2008.

36. The sign on the Memorial Chapel identifies the building as the Post chapel, a designation it held until 1965 when

the current Pioneer Chapel was completed. So we have a bracket, the copper plaques were emplaced after 1936 and

before 1965.

37. Work Progress Administration, A Guide to Leavenworth, Kansas (Leavenworth, Kansas: Kansas Writers’ Project.

No date), 21.

38. The year he died LTCBradley was recognized as the Command and General Staff College Outstanding Civilian

Employee.

39. A framed article from the Fort Leavenworth Lamp on the dedication of the memorial tree is on the wall of the

reception area of the Center for Army Leadership in Eisenhower Hall.

40. The memorial was sponsored by his parents and older brother. Many members of Memorial Chapel’s

Lutheran congregation still remember his valiant and inspirational struggle. Retired Army colonel and current Army

civilian, Kurt Meyer, mentioned in an email on 18 March 2009 that Tim’s parents were very moved by his struggle and

changed careers to work in the fight against cancer. They periodically return to post to visit the memorial.

41. Now called the Capability Development Integration Directorate.

42. Although not stated, as embodied in the last sentence on the plaque the subtext of this memorial is the

reconciliation between the professional Armed Forces of the United States and the American people after the Persian Gulf

War. For many of the Vietnam military generation—those who served for the most part during the period

1965 to 1975—the positive reception accorded members of the Armed Services following service in the Gulf was

astounding. After almost a generation of alienation, the public at large embraced those whose duty it was to protect the

nation.

35
43. One of the requirements to attain Eagle rank is to plan, develop and give leadership to a service project.

44. For the Record: Supreme Allied Commander (Eisenhower, 1926), First Army (Bradley, 1929), V Corps (Gerow,

1926), VII Corps (Collins, 1933), 1st Infantry Division (Huebner, 1925), 4th Infantry Division (Barton, 1924), 29th

Infantry Division (Gerhardt, 1933), 82d Airborne Division (Ridgeway, 1935), and 101st Airborne Division (Taylor,

1935).

45. Those familiar with Kansas historical sites may remember seeing a “first territorial capital” on the grounds of

Fort Riley in Geary County, Kansas. This is the site of the “bogus” proslavery legislature elected in 1855 with little

antislavery participation. The converted warehouse is actually the site of the first Kansas legislature.

46. Captain Jesse Leavenworth (1740-1824) was the father of Fort Leavenworth’s founder, Colonel Henry

Leavenworth. He served as an officer in the French and Indian War (1754-63) and the American Revolution (1775- 1783).

Captain Leavenworth and this author were both born in Waterbury, Connecticut, 205 years apart.

47. Wikipedia states that Helen Miller Gould (1868-1938) donated $100,000 to the US government at the start of

the War with Spain and later donated $50,000 more for the care of wounded soldiers. She was active in the Young Men’s

Christian Association (YMCA) and YW (Women’s) CA.

48. Fort Leavenworth Historical Society, Fort Leavenworth: the Dowager Queen of Frontier Posts (Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas: Fort Leavenworth Historical Society, 1976), 1.

49. This information on the orientation of the eagles was provided to the author by Kelvin Crow, the Combined

Arms Center historian. Although the author has seen both eagles for more than 25 years he never noticed it.

50. Ironically, the garrison headquarters in the former Army Field Print Plant (buildings #77) does not have its own

flag pole, defaulting to the Lewis and Clark flag pole.

51. Occasionally, the staff at the corner of McClellan Avenue and Sumner Place is still used.

52. Quartermaster Corps form 117, post Historic Properties Office.

53. These include One Mile Creek which drains Merritt and Smith Lakes on Fort Leavenworth, and Three Mile

Creek in downtown Leavenworth. Another location is Eight Mile House, a 2-story limestone building built in 1854 about

eight miles to the northwest of Fort Leavenworth on an old military road near the unincorporated hamlet of Lowemont.

Eight to ten miles was about the distance an ox drawn freight wagon could cover in a day.

54. Although it is not the tallest on the installation, the former USDB six section flag pole is the only one on post

with guy wires. Four wires run from a cone half way up the pole to anchors in the grass near the base. It was

reconditioned in April and May 2011 during renovation of the DB parade ground.

55. The flagpole was taken down in early November 2009 to make way for the parking lot.

56. The ceremony is held in Eisenhower Auditorium in case of inclement weather.

57. Eisenhower as Army chief of staff, commander of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) and a two-term president

of the United State and Marshal as Army chief of staff, secretary of Defense and secretary of State.

58. John Rydjord, Kansas Place-Names (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972), 383.

59. According to a map on the Lewis and Clark Heritage Foundation web site at http://www.lewisandclark.org/

pdf/LECLmap1.pdf , accessed on 15 June 2008.

60. Homer E. Socolofsky and Hubert Self, Historical Atlas of Kansas, 2d ed. (Norman, Oklahoma: University of

Oklahoma Press, 1988), 11.

61. William T. Hagan, American Indians, Revised Edition (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979), 66.

62. G Grant Foreman, The Last Trek of the Indians, reissue of 1946 edition (New York: Russell & Russell, 1972), 159.

63. John Rydjord, Indian Place-Names (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1968), 22-23.

64. Rest in peace in Latin. These words are part of the Roman Catholic funeral liturgy.

65. United States. Congressional Research Service, American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and

Statistics, 14 May 2008, 4.

66. Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

67. According to Henry Shindler, a post employee in the early 20th century, for years afterwards bones found

subsequently were collected and reburied in “unknown” graves in the National Cemetery.

68. Generally, those eligible for burial include those who die on active duty in the US Armed Forces, honorably

discharged veterans, and others who meet certain requirements (e.g. veterans of nations allied with the United States in

36
wartime).

69. One of these was Fort Larned, Kansas, the “Guardian of the Santa Fe Trail,” established in 1859 and abandoned

in 1878. In 1888 all identifiable remains in the Fort Larned post cemetery were removed and reinterred at Fort

Leavenworth in unmarked individual graves. On 19 September 2009 a memorial service and cemetery monument

dedication were held to recognize the 65 Fort Larned soldiers and civilians reinterred in 1888. The bronze plaque in

Section B of the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery lists the names of the fallen, mostly privates, but the list includes

two lieutenants and a major.

70. Today the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery is administered from the Leavenworth National Cemetery

established in 1886 near the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. It became part of the Veterans Administration

National Cemetery System in 1973. The Fort Scott (Kansas) National Cemetery is also included in the same grouping.

71. It is now part of the Military Correctional Complex with the Joint Regional Correctional Facility as part of the

15th Military Police Brigade.

72. In a discussion on 5 February 2009, post forester Mr. Matthew Nowak related that some sources put the number

of Nez Perce dead at closer to 100.

73. Kansas History, “Douglas’s Battery at Fort Leavenworth: the Issue of Black Officers During the Civil War”

(Kansas State Historical Society, Vol. 23, Winter 2000-2002), 211.

74. United States, War Department, Official Army Register of the Volunteer Force of the United States Army for the

Years 1861, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65 (Washington, DC: Adjutant General’s Office. 16 July 1867), 168.

75. Francis B. Heitman. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, vol. 1 (Washington, DC:

Government Printing Office, 1903, University of Illinois Press reprint, 1965), 801.

76. There is no record of a Second Lieutenant Patrick H. Minor in the records of the Fort Leavenworth National

Cemetery. The author assumes that he was buried in the cemetery on Grant Hill and at some later time moved to the Fort

Leavenworth National Cemetery where he rests in an unmarked grave. Others were luckier. The grave of Private Henry

Clay in Section D, site 1257 identifies him as having served in “Independent Battery US Cld. Lt. Arty.” Clay died in 1888.

In a discussion with the author on 25 June 2009, Ms. Phyliss Bass, director of the Richard Allen Cultural Center in

Leavenworth, said that she was told Lieutenant Minor was buried in a local Catholic cemetery, the location now lost to

history.

77. A copy of a post map of 1908 in the author’s possession shows no cemetery on Grant Hill, but does show the

National Cemetery and the US Military Prison Cemetery.

78. Discussion with the author on 27 February 2009.

79. Well known retired Army officer, local newspaper columnist, and Fort Leavenworth historian John Reichley is

the author of a pamphlet on the haunted houses of Fort Leavenworth.

37

Chapter 3 

Streets and Trails

Introduction

Fort Leavenworth has about eighty paved roads. They connect the post with the city of Leavenworth at

three gates and provide the north-south and east-west transportation links on the installation.1 They range

from the four lanes of the post main street, Grant Avenue, to small unpaved trails in the hilly northwest and

western sections of the fort. Whether the roads and trails have names depends on their importance to the

fort’s transportation network. All the paved roads have names. A few of the paved roads have functional

names like Riverside Avenue and Warehouse Avenue. The rest are named for someone or something.

Because Fort Leavenworth only covers nine square miles, most post roads are not very long. The longest

is Sheridan Drive opened in 1887.2 It runs for 3.1 miles around the northern and western hills of the fort.

The longest east-west road is McPherson Avenue which starts near the old Disciplinary Barracks at Scott

Avenue, runs west and finishes on top of the hill at Sheridan Drive near Brunner Range. It is just 1.2 miles

long. The shortest road is Education Way which loops around the Unified School District #207 headquarters

on Biddle Boulevard.

Figure 10. Command and General Staff School general orders re-designating Merritt Place as Sherman Avenue

(FrontierArmy Museum)

Some of the roads are now anomalies because of post construction after they were laid out. For example,

Merritt Place, today the east-west segment of Sherman Avenue in front of the Sheridan-Grant-ShermanWagner complex (buildings #52A through D) was once a separate street. A 1909 post map shows two roads

cut through Dragoon Glen down toward the Missouri River isolating the northernmost part of today’s

Sherman Avenue. The map identifies this isolated section as Merritt Place.

Merritt Place illustrates another property of place-names on a military installation; what goes up can

come down. For reasons unknown, the post commander felt that perhaps a street with only two houses was

a waste of a street name. In 1937 he directed that the name be discontinued and replaced by extending

Sherman Avenue to meet with Scott Avenue in front of Grant Hall. Today building #11, a brick 2 1⁄2 story

double set of officers quarters, formerly 11 Merritt Place, is identified as 403 and 405 Sherman Avenue.

39
Street Name Rationale

Streets compose the largest number of memorials. The record of when streets were named is spotty.

Historian George Walton in his Sentinel of the Plains relates that the first effort was in May of 1865.3

Other sources say 1887. On Fort Leavenworth, with the exception of an occasional Warehouse Road (of

which there are three on post, five if you include East and West Warehouse Roads), USDB Road or Sylvan

Trail, all the streets commemorate a military figure or someone related to the history of the post.4 Because

of its topography and progressive development, Fort Leavenworth, with one small exception, does not

use the “Philadelphia pattern” of streets designated by numbers in one direction and letters in the other.5

For those fond of numbered streets there is one small consolation, there is one numbered street. Fourth

Street runs north and south from Cody Avenue between Hoge Barracks and Harney Gym between the Post

Exchange and the Commissary. It is a legacy of the now demolished West Normandy cantonment area that

had numbered Philadelphia pattern north-south streets.

Happy Trails to You6

Figure 11. Composite Fort Leavenworth Trail Map. Undated, but probably from the late 1950s

(Frontier Army Museum)

Fort Leavenworth has a lot of trails. More than 185 years of horses, mules and oxen have left their mark

on the land. Today most trails are in the hilly western and northern part of the post. This area of the fort is used

today by hikers, runners, and recreational equestrians. Most of the trails exist for three reasons. First, Fort

Leavenworth was a tactical post requiring trails for mobility corridors for horse artillery, cavalry and other

horse-mounted military units stationed and trained on the fort. The second was equitation. Horseback riding

used to be a defining characteristic of the officer class. The ability to look marshal on a horse was a mark of

an officer. Third, horseback riding as recreation has a long history on Fort Leavenworth. Older generations

of officers and others played polo on what are today Sherman Army Airfield and Doniphan Field to the

south of the Infantry Barracks housing area. At least two racetracks once existed in the bottomlands around

the airfield. However, the epitome of recreational riding on post is the Fort Leavenworth Hunt, a recreation

fox—today coyote—hunting and riding association formed in 1926 with the help of the 10th Cavalry. Many

ofthe trails were constructed orrefurbished by theCivilian ConservationCorps.The CCC was a Depression

40
era effort to combat unemployment among young men and assist in soil conservation, forest management,

flood control, fire suppression, and other natural resources related activities. Fort Leavenworth was the

headquarters for the Missouri-Kansas District of the CCC and at various times had a reconditioning camp

and at least two other camps. Work Camp 2731 worked on post from 1934-35 and Work Camp 4717-C from

1935-37. Much of the CCC work involved soil conservation and fire trail construction in the far reaches of

Fort Leavenworth. There is not much difference between a fire trail and a bridle path.

Fort Leavenworth trails are renamed with every generation as the old names fall into disuse and are

forgotten and new ones designated. One reason for this is that trails move. The main trails on flat or relatively

flat ground have remained the same from year to year, but the northwest part of Fort Leavenworth is quite

hilly and animal trials on sloping ground tend to move with hard use. Post natural resources manager, Mr.

Matt Nowak, states that horse trails are notoriously erosion prone and slopes of greater than 10% can move

40 feet or more from year-to-year as riders search for firmer footing for their mounts.7 There are some trails

on the inside of the Weston Bend, the river bottomlands between Sherman Army Airfield and the river in the

great curve of the Missouri River. Two of these trails are remnants of roads; one, formerly called Sawmill

Road, led to a sawmill near the river, and the other, Rialto Road, led to a ferry landing across the river from

the hamlet of Rialto in Missouri.8 Rialto was located a mile below the town of Weston, its rival as a major

river community across from Fort Leavenworth.9

The first trails were named in the 1920s by the Fort Leavenworth Hunt and later improved by the CCC

and the post Engineers. Three are worthy of mention:

• King’s Trail. named after Major General Edward L. King, a former post

commander and commandant of the Command and General Staff School from 1925-29. He

was remembered in the 1930s.

• Swift Trail. named for Major General Eben Swift, a noted Army educator who

was assistant commandant of the General Service School in 1904. Like King, he was well

remembered in the 1930s.

• Amy SloanTrail. named for the wife of MajorJohnE. Sloan, a classmate of Dwight

D. Eisenhower’s in the Command and General Staff School class of 1926, Command and

General Staff School instructor (1932-36), and future World War II division commander.10

She was a noted horsewoman and the first female Whip of the Fort Leavenworth Hunt.11

Many other trails were named in the 1950s. Many are descriptive; they tell us something about the

trail: Hunt Trail, Canyon, Rocky Road to Dublin, and Bee Line Trail. Some got their name by being

associated with something else: Cemetery Ridge Trail, Fort Sully Trail, and Kickapoo Trail. We do know

the origin of a commemorative trail from the 1950s. Mrs. Lucia “Chick” Sloan Brown was stationed on

post with her husband, a Command and General Staff College student and then instructor from 1956-60.

She was the daughter of Mrs. Amy Sloan and like her mother was a noted horsewoman. The Chick Brown

Trail was named in her honor. The two humble woodland trails named for Amy Sloan and Chick Brown

are the only place-names on Fort Leavenworth named for a mother and her daughter.

I’ve Been Working on the Railroad

Railroads provided many place-names. In the heyday of railroads on post in the late 19th and the first

half of the 20th century, the town of Leavenworth was an important rail junction. Although it lost out to

Kansas City, Missouri, in the race to get the first bridge across the Missouri River in 1869, the town had its

bridge by 1871. However, the bridge actually crossed the river at Fort Leavenworth and the town and the

fort have a combined railroad place-name heritage.

41
Today only one railroad operates on installation property. The Union Pacific Railroad leases a right

of way. Coal and freight trains pass through the post at the rate of almost one an hour. But after the Civil

War several railroad lines were established in Kansas with rights of way or terminals on Fort Leavenworth.

There were seven railroads on or passing through Fort Leavenworth from the mid-19th century to the mid20th century. The history of rail transportation on Fort Leavenworth parallels the rise and fall of the United

States rail system in general. The heyday of railroads on Fort Leavenworth, at least in terms of numbers

of lines, was in the decade 1910-20. Of the seven lines, four were gone by 1940. Railroad support to Fort

Leavenworth and the Army in terms of volume peaked during World War II.12 By the mid-1960s only the

Fort Leavenworth Terminal Railway and the Missouri Pacific remained. The post switch engine was retired

in the early 1970s, its mission taken up by an improved road post road network for the pickups, panel vans

and 18-wheelers used to haul freight. Most rails, rights of way, trestles and bridges, associated switches, and

other equipment were gradually removed and scrapped, leaving the ties to rot until by the 1980s there were

very few left. Fort Leavenworth today has no passenger or freight rail service.

Figure 12. The Railroad History of Fort Leavenworth

42
Figure 13. Fort Leavenworth Railroad Rights of Way

Of special interest in the history of the post is the Fort Leavenworth Terminal Railroad established

around 1908.13 With the coming of rail transportation the Army constructed its own rail system on Fort

Leavenworth to connect the various warehouses, power plants, the water plant, the sewage treatment plant,

and other locations where high tonnage hauls was more efficient with rail as opposed to wagon or the motor

transport of the day. The line was constructed under the supervision of the post construction quartermaster,

Major James E. “Mickey” Normoyle. Major Normoyle was an Infantry officer who served four times as a

student and quartermaster at Fort Leavenworth, including three times as construction quartermaster. The

construction quartermaster was in charge of contracting for and supervising of construction. Many of the

stately brick quarters in the “college section” of main post were constructed during his time on the fort.

The main terminal railway station (now demolished) was on a slight rise to the west of the intersection of

today’s Sylvan Trail and McClellan Avenue. The line connected with the Missouri Pacific main line near the

station.14 The southern end was at building #341, the post freight receiving warehouse on Corral Creek. The

tracks paralleled the Missouri Pacific tracks just to the west travelling on a right of way still visible today

servicing the water treatment plant (building #25), warehouses (now demolished) to the east of the present

location of the Lewis and Clark Center, the building #116 warehouse and continuing to the terminal station.

The post tracksthen headed up the hillsto the south and split into three lines. One on the west to the building

#245/246 warehouses, the center branch ran to the warehouse complex along Riley Avenue—which itself

split into two branches—and the eastern branch up the grade between the US Disciplinary Guard Barracks

(building #429) and into the USDB by the vehicle or West gate on what was then called Meigs Avenue.15

The freight on the Government system was handled by the Missouri Pacific or by the Army-owned switch

engine.16 The Army engine was initially coal fired and later was a General Electric 44-ton switch engine.17

The engine was housed in building #260, a large red shed still in use today as an indoor riding arena for the

post Stable Activity. The only tracks visible today extend ten feet from the east end of the building. The line

was abandoned in 1971.18

43
Figure 14. Former Fort Leavenworth Terminal Railway tracks on the south side of building #341, the post shipping and 

receiving warehouse.

(Author’s collection)

Remnants of another rail system are still visible today, the Fort Leavenworth Rapid Transit.19 In 1888,

the Fort Leavenworth Rapid Transit Railway was granted a strip of land fifty feet wide paralleling the

existing Missouri Pacific Railroad right of way along the river that had been in operation since 1869.

The Kansas City Wyandotte and Northwestern Railway later used this right of way when it began

operation on post in 1888. In 1894, the Kansas City-Leavenworth Railroad Company purchased the line

and in 1901 rerouted the line from the Santa Fe depot on Shawnee Street in downtown Leavenworth to

enter the post at the front gate and run parallel on the west side of Grant Avenue to the depot at the corner

of Grant and Pope Avenue. The electrified line crossed Corral Creek on a trestle and continued just south of

Merritt Lake on the dam. In 1905 the line was sold to the Kansas City Western Railway Company. They

operated the line until 1933 or 1935 when it was abandoned and replaced by a bus system.20 Evidence of

the line exists today in the informal name of the “trolley” station, building #275, at the corner of Grant

and Pope Avenues and the parallel line of trees on the west side of Grant Avenue.

With the exception of the active Union Pacific line, the casual observer has to search to find evidence

of the fort’s railroad past. Most people notice the double line of trees paralleling Grant Avenue, but may not

know why they are there. The trolley station is about the only place-name left from the post’s railroad era,

yet, other reminders remain. Here and there is a retaining wall, a gradual grade, rails hidden in the woods

or poking out from an asphalt road. Many examples exist in the warehouse areas where freight doors are

40 feet apart at boxcar floor height. When the leaves are off the threes, the astute observer entering post

through the Sherman Gate will see rails perpendicular to Sherman Avenue near Corral Creek on both sides

of the road. The more adventuresome can climb up to the cut through Government Hill or run along the

overgrown former Fort Leavenworth Terminal Railway right of way along the river, now identified on

post maps as Farragut Avenue. But like the corrals astride Corral Creek, the railroads are gone from Fort

Leavenworth leaving only memories.

Who’s Next?

Fort Leavenworth is in the process of major renovations to its housing stock. One of the goals of the

Fort Leavenworth Frontier Heritage Communities, manager of the multi-million dollar housing renovation

project, is to retain as many of the former names in the replaced housing areas as possible.21 In some cases

different types of housing necessitates rearrangement of buildings and elimination or rerouting of some

former streets. One of the duties of the Combined Arms Center command historian, as a member of the post

memorialization committee, is to identify new names for future recognition. The list expands and contracts

based on the committee deliberations. Among the people or organizations previously or currently under

consideration, all with service at Fort Leavenworth:22

44
• Major General George Crook (1828-1890). An 1852 West Point graduate who served

in California before the Civil War, as a regiment, division, and corps commander during the

war, and earned a reputation as an Indian fighter.

• Mormon Battalion (July 1846 – July 1847). Discussed elsewhere in this work.

• Colonel Russell P.Reeder, Jr. (1902-1998). West Point graduate and infantry officer

who led the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, ashore at Utah Beach where he

lost a leg and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Author of thirty-five books on

leadership and history.

• Major General George M. Randall (1841-1918). Advanced from private to

lieutenant colonel during the Civil War and later fought in the Indian campaigns, in the

Philippines, and served in Alaska. He was the officer in charge of the Nez Perce prisoners at

Fort Leavenworth, 1877-79.

• Brigadier General Kenneth N. Walker (1898-1943). Enlisted soldier and early

Army pilot. He was the commanding general of the 5th Bomber Command when killed while

leading a bomber raid on Rabaul, New Britain, in the Southwest Pacific on 5 January 1943.23

Awarded the Medal of Honor.

45
Notes

1. From east to west they are Sherman Avenue at the Sherman Gate connecting with 7th Avenue in

Leavenworth, Grant Avenue at the Main Gate connecting with 4th Avenue, and Hancock Avenue at the Hancock, or

west, Gate which connects with 20th Street in Leavenworth.

2. Henry Shindler, A Compendium of Laws Covering Interest Upon the Fort Leavenworth Military Reservation

Together with a History of Its Institutions and Other Information for the Benefit of Officers, Soldiers and Civilian

Employees (Fort Leavenworth: Command and General Staff College Press, 1909), 59, states the road was named

Sheridan’s Drive when opened in 1887. Part of it was on private land that the government had to purchase in 1902.

3. George Walton, Sentinel of the Plains: Fort Leavenworth and the American West (Englewood Cliffs, New

Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1973), 149. No record exists of the recommended names.

4. One Warehouse Road runs north-south in the warehouse area north of the Beehive. Another runs east-west

from Grant Avenue to Building #341, the warehouse near Corral Creek. Still another runs from the Iowa Avenue traffic 

circle near the Post Exchange north-south to Kansas Avenue. Both East and West Warehouse Roads run north- south 

from Organ Avenue to McPherson Avenue in the stable and warehouse area.

5. Stewart, Names, 245.

6. From the first line of the song Happy Trails by Dale Evans. It was the theme song for Ms. Evans and her

husband Roy Rogers, entertainers in the 1950s and 60s. If you are old enough, you remember it.

7. Email from Mr. Nowak to the author on 4 February 2009.

8. Kansas remained a “dry” state longer than any other and soldiers on post occasionally made their way across

the river—much more braided and shallow than it is now—on foot or by ferry to partake in the recreational activities

involving adult beverages, gambling, and female companionship.

9. “Ferries in Kansas, Part I – Missouri River.” Kansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 1, February 1933.

Accessed online on 25 June 2015 at http://www.kshs.org/publicat/khq/1933/33_1_root.htm.

10. Major General Sloan commanded the 88th Infantry Division with distinction in the Italian campaign during

the war.

11. This information comes from a phone conversation with retired Army Brigadier General John Sloan Brown,

former chief of Military History, on 4 February 2009.

12. Lieutenant Colonel James L. Evenson, USMCR, “Capability in Decline: a Historical analysis of the PostWorld War II Degradation of Domestic Railroads and the Impact on the United States Military” (Master thesis, Army 

Command and General Staff College, 2006), 10.

13. A copy of a 1922 Map of the US Disciplinary Barracks obtained from Mr. Bob Beardsley, the post historical

properties manager, so identifies the post rail system.

14. Elvid Hunt and Walter E. Lorence, History of Fort Leavenworth, 1827-1937 (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: The

Command and General Staff School Press, 1937, Fort Leavenworth Historical Society reprint, 1981) 249, mentions 

Normoyle Junction. His obituary in the US Military Academy’s Associate of Graduates Annual Reunion for 1916,

page122, includes these words, “Major Normoyle’s last work at Fort Leavenworth was the building of a terminal 

railway.”

15. According to a copy of a 1922 USDB map obtained from Mr. Bob Beardsley, the post historical properties

manager.

16. Post environmental engineer Richard N. Wilms relates that post folklore relates that an early coal fired

switch engine came from the Panama Canal when construction of the canal finished in 1914. Since the canal was an

Army Corps of Engineer project, that seems logical.

17. The engine type was constructed from 1940 to 1956.

18. This is an approximation. Post phone books found in the Kansas Room of the Leavenworth Public Library

list rail related activities, including the number for the engine shed (building #260) for 1971. They do not appear in later

editions.

19. Henry Shindler identifies this as the Leavenworth Rapid Transit Railway Company. See Shindler, A. A

Compendium of Laws, 40

20. Hunt, History, 249.

21. Composed of Fort Leavenworth and Michaels Military Housing.

46
22. List developed by Combined Arms Center command historian Kelvin Crow.

23. During World War II many senior leaders risked death or injury by visiting the front lines, but only general

officers in the Army Air Forces personally led combat formations in battle from the front.

47

Chapter 4 

Buildings

There are about a thousand buildings on Fort Leavenworth. And if you count the athletic fields,

underground sewer lines, light poles, and other things the Directorate of Public Works/Logistics Readiness

Center tracks, the number swells to almost 1,200.1

All buildings and many other structures are numbered. The numbering system helps maintain

accountability and enables the engineers to identify specific structures. Some numbered buildings are not

buildings at all. For example, building #8 is the post main gate at the intersection of Grant and Metropolitan

Avenues. The African Americans of Civilian Conservation Corps Camp #4717-C constructed it from

limestone blocks in 1936.2 Other examples are the General Grant Statue at the end of Grant Avenue, erected

in 1889, as building #64, and the stone wall just to the north of the statue, rebuilt in 1917, as building #65.3

The Army Quartermaster General’s Office was responsible for building construction until 1941 and used

the term building in the broadest sense. In the past the term included wharfs, manure pits, coal bins, tennis

courts, flagpoles, and statues.4

Common Building Identification

Some Fort Leavenworth buildings have official names, but most do not. Even though some common

buildings have names often those names are not well known on post. Many of the officially unnamed

structures are identified for their function, or former function. The list includes buildings found on most

military installations: the Post Exchange, commissary, Xpress convenience store, military police station,

and the like. For example, building #77 on the corner of Grant and Reynolds Avenues houses the garrison

headquarters and the local Defense Logistic Agency Document Services. Many still call it the print plant

because it was constructed in 1950 to house the Army field printing plant. Before the advent of the deskand laptop digital computer and the multifunctional photocopier/printer, the building was filled with

the machines required to print and duplicate the documents required by the Command and General Staff

College and the other major tenants on post.

Another example is the trolley station, building #275, on the corner of Grant and Pope Avenues. It

was originally constructed in 1905 to Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 6116 to serve as the

terminal on Fort Leavenworth for the Kansas City and Western Electric Railway. It has been expanded

several times since 1905, each time in the same general architectural style. The trolley station housed many

things, including the PX, commissary, community library, post education center, reenlistment office, US

Disciplinary Barracks bakery, and laundry pick up point. Today it provides office space for Combined

Arms Center activities. The post Thrift Shop secondhand consignment shop shares the basement. Although

building #275 has not seen a trolley in over eighty years, it is still called the trolley station.

When Fort Leavenworth was isolated by distance and means of transportation from the delights of the

outside world and officers were more closely tied to their regiment headquartered on post, the officer’s

club, or, more formally, the officer’s open mess, was a place for dining and recreation. Over the years,

the officer’s club was located in several buildings on post. By the late 1930s things got crowded on Main

Post. In 1940, a new officer’s club with a swimming pool opened west of Merritt Lake in the middle of the

golf course. It remained the officer’s club until the 1990s when the interaction of several forces rendered it

unprofitable. Among the reasons why the Fort Leavenworth officer’s club, and many throughout the Army,

began to lose money included a higher percentage of married officers who wanted to spend time with their

families and not with fellow officers at the club and the de-glamorization of alcohol making alcohol-related

offenses more career threatening than before. The club was converted to an all-ranks conference center

offering food, and beverages and meeting facilities. The renamed Frontier Conference Center now has a

restaurant and serves as a special events center for post activities.

49
Building Numbers

Fort Leavenworth Main Post is a jumble of building numbers. Building identification numbers today

are the result of more than 185 years of continuous construction, habitation, and demolition. Like an

archaeological dig, newer construction sits on top of earlier buildings sites and beside structures erected

decades before their neighbors. One of the legacies of nine generations of occupation on Fort Leavenworth

is at least three building numbering systems. The first building numbers on Fort Leavenworth appeared

about 1878 on the Main Parade. The earliest numbering system identified buildings by importance usually

related to rank; hence, #1 Scott Avenue, the home of the commander of the Combined Arms Center, currently

a lieutenant general, is also building #1. Later, the post construction quartermaster sequentially numbered

most buildings as they were constructed. Finally, at some point (perhaps in 1887) the system was changed

to number building by location or purpose, with groups of numbers representing the same type of building

or the same use. While the Combined Arms Center commander’s house, built in 1861 to house the arsenal

commander, remains building #1, the Rookery, arguably the most historic structure on post because it is the

only one remaining from the 1830s, is building #19.5 The numbering of buildings continued and by 1908

all existing buildings had numbers. Regardless of the system, early buildings were numbered in single and

then double digits, but by the end of the 19th century the newer structures were numbered with triple digits.

Today new buildings are numbered with four digits.

At some point, even older buildings were renumbered to accommodate a rational numbering scheme,

yet former numbers remain. For example, building #357, a masonry duplex with quarters for both the USDB

commandant and command sergeant major, was built in 1840 as the home for the quartermaster depot

commander. As such, it should be numbered with single or low double digit, but it is not. In the 19th century

the buildings associated with the US Military Prison (renamed the US Disciplinary Barracks in 1915) were

numbered as a group as the 400-series. Building #357 is closest to buildings #432, #452 and #472. The

nearest 300-series buildings are in the warehouse area to the west. It seems the quartermaster buildings

were numbered in the 300s and prison buildings in the 400s with building #357 a legacy quartermaster

building in the old USDB area.

The numbering system was further complicated by the hundreds of “T” or temporary and “S” or semipermanent buildings constructed during wartime in the 20th century. Most are gone today but for a time they

added to the confusion in building identification. Occasionally, a temporary building achieved permanent

status. Building T-801, Andrews Hall, was constructed in 1942 to provide wartime classrooms but remains

today as building #801 housing the Frontier Army Museum. To add another layer of complexity, in the early

20th century at times the street address and building number were the same. For example, Building #11, a

large brick duplex is now at 403/405 Sherman Avenue. However, until 1937 it was #11A and #11B Merritt

Place. The building just to its east, a small wood frame cottage, was both building #10 and #10 Merritt

Place. In 1915, building #10 was disassembled and moved to Gibbon Avenue where it was reassembled as

#305 Gibbon Avenue, but it remains building #10. The building erected in its place next to building #11

was numbered building #52D. The street addresses on post have been changed at least twice, in 1893 and

in 1926, but building numbers have generally remained the same.

50
Post Housing

One of the benefits of Army service has always been the opportunity to live on a military installation.6

This opportunity depended on position within the Army (officer, noncommissioned officer, or enlisted),

marital status, and family size. Army regulations today lay out housing policy based on a Department of

Defense manual. Army Regulation 420-1, Army Facilities Management, prescribes policies for housing

eligibility, equal opportunity, duty position, adequacy, special needs, and several other categories. Its

objective is to provide equitable and reasonable on-post housing for service members regardless of rank

or status. This was not always the case. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries enlisted soldiers and

unmarried noncommissioned officers normally lived in barracks under tight military control. Unmarried or

unaccompanied officers lived in bachelor officer quarters. Senior officers or married officers could live in

on-post housing if it was available. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Army housing situation had

matured so that married officers and noncommissioned officers had the option to live on the fort where they

were stationed or in a nearby town. The options for unmarried enlisted soldiers remained pretty much the

same as before.

The type of housing was (and is still) based on rank. The limited supply of housing on any military

installation in the 19th and early 20th century was apportioned by rank, and date of promotion within

the same grade, called date of rank. The larger and more grandiose quarters went to senior officers and

quarters got smaller and less grand with lower rank. While enlisted soldiers still lived in the barracks,

general officers, field grade officers, company grade officers, senior noncommissioned officers, and junior

noncommissioned officers vied for on-post housing within their rank category.7 An officer junior in rank or

date-of-rank and his family could be “ranked out” of a set of quarters by a senior officer, even one of the

same rank with a few days more seniority at that grade.

Housing construction on Fort Leavenworth in the last decades of the 19th century indicated a trend

toward housing all ranks. The US Military Prison took the first step in providing housing for

noncommissioned officers and civilians. In the late 1870s constructed single and double wood frame

cottages in Bluntville, a ridgeline to the east of the prison compound. Later Bluntville became housing

for African American noncommissioned officers and their families. Bluntville no longer exists.

The reopening of the Army schools on Fort Leavenworth in 1903 after the war with Spain came with a

concurrent construction boom which included building eight Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan

#85 double noncommissioned officer quarters on Wint Avenue. These 2 1⁄2 story quarters, now occupied by

Command and General Staff College students, were the first brick quarters built as quarters for NCOs on

Fort Leavenworth. The old college area streets around the Grant Hall complex boasts large brick

duplexes for married officers built to Quartermaster General’s Office standard plans. In addition, maps

of the time show a large assortment of one- or two-family wooden houses or cottages scattered elsewhere

around post to meet the demand for housing for those eligible.

In the 21st century Army housing policy has gotten more benevolent. Fort Leavenworth today offers

housing for all grades, including junior enlisted soldiers. To ensure this, some housing areas are “mixed”

where several grade categories are housed in the same area. And many soldiers of all grades receive a basic

allowance for housing and choose to live off-post in the surrounding area.

51
Mellow Yellow

The predominant color of buildings in the old main post area on Fort Leavenworth is red. Travel north

along Grant Avenue reveals the red brick of Patton Junior High School, the PX-Commissary-commercial

complex, the child care centers, and Hoge Barracks. However, there is another color used in many

buildings: muted custard yellow.8 The building #52 complex of Sheridan, Grant, Sherman and Wagner

Halls is painted yellow, as is Fuller Hall (building #119) just to the west. Custard yellow is the color of

choice for many structures in the main post area, including all of the Riverside Avenue houses. Yellow

also is used in the former Disciplinary Barracks, for some of the wooden former stables and storage

buildings off West Warehouse Road, and the former missile maintenance building on Chief Joseph Loop

near the airfield. As can be seen in Table 4-1, the one thing all yellow-painted builds have in common is

age. Most of the yellow painted buildings are from the 19th century and the early 20th century.

Built # Description Construction

1834 19 Rookery Yellow painted stuccoed masonry

1840 357 DB Quarters Yellow painted brick and stone

1859-

1916 52 Grant Hall complex Yellow painted red brick

1860 466 DB offices and storage Yellow painted red brick

1865 7 UK Liaison Officer’s House Yellow painted brick and stone

1870s 430s Quarters Yellow painted wood

1875 53 Old steam laundry Yellow painted red brick

1877 463 DB offices and storage Yellow painted brick and stone

1878 464 DB offices and storage Yellow painted red brick

1887 60 Former quarters / office Yellow painted wood

1887 467 DB offices and storage Yellow painted red brick

1895 359 Quarters Yellow painted brick and shingles

1897 10 Former quarters / office Yellow painted wood

1898 12 Quarters Red brick with yellow painted wood

on second floor

1898 439 Quarters Yellow painted brick with yellow

painted wood on second floor

1898 440 Quarters Yellow painted brick with yellow

painted wood on second floor

1901 119 Fuller Hall Yellow painted red brick

1903 239 Former stable / storage Yellow painted wood

1903 240 Former stable / storage Yellow painted wood

1905 264 Motor pool shed Yellow painted wood

1922 341 Freight warehouse Yellow painted cement block

1932 132 Airfield hanger Red brick painted yellow near the

roof

1961 75 Storage Yellow painted cement block

1965-71 1000s Trusty Unit Yellow painted cement block

Figure 15. Major Yellow Painted Buildings on Main Post Fort Leavenworth

Some of the buildings painted yellow are of stone or several different shades of red brick. Former post

historical properties manager, Mr. Robert L. Beardsley, indicated that the building #52 complex was first

painted in the early 1950s to improve the appearance of the façade of the Command and General Staff

College. The four buildings then used as the college were built as early as 1859 and as late as 1916. Uneven

weathering of the bricks called for remedial action.9 The custard yellow paint returned the complex to a

state of visual uniformity. Since first painted, it has had three stucco coatings and four paintings. The current

color is Jersey Cream.10 At least one building was formerly painted yellow and is now returned to the native

red brick. Photos of building #1, 1 Scott Avenue, the home of the senior officer on post, show it to have

once been yellow.11 A depression era Work Progress Administration book titled A Guide to Leavenworth,

52
Kansas, found in the Kansas Room of the Leavenworth Public Library, states that Quarters #1 was painted

yellow in 1940.

The post installation design standards identify what colors should be used where on the buildings

and other structures. The post engineer selected the custard yellow paint as a standard cover for the older

structures. As a practical matter, when it comes time to repaint an old structure, the post engineers go there,

get a paint sample and have the paint vendors match it as closely as possible. In these days of computer

spectral analysis this may mean adding as little as 1/164th of an ounce of a certain color to achieve the

proper color match.12 Application of paint from building to building is not always uniform. Buildings #s

12, 439, and 440 are identical, but the latter two on Scott Avenue are painted yellow on both their brick and

wood surfaces, while the former on Sumner Place is painted yellow only on the wooden second floor. The

newly constructed family housing on post are painted in soft grays, blues and other muted colors—but no

Jersey Cream.

Hidden Places

There are currently more than ninety buildings and at least thirty-five locations in those buildings with

commemorative names on Fort Leavenworth. They represent the largest and most important buildings. The

indoor facilities include conference rooms, auditoriums, lodging suites, and a gymnasium.13 These “hidden”

named facilities include:

• Eight in Otis Hall.

• Six in the Thomas Custer House.

• Six in the Lewis & Clark Center.

• Five in Eisenhower Hall.

• Three in the Frontier Conference Center.

• One in Grant Hall.

• One in Tice Hall at the Herbert Temple Mission Training Complex.

• One in building #193, the Adjutant General section.

• One in building #196, the headquarters for Operations Group Charlie of the

Mission Command Training Program.14

• One in the new US Disciplinary Barracks.

• One in Hoge Barracks.

• One in McNair Hall.

• One in building #325, the Armed Forces Insurance headquarters.

Another source of hidden memorials is Unified School District #207. The three elementary schools and

Patton Junior High School each have at least one facility named for a former official of the district or a staff

or faculty member.15 By school, these include:

• Thomas J. Devlin Educational Theater at Bradley Elementary School. The music,

science and art wing features a 60-seat digital projection planetarium. It was completed

in July 2007. Dr. Devlin was the district superintendent from 1991 through 2005. The

planetarium was dedicated in his honor on 4 October 2007.

• Thomas B. Giboney Jr. Library and classroom addition at Bradley Elementary

School. Colonel (Retired) Giboney served as president of the Fort Leavenworth Board of

Education. The library and classroom were dedicated in 1991.

53
• Virginia Seymour Wing of the Eisenhower Elementary School. Virginia Seymour

was an educator who served for forty-four years at the school, from 1942-1986. The wing

was dedicated in May 1986.

• Colonel John D. Sapp Library at the Eisenhower Elementary School. Retired

Colonel John D. Sapp (1913–1999) served as a member and later president of the USD

#207 school board.

• Susan Railsback Educational Theater at MacArthur Elementary School. Named

for a longtime nurse at the school. She started work in 1977 and served as the school nurse

at MacArthur for 26 years. Ms. Railsback died on 11 June 2004. The Auditorium was

dedicated on 23 November 2004.

• Raymond P. Hittle Nature Court at MacArthur Elementary School. Named for a

long time science teacher who served as principal at both Bradley and MacArthur schools.

He dedicated thirty-one years of this professional life to the Fort Leavenworth school

district.

• Clyde E. Ransom Sports Complex. Named for a superintendent of the Fort

Leavenworth School District who served from 1975 to 1991. Located just to the east of

the district offices on Education Way, the Ransom Sports Complex contains an all weather

track and athletic fields for soccer and football, as well as facilities to conduct track meets.

It was dedicated in April 2006.

• Steve Kempf Library. Named for retired Army colonel Steven F. Kempf, longtime

USD #207 board of education member.

Some hidden named facilities names fall into disuse. The executive officer of the Training and Doctrine

Command’s Analysis Center (TRAC), housed in Funston and McNair Halls on Sedgwick Avenue,

reported that the east side work area in the basement of Funston Hall (building #314) was once named for

Mr. Wencis Tovar, a former Air Force officer and Vietnam veteran who died unexpectedly while working as

an analyst at TRAC.16 Today this commemoration is known only to a few long serving TRAC employees.

There are probably other hidden facilities on post known to only a few.

Designated Quarters

Figure 16. Quarters #1, 1 Scott Avenue

54
Fort Leavenworth has a requirement for what are called “designated quarters.” These are houses set

aside for senior leaders and others who are usually one-of-a-kind by duty position. A departing occupant

is immediately replaced by another of equal rank and status. On Fort Leavenworth, many of these are

on the triangle formed by Scott, Pope and Grant Avenues and along Sherman Avenue. There are quarters

designated for the Combined Arms Center commanding general, deputy commanding general for

Leadership Development and Education, deputy commanding general for Training, the Combined Arms

Center chief of staff, and the garrison commander. Other senior leaders live elsewhere on post,

including the Combined Arms Center command sergeant major. Other quarters are occupied by those

associated with other non-Combined Arms Center organizations on post such as the senior medical

officer and the commandant of the US Disciplinary Barracks and the USDB command sergeant major.

The largest group of designated quarters on post is for the liaison officers assigned to the fort from 

other nations. As the intellectual center of the Army, Fort Leavenworth has liaison detachments from 

many countries to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information between nations. All thirteen liaison

officers live in designated quarters.17 Liaison officers live on Sumner Place, Grant Avenue, and Riverside

Avenue. As with many homes on Fort Leavenworth, they fly the American flag, but they are distinguished

by their national flag proudly flying alongside.

The deputy to the command general is the only civilian today with a designated set of quarters.18 That

was not the case 90 years ago. In the 1920s several civilians lived on post pursuant to their official duties,

including at least two who are namesakes for Fort Leavenworth place-names. The 1925 post directory

lists residences for Harry Bell on Riverside Avenue and Francis Leigh on Kearny Avenue. Master Signal

Electrician Bell retired from the Army in 1915 and became the chief clerk at the Disciplinary Barracks. He

lived at 19 Riverside Avenue, next to the DB. Post bandmaster Warrant Officer Francis Leigh retired from

the Army in 1924 but remained in his quarters at 44 Kearny Avenue, a block away from the band building.19

It is unclear whether these men remained in government quarters because of their civilian duty positions or

their status as retired soldiers, or both.

Previous Occupant

Army assignment policy moves soldiers from post to post periodically. Policy has differed over the

years, but relocating was, and is, always a constant. This continuous movement is reflected on Fort

Leavenworth in the phenomenon of the previous occupant plaque. The record of who lived where when

is maintained by the post housing office, but over time records are retired, declared surplus, and archived

or destroyed. Even for important persons, knowledge of those who previously lived in any set of quarters

often remains only in the memory of those occupants and their replacements. When the current occupant

moves, the newcomers may not know who preceded those who came before them.20 Whether motivated by

an official directive to do so, or by a desire to know who came before them, residents of selected quarters

on Fort Leavenworth have wooden plaques with copper or brass strips with the name of pervious occupants

and their length of stay.

There are at least eleven houses in the Fort Leavenworth National Historic Landmark District, an area

centered on the old main post area, with plaques of previous occupants. These sets of quarters are for the

most part the dedicated residences for the post’s senior leaders. The plaques are a reminder of the officers

and senior noncommissioned officers who have served on Fort Leavenworth through the years. Some are

names recognized by anyone with knowledge of American military history, while others are obscure to

even the most well-informed researcher. Many plaques list the residences back to when the building was

constructed. There is some evidence that the tradition started around the turn of the 20th century during

the building boom that provided the stately red brick homes along Grant, upper Pope, Augur, Meade, and

Sherman Avenues. But it may be even earlier for the homes along Scott Avenue completed in the 19th

century. The plaques are kept up today either by the residents themselves or the post housing office during

the period after one family moves out and the next moves in.

55
Bldg # Address Built Earliest

Entry

1 1 Scott Avenue 1861 1861

2 605 Scott Avenue 1883 1905

4 612 Grant Avenue 1883 1883

5 611 Scott Avenue 1841 1841

6 624 Scott Avenue 1883 1884

7 620 Scott Avenue 1865 1943

16 24 Sumner Place 1870 1878

251 418 Grant Avenue 1905 1905

281 401 Sherman Avenue 1908 1909

299 301 Sherman Avenue 1908 1963

330 2 Sumner Place 1911 1911

Figure 17. Previous Occupant Plaques on Fort Leavenworth

There seems to be no relationship between the age of the building and the date the previous occupant

plaque began. For example, one of the oldest houses on post, building #7, the home of the liaison officer

from Great Britain, was completed in 1865, but the plaque starts in 1943. Some of the plaques were started

through the good offices of individual residents. Retired Army Major General Carl F. Ernst lived at 301

Sherman Avenue, building #299, while a colonel assigned to the post. He donated a small plaque near

the front door and every resident since 1963 has added their name. The visitor looks at the plaques and

searches for famous people from United States or Army history. To cite recent examples, the Sutler’s House

at 611 Scott Avenue was the residence of then Brigadier General Colin L. Powell when he last served on

post, while Quarters 1 was the home for then Lieutenant General David H. Petraeus when he served as

the Combined Arms Center commander.21 Two homes are interesting because they are in the designated

quarters for two members of the international liaison detachment. Both buildings #7 and #251 have been

occupied by the liaison officers from their respective nations for a long time, the United Kingdom and

Canada respectively. The plaques are currently maintained by Michaels Military Housing. As a resident

family vacates the quarters, a representative of the housing office retrieves the plaque, adds the new name,

refurbishes the plaque as required, and re-hangs the updated plaque.22

A review of the previous occupant plaques reveals interesting information about the Army. The first

thing most observers notice is that various ranks carried different authority over the years. The designated

quarters for the Combined Arms Center command sergeant major is a large two-story single family house

facing west on the eastside of the main parade on Sumner Place. Between 1911 and 1985 it was occupied by a 

mix of captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels. The later years saw more colonels than captains.

Starting in 1985 and lasting for nine years this imposing building was the home of a series of brigadier

generals. The most recent change in the rank and duty position of the occupant of 2 Sumner Place began in

1994 when building #330 became the home of the Combined Arms Center command sergeant major, the

senior enlisted advisor to the Combined Arms Center commander and the senior noncommissioned officer

on post.23 It remains so today.

56
Those Little Houses

Fort Leavenworth main post is the site of quarters, academic buildings, and support structures,

mostly made of brick. However, spend a little time wandering around post and you will see a few smaller

structures, mostly of wood or stuccoed brick that are the survivors of older post housing before the extensive

construction projects of the first two decades of the 20th century. A review of the post directories of the late

19th and early 20th centuries reveals scores of structures on Kearny and Gibbon Avenues, Arsenal Hill,

Arsenal Hill Road (where Bell Hall once stood), and Bluntville. Each building was more like a cottage,

designed for one or two families. Most were demolished or moved to new locations when the brick duplexes

in the old “college” area around the building #52 complex and the barracks along Pope-Doniphan Avenues

were constructed. A post map of 1909 shows about forty cottages and a more detailed map of the post in

1937 shows fifty, most in the Bluntville area. Other cottages were compact frame houses. Some of these

cottages may have been designated in the sense that they were only occupied by noncommissioned officers

or civilians of enough status to rate a separate dwelling and not be compelled to live in a barracks or off

post. Civilians who lived on post held positions that either required them to be close to their work (plumber,

electrician, or fireman) or of enough status to rate an on-post house (bandmaster or USDB chief clerk).

Most of the surviving cottages are on Riverside Avenue. There are a few surviving examples of the frame

and brick cottages elsewhere:

• Building #10 at 305 Gibbon Avenue (1897). A wood clapboard single family cottage

built to house an officer and his family. It appears as building #10 on a 1909 map of post to the

east of the General Service Schools complex (Sheridan, Grant, and Sherman Halls). It must have

been considered potentially too close to Wagner Hall, completed in 1916, so Bldg #10 was taken

apart and moved to Gibbon Avenue and reassembled where it sits today.24 A notation on the QMC

(Quartermaster Corps) Form 117, Real Property Record, for building #10 states, “May 13, 1915: to

be torn down and rebuilt on another site indicated on map of post herewith. To be used thereafter

as noncommissioned officers quarters.”25 A photo of building #10 in its former location in the

collection of the Frontier Army Museum indicates that when it was disassembled and moved it was

rebuilt in a different—and much simpler—architectural style. The former structure was used as a

source of materials, not the basis for an exact reconstruction. Today building #10 provides office

space.

The Wayward Plaque Mystery

In some cases the previous occupant plaques themselves are touched with history. The large

single family house sitting on a small hill back from the road at 401 Sherman Avenue is building #281. It

was built in 1908 and welcomed its first occupant the next year. It has been the home for a few captains, but

since 1923, the residents have been colonels. It has a previous occupant plaque smaller than others on post

with thinner brass strips. The observer may ask, “Why do they stop in 1965?” The answer is on the back of

the plaque. Written in felt tip pen is “the rest of the story.” An anonymous correspondent describes finding

the plaque in 2000 at an estate sale near Leavenworth, buying it, and returning it to the post housing office.

It was put back up in the main hallway near the front door. It had been reported missing in the mid-1960s.

It is unknown where it was for 35 years. The plaque could have been replaced by another newer plaque

and the old plaque discarded. A resident could have taken it as a souvenir. Or someone unknown to the

residents could have removed it and kept it as an artifact from the house. Whatever the facts, the plaque sits

today at 401 Sherman with several blank strips waiting for new occupant names.

57
Figure 18. Building #10, Constructed in 1897 near Wagner Hall, moved to Gibbon Avenue in 1915

(Author’s collection)

• Building #60 at 428/430 McPherson Avenue (1887). A wood clapboard duplex originally

erected on the corner of Thomas and Custer Avenues. In 1909 it was disassembled and replaced

by building #310, a brick double officer quarters used for two Hospital Corps sergeants and their

families. The QMC 117 states, “April 30, 1909: Removed to present site at a cost of $300.” It was

reassembled at its present location on MacPherson Avenue in 1910. It is one of the few buildings

on post identified in engineer records as being constructed just for civilian employees. Occupants

have varied over the years:

1890: Two noncommissioned officers.

1909: Two Engineer Department civilians.

1920: Two noncommissioned officers.

1938: Two noncommissioned including a technical sergeant, band.

1940: Two Engineer Department civilians.

1950: Two Army civilians, including post Fire Chief Joseph T. Bowen.

1960: Two Engineer Department civilians.26

Today building #60 today is used as office space.

• Building #359 at 18 Riverside Avenue (1895). A brick and stucco one and a half story

single family cottage. It is the last remaining example of ten constructed to support the civilians and

noncommissioned officers of the Disciplinary Barracks. Today it serves as senior noncommissioned

officer housing. When it was built it stood to the northeast of the perimeter of the DB. However,

when the “castle” cellblock was completed in 1921, building #359 was overshadowed by the new

perimeter wall and its nearby guard towers #453 and #454. Probably something that took getting

used to. A west-facing window on the second floor of the building even overlooks the top of the

east wall of the former DB compound. The residents of building #359 started to breathe easier in

2003 when the inmate population and its guards moved to a new DB facility. Since then build #359

occupants have only the Army bureaucrats and contractors now inside the old DB walls to worry

about.

58
It is not a little house, but Building #357, the duplex family quarters shared by the US Disciplinary

Barracks commander and command sergeant major also was moved—sort of. It was constructed in 1840

as part of the post quartermaster depot. Since 1874 it has been associated with the USDB. According to the

Military Correctional Complex chief of staff, retired Army lieutenant colonel Peter Grande, the house was

actually built astride the east wall of the military prison with part of the building inside the walls to

facilitate access by staff and inmates. Sometime later, upon reflection, the military prison administration

decided to dismantle that part of the house inside the walls and rebuild it on the east side of the building

outside the walls.

How Suite It Is27

Figure 19. Eisenhower Suite Plaque dedicated when Army Major John S.D. Eisenhower graduated from the 

Command and General Staff College in June of 1955.

The desire to commemorate does not stop with buildings and important rooms within them. Fort 

Leavenworth Lodging, an element in the Army Lodging system operated under contract by the

InterContinental Hotels Group, runs one of the largest hotel operations in Kansas as a Holiday Inn

Express. Centered on Hoge Barracks, it offers more than 330 rooms to those with a military identification

card and to the general public. However, the post lodging operation has a smaller, more exclusive, guest

house operation administered by Executive Services that provides sixteen Very Important Person

accommodations. The typical guest list includes senior military officers, high government officials, and

others on post to address Command and General Staff College classes, such as visiting foreign

dignitaries.28Two buildings are used as VIP guest houses, Otis Hall (building #213) and the Thomas

Custer House (building #3). Each has multi-room apartments with private bath and all the amenities

VIPs expect, including arrangements for meals. Most of the apartments have names. Otis Hall has three

floors with four executive suites on each of the first two floors and eight smaller unnamed suites on the

third floor among the dormers. The suites are named for Omar Bradley, Dwight Eisenhower, George

Marshal, Harold K. Johnson, Douglas MacArthur, Elwell S. Otis, Charles P. Summerall and Maxwell

D. Taylor. Generals all, but some less well know today than in their prime. Each of the namesakes may

have stayed in Otis Hall but it is certain that General Eisenhower stayed in what is today the Eisenhower

Suite.29

 The naming convention for the Custer House is a little different. Its suite names are generic, but

intended to convey a sense of the history of Fort Leavenworth and the Missouri River valley. The first

floor has two apartments, the Trader and the Pioneer Suites. They are dedicated, respectively, to the first

merchants who traded with Indians and Mexicans in the early days of the fort, and the first of

European descent to see this area. The second floor has four suites. The largest is the Settler Suite for

VIPs of the first rank. It is named for the emigrants who travelled to the Missouri Valley in the mid- 19th

century and made it their home. The other suites are: the Trapper Suite, named for those lonely

adventurers who trapped beaver and other fur-bearing animals in the early 19th century; the Ranger

59
Suite, commemorating the military raiders who were the special operations forces of their day; and the Scout

Suite, to recognize the civilian and military men who scouted ahead of the main body of a military

formation to provide information on the potential adversaries, terrain and weather.30 Cooke Hall

(building #22) was formerly used as VIP housing but is headquarters and office space for the post Morale,

Welfare and Recreation organization and the post contracting office.

“...And the Horse You Rode In On.”

On Fort Leavenworth many buildings are related to the 5,000 year old relationship between the military

and the horse. A walk around post reveals wood and brick stables, gun sheds, polo fields, turnout pastures,

paddocks, and riding halls. Most, but not all, have been diverted from their original use. Most don’t have

commemorative names. Three that do have names harking back to an earlier day when the horse, or at least

the ability look good while riding one, was considered a part of officership. The buildings, Gruber, Muir, and

Flint Halls, together with Funston and McNair Halls and two other buildings now demolished—including a

blacksmith’s shop on the south side of Flint Hall—composed the Buffalo Soldier Area. The area was once

the home of the General Services School Detachment (Colored) and its 9th and 10th Cavalry successors.

Gruber Hall is an imposing structure built as an indoor riding hall to replace an equally imposing structure,

building #86, on McClellan Avenue. It was sited to support equitation for officer students. Gruber Hall

was supported by two stables, Muir and Flint Halls, both built to Quartermaster General’s Office standard

plan 139H specifications. Each had the stalls, feed and bedding storage, veterinary care facilities, and a

stablemaster’soffice.31

In days gone by, no army wanted its officers to look uncomfortable on a horse, either in the field or on

parade. This had a practical as well as a ceremonial purpose. In the 1920s and 1930s cavalry still meant

horse cavalry and much artillery and supply activities were horse-drawn. In a field environment the horse

was an efficient way to check on training. Army officers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries considered

equitation, the art of riding on horseback, a basic requirement for their job. Indeed, in many non-cavalry

units, the men marched while the officers rode. Junior officers who were poor equestrians received remedial

training when they got to their first unit. Students at the Infantry and Cavalry schools came from an Army

where daily transportation and much warfighting were based on the horse. The advent of the internal

combustion engine gradually produced an officer corps less proficient in riding. To maintain proficiency the

Army instituted an equitation program for officer students at Fort Leavenworth.

The modern reader should not think of this as just horseback riding, the kind of family recreational

activity enjoyed on a Saturday afternoon in good weather. A school report on equitation from 1916 indicates

the importance of horsemanship. The challenging course was based on the curriculum of the Mounted

Service School (after 1919 called the Cavalry School at Fort Riley, Kansas), modified to fit the conditions

found at Fort Leavenworth. The curriculum included saddling, bridling, bitting, mounting and dismounting,

seat, hands, use of aids, use of the double bridle, rising to the trot, jumping both with and without stirrups,

explanation of the training of young mounts, and maneuvering the horse. The intent was to give officers

physical exercise and to instill general interest in the pleasures of riding. All this was in addition to formal

course material presented in lecture and hands-on practical exercises as a part of the various courses.32 The

1934-35 annual report of the Command and General Staff School identified a need for 420 horses a year to

support equitation. Equitation was discontinued in 1940 in the run up to World War II when the curriculum

was shortened to three months.

60
In addition to military duties, Army horses supported recreation activities. Some officers and

noncommissioned officers owned private mounts. In that horsier era equestrian pursuits also had a social

component. The Fort Leavenworth Hunt was popular as officers and noncommissioned officers tore around

the countryside chasing foxes or participating in other equestrian events like polo, horse shows, jumping

competition, and group rides. Much volunteer work as judges, guides, cleanup crew, refreshment providers,

and right of way coordinators was required to make it all work. For the young officer or noncommissioned

officer it was probably a good way to meet girls.

Although the horse was once ubiquitous in the US Army, the horse made a prolonged but certain exit.

The importance of the horse on Fort Leavenworth was proportional to the number of horses on post. Horses

were very important when the fort was a 19th century frontier outpost and ordnance depot; animals were

plentiful as motive power. The need to supply Army outposts further west required thousands of draft

animals, mostly oxen. As Fort Leavenworth transitioned from a tactical post to a school post in the 1880s,

animals were fewer but still important. They continued to provide local and long distance transportation.

Since the Army began dismounting in the late 1930s animals have been of only minor importance on Fort

Leavenworth. As tactical units were reassigned, horses remained solely as a means of recreation.

Animals need stables. Nineteenth century maps show stables, paddocks, pastures and other animal

support features. All the early wooden stables are gone, the victim of fire or old age. Many stables, especially

those constructed of brick with limestone block foundations replaced earlier wooden frame stables. Figure 

20 lists the nineteen stables, three riding halls, and one veterinary hospital, remaining on post. All but

four are used today in non-animal related pursuits. Buildings #277 and #278 are stables for the Fort

Leavenworth Stable Activity, building #88 is occupied by Army veterinarians, and building #260 is used as

an indoor riding hall for the post stable activity. All the stables and riding halls on this list were constructed

to Quartermaster General’s Office standard plans, except the commander’s stable. Although the Army

formally differentiated its stables as cavalry, artillery, infantry, engineer, and quartermaster, in practice they

were often interchangeable. Most are one- or two-story buildings of wood, stone or brick with stalls on a

sufficiently drained hard surface floor, lighted by windows and electric lighting, and ventilated by openings

or fans. Nearby water and access to roads and pastures was important. What made each type different

were the associated buildings. A stable normally existed in a complex with barracks for the troops, guard

houses, veterinary facilities, wagon sheds, gun sheds, pontoon sheds, hay sheds, granaries, blacksmith

shops, and tack shops.33 There were nearby outdoor facilities for exercising and training. When Artillery

Barracks (buildings #226, #221, and #196) was constructed in the first years of the 20th century, each was

a part of a unit complex. Only pieces remain today, but the middle barracks still has a guardhouse (building

#222), a gun shed (building #223), and a stable (building #224) adjacent to it on the north. A single stable

could have several lives depending on the need. Buildings #277 and #278, constructed as Quartermaster

stables, were later occupied by Engineers. Today they support the Fort Leavenworth Stable Activity.

61
Bldg

# Location Description QMGO # Built Dimension

s (ft)

Materia

l

Animal

Capacity

85 McClellanAvenue Animalhospital 139 1889 38 x 126 Brick Unk

86 McClellanAvenue 2-story cavalry riding hall Unknown 1889 102 x 206 Brick 200 head

87 McClellanAvenue 2-story cavalry stable 139 1893 34 x 224 Brick 72

88 McClellanAvenue 2-story cavalry stable,Vet

hospital after 1935 139 1893 35 x 224 Brick 72

89 McClellanAvenue 1 1/2-story cavalry stable 139 1895 36 x 224 Brick 72

90 McClellanAvenue 1 1/2-story cavalry stable 139 1895 34 x 224 Brick 72

109 Riley Avenue 1-story quartermaster stable Unknown 1900 42 x 291 Wood Unk

119 Auger Avenue 1-story public mount stable 139 1901 26 x 85 Brick 8

193 McClellanAvenue 1 1/2-story cavalry stable 139 1901 67 x 195 Brick 104

194 McClellanAvenue 1 1/2-story cavalry stable 139 1901 68 x 195 Brick 104

224 West Warehouse 1 1/2-story artillery stable 139L 1903 67 x 226 Brick 138

237 West Warehouse 1 1/2-story artillery stable 139L 1903 67 x 226 Brick 134

260 West Warehouse 2 1/2-story engineer storage 

shed, later riding hall Special 1-515 1905 45 x 245 Sheetmetal 2

engines

262 Riley Avenue 1 1/2-story

quartermaster/cavalry stable 139E 1905 64 x 150 Wood 104

263 Riley Avenue 2 1/2-story

quartermaster/cavalry stable 139E 1905 65 x 150 Wood 104

269 West Warehouse 1 1/2-story engineer Stable 139E 1905 66 x 150 Wood 104

277 West Warehouse 1 1/2-story quartermaster stable 139H 1907 67 x 167 Brick 104

278 West Warehouse 1 1/2-story quartermaster stable 139H 1907 67 x 167 Brick 104

285 Reynolds Avenue 1 1/2-story quartermaster stable 139H 1908 66 x 321 6-

bay wide

Brick 200

296 Hastings Road 1 1/2-story commander's stable Unknown 1908 24 x 64 Stone 4

302 Reynolds Avenue Cavalry drill hall 97B 1908 110 x 332 Brick 300 head

315 Gibbon Avenue 1 1/2-story signal corps stable,

recreation center after 1925 139H 1910 67 x 23 Brick 138

391 Bluntville Avenue 1 1/2-story quartermaster / U.S.

Military Prison stable 139H 1909 67 x 167 Brick 104

Figure 20. Still existing Fort Leavenworth stable facilities

Most of the stables constructed during the period 1889 and 1900 were relatively small. These earliest

remaining animal related structures are, with one exception, scattered along the northern end of McClellan

Avenue.34 These stables were built for the “demonstration” troops that supported the post’s education and

training mission.35 The area is now an administrative and work area for the Directorate of Public Works/

Logistics Readiness Center. The buildings in this group contain a riding hall, four small cavalry stables, and

two larger cavalry stables. The four smaller stables are the only ones on post with hip roofs.

Figure 21. Buildings along West Warehouse Road (l to r): two brick stables, buildings #278 and #277 (both 1907), a 

wooden stable, building #269 (1905), and a wood frame and red sheet metal stable, building #260 (1905) (partially 

hidden by a yellow wagon shed)

(Author’s collection)

The post construction quartermaster constructed another six stables from 1903 to 1907 along West

Warehouse Road. With the exception of the riding hall (building #260) all are Quartermaster General’s

Office 139 Series buildings. They were occupied by artillery, engineer, and quartermaster units. These

buildings are of particular interest (See picture above) because they were constructed of three different

materials, brick, wood, and sheet metal. The West Warehouse Road stables are joined by three additional

stables on Riley Avenue in the post motor pool.All three are of wood and of two different designs. Building

#109 is identified in post records as a quartermaster stable, but it looks more like a wagon shed. The wooden

stables appear identical to nearby brick stables but cost less to build. All stables in this group are used today

by the Directorate of Public Works/Logistics Readiness Center or the post Morale, Welfare, and Recreation

activity. A third group of stables was built in 1908 along Reynolds and Sedgwick Avenues to support the

62
college equitation program discussed above. Many buildings on post have experienced fire, including Flint

Hall. It burned in 1925 and was rebuilt as a service club for African American soldiers. A final stable is

building #391 constructed on BluntvilleAvenue near the military prison. It stabled the public mounts of the

prison leadership and any draft animals required by the staff and the guards. Since its conversion to office

space it has hosted several organizations, including the post museum.

After 83 years of stable construction, the last stable on Fort Leavenworth was completed in 1910. There

are several reasons for this, including the fact that the post had stall space for 1,747 animals, quite a few

for a school campus with fewer than 250 students. Another reason was the changing nature of warfare. It

would be 27 years until the Army dismounted its horse cavalry, but even before World War I the Army was

experimenting with trucks and aircraft.36 As the Army reviewed the lessons from that war, it recognized

the reduced importance of the horse in warfare. Even with the mechanical problems of early motor

vehicles, they were superior to animals for long haul road transportation. While horses still had a place

for towing light artillery, tractors were better for medium and heavy guns. Likewise, while maintaining

that cavalry had a future for reconnaissance, surveillance, and other missions in restrictive terrain, the

development of the machinegun and massed artillery made large formations of cavalry too

vulnerable.37 Each step in modernization moved the horse closer to the ceremonial role it plays today.

With the reduction of the importance of the horse, the facilities dedicated to it, over time, were

converted to other uses. Stables became garages and maintenance facilities. Paddocks became parking

lots and motor pools. Riding halls became engine sheds and storage buildings. The facilities remain, but

with certain exceptions, they serve different purposes than they did in 1910.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

The Grant Hall clock tower is the most recognizable symbol on Fort Leavenworth. With the demolition

of the US Disciplinary Barracks “castle” in 2007 it is once again the tallest structure on post, rising 159

feet over Arsenal Hill. Unless the view is obstructed by trees or buildings, it can be seen from almost any

location on main post. And that was the point. In the days before digital wrist watches and cell phones, the

tower clock was a common means of keeping everyone on time; and a bell chiming every hour and the

half hour served as a periodic reminder of just what time it was.

Observers see the clock tower but do not see the tower clock mechanism behind the 8-foot diameter

illuminated clock faces or see the 2,000 pound bell hanging in a room just below the clock mechanism.

Although not named as a memorial per se, the clock tower owes its existence to Major General J. Franklin

Bell, the school commandant and post commander when Grant Hall was constructed to join with Sheridan

and Sherman Halls to provide a first-class facility for the General Service Schools. The tower was designed

for the installation of a tower clock and a bell. The story begins in 1906.

The Seth Thomas Clock Company,Thomaston, Connecticut, one of the preeminent clock manufacturers

of that era, designed and installed the four-face tower clock with a mechanical movement.38 Each face was

illuminated by five incandescent bulbs. The clock was linked by a cable to a 5-foot tall bell founded in

1907 by the Meneely Bell Company of West Troy, New York.39 The clock and the bell were operated by

setting twenty-four 100-pound weights once a week. The bell can be operated by slaving it to the clock

movement or by pulling on a cable that falls from a manual striker down to the room at the bottom of the

tower.40 The manual system was probably used to ring the bell in case of an emergency or if the mechanical

link was not operating. Sometime in the late 1930s the mechanical movement of the Seth Thomas clock

stopped functioning. The Army contracted with the I.T. Verdin Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, to replace the

Seth Thomas mechanical movement with an electrical one. The work was completed in 1940. The clock

is periodically cleaned and reconditioned. The most recent was in 2010 during the rebuilding of the clock

tower. The clock and the bell have no names, but the bell is personalized for Fort Leavenworth. When it was

cast an inscription and a poem were placed on the outer surface. The inspirational words by Major General

Bell are difficult to see on the bell because of dust and age, but the observer can make out the words:41

63
Meneely & Co., West Troy, New York, 1907 

Whoever and whatever rings true--is upright and manly, frank and fearless, conscientious 

and kind, firm but considerate, moderate but magnanimous, just but generous, knows not 

deceit and scorns a sneak--deserves respect and merits emulation--

J. Franklin Bell

Figure 22. Inscription on the Grant Hall Clock Tower bell. From a memorandum by the post contracting officer in 

December 1954

(FrontierArmy Museum).

64
Notes

1. All managed property is listed on a 34-page spreadsheet was provided in 2009 by Mr. Robert L. Beardsley,

the post historical properties manger.

2. The rectangular limestone block pile identifying Fort Leavenworth as being an active Army installation

since 1827 was added in 1971, a gift of the CGSC class of 1971-72.

3. Quartermaster Corps Form 117s for buildings #64 and #65 at the Frontier Army Museum.

4. Mark A. Berhow, “Quartermaster Building Records” in the Coast Defense Study Group Newsletter, August

2008), 5.

5. Building #19 has been continuously occupied since its completion in 1834. It is probably the oldest

continuously occupied structure in the state of Kansas and long ago was placed on the National Register of Historic

Places.

6. Although nominally “rent free,” in the modern era there is a cost. Service members have to forfeit their

basic allowance for housing, paying it to the Fort Leavenworth Frontier Heritage Communities by check, credit card, or

allotment. Utilities are free, but occupants pay for gas and electricity usage in excess of the established baseline for

each particular housing area. The intent is to encourage conservation.

7. In the Army a general officer is anyone with the word general in their rank, i.e. major general. Field grade

officers include majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels. Lieutenants and captains are company grade officers.

The three senior NCO ranks are sergeant first class, master sergeant, and sergeant major. And, finally, corporals,

sergeants and staff sergeants are junior NCOs.

8. Former post historical properties manager, Mr. Robert L. Beardsley, told the writer on 11 February 2009 that 

the post used Sherwin-Williams paint.

9. A contract let in 2010 to repair the tower and rebuild the copper clad cupola left the clock tower brick

unpainted.

10. In an email on 19 February 2009, post historical properties manager, Mr. Robert L. Beardsley, described

how he matched a color sample from the Grant Clock Tower to the paint vendor’s Color Specifier and the closest match

is stock # SW 6379, Jersey Cream.

11. Several people with knowledge of post history told the author that Quarters #1 was once painted yellow but

that it was sand blasted to reveal the native red brick.

12. Mr. Kristopher Hayes, the project superintendent for Prestige Renovations, the contractor renovating houses 

in the National Historic Landmark District, sent the author an email on 20 February 2009 with the formula for the paint

used on the Rookery, Building #19, and it contained a specification for 1/164th of an ounce of maroon.

13. Two of them, the Douglas MacArthur Room and the J. Franklin Bell Room, in the Lewis and Clark Center

are actually executive-style offices designed for temporary occupancy and meeting space for visiting VIPs. They are

appointed with dark wood paneled walls, executive desks, high back leather chairs, appropriate artwork, and cipher

keypads to restrict entry.

14. The procedure to name a room as an official memorial is time consuming. The former commander of the

Mission Command Training Program’s Operations Group Charlie, retired Colonel Michael Edwards, told the author

that it took nine months of effort to get the Springer Conference Room in the basement of Building #196 approved.

15. Information provided during a discussion with USD #207 superintendent Deborah A. Baeuchle at her

headquarters on 15 April 2009 and visits to the schools on 29 April and 1 May 2009.

16. Email from Major Christopher J. Emond on 3 February 2009.

17. Liaison officers are from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany (also includes a senior NCO),

Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

18. A senior executive service (SES) civilian. SES civilians are the general-officer equivalents of the

government civilian employee structure.

19. A 1926 renumbering of addresses on post has obscured the location of these two buildings. 19 Riverside

may have been in building #359; today’s 18 Riverside. 44 Kearny was one of five wood frame houses west of Artillery 

Barracks torn down in the 1950s.

20. The Frontier Army Museum and the Kansas Room of the Leavenworth Public Library have post directories

going back to the 1870s so a researcher could piece together a pervious occupant list for most of the old quarters on

post.

65
21. These two houses provide a veritable who’s who of namesakes on post. For example, the Sutler’s House has

two plaques, one from 1841 to 1955 and the other from 1956 forward. Some of the names on the earlier plaque include

Blunt (1862), Sumner (1863), Schofield (1863), Pope (1866), Hancock (1867), Custer (1867), Sherman (1868-69),

Reynolds (1897-98), and Buckner (1927-28).

22. During a phone call on 28 April 2009, Richard L. Fields, the housing office developmental construction

oversight inspector, told the author that they are systematically replacing the old plaques with new data plates if the

older name strips because so tarnished as to be unreadable.

23. The CAC command sergeant major and his/her family were previously housed elsewhere. For example,

retired CAC command sergeant major Larry Smith, a member of the Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame, and his family

lived in building #204 at 211 Augur Avenue.

24. The movement of Building #10 is a small piece of the puzzle as to why building numbers are jumbled up

and non-sequential all over post. Building #10 used to be next to building #11, but now sits between Buildings #100

and #302.

25. QMC form 117 found in the Frontier Army Museum archives on 27 January 2009.

26. Retired Army command sergeant major John Webb relates that he went to Leavenworth High School in the

late 1950s-early 1960s with the two sons of the post plumber who lived in Building #60.

27. Apologies to Jackie Gleason, a popular Broadway, radio, television, and movie star with a career that started

in 1940 and continued into the late 1980s.

28. For example, in 2009 the post hosted the president of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni,

who was on post to visit his son, a CGSC student, and to address the CGSC class. The president, his wife, and an

entourage received VIP treatment.

29. Brigadier General John S.D. Eisenhower (1922-2013) (USMA 1944) a military historian and author, served

in World War II and the Korean War. During both conflicts his career was impacted by the fact that his father was, first,

Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, and later, President of the United States. No Army leader wanted to see him

harmed so, with the exception of a few weeks in combat in Korea, he was kept safe. Eisenhower served as the US

Ambassador to Belgium, 1969-71. He retired from the Army Reserve as a brigadier general in 1975.

30. The Scout Suite is frequently occupied by the US Secret Service and other protection details during high

ranking VIP visits. This probably has to do with the fact that it is the smallest of the suites, but also that it is close to the

Settler Suite.

31. Gruber Hall is now a gym and Muir and Flint Halls are office space.

32. A review of the literature indicates that some liked equitation and some did not. At a presentation to the Fort

Leavenworth Historical Society on 21 April 2011, Dr. Lou Dimarco, a CGSC history professor and the author of a book 

on military horses, mentioned that a survey given to CGSS students before graduation of the 1940-1941 class listed

equitation as the least favorite part of the curriculum—by a large margin.

33. A horse was one of the most valuable moveable objects on a military installation and protecting them from

unauthorized use or misappropriation (horse stealin’) was an important task.

34. Fuller Hall, Building #119, was built in 1901 to stable eight horses. It is located just to the west of the

former college buildings. It stabled the “public mounts” of the college leadership who worked and lived nearby. The 

public mounts were the government provided duty transportation in the days before the automobile.

35. So called because they were used to demonstrate the various formations and activities for field problems.

They also provided the mounts for those times when the curriculum called for the student officers to take to the field.

36. The beginning of World War II found the Army with lots of horses. According to the Center of Military

History, the Army purchased 23,546 in 1941, 2,859 in 1942, but only 4 in 1943 (there were also 39,000 foals born to

Army horses during the war). During the war the Army bought 26,409 horses but 30,479 mules.

37. William O. Odom, After the Trenches: the Transformation of Army Doctrine, 1918-1939 (College Station:

Texas A&M University Press, 1999), 64.

38. The Seth Thomas Clock Company was founded in 1813 and after a series of owners over the years closed its

doors in January 2009.

39. The Meneely Bell Company was founded in 1869 (1874?) and closed in 1952. West Troy in the Hudson

Valley of New York, was annexed by the nearby town of Watervliet in 1896. Watervliet is home to the US Army’s

Watervliet Arsenal.

40. The author toured the tower and inspected the bell and clock movement on 6 April 2009 escorted by Staff

66
Sergeant Sean A. Brisbane, the building commandant. The clock tower is entered through a door on the third floor of

Grant Hall and the bell and clock rooms are accessed by climbing 169 steps to the top. A ladder continues on to the

cupola of the tower.

41. The author does not know if this is an original inscription. A search of the Internet did not turn up a similar

poem. Major General Bell was a military intellectual and 1907 was a more literary age so it is probable that he was the

author of the words on the bell. A unique way to have your thoughts last longer than Twitter tweet or a blog post.

67

Chapter 5 

Conclusion

It has been a long time since Colonel (Brevet Brigadier General) Henry Leavenworth and 

four companies of the 3d Infantry Regiment came up the Missouri River, disembarked just before a 

great bend and established a camp on the west bank on the bluffs 300 feet above the river on that May

day in 1827. The years since that day span almost the entire life of the American Republic. When Fort 

Leavenworth was established, the Army of the constitutional government was not yet 40 years old. John

Adams and Thomas Jefferson had just died the year before. Adam’s son, John Quincy Adams, lived in a 

White House still being refurbished after having been burned by a British invasion force thirteen

years earlier. Citizens of the nation still lived who were born before the American Revolution.

Strategic defense concerns then were much different than they are today. Force projection meant beyond

the Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas Rivers. The Army focused on coast and harbor defense on the

Atlantic seaboard, the Gulf Coast, and the Great Lakes. There was still a threat of incursion from the British

provinces to the north. Protection against Native American tribes in the interior was important as settlers

moved west, as was the safety of those trading with the recently established Republic of Mexico. Large parts

of what is now the continental United States belonged to other nations. Mexico controlled Texas, and much

of the southwest. Its territory reached to northern California and the present day states of Nevada, Utah, and

Wyoming. Imperial Russia, and the British Empire vied for control of the Pacific Northwest. The boundary

between the US and British Canada was in dispute in several places. Now the longest un-militarized border

in the world, that wasn’t the case in 1827. It was a dangerous world and Fort Leavenworth, then as now,

played a part in the common defense. The Combined Arms Center educates officers, writes doctrine, collects

lessons learned, helps train the force, and maintains itself as the “Intellectual Center of the Army.” The US

Disciplinary Barracks continues the mission it has had for seven generations.

These organizations and their predecessors have left their mark on the rolling hills in this part of

easternmost Kansas. More than 200 people and organizations are recognized in the streets, buildings and

other areas of Fort Leavenworth. A composite biography of the namesakes includes veterans of almost all

of the 187 campaigns in which the Army has served since its establishment in 1775. Of those represented in

place-names on post, most served in the three great armed conflicts of the American experience, the Civil

War and the two World Wars. This is to be expected both because they are so important in understanding

the American republic and simply because of the size of the forces fielded. There are fewer place-names

represented for the period before the Civil War because there were fewer things to name and many of the

buildings previously named were demolished and streets rearranged to make way for new construction.

A surprising number of veterans of service in the War with Spain and the Philippine War that followed

are represented by virtue of the fact that the post was undergoing a building boom at the time of those

conflicts and namesakes came from the ranks of recent combat casualties. The post-World War II and Cold

War generations of soldiers are under-represented because by the time recent campaigns were fought the

post was full. The area within the confines of the Fort Leavenworth National Historic Landmark District

has little room for expansion, hence few opportunities for new place-names. Today, with the exception of

housing areas, the post is demolishing old buildings instead of constructing new ones.

What can be learned by examining the post and its place-names? On Main Post the visitor sees a

suburban village or college campus rather than a military installation. In the historic landmark district,

many of the tree-shaded streets are lined with two story brick houses. Along Riverside Avenue are stately

wooden clapboard houses. The main parade has long since been transformed to a village green lined with

dignified homes. It is now used for ceremonies, not military drill. Brick is still the building material of

choice. Most of it is red, with a few exceptions such as the gray brick of the Boughton Memorial—the post

office, and the Building #52 / clock tower complex which is brick painted a muted yellow for the most part.

69
A trip to the perimeter of the installation, especially to the southwest along Biddle Boulevard and

Hancock Avenue will be an eye opener, especially for someone stationed at Fort Leavenworth years ago.

The worn out wood and brick project-like quarters built in the 1950s, 60s and 70s are replaced with attractive

modern, energy-efficient duplexes with 2-car garages. The civilianization of Army housing has produced

nothing short of a miracle for the officers, noncommissioned officers and soldiers who remember the old

days.

What does the post offer a person who studies place-names? Of the thousand buildings and other

structures on the fort, about 220 are commemorations. Some are readily identifiable: the Grant Statue,

the Buffalo Soldier Monument, and almost all the streets. Some are identified by easy-to-read signs

or nameplates affixed to the building such as Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan Halls. Some have National

Park Service-like signs pinpointing the location of a building or housing area, including the Rookery, the

Henry Leavenworth House, and Quarters #1. Another group, including Rucker Hall and Lowe Hall, has

internal plaques informing the reader of the person or persons memorialized. A final group consists of

those streets, buildings, and other features with no indication that they have names at all such as

Blochberger Avenue, Rachel Cooke Hall, the Edwin Sumner House, and Dodge Hall.

Regardless of how prominent, the place-names on Fort Leavenworth all have one thing is common:

each was important enough to the military, social, cultural, and economic life of the post that they were

given a formal or informal name. From the early frontier days of the 1830s to today, the men and women

memorialized mark the path of Fort Leavenworth’s history. Behind each place-name is the story of an

individual, or a group of individuals, who served the nation in good times and in bad. They did their duty

and are remembered.

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Appendices

1st Cavalry Road.

Appendix A

Street Biographical Summaries

Namesake: 1st US Cavalry Regiment.

Established: 1833.

Status: Still serving.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Mexican War, Civil War, War with Spain, Philippine War,

WWII, Cold War, Vietnam, Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and War on Terrorism.

Remarks: Organized in 1834 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, as the US Regiment of Dragoons. It was first

commanded by Colonel Henry Dodge. Elements of the regiment arrived at Fort Leavenworth in 1834. It

became the 1st Regiment of Dragoons when the 2d Regiment was formed in 1836. The regiment was redesignated 1st Cavalry Regiment in 1855. At various times the regiment was horse-mounted, mechanized,

and in tanks. The regimental headquarters and several companies wintered at Fort Leavenworth in the years

just before the Civil War. Much of its post-Civil War duty was in the West. Cavalry companies were redesignated as troops in 1883. In the 20th century, elements of the regiment have served in the 1st Armored

Division, 2d Armored Division, 2d Infantry Division, 3d Armored Division, 4th Infantry Division, 1st Field

Force Vietnam, and the 173d Airborne Brigade. Notable members of the regiment with a connection to Fort

Leavenworth: Stephen W.Kearny,Jefferson Davis, John Buford, and Jonathan Wainwright.

3d Infantry Road.

Namesake: 3d US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).

Established: 1796.1

Status: Still serving.

Campaigns: War of 1812, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Mexican War,War with Spain, Philippine

War, WWII, Cold War, Vietnam, Horn of Africa, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and War on Terrorism.

Remarks: It is the oldest active infantry regiment in the Army. Regimental commander Colonel Henry

Leavenworth and four companies of the 3d Infantry established Cantonment Leavenworth in May of 1827.

Various companies were stationed at Fort Leavenworth again in 1843 and in the late 1860s and early 1870s.

Today it is the Army’s ceremonial regiment stationed at Fort Myer, Virginia, supporting Arlington National

Cemetery, including the Honor Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns, ceremonial support to the President,

and providing the soldiers who support the many daily military funerals at the most famous of American

military cemeteries. The Old Guard has walked Tomb Guard since 1926. In addition to ceremonial duties

the 1st and 4th Battalions at Fort Myer, Virginia, train for combat operations, The 2d Battalion at Joint Base

Lewis-McChord, Washington, is a Stryker battalion serving as part of the 3d Brigade, 2d Infantry Division.

There is currently no 3d battalion. Today’s 3d Infantry Road is the remnant of 3d Infantry Avenue, a

former important arterial east-west thoroughfare connecting Biddle Boulevard and Hancock Avenue

4th Artillery Road.

Namesake: 4th US Artillery Regiment.

Established: 1821 as artillery; lineage transferred to coast artillery and then air defense artillery; field

artillery lineage from 1901.2

Status: Air defense inactive, 2d Battalion, 4th Field Artillery active.

73
Campaigns: War of 1812, Early Indian Wars, Frontier duty, Mexican War, Civil War,World War II, Cold

War, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and War on Terrorism.

Remarks: It was formed as 4th Regiment of Artillery from light artillery and other units at Pensacola,

Florida. The regiment was transferred to coast artillery lineage in 1901 and then after World War II to air

defense lineage.3 Elements served at Fort Leavenworth 1849-50, 1855-57, and 1866. The regiment was

stationed in Utah at the start of the Civil War and came east to serve with the Army of the Potomac. On

the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, seven batteries of the 4th Artillery were engaged,

including A Battery, commanded by Medal of Honor recipient First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing, that

was at the point in the Union lines reached by remnants of Pickett’s Charge, the “high water mark of

the Confederacy.” The 1st Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery served a tour in Iraq guarding Baghdad

International Airport. The regiment was inactivated in Germany in 2004.

Fourth Street.

Namesake: One of the numbered north-south grid streets in the West Normandy cantonment.

Established: 1941.

Status: Still in use.

Remarks: The western-most and last remaining grid-pattern street from the West Normandy Cantonment

area. It is the only numbered street on Fort Leavenworth. West Normandy was a cantonment area with

almost 100 World War II 700- and 800-series barracks4 and other support buildings—including a chapel—

to support the War Department Personnel Center. Hoge Barracks, Harney Gym and Pool Complex, the

commissary, and post exchange-related activities now occupy the area along Fourth Street. The two

limestone gateposts with lights on top at the northern end of the street near Cody Avenue are some of the

last reminders of the West Normandy cantonment. Two additional limestone gateposts, now marking the

entrance to the Hoge Barracks north parking lot, formerly marked the north end of now defunct 2d Street.

5th Artillery Road.

Namesake: 5th US Artillery Regiment.

Established: 1776.5

Status: Still serving.

Campaigns: Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Indian Wars, Mexican War, Frontier duty, Civil War, War

with Spain, Philippine War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Cold War, Vietnam, Gulf War, Operation

Iraqi Freedom, and War of Terrorism.

Remarks: The oldestAmerican military unit on continuous active duty isthe 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery.

It perpetuates the lineage of the Alexander Hamilton Battery formed during the Revolutionary War. It saw

extensive service during the Civil War included Fredericksburg and Antietam (1862), Gettysburg (1863),

and Wilderness and Spotsylvania (1864). Batteries of the regiment were present at Appomattox. After the

Civil War it performed garrison duty in the Midwest and Far West with elements of the regiment stationed

at Fort Leavenworth in 1908 and 1916. The regiment performed standard field artillery missions through

World War II. In the absence of an air threat since Korea, the regiment provided point, area, and convoy

security in addition to other non-standard missions for field artillery and air defense artillery from Vietnam

to the present. The 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery (Hamilton’s Own) is currently assigned to the 1st Heavy

Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. Fifth Artillery Road was substantially

shortened in 2009 with the demolition of the lower portion of the road as it runs into Hancock Avenue. It

was reestablished when the new housing in that area was completed in 2010.

74
6th Infantry Road.

Namesake: 6th US Infantry Regiment (Regulars).

Established: 1798.6

Status: Still serving.

Campaigns: War of 1812, Indian Wars, Mexican War, Civil War, Frontier duty, Philippine War,World War

I, World War II, Cold War, Vietnam, Panama, Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and War of Terrorism.

Remarks: Lieutenant Colonel Henry Leavenworth served as the lieutenant colonel of the regiment (1821-

25) and Colonel Zackary Taylor, future president of the United States, commanded the regiment from

1843 to 1846. It replaced the 3d Infantry at Fort Leavenworth in 1829 with elements also at Fort

Leavenworth in the 1840s, 1850s and in 1890. Captains Phillip St. George Cooke (1832-33) and Winfield

Scott Hancock (1849-55) were regimental adjutants. On garrison duty in the west before the Civil War, the

regiment served throughout the war, including at Chickamauga and Gettysburg. It served in Panama as

Task Force Bayonet with the 193d Infantry Brigade in Operation Just Cause. The 1st, 2d and 4th Battalions

received unit awards during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

7th Cavalry Road.

Namesake: 7th US Cavalry Regiment (Garry Owen).

Established: 1866.

Status: Still serving.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Wars, Philippine War, Mexican Punitive Expedition, World War II,

Occupation of Japan, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam, Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and War on

Terrorism.

Remarks: The regiment was organized at Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1866. Units of the regiment were

stationed at Fort Leavenworth in the late 1860s, 1870, and in 1885. Elements of the regiment were

vanquished at the battle of the Little Bighorn Valley in June 1876 under the field command of

regimental lieutenant colonel George A. Custer.7 The regiment wintered at Fort Leavenworth in the

1870s. Its companies were redesignated as troops in 1883 in an Army reorganization. The 7th Cavalry

served on the Mexican border during World War I. The regiment has served with the 1st Cavalry

Division since World War II, including being one of the units to capture Pyongyang, North Korea, in

October 1950. Elements fought in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in 1965 in Vietnam.

9th Cavalry Road and 9th Cavalry Court.

Namesake: 9th US Cavalry Regiment.

Established: 1866.

Status: Still serving.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Occupation of Cuba, Philippine War, Mexican Border,

WWII, Cold War, Vietnam, Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and War of Terrorism.

Remarks: The regiment was formed at Greenville, Louisiana, in 1866. It was stationed at Fort Riley

on frontier duty. Colonel ( B r ev et M aj o r G en er al ) Edward Hatch was colonel of the regiment

from 1866 to 1889.8 Wesley Merritt served as lieutenant colonel of the regiment for the first ten years of

its existence. Elements were stationed at Fort Leavenworth in 1890 and 1892. The regiment was

inactivated in North Africa in 1944, reactivated in 1950 as the 509th Tank Battalion, and redesignated as

9th US Cavalry in 1957. Fifteen of its Soldiers have been awarded the Medal of Honor. An athletic field

at West Point, formerly called Cavalry Plain, was rededicated as Buffalo Soldier Field in 1973. It honors

the African American Army troops of the 9th and 10th US Cavalry regiments.

75
10th Cavalry Loop.

Namesake: 10th US Cavalry Regiment.

Established: 1866.

Status: Still serving.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain in Cuba, Occupation of Cuba, Philippine

War, Mexican Border, WWI in the American West, WWII, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam, Gulf War,

Operation Iraqi Freedom, and War of Terrorism.

Remarks: The regiment was formed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1866. Colonel (Brevet Major General)

Benjamin H. Grierson served as the regimental commander from its organization until April 1890, the

longest serving commander. It served extensively in the West in Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

The regiment famously participated in the battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba in July 1898. The regiment was

inactivated in North Africa in March 1944 and reactivated briefly as the 510th Tank Battalion in

the late 1950s, and reactivated as 10th US Cavalry in 1958. The 1st, 4th, and 7th Squadrons

of the regiment are assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado. Formerly

a short street south of the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, it was removed during the construction of

Bowen Hall, the post fire headquarters in 1997. 10th Cavalry Loop is a residential street in the new

Kansa Village housing area constructed in 2013 on the site of the former Third Infantry housing area.

14th Cavalry Loop.

Namesake: 14th US Cavalry Regiment.

Established: 1901.

Status: Still serving.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Philippine War, Mexican Border, WWII, Occupation of Germany, Cold War,

Operation Iraqi Freedom, and War on Terrorism.

Remarks: The regiment was organized in March 1901 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. It served in the

Philippines in 1903-1906 and again in 1909. In 1916 the regiment served on the Mexican border chasing

Francisco (Pancho) Villa. Alerted for overseas service in Europe during the First World War, its orders

were cancelled after the Armistice. During the interwar years it served in Iowa. Inactivated in 1942, its

lineage was carried into World War II by the 14th Cavalry Group when elements fought in the Battle of

the Bulge and seized the Ludendorf Bridge at Remagen over the Rhine River. After World War II the

regiment remained in Germany and became, first, a constabulary regiment, then, in 1948, an armored

cavalry regiment opposite the Fulda Gap until inactivated in 1972. Reactivated in 2000 as a reconnaissance,

security and target acquisition squadron, elements served in Iraq in 2006 to 2009 and again in 2010 to 2011.

The 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry serves with the 3d Brigade combat Team, 2d Infantry Division at Joint

Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and the 2d Squadron is stationed with the 2d Brigade Combat Team,

25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. 14th Cavalry Loop was constructed in 2013 off of Iowa

Avenue in the new Kansa Village housing area.

76
Abrams Loop.

Namesake: General Creighton W.Abrams, Jr.

Born: 1914.

Died: 1974.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: WWII, Korea, West Germany, Cold War,Vietnam.

Remarks: Consult the biographies of this famous American. General Abrams graduated from the Command

and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in 1949. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

General Abrams is the namesake for the M1 series main battle tank. Abrams Loop is in front of the Lewis

and Clark Center.All three of General Abrams sons became Army general officers.

Allen Drive.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel James Allen.

Born: 1806.

Died: 1846.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Mexican

War.

Figure 23. Lieutenant Colonel James Allen

Tombstone, Fort Leavenworth National

Cemetery

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: Allen graduated from USMA in 1829 and was commissioned in the 5th Infantry. He was a

classmate of Joseph E. Johnston, Robert E. Lee and Seth Eastman, the creator of the Eastman Forts.9 He

had extensive service on the frontier leading expeditions to explore and map the area that is now the Upper

Midwest of the United States. Second Lieutenant Allen led an expedition to discover the source of the

Mississippi in 1832. He served as a lieutenant and captain in the 1st US Dragoons at Fort Leavenworth

and elsewhere in the Midwest from 1833-1842. Allen commanded I Company, 1st Dragoons. He was the

senior military man in the Iowa Territory before the Mexican War. Lieutenant Colonel Allen recruited the

500-man Mormon Battalion at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in July 1846 and commanded them as they marched

to Fort Leavenworth. He died at Fort Leavenworth while preparing to lead the battalion to California in the

Mexican War. His is the oldest known military burial in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.10

AugurAvenue.

Namesake: Major General Christopher C. Augur.

Born: 1821.

Died: 1898.

Campaigns: Occupation of Texas, Frontier duty, Mexican War,Civil War,Reconstruction, Indian

Campaigns.

77
Remarks: Augur graduated from USMA in 1843, a classmate of US Grant.11 He was commissioned in the

2d Infantry. After early regimental service on the Niagara frontier, he served in the occupation of Texas.

Lieutenant Augur transferred to the 4th Infantry and remained with it until the Civil War.After the Mexican

War he had regimental service in New York State and the far west, including Oregon and Washington.

He was commandant of cadets at West Point in 1861. He commanded a brigade, division and corps in the

Civil War. Augur was the officer in charge of the Army detail that escorted President Lincoln’s body to the

White House on April 14, 1865. He was colonel of the 12th Infantry, 1866-69. As a senior officer after the

Civil War, Augur served as commander of the Departments of Texas, the Gulf, the South, and finally the

Department of the Missouri from 1883 to 1885, at Fort Leavenworth. He retired in 1885 after forty-two

years of service. On 15 August 1886, he was shot and seriously wounded by a man whom he attempted to

chastise for using coarse language in front of his retirement home in Washington. He survived. He is buried

in Arlington National Cemetery. There is a plaque to his memory on the wall of Memorial Chapel on Fort

Leavenworth.

Biddle Boulevard.

Namesake: Honorable William I. Biddle.

Born: 1863.

Died: 1947.

Experience: newspaperman, local judge, state commission member, warden of Leavenworth Federal

Penitentiary.

Remarks: A native of Pennsylvania, Biddle moved with his parents to Leavenworth when he was 13. He

worked as a reporter and editor for the Leavenworth Times and was associated with the paper for more

than 60 years. He served as a postal clerk and was appointed the Leavenworth postmaster by President

Taft. Appointed warden of the US Penitentiary by President Warren G. Harding in 1921, he held the post

until 1926.12 Major General Harry A. Smith, Command and General Staff School commandant (1923-25),

dedicated the road leading from the US Penitentiary to the US Disciplinary Barracks to Warden Biddle to

recognize his cooperation with the post. He is buried in Mount Muncie Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kansas.

His son became a local judge and an Army Reserve colonel in WWII. Biddle Boulevard now ends at Corral

Creek at the southern boundary of the fort. Leavenworth author and retired US Penitentiary historian, Mr.

Ken LeMaster, says that a bridge crossed Corral Creek to connect the south end of Biddle Boulevard with

USP property.13 USP inmates used it daily from 1897 to 1904 as they marched from the Federal prison on

Fort Leavenworth as they built the penitentiary that would house them when they finished. Once the USP

was completed the bridge was no longer needed and fell into ruin. Old maps indicate that during the time

the road was used as access to the penitentiary it was called Prison Lane.

78
BlochbergerAvenue.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel Irene C. Blochberger.14

Born: 1911.

Died: 1958.

Campaigns and Oversea Assignments: WWII in Alaska and the Philippines, Occupation of Japan,

Occupation of Germany, Cold War.

Remarks: Irene Blochberger was from an old Leavenworth Family. She graduated from Leavenworth

High School in 1929 and St. John Hospital School of Nursing in Leavenworth in 1932.15 She was a nurse

for the Civilian Conservation Corps on Fort Leavenworth, 1934 (or 1935) to 1937. She joined the Army

Nurse Corps in 1937 at Fort Leavenworth and served the Fort Leavenworth community until 1940. She

was stationed in several combat hospitals overseas in War II, including 26 months at Fort Richardson,

Anchorage, Alaska. On 2 July 1943, she survived a military aircraft accident at Nome Airfield, Alaska,

when a C-47 in which she was a passenger ran off a runway attempting a landing.16 Lieutenant Blochberger

served in the Philippines in 1945 and transferred to Japan after the surrender. She stayed in Japan until

1947. Major Blochberger served at the 98th General Hospital in Munich, Germany from 1948-51. After

Germany she was stationed in California, Texas, and Louisiana. Her last duty station was Fort Carson,

Colorado, where she was the chief nurse at Evans Army Hospital. Lieutenant Colonel Blochberger died at

Fitzsimmons Army Hospital, Aurora, Colorado, after a long illness. She is buried in a family plot in Mount

Muncie Cemetery, Leavenworth, Kansas. Lieutenant Colonel Blochberger is the only military woman

memorialized on Fort Leavenworth. In 1963 two things were named for her, Blochberger Avenue and

Blochberger Terrace apartments. Blochberger Avenue is a short street that runs north-south between Kearny

Avenue and Munson Army Health Center near Dodge Hall, the current post housing office.

Figure 24. Lieutenant Colonel Irene C. Blochberger Grave,

Mount Muncie Cemetery, Leavenworth, Kansas

(Author’s collection)

Both names cause confusion for sign painters on Fort Leavenworth and elsewhere. Irene Blochberger’s Leavenworth 

High School yearbook spells her name with a “k”. So does the sign in front of Blochberger Hall.

A Quick Toponymic* Quiz

Is it:

A. Blochberger on Kearney?

B. Blockberger on Kearny?

C. Blochberger on Kearny?

Answer: C.

*Toponymy is the study of place-names.

79
Bluntville Avenue and Bluntville Lane.

Namesake: Brigadier General Asa P.Blunt.

Born: 1830.

Died: 1907.17

Campaigns: Civil War,Reconstruction, Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Like many of his contemporaries, Blunt was just old enough and just prominent enough to be

elected to command state volunteer units in the Civil War. Initially the adjutant of the 3d Vermont Volunteer

Infantry, he joined the 6th Vermont as its lieutenant colonel in 1861. He assumed command of the 12th

Vermont Volunteer Infantry in 1862 and led it at the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of Gettysburg

the next year. At Gettysburg the mission of the 12th Vermont was to guard the federal baggage. Mustered

out of Volunteer service after Gettysburg, he remained with the Army as an assistant quartermaster of

volunteers. He remained in the Army as an assistant quartermaster after the Civil War until 1875 when he

was assigned to the US Military Prison. He served as governor of the US Military Prison from 1877-88. His

10 years and 10 months in charge of the military prison is the longest tenure18 of the soldiers and civilians

who have served as the commander.19 He is buried in Manchester, New Hampshire. There is a plaque

to his memory in Memorial Chapel on Fort Leavenworth. Bluntville Avenue runs from the old USDB

grounds north downhill to the airfield and passes the hill were Bluntville was once located. Bluntville was

a collection of 28 sets of wood frame family quarters built under contract to the Army in 1876 housing

military prison noncommissioned officers and civilians and later African-American NCOs. In later years

additional houses were constructed until Bluntville was a group of forty buildings. Bluntville Lane is the

remains of the access road to the Bluntville housing area that runs past building #391, the former USDB

stable. It runs northeast-southwest from McClellan Avenue.

BucknerAvenue.

Namesake: General Simon B. Buckner, Jr.

Born: 1886.

Died: 1945.

Campaigns: Philippine War,WWI, WWII.

Remarks: Buckner graduated from USMA in 1908 and was commissioned in the 9th Infantry. His early

service was with hisregiment in Texas, the Philippines and Kentucky, 1908-14. He returned to the Philippines

with the 27th Infantry from 1915-17. During the World War he was assigned to the Aviation Section of

the Signal Corps. He taught at West Point, 1919-23. Major Buckner was a distinguished graduate of the

Command and General Staff School class of 1925 at Fort Leavenworth and remained as an instructor,

1925-28. Buckner was the commandant of cadets at West Point, 1932-36. In the years leading up to World

War II he served throughout the US in training positions and from September 1938 to October 1939 as

commander of the 22d Infantry and Civilian Conservation Corps District D. He commanded US forces

in the Aleutians at the beginning of World War II. General Buckner was killed in action near Mezato,

Okinawa, while commanding the Tenth Army in 1945. He was the highest ranking officer killed in the

Pacific theater. A lieutenant general when killed, he was posthumously promoted to full general in 1954.

Buckner is buried at Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, Kentucky, next to his father (USMA 1844), a former

Kentucky governor and Civil War Confederate lieutenant general. Buckner Avenue is a residential street in

the Normandy Village Housing Area.

80
Buford Avenue.

Namesake: Major General John Buford.

Born: 1826.

Died: 1863.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Civil War.

Remarks: Buford graduated from USMA in 1848 and was commissioned in the Dragoons. His first

assignment was with 1st Dragoons at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. His early service was with the regiment

in Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas, 1848-53. First Lieutenant Buford was stationed at Fort

Leavenworth with the 2d Dragoons in 1853. He spent the rest of the 1850s in the Midwest, including service

in controlling the Border War and Bleeding Kansas in 1856-57. At the beginning of the Civil War Buford

marched with the 2d Dragoons from Fort Leavenworth to Washington, DC He commanded a cavalry

brigade at Second Bull Run and was so badly wounded he was reported as killed. Brigadier General Buford

served as the Union cavalry commander at Gettysburg on the first day holding Rebel forces until the main

body of the Federal Army could get into position. He died of typhoid in December 1863. He was promoted

to major general on his deathbed. Buford is buried at West Point. Once a street connecting Sherman and

Grant Avenues, Buford Avenue now ends at Andrews Hall (building #801).

Bullard Avenue.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Robert L. Bullard.

Born: 1861.

Died: 1947.

Campaigns and Oversea Assignments: Philippine War,War with Spain Stateside, Occupation of Cuba,

Mexican Punitive Expedition, Hawaii, WWI.

Remarks: Bullard graduated from USMA in 1885 and was commissioned in the 10th Infantry. His early

service was in New Mexico and Texas. He commanded Company F, 10th Infantry and fought against

Chiricahua Apache chief Geronimo. He was stationed at Fort Leavenworth from 1889-92. He served

as professor of military science and tactics at North Georgia Agricultural College (now North Georgia

University), Dahlonega, Georgia, 1895-97. Bullard commanded elements of and then the regiment of

the 3d Alabama Colored Volunteer Infantry, 1898-99, stateside and the 39th US Volunteer Infantry in the

Philippines, 1899-1901. He was on duty with the military government in Cuba, 1906-09. Bullard graduated

from the Field Officer’s School at Fort Leavenworth, 1911. He commanded the 1st Division, III Corps, and

Second Army in WWI. He led the “Big Red One” in the capture of Cantigny, the first independent American

action of WWI. He is buried at West Point.

Bundel Road.

Namesake: Brigadier General Charles M. Bundel.

Born: 1875.

Died: 1941.

Campaigns and Oversea Assignments: Philippine War,Alaska, Mexican Punitive Expedition, WWI,

Occupation of Germany.

81
Remarks: Bundel graduated from USMA in 1899 and was commissioned in the 4th Infantry. His early

service was with his regiment in the Philippines. He served with the 16th Infantry in Nebraska, Alaska,

and Texas, 1907-14. Captain Bundel was honor graduate of the School of the Line, 1915-16 at Fort

Leavenworth. After a short tour with the Mexican Punitive Expedition he branch transferred to field

artillery in 1917. Bundel commanded the 159th Field Artillery Brigade during the World War and two field

artillery regiments during the Army of Occupation of Germany, 1918-19. He was stationed at Fort

Leavenworth from 1919 to 1924. Colonel Bundel was first an instructor and later director of the

Department of Command, 1922-24. Between 1929 and 1936, Colonel Bundel commanded two field

artillery battalions and the 3d Field Artillery Brigade. Brigadier General Bundel was the commandant of

the Command and General Staff School, June 1936 to March 1939 as the Army prepared for World War

II.20He retired in June 1939 with forty years of service. A military intellectual, he was the author of

scholarly articles in history and the art and science of war.

Burnham Loop.

Namesake: Major General William P.Burnham.

Born: 1864?

Died: 1924.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, War with Spain Stateside, Puerto Rico, WWI, Greece.

Remarks: A cadet at the US Military Academy for three years with the class of 1881, Burnham rose

from private to sergeant in the 14th Infantry, 1881 to 1883. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in

the 6th Infantry in the summer of 1883. Lieutenant Burnham performed regimental service throughout

the United States with the 6th, 11th, and 20th Infantry from 1883 to 1898, including service at Fort

Leavenworth, 1887-89 with the 11th Infantry. First Lieutenant/Captain Burnham was an assistant

instructor in the Department of Law and the Department of Tactics at the Infantry and Cavalry School,

1895-98. He was the lieutenant colonel of the 4th Missouri Volunteer Infantry in 1898-99 during the War

with Spain serving in Alabama, Virginia, and Georgia. Burnham again served at Fort Leavenworth as the

acting commandant of the Army Service Schools, 1913-14. Lieutenant Colonel Burnham commanded

the Porto (sic) Rican Regiment of Infantry 1914-17. Brigadier (later Major) General Burnham

commanded the 82d Division in the St. Mihiel Offensive and the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne, 1917-18.

General Burnham led a US military mission to Greece, 1918-19. He later commanded the Presidio of

San Francisco and Fort McDowell on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, 1919-24. He contributed 128

volumes to the Army Service Schools library in 1915. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Burnham Court was a residential street in the north of Corral Creek and east of Grant Avenue. Its houses

were removed in 1993 and the name was not used for twenty years until it was reapplied to Burnham Loop in

the South Osage Housing Area completed in 2013.

Chief Joseph Loop.

Namesake: Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt (Thunder Rolling down the Mountain21), called Chief Joseph by

whites.

Born: 1840.

Died: 1904.

Campaigns: Indian Campaigns with the Opposition Force.

Remarks: Born in northeastern Oregon, Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt was a traditionalist chief of the Nez

Perce tribe. In 1877, for more than three months, he led a band of about 700, fewer than 200 of whom

were warriors that fought 2,000 US soldiers and Indian auxiliaries in four major battles and numerous

skirmishes covering 1,400 miles in Idaho and Montana. At the end of the campaign, he was reported to have

said, “Hear me my chiefs, from where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.” He and his band

82
were held at Fort Leavenworth from November 1877 to July 1878. Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt travelled

to Washington preaching against US government broken promises. During the period the Nez Perce

were “guests” of the US government at Fort Leavenworth they camped in the bottomlands east of

today’s Sherman Army Airfield. While held on post some 20 members of the tribe died and were buried

near the encampment.22 The graveyard has not been found. In this satellite age, Google Maps identifies

the portion of Chief Joseph Loop to the west of Sherman Army Airfield as Rialto Road. The official road

map of the post maintained by the Directorate of Public Works/Logistics Resources Center identifies it as

Chief Joseph Loop.

Cody Road.

Namesake: “Colonel” William F.(Buffalo Bill) Cody.23

Born: 1846.

Died: 1917.

Campaigns: Civil War,Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Born in Iowa, Buffalo Bill Cody spent his boyhood in Salt Creek Valley,west of Fort Leavenworth.

He saw his father fatally stabbed by a proslavery assailant at Riveley’s Tavern. He was a teamster at the

tender age of 11 for the Leavenworth-based Army freight contractor Russell, Majors, & Wadell and later

was a Pony Express rider during its brief existence from April 1860 to October 1861. During the Civil War

he joined the 7th Kansas Cavalry and was discharged at Fort Leavenworth. After the war Cody worked as

a buffalo hunter for the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Later he served as chief scout for the 5th US Cavalry and

as a scout for Sherman, Sheridan, and Merritt. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1872, one of five

civilian scouts who were awarded the Medal of Honor.24 He toured the world from the 1880’s with Buffalo

Bill’s Wild West Show until his retirement in 1910. He is buried at Lookout Mountain Park, Golden,

Colorado.

CrookAvenue.

Namesake: Major General George W.Crook.

Born: 1830.

Died: 1890.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Civil War,Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Crook graduated from USMA in 1852 and was commissioned in the 4th Infantry. His early

service was with his regiment in Oregon Territory and northern California, 1852-61, including escorting

topographical and exploration parties. He was wounded by an arrow in a fight with Indians in California in

1857. A regular Army captain at the start of the Civil War, he was brevetted to lieutenant colonel, colonel,

brigadier general, and major general during the war. At the beginning of the Civil War he commanded the

36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a colonel. He commanded a brigade, division, and army during the Civil

War, including a brigade at Antietam. As an army commander he was captured by Confederates in 1865.

Promoted in the Regular Army to major and then lieutenant colonel in 1866, Crook had extensive field

experience in the northwest and west in the late 1860s and 1870s. Brigadier General Crook held several

administrative and field commands in Arizona and Nebraska into the 1880s. He served as commander of the

Division of the Missouri and member of the Military Prison Board, 1888-1890, at Fort Leavenworth. Crook

died while on active duty. Major General Crook is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The 3d Brigade

of the 1st Cavalry Division is named the “Grey Wolf Brigade” in his honor. He is the namesake for Fort

Crook near Omaha, Nebraska, which is now incorporated into Offutt Air Force Base. The brick quarters

83
lining the main parade at the former Fort Crook are now used as housing for senior officers for US Strategic

Command and others at the base.

CusterAvenue.

Namesake: Major General George A. Custer.

Born: 1839.

Died: 1876.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Civil War,Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Custer graduated from USMA last in his class, June 1861, and was commissioned in the 2d

Cavalry.25 He was a Civil War and Great Plains cavalry commander. Twenty-one of the 34 cadets in his

graduating class fought at the Battle of First Bull Run a month after graduation. Custer was promoted from

first lieutenant in the Regular Army (July 1862) to brigadier general of Volunteers (June 1863) quickly and

finished the war as a brevet major general. A brave and successful cavalry commander during the Civil War,

he had eleven horses shot from under him. His final Civil War promotion was as major general of Volunteers

in April 1865 at the age of twenty-five. Appointed the lieutenant colonel of the 7th Cavalry in July, 1866,

Custer served extensively in the Midwest and Dakotas. He was court-martialed at Fort Leavenworth in

1867 for leaving his command to see his sick wife.26 Found guilty, he was suspended from the Army for

a year, but called back to command troops against Indian uprisings in 1868. He was stationed at Fort

Leavenworth several times from 1869-71. He wrote a book, My Life on the Plains in 1874. He died with

the rest of his command in the battle of the Little Big Horn Valley in June 1876. His name is inscribed on the

7th Cavalry plaque on the walls of Memorial chapel on Fort Leavenworth. Custer is buried at West Point.

Fort Custer, Michigan, is named in his honor. The 85th Infantry Division is called the Custer Division. His

wife Elizabeth Bacon “Libby” Custer (1842-1933) is buried beside him at the USMA post cemetery.

Dickman Avenue.

Namesake: Major General Joseph T. Dickman.

Born: 1857.

Died: 1927.

Campaigns: Indian Campaigns, War with Spain, Occupation of Cuba, Philippine War,China Relief

Expedition, Mexican Border, WWI, Occupation of Germany.

Remarks: Dickman graduated from USMA in 1881 and was commissioned in the 3d Cavalry. After early

service with his regiment in Wyoming Territory, he was an honor graduate of the first class at the School

of Application for Cavalry and Infantry in 1883, followed by a tour as an assistant instructor for five

months. In the late 1880s he served in Texas and Arizona as regimental adjutant. Dickman served again as

an instructor at the Infantry and Cavalry School, Fort Leavenworth, 1895-98. He served as an Instructor

in the Department of Tactics at the Infantry and Cavalry School, 1902-03. Lieutenant Colonel Dickman

visited Russia, Austria, Italy, France, and England as a member of the Cavalry Board, 1912-14. Colonel

Dickman commanded the 2d Cavalry Regiment, 1915-17. Promoted to brigadier general and then major

general at the start of World War I, Dickman commanded the 85th and 3d Divisions. He was commander of

the 3d Division when they held the Marne River crossings and became the “Rock of the Marne.” Later in

the war, he commanded two corps (IV and I) in 1918 and the 3d Army during occupation of Germany after

WWI, 1918-19. Back home, General Dickman commanded the Southern Department in 1919. He was the

author of several books on military subjects and doctrinal publications. He is buried at Arlington National

Cemetery.

84
Dodge Road.

Namesake: Colonel Henry Dodge.

Born: 1782.

Died: 1867.

Campaigns: War of 1812, Blackhawk War,Indian Campaigns, Mexican War.

Remarks: Dodge gained military prominence during the War of 1812 when he rose from captain to

lieutenant colonel of the Missouri Militia, 1812-15. In 1820 he was a delegate at the Missouri Territorial

Constitutional Convention. He served as a colonel in the Michigan Mounted Volunteers in 1832. Dodge

organized the Mounted Rangers in 1832 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, as a major and as a colonel was the

first commander of the Dragoons at Fort Leavenworth in 1833. The Army realized it needed a mounted arm

to keep pace with the increasingly mobile Native American adversary it encountered on the Great Plains.

So in some sense, Fort Leavenworth is the “Home of US Army Cavalry” and Colonel Dodge is the father of

cavalry. He commanded Fort Leavenworth, 1834-36, as the regimental commander of the Dragoons.27 The

Dragoon second in command was Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor, future general and president. After

a distinguished military career, Dodge resigned his commission and was appointed US Superintendent of

Indian Affairs, 1836. Dodge was twice governor of Wisconsin Territory (1836-41 and 1846-48), served in

Congress (1841-45) and was a Senator from Wisconsin 1848-51).28 He is buried at Aspen Grove Cemetery,

Burlington, Iowa. Dodge County in Wisconsin and Henry County in Iowa are named in his honor.

Doniphan Drive.

Namesake: Major General Alexander W.Doniphan.

Born: 1808.

Died: 1887.

Campaigns: Mexican War, Mormon War.

Remarks: Doniphan was elected brigadier general in the Missouri State Militia and later colonel of the 1st

Missouri Mounted Volunteers, 1846. He served in several Mexican War campaigns, including the capture

of Santa Fe and the 1,000-mile march to Mexico during the war. He served as the commanding officer of

the Volunteers in New Mexico during the Mexican War. Doniphan commanded a brigade in the Mormon

War of 1848 when he recommended against execution of Mormon leader Joseph Smith. Although offered

commissions by both sides, he remained neutral during the Civil War. Doniphan County, Kansas, is named

in his honor. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Liberty, Missouri.

Dragoon Road.

Namesake: 1st and 2d US Dragoon Regiments.

Established: 1833.

Status: Inactivated in 1861.

Campaigns: Frontier duty and Indian Campaigns.

85
Remarks: See the description of the 1st Cavalry. The designation of the regiment was changed to the 1st

Cavalry in August of 1861.

Education Way.

Namesake: Kansas Unified School District #207.

Established: 1901.

Status: Still in operation.

Remarks: Constructed in 2004, the road leads into the parking lot and around the back of the USD #207

headquarters, building #332, on Biddle Boulevard. This is the shortest named street on post.

FarragutAvenue.

Namesake: Admiral David G. Farragut.

Born: 1801.

Died: 1870.

Campaigns and Overseas Service: War of 1812, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Mexican War,Civil War,

European Squadron.

Remarks: Farragut entered the US Navy as a midshipman in 1810. He served in the War of 1812 as a 12-year

old midshipman when he was wounded and captured by a British Royal Navy vessel in Valparaiso, Chile.

He was later exchanged. Farragut established Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California and commanded

it, 1854-58. At the age of sixty with fifty-one years in the Navy, he was the senior officer in the US Navy

during the Civil War. He was the victor at the Battle of Mobile Bay, 1864, where he was reported to have

said, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”29 He was the first-ever rear admiral, vice admiral, and full

admiral in the US Navy. Farragut was a pallbearer at the funeral of Abraham Lincoln. Five ships have

been named in his honor and he was twice depicted on postage stamps (1901 and 1995).30 Farragut Avenue

was the only road on post named for a naval officer. Two maps, 1908 and 1909, show the road running

from Building #116, the warehouse at the bottom of Riverside Avenue near the Trails West Swale, past

the Whiskey River Bridge and following the west bank of the Missouri river to exit post near the present

day Sherman Gate. Today Farragut Avenue is a trail on the former right of way of the Fort Leavenworth

Terminal Railway running north-south from building #116 and ending at building #341, the post receiving

warehouse.31

GibbonAvenue.

Namesake: Major General John Gibbon.

Born: 1827.

Died: 1896.

Campaigns: Mexican War, Seminole War,Civil War,Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Gibbon graduated from USMA in 1847 and was commissioned in the 3d Artillery as a brevet

second lieutenant, then as a second lieutenant in the 4th Artillery. His early service was with the 3d Artillery

in the last year of the Mexican War and with the 4th Artillery in the Seminole War (1849-50) and in

Texas. He was assigned as artillery instructor (1854-56) and post quartermaster (1856-59) at West Point.

In 1857, Gibbon was a member of a board to test the merits of breech-loading rifles. He was stationed as a

captain in the 4th Artillery at Fort Leavenworth in 1861. His three brothers served with the Confederacy.

86
Gibbon commanded a brigade, division, and corps in Civil War. He was badly wounded at Gettysburg.

He designed the heart insignia still used to identify the Army’s XXIV Corps. He was assigned as a senior

commissioner who implemented the provisions of the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern

Virginia at Appomattox. After the war he served a colonel of the 7th Infantry, 1869-88. He participated

in the Nez Perce campaign in 1877 which ended with Chief Joseph and his band being brought to Fort

Leavenworth. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Grant Avenue.

Namesake: General/President Ulysses S. (Sam) Grant.

Born: 1822.

Died: 1885.

Campaigns and Other Assignments: Military occupation of Texas, Mexican War, Frontier duty in the

Midwest and on the West Coast, Civil War.

Remarks: Consult the many biographies for information on this famous American. He is buried in Grant’s

Tomb, General Grant National Monument, Riverside Drive, New York City. He is the punch line of the

joke, “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?”32 Fort Grant at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal was named

in his honor. Six other military installations were also named for him. Grant Avenue, named in 1887, is the

main North-South road on post connecting the main gate with Grant Statue. It was previously called Fort

or Garrison Road.

Grierson Street.

Namesake: Major General Benjamin H. Grierson.33

Born: 1826.

Died: 1911.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Civil War,Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Grierson started his professional life as a music teacher in Illinois. At the beginning of the Civil

War he rose through the ranks of the 6th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. He was reported not to like horses,

but, General Grant considered him one of the best cavalry commanders in the Army during the Civil War.

As part of the Vicksburg campaign in the spring of 1863, he led Grierson’s Raid, a major diversionary

thrust deep into the Confederacy. Over 17 days, his command marched 800 miles, repeatedly engaged the

Confederates, disabled two railroads, captured many prisoners and horses, and destroyed vast amounts of

property, finally ending in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He remained in the Army as a colonel after the war

and formed the 10th Cavalry Regiment in 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He commanded it for almost

24 years. Grierson campaigned for the rights and recognition of black soldiers, for which he reportedly

earned the enmity of many fellow officers. He was stationed at a number of frontier posts in the Midwest

and southwest, including Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Gibson, Indian Territory; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort

Concho, Texas; Fort Sill, Indian Territory; and Fort Davis, Texas. In November 1888, he assumed command

of the Department of Arizona. He was promoted to brigadier general on 5 April 1890, and retired on 8 July

of that year. He became one of the few civilians, i.e. a non-West Point graduate, who attained the rank of

brigadier general in the Regular Army in the 19th century. In 2012, a bust of General Grierson was added

to those in the Circle of Firsts Park near the Buffalo Soldier’s Monument to recognize his contributions of

the Army as a leader of African American soldiers.

87
Hancock Avenue.

Namesake: Major General Winfield S. Hancock.

Born: 1824.

Died: 1886.

Campaigns: Seminole War, Mexican War, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Civil War,Reconstruction.

Remarks: Hancock graduated from USMA in 1844 and was commissioned in the 6th Infantry. His early

service was with his regiment in Indian Territory (part of present day Oklahoma). He was extensively

engaged with his regiment in the Mexican War, 1847-48. Before the Civil War, Lieutenant Hancock served

as regimental quartermaster and then adjutant in Missouri and Iowa, with a short time in Florida in action

against the Seminoles. He was stationed with the 6th Infantry at Fort Leavenworth, 1857-58, quelling the

Border War and with the quartermaster depot. Captain Hancock was with his regiment in California at the

start of the Civil War. He served as a brigade, division, and corps commander in the Civil War and was

severely wounded at Gettysburg. Because of his intellect his fellow officers nicknamed him “Hancock the

Superb.” He commanded the Department of the Missouri in 1866-67 at Fort Leavenworth and engaged in an

expedition to Utah Territory against Plains Indians. In 1880, he was nominated by the Democratic National

Convention as the party’s presidential candidate. He lost to James Garfield.34 He died while in command

of the Military District of the Atlantic in 1886. He is buried in Montgomery Cemetery, Norristown, New

Jersey. Hancock was one of only fourteen officers given the “Thanks of Congress” during the Civil War

period.35 Fort Hancock, New Jersey, a coast defense installation for the protection of lower New York

Harbor was named in his honor.

Harbord Drive.

Namesake: Lieutenant General James G. Harbord.

Born: 1866.

Died: 1947.

Campaigns: War with Spain, Occupation of Cuba, Philippine Campaign, WWI.

Remarks: Harbord graduated from Kansas Agricultural College (now Kansas State University) in 1886. He

joined the Army as a private in the 4th Infantry in 1889 and served with the regiment as a private, corporal,

sergeant, and quartermaster sergeant until 1891. Commissioned in the 5th Cavalry in 1891, he attended

the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1895. In April 1899, he was awarded the

Medal of Honor for bravery at El Caney, Cuba on 1 July 1898.36 Captain Harbord served as a member of

the occupation army in Cuba after the War with Spain. He served in Cuba with the 10th Cavalry and with

the 11th Cavalry in the Philippines. He was the assistant chief of the Philippine Constabulary, 1903-9 and

10-13, with duty at Fort Leavenworth in between. During his twelve years in the Philippines he formed

a lifelong friendship with John J. Pershing. He deployed to France in 1917 as chief of staff to General

Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces, 1917-18. He commanded the 4th Marine Brigade in

the 2d Division and then the division itself, April to July 1918. In July 1918 Major General Harbord was

appointed the commanding general of the Services of Supply. After the war in 1919, he headed a US factfinding mission to the Middle East to investigate the feasibility of the Balfour Declaration, which supported

the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, and on the Armenian genocide. When Pershing became Army

chief of staff in 1921 he appointed Harbord as his deputy. After retirement Harbord served as the president

of the Radio Corporation of America from 1923 to 1930 and later as chairman of the board until his death

in 1947. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

88
Harrison Drive.

Namesake: Colonel James W.Harrison.

Born: 1959.

Died: 2007.

Campaigns: Cold War, Persian Gulf War, Operation

Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).

Remarks: Harrison graduated from USMA in 1981 and was commissioned as a military policeman. He

spent most of his career in military police assignments. Lieutenant Harrison’s early service was as a site

security officer with the 59th Ordnance Brigade in Germany, and company commander at Fort Gordon,

Georgia. Harrison served as a budget officer with the 1st Armored Division and deployed with them from

Germany to the Persian Gulf. Harrison graduated from the Combined Arms and Services Staff School and

the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. He served as the operations officer (S-3)

of the 704th Military Police Battalion and executive officer of the 504th Military Police Battalion at Fort

Lewis, Washington. Lieutenant Colonel Harrison commanded the 5th Military Police Battalion (Criminal

Investigation Division) in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Following battalion command, he served as the 47th

commandant of the US Disciplinary Barracks from June 2004 to June 2006. Before his deployment to

Afghanistan in December 2006, he was promoted to colonel and became the director of the School of

Command Preparation at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He served

as a detention policy expert with the Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. He was killed by small arms

fire from a rogue Afghan National Army soldier who fired at his vehicle as it exited the prison at Pol-eCharki, Afghanistan, 6 May 2007. He is buried at the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. On 30 March

2011, the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization training mission headquarters at Camp

Eggers, Kabul, Afghanistan, was named Harrison House in his honor.37 As a junior officer in 1987, he was

a recipient of the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award.38

Harry Bell Road.

Namesake: Captain Harry Bell.

Born: 21 September 1860.39

Died: 6 November 1938.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, War with Spain, Philippine War.

Figure 25. Captain Harry

Bell grave, Fort Leavenworth 

National Cemetery

(Author’s collection)

89
Remarks: Bell enlisted in the Army Signal Corps in 1888. After service in Cuba in 1898, he volunteered

for overseas service as an officer during the War with Spain in the Philippines and served as a captain in

the 36th US Volunteer Infantry, 1899-1901.

40 He was a first lieutenant in the Philippine Scouts, 1901-02.41

In 1902, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions at Porac, Luzon, in October 1899 for leading a 

charge against superior numbers. Bell later served as the acting adjutant general of a district on Luzon.

After the war he reverted to his enlisted rank and served at Fort Leavenworth as the principal assistant in

the Army Service Schools library with the rank of master signal electrician. MSE was the highest enlisted

grade in the Signal Corps at the time. He retired from the Army in 1915 after 27 years of service and went

to work as a government civilian as chief clerk at the US Disciplinary Barracks, remaining until 1928. He

retired from government service in 1930. Bell served as a German translator for the Service Schools

library, 1910-22. The 1912 Annual Report of the commandant says, “In addition to the routine work of

the Library, MSE Bell has done much good work in the line of making German translations for 

instructors and others at the schools.” The 1922 Annual Report of the commandant states, “German

translations have been made by Harry Bell, a retired non-commissioned officer of the Army, who was

formerly on duty at these schools.” Copies of fourteen of these translations are on the general circulation

shelves and in the special collections of the Combined Arms Research Library at Fort Leavenworth,

covering Prussian/German military thought from 1800 to after the First World War.42After retirement from 

government service, he lived at 631 Kiowa Street in Leavenworth. Captain Bell is buried at the Fort 

Leavenworth National Cemetery. Harry Bell Road is in Iowa Village South.

Hastings Road.

Namesake: Miss Virginia M. Hastings.

Born: 1921.

Died: 1936.

Experience: Girl Scout on Fort Leavenworth.

Figure 26. Virginia M. Hastings Tombstone, Fort

Leavenworth National Cemetery

Remarks: She was the daughter of Captain and Mrs. Albert J. Hastings. Captain Hastings was a student in

the one-year Command and General Staff School course of 1936. His daughter was a member of Sunflower

Troop, Girl Scouts of America, on Fort Leavenworth. She died at the family quarters on Kearny Avenue,

Fort Leavenworth, after a brief illness, on January 10, 1936. She is buried at the Fort Leavenworth National

Cemetery. Hastings Road connects Scott Avenue with Riverside Avenue. It has two buildings, the Girl

Scout Hut, originally built in 1908 as the commanding officer’s stable and the post water treatment plant.

The stable was remodeled and dedicated as a Girl Scout building in 1935.

Hatch Street.

Namesake: Major General John Porter Hatch.

Born: 1822.

Died: 1901.

Campaigns: Military occupation of Texas, Mexican War, Frontier duty, Civil War, Reconstruction, Indian

Campaigns.

90
Remarks: Hatch graduated from USMA in 1845 and was commissioned in the 3d Infantry. His initial

field service was in the military occupation of Texas, 1845-46. He transferred to the Mounted Rifles

in 1846 and saw extensive service in the Mexican War, 1846-47.43 After the war, he was on garrison and

frontier duty at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1849. Lieutenant Hatch

served with his regiment in the west and far west, including New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, and Washington.

Hatch was a cavalry and infantry commander during the Civil War, including command of a division and

cavalry corps during Sherman’s March to the Sea. He commanded several military districts after the war.

He was a member of the board for the purchase of cavalry horses, 1870. Hatch served in cavalry units in

the west and southwest in the 1870s. He was appointed colonel of the 2d Cavalry and served from 1881

until his retirement in 1886. He received the Medal of Honor in 1893 in recognition for his service at South

Mountain, Maryland, in 1862. Hatch is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Hollowell Court and Drive.

Dedicated: 19 June 2009.

Namesake: Chief Warrant Officer 4 Harry H. Hollowell.

Born: 1914.

Died: 2005.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Pre-World War II garrison Army, Burma and India in World War

II, Germany, Okinawa.

Remarks: Born in Arkansas, Harry H. Hollowell grew up near Eureka in southeastern Kansas and graduated

from Eureka High School in 1934. He developed an early interest in music and as a young man he attended

music school in Wichita.At age 21 he enlisted as a private in the 10th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas. He distinguished himself as a soldier and during his time with the Buffalo Soldiers he served as a

troop clerk, recruiting sergeant, and squadron sergeant major with the rank of staff sergeant. In addition to

his official duties, Sergeant Hollowell played trombone and directed the 10th Cavalry Provisional Band.

In December 1940, he was reassigned with the rest of the 10th Cavalry to Fort Riley, Kansas, where the

Buffalo Soldiers and other cavalry regiments trained for war.44 In January 1942 Staff Sergeant Hollowell

was assigned to the Army Music School at Fort Myer, Virginia, for training as a bandmaster.45 Promoted

to warrant officer junior grade in the regular Army upon graduation on 16 May 1942, he was assigned as a

band leader of the 45th Engineer General Service Regiment (Colored) Band in India and Burma working

on the Ledo Road. Mr. Hollowell served in the regiment from July 1942 until March 1945.46 After the

war, Chief Warrant Officer Hollowell (he was promoted on 20 April 1943 while still overseas) served

in a succession of assignments in the continental United States as a band leader and commander during

the period 1945-1949: 337th Army Services Forces Band (Camp Gordon Johnston, Florida), 196th Army

Service Forces Band (Fort Benning, Georgia), 25th Infantry Regiment Band (Fort Benning, Georgia), and

the 173d Army Band (Fort Dix, New Jersey). In 1950 he was assigned overseas as the commander of,

first, the 80th Army Band and then the 33d Army Band in Mannheim, Germany. In December 1952, the

“colored” band was transferred to Heidelberg and under his leadership became one of the first integrated

Army bands in Europe. In those waning days of the apartheid Army, he and his family lived in Mannheim

but Chief Hollowell worked in Heidelberg. The Army garrisoned occupied Germany by race; Mannheim

was garrisoned by black soldiers and Heidelberg by white. In August 1953, he became the executive officer

of the band when a more senior bandmaster was assigned to the 33d.47 Following a stateside assignment with

the 330th and 437th Army Bands at Fort Carson, Colorado, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Hollowell (promoted

on 29 April 1953) became the commander of the 29th Army Band in Okinawa and served from 1957 to

1960. Returning home, he commanded the 371st Army Band at Fort Leavenworth from 1960 to 1963.48 In

May 1963 after completing the Military Assistance course in Arlington, Virginia, Chief Warrant Officer 4

91
Hollowell (promoted on 1 November 1955) was assigned to the US Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia, on

a music exchange program.49 Mr. Hollowell served as the band advisor to the Armed Forces of Liberia. He

returned to the United States and retired at Fort Hamilton, New York, on 31 August 1964 with more than

twenty-eight years of service. Following retirement from the Army, Mr. Hollowell returned to Leavenworth

and served as the director of music programs at the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth until

retirement in 1986. Chief Hollowell is buried in the Leavenworth National Cemetery in Leavenworth,

Kansas. Hollowell Court and Drive are in the Pottawatomi Village Housing Area.

Hunt Road and Loop.

Namesake: Colonel Elvid Hunt.

Born: 1877.

Died: 1953.

Campaigns and Other Overseas Assignments: Philippine War,Cuban Pacification, WWI in Hawaii and

France, Philippines.

Remarks: Hunt graduated from USMA in 1903 and was commissioned in the 28th Infantry. He was a

classmate of Douglas MacArthur. He joined his regiment in the Philippines and later served with his

regiment in the pacification of Cuba, 1906-09, as a quartermaster and commissary officer. He served with

several infantry regiments in the years before the World War. Hunt graduated from a special militia course

at Fort Leavenworth, May to August, 1911, to prepare him for duty with the Organized Militia. He was

on Organized Militia duty in Delaware, 1911-15. During World War I he was in charge of German naval

officer detainees in Hawaii, 1917.50 Major Hunt participated in the final offensives of WWI in France where

he served as an inspector and instructor. His service with the militia and in France built his reputation as a

training specialist. Major Hunt graduated from the Army School of the Line, 1922, and the General Staff

School, 1923 at Fort Leavenworth. He stayed to serve as an instructor at the General Service Schools, 1923-

26. Lieutenant Colonel Hunt commanded a battalion of Philippines Scouts, 1927-28 followed by command

of the 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia, 1930-31, and service as brigade executive

officer 1931-32. Colonel Hunt was assigned as professor of military science and tactics at the University of

California, Berkley, 1936-39. He retired in 1939 with more than 40 years of service. He was co-author, with

Captain Walter Lorence, of The History of Fort Leavenworth, 1827-1927.

IowaAvenue.

Namesake: Iowa Tribe.

Remarks: They are called “Ioway” in their own language which was from the Sioux family of

languages. During the 17th century, many tribes from eastern states were forced west as a result of

warfare with the British, Americans and French. Such tribes as the Sac (or Sauk) and Fox, and Kickapoo

moved into the traditional Iowa hunting grounds leading to inter-tribal warfare. By 1800 they had a 

presence along the Little Platte River in western Missouri Territory. In 1836, the Iowa signed a treaty

by which they were moved to a reservation on the Kansas-Nebraska border. Later treaties in 1834

and 1861 diminished the size of that reservation. In the 1880’s many Iowa began moving into

Indian Territory in Oklahoma. The tribe split into southern (Oklahoma) and northern bands (Kansas and

Nebraska) after the Civil War. The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska has a 1,500 acre reservation in

extreme northeast Kansas and extreme southeastern Nebraska with about 300 tribal members in

residence. Iowa Avenue is an east-west arterial road on post running from Grant Avenue to Hancock

Avenue.

92
Johnson Drive.

Namesake: General Harold K. Johnson.

Born: 1912.

Died: 1983.

Campaigns: Philippines, WWII, Bataan Death March, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War.

Remarks: Johnson graduated from USMA in 1933 and was commissioned in the infantry. His early service

was as a company commander in the 3d Infantry at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, 1933-37. Following study

at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, he commanded a company of the 28th Infantry at Fort

Niagara, New York, 1938-40. Assigned to the Philippines in 1940, Captain Johnson was the operations and

training officer (S-3) and later commander of the 57th US Infantry (Philippine Scouts), at Fort McKinley in

Manila. The battalion was destroyed in combat in the fighting on Luzon and Bataan in 1941-42. A Bataan

Death March survivor, he spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. Initially imprisoned with his unit at

Camp O’Donnell and then Cabanatuan on Luzon, he went by “hell ship” to Fukuoka, Japan, and finally to

Korea where he was liberated from a POW camp in Inchon. He graduated from the Command and General

Staff College, 1947, and was a CGSC instructor, 1947-49. Lieutenant Colonel Johnson commanded the 3d

Battalion, 7th Infantry at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, just prior to the Korean War. During the Korean War,

Johnson commanded both the 5th and the 8th Cavalry Regiments in the 1st Cavalry Division and later

was the operations officer of I Corps.51 Brigadier General Johnson was assistant division commander of the

8th Infantry Division in Germany, 1956, and chief of staff of the Seventh Army in Europe from 1957-59.

Johnson returned to Fort Leavenworth as the Combined Arms Center commander and CGSC commandant

in 1963. After service as chief of staff of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Central Army Group, he

was selected as the chief of staff of the Army in 1964 and served until 1968. General Johnson is buried at

Arlington National Cemetery. Johnson Drive is one of the replacement streets in the former 5th Artillery

Road housing area.

Kansas Avenue.

Namesake: Kansa (or Kaw) Tribe.

Remarks: Speakers of a Sioux language, the Kansa lived in central Kansas along the Kansas and Saline

Rivers. A warrior mentality prevailed so most men were trained in the art of war. The Pawnees were the

Kaw’s principal enemy, but the tribe also fought with the Iowa, Otoe, Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne,

Osage, and the Sauk and Fox tribes. White man’s diseases, principally smallpox, cholera, and influenza,

reduced their population to less than fifty percent, down to about 1,500 men, women, and children by 1800.

From 1820 to 1846 the Kaw gave up most of their land in Kansas to whites.52 Continued pressure from

more aggressive Indian tribes, white settlement, treaties with the Federal government, and later railroad

development moved them further west and into Indian Territory by 1873. Kaw Charles Curtis served as a

member of the US House of Representatives for fourteen years, a US Senator for twenty years, and as

vice president of the United States under Herbert Hoover from 1929-33. He helped enact into law the Indian

Citizen Act of 1924 which granted United States citizenship to Native people not already so honored.53 The

Kaw Nation tribal headquarters is in Kaw City, Oklahoma, and registers about 2,600 members. Kansas

Avenue formerly connected Grant Avenue with Hancock Avenue but construction of a children’s play area

separated it into two segments: a commercial street near the PX complex, and a residential street in Santa

Fe Village ending at Hancock Avenue.

93
KearnyAvenue.

Namesake: Major General Stephen W.Kearny.

Born: 1794.

Died: 1848.

Campaigns: War of 1812, Frontier duty, Mexican War, Indian Campaigns prior to the Civil War. Remarks:

Kearny was a student at Columbia College (now Columbia University), New York, New York. He left to

become a second, then first lieutenant in the War of 1812. He served with distinction at the Battle of

Queenstown Heights on the Niagara frontier in 1813. In 1819, he participated in an expedition

of exploration that ventured to Montana and Wyoming, including the Yellowstone region. He was the first

commander of Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri, in 1826. Kearny served at Fort Leavenworth,

1836-41 and 1843-44 with the 1st Dragoons. He also led a major expedition along the Oregon Trail in 1845.

At the outset of the War with Mexico, Brigadier General Kearny marched to Santa Fe at the head of a force

of 1,700. His troops, the Army of the West, consisted of two regiments of Missouri volunteers, a regiment

of New York volunteers (who traveled by ship to California), artillery and infantry battalions, Kearny’s own

1st Dragoon Regiment, and the Mormon Battalion. They captured Santa Fe in 1846 to secure the region for

the United States. The force travelled to California and Kearny later served there as its military governor.

At the end of the war he was named military governor of Vera Cruz and later Mexico City. He died in St.

Louis of a tropical disease contracted during the war. Fort Kearny was half way between Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas, and Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Kearny is the namesake of counties in Kansas and Nebraska, former

forts in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Washington, DC, and towns in several states. Prior to 1947, the Marine

Corps Air Station, Miramar, California, was called Camp Kearny.

The Question: Is it Kearny or Kearney?

Major General Stephen Watts Kearny figured large in the military history of the West. His campaign

credits include the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Indian Campaigns. He served from the

East Coast to the West and from the Canadian Border to Mexico. If he is so important a figure in 19th

century American history, why don’t we know how to spell his name? A ride along the avenue named

for him on Fort Leavenworth at one time showed it spelled both Kearny and Kearney. However, the

post engineers should not feel bad; they are not alone. It is Kearny County, Kansas, but Kearney

County, Nebraska. Fort Kearny State Recreation Area, Nebraska, and the city of Kearney, Nebraska,

are seven miles apart and they cannot agree on the spelling. Towns in Missouri and Michigan also

spell it with an e.

The Answer: most sources spell it Kearny. Now, is it pronounced Kir-ny or Kar-ny?

Kickapoo Avenue.

Namesake: Kickapoo Tribe.

Remarks: Speakers of an Algonquin language, the Kickapoo were originally from Wisconsin and Illinois,

the Kickapoo name means “he moves about, standing now here, now there.” The tribe was first encountered

by Catholic missionary Father Jean Claude Allovez between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers in southern

Wisconsin about 1667. Treaties with the federal government moved the tribe to Missouri (1819) and later

Kansas (1854 and 1864). A large group of Kickapoo, dissatisfied with conditions on the reservation, went

(c.1852) first to Texas and then to Mexico, where they became known as the Mexican Kickapoo. The

Kickapoo live today in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Mexico. The current reservation is in Brown County,

Kansas, with its headquarters in Horton. There were an estimated 3,000 Kickapoo in 1900 with the current

population at about 1,400. There are—or where—Kickapoo townships in several Midwestern states,

including Kansas. Kickapoo Township is a rural area in Leavenworth County, Kansas, to the west and

northwest of Fort Leavenworth along the Missouri River settled by German, Irish, and French immigrants.

It is remembered today in the Kickapoo Volunteer Fire Department in Easton, Kansas.

94
King Avenue.

Namesake: Major General Edward L. King.

Born: 1872.

Died: 1933.

Campaigns and Overseas Service: War with Spain, Philippine War, Panama, WWI, Occupation of

Luxemburg.

Remarks: King graduated from USMA in 1896 and was commissioned in the 8th Cavalry. He also served

in the 7th and 9th Cavalry in the west, 1896-98. King served with the 8th Cavalry and the VIII Corps

staff in Cuba in 1898. He left Cuba for the Philippines where he served as a captain in the 11th Volunteer

Cavalry, 1899-1901. He returned to the Philippines with the 11th US Cavalry in 1902. Captain King was

later on quartermaster duty at several locations including West Point and Panama, 1903-05.54 King later

served with the 2d Cavalry during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Following third and fourth tours

in the Philippines, he was a distinguished graduate of the Army School of the Line (1912) and completed

the Army Service School in 1914, both at Fort Leavenworth. Brigadier General King commanded the 65th

Infantry Brigade in France in WWI. In 1919, King was president of the American Expeditionary Forces

Cavalry Board, which studied the tactical organization and armament lessons of the war and visited French,

British, Belgian, and Italian cavalry establishments.55 He commanded the Cavalry School at Fort Riley,

1923-25 and was commandant of the Command and General Staff School, 1925-29. He later was the

director of the War College. King commanded the IV Corps Area in 1933 and died while on active duty.

General King is buried at West Point.

LiggettAvenue.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett.

Born: 1857.

Died: 1935.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, War with Spain, Philippine War,WWI, Occupation of Germany.

Remarks: Liggett graduated from USMA in 1879 and was commissioned in the 5th Infantry. His early

service was with his regiment in Montana and the Dakotas, 1880-88. This was followed by regimental

service with troops and as adjutant in Texas and Florida, 1889-96. During the War with Spain, Captain

Liggett served with his regiment and the 31st US Volunteer Infantry in Florida, Cuba, Kentucky, and later

the Philippines, 1899-1901. Following further service with his regiment in the Philippines, Major Liggett

commanded a battalion of the 13th Infantry, 1907-09, at Fort Leavenworth. Brigadier General Liggett

was on duty at the 50th anniversary camp at Gettysburg in July 1913.56 Liggett commanded a provisional

infantry brigade and then the Philippine Department, 1916-17. He commanded the 41st Division and then

I Corps in France, 1917-18, followed by the First Army in 1918 and Third Army during the occupation

of Germany, 1918-19. He is buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery on the grounds of the former

Presidio of San Francisco, California. Fort Hunter Liggett, California, is named in his honor.

Lowe Drive.

Namesake: First Sergeant Percival G. Lowe.

Born: 1828.

Died: 1908.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Born in New Hampshire, Lowe enlisted in the 1st Dragoons and, following training at Carlisle

95
Barracks, Pennsylvania, he joined the regiment at Fort Leavenworth in 1849. Lowe served five years.57 He

served as a teamster and wagon master at Fort Leavenworth after leaving the Army. He later was appointed

superintendent of transportation for Maj. E. A. Ogden, and was engaged in the construction of Fort Riley,

Kansas. Lowe served as master of transportation both in General Edwin V. Sumner’s expedition against

the Cheyenne in 1857, and for General Albert S. Johnston’s army sent against the Mormons in 1858. A

well-known politician, he served on the Leavenworth City Council in 1868, 1869 and 1876. He was county

sheriff from 1877 to 1882 and a member of the State Senate in 1885-89.58 He served as the president

of the Kansas State Historical Society in 1893.59 Lowemont, an unincorporated settlement west of Fort

Leavenworth, is named in his honor. Lowe Drive is the main road in Nez Perce Village on the site of the

former headquarters complex for Battery D, 5th Missile Battalion, 55th Artillery, 74th Artillery Group, a

Nike Hercules unit stationed on post, 1958-69.60

McClellanAvenue.

Namesake: Major General George B. McClellan.

Born: 1826.

Died: 1885.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Frontier

duty, Mexican War, Military observer in the

Crimean War, Civil War.

Remarks: McClellan enrolled at USMAat age fifteen in 1842 and graduated in 1846. He was commissioned in

the Corps of Engineers. He was an engineering officer in the Mexican War.Highly thought of in the Army and

fluent in French, he was sent to study armies in Europe and observed the Crimean War in 1855.61 He

contributed to the development of the saddle that bears his name which was a Hungarian design copied by

the Prussians. Leaving the Army in the late 1850s, he became a railroad executive. Returning to the Army at

the start of the Civil War, he eventually was appointed general-in-chief of the Union Army in 1861. General

McClellan commanded Union forces at the Battle of Antietam, 1862. McClellan was a somewhat cautious 

commander. Abraham Lincoln was reported to have said of him, “If General McClellan does not want to use

the army, I should like to borrow it.” Involved in political intrigue, he was eventually relieved of command

of the Army of the Potomac by President Lincoln and never recalled. McClellan was the unsuccessful

Democratic candidate for president against Lincoln, 1864.62 He served as governor of New Jersey, 1878-

81. General McClellan is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey. He is the namesake for the

former Fort McClellan, Alabama.

McDowellAvenue.

Namesake: Major General Irvin McDowell.

Born: 1818.

Died: 1885.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Mexican War,Civil War,

Reconstruction.

Figure 27. Major General Irvin McDowell

(Handy-Brady)

Remarks: McDowell began his education in France. He entered the USMA at sixteen and graduated in

1838, commissioned into the 1st Artillery. His initial service was on the Canadian Border in Maine during

disturbances in 1838-41. He taught infantry tactics at West Point from 1841-45. During the Mexican War,

he served in Mexico as an adjutant general with the army of Major General John E. Wool. Major McDowell

served as an assistant adjutant general from 1848 to 1861 with the Adjutant General’s Department in

Washington, DC, New York, and Texas. His duties included an inspection tour of Missouri and Kansas;

he probably visited Fort Leavenworth, 1860-61. Brigadier General McDowell was the commander of the

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Army of the Potomac and the losing Union commander at the First and Second Battles of Bull Run, 1861.

He later commanded a corps and army during the Civil War and a department in the south after the war.

He commanded the Department of the Pacific and several other military departments, 1864-82. He retired

from the Army in 1882 and was the park commissioner of San Francisco, 1882-85. He is buried at the San

Francisco National Cemetery. Major General McDowell was the namesake for Fort McDowell on Angel

Island in San Francisco Bay and Fort McDowell, Arizona.

McPhersonAvenue.

Namesake: Major General James B. McPherson.

Born: 1828.

Died: 1864.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, Civil War.

Remarks:He graduated first in his class at USMAin 1853 whenColonelRobertE.Leewasthe superintendent.

He was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. His classmates included Phillip H. Sheridan, John M.

Schofield, and John Bell Hood, later of the Confederate States of America. He taught engineering at West

Point after graduation. Lieutenant McPherson worked as an engineer at New York Harbor, Boston Harbor,

Fort Delaware on the Delaware River below Philadelphia, and helped fortify Alcatraz (Pelican) Island in

San Francisco Bay. At the start of the Civil War he was promoted from first lieutenant to brigadier general

in eight months. He was a division, corps, and army commander in the west and south, including the

Vicksburg Campaign. In 1864 he was the commander of the Army of the Tennessee and was killed while on

a personal reconnaissance during the Battle of Atlanta. He is buried at McPherson Cemetery, Clyde, Ohio.

Fort McPherson, Georgia, was named in his honor, as are McPherson County and city in central Kansas.

Meade Avenue.

Namesake: Major General George G. Meade.

Born: 1815.

Died: 1872.

Campaigns: Second Seminole War, Mexican War, Frontier duty, Civil War,Reconstruction.

Remarks: Meade graduated from USMA in 1835 and was commissioned in the 3d Artillery. He served in

Florida and Massachusetts until he resigned from the Army in 1836 because of ill health. He worked for

the federal government as a civil engineer until reappointed as second lieutenant of topographical engineers

in 1842 and worked building lighthouses and breakwaters on the southern Atlantic coast and Florida. He

saw active service in Mexico during the Mexican War. He worked on engineering projects and survey

work, 1848-61 including supervising lighthouse construction on the Florida coast. He again had extensive

wartime service in the Civil War, including command of the Army of the Potomac in 1863-65. He was the

victor at Gettysburg in July 1863. Meade commanded several military departments and districts after the

war, 1866-72. He is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fort Meade, Maryland, is

named in his honor. There is no indication he ever served at Fort Leavenworth.

Merritt Place.

Namesake: Major General Wesley Merritt.

Born: 1836.

Died: 1910.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Civil War,Indian Campaigns, Frontier duty, War with Spain

stateside, Philippine War, Garrison duty.

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Remarks: Merritt graduated from USMA in 1860 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2d

Dragoons. He served in Utah with that regiment before the Civil War. Merritt was the adjutant of the 2d

Cavalry, 1861-62.63 In 1862-63 he was a staff officer with the defenses of Washington, DC. He was

promoted from captain to brigadier general of volunteers while in command of the reserve cavalry

brigade during the Gettysburg campaign in 1863. He later served in the Richmond Campaign of 1864.

Promoted to major general of Volunteers, he commanded a cavalry division in the Shenandoah campaign

of 1864-65. He helped arrange the surrender ceremony at Appomattox, Virginia, in April 1865. After the

war he reverted to lieutenant colonel of the 9th Cavalry and served from 1866-75. Merritt was

superintendent at West Point, 1882-87 and later commander of the Department of the Missouri, 1887-91

at Fort Leavenworth and later Chicago where it moved in 1890. He again served as a

department/division commander, 1895-97. Merritt was a corps commander during the Philippine War

and then served as military governor in the Philippines, 1898-99. Major General Merritt retired with forty

years on active duty in 1899. He is buried at West Point. Merritt Place was the former name for the

area along Sherman Avenue running East and West in front of Wagner Hall. Merritt Place today is

recognized only on a sign in front of a set of quarters, Building #11, on Sherman Avenue that identifies it

as formerly #11 Merritt Place.

Nez Perce Way.

Namesake: Nez Perce (NiMiiPuu) Tribe.

Campaigns: Indian Campaigns as an adversary.

Remarks: The traditional homeland of the NiMiiPuu is North Central Idaho, including areas of Southeastern

Washington, Northeastern Oregon, western Montana and Wyoming. The Nez Perce helped Lewis and Clark

in their travels in the northwest. The name “Nez Perce” was given to the tribe by an interpreter with Lewis

and Clark; The French Canadians interpreted the meaning as “Pierced Nose,” however this cultural practice

was not common with the NiMiiPuu. Chief Joseph, White Bird, and 700 tribal members were brought

to Fort Leavenworth in 1877 after a campaign against the US Army of thirteen battles and a march that

covered 1,300 miles; descendents of the Nez Perce live in Idaho.

OrganAvenue.

Namesake: Sergeant Major Truman Organ.64

Born: 1860.

Died: 1910.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War

with Spain in Cuba, Philippine War.

Figure 28. Sergeant Major Truman Organ

Tombstone, Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: Truman Organ joined the 1st Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth as a teenager and remained with the

regiment for the next decade, promoted to first sergeant in the early 1880s. In 1884, he transferred to the

Engineers at Willets Point, New York.65 Sergeant Organ deployed to Cuba in 1898 with Company E, Battalion

of Engineers. Sergeant Organ deployed with the Battalion of Engineers to the Philippines in 1901. In May

1901 the Army reorganized the Engineers and Company E, Battalion of Engineers, became Company C, 1st

Battalion of Engineers while still in the Philippines. Organ became the company sergeant major. Sergeant

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Major Organ returned from the Philippines in 1902 and was stationed at Fort Leavenworth.66 He remained

with Company C, 1st Battalion of Engineers until transferring to the 3d Battalion in 1905. Sergeant Major

Organ retired from active duty in 1907 and was employed as a storekeeper in the post Engineer Department

until just before his death. Organ Avenue was constructed about the time that Smith and Davis Halls and the

rest of the Artillery Barracks complex in 1901. Organ Avenue was the first thing on Fort Leavenworth to

memorialize a noncommissioned officer. Organ Avenue today separates the various buildings associated

with the National Simulation Center and the Mission Command Training Program, but once contained

military housing on its eastern and western ends.67

Pick Avenue.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Lewis A. Pick.

Born: 1890.

Died: 1956.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Garrison duty, WWI, Philippines, WWII, Cold War.

Remarks: Pick graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now Virginia Tech University) in 1914 with

a degree in civil engineering and was commissioned out of the corps of cadets as an engineer. During World

War I, he served with the 23d Engineers in France. After the war, Pick deployed to the Philippines and

helped organize a Filipino engineer regiment, 1921-23. He was the district engineer in New Orleans during

the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and helped coordinate federal relief. He graduated from the Command

and General Staff School in 1934 and remained as an instructor until 1938. Colonel Pick was the Missouri

District Engineer in 1942-43 during a period of devastating floods, and with W. Glenn Sloan of the Bureau

of Reclamation, co-wrote the Pick-Sloan Plan for a series of dams to control the water resources of the

Missouri River Basin. Colonel (later brigadier general) Pick served as head of Army Service Forces in the

Far East and was the chief engineer for the 478-mile from India through Burma to China, 1943-45.68

This was the famous Ledo Road.

69 Soldiers called the Ledo Road “Pick’s Pike.” The Ledo Road was a 

supply line for the Chinese in their war against Japan that is considered one of the greatest engineering

achievements in Army history. Pick again led the Missouri District in 1945. Lieutenant General Pick was

the Army’s chief of engineers, 1949-53. He is buried at Pine Hill Cemetery, Auburn, Alabama. Pick

Avenue is one of the principal streets in the Oregon Village housing area.

PopeAvenue.

Namesake: Major General John Pope.

Born: 1822.

Died: 1892.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Mexican War,Civil War,Reconstruction, Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Pope graduated from USMA in 1842 and was commissioned in the topographical engineers.70

His early service was in Florida and along the Canadian Border doing survey and boundary work, 1842-

46. Pope was an Engineer officer on the staff of Lieutenant General Zackary Taylor during the Mexican

War. After the war he participated in border explorations in the Great Lakes and the West, serving as the

chief Topographical Engineer in New Mexico from 1851-53. He first visited Fort Leavenworth in 1851.

In the years before the Civil War, Captain Pope did railway right-of-way work and built lighthouses. He

commanded a corps and army during the Civil War. Pope served the early years of the war in Missouri,

1861-62, countering Confederate General Sterling Price. Pope commanded the Army of Virginia in 1862.

He finished the war as commander of the Department of the Northwest, 1862-65. Later Pope commanded

the Third Military District (Florida, Georgia, Alabama) during Reconstruction, 1866-67. Pope was the

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commander of the Department of the Missouri at Fort Leavenworth, 1870-81, and Department of the

Pacific, 1883-86. Major General Pope is buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri. Pope was

the first general officer to live in Quarters #1 on Fort Leavenworth in 1874.

ReynoldsAvenue.

Namesake: Major General John F.Reynolds.

Born: 1820.

Died: 1863.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Mexican War,Indian Campaigns, Civil War.

Remarks: Reynolds graduated from USMA in 1841 and was commissioned in the 3d Artillery. His early

service was with his regiment in Maryland, Florida, and Texas, 1841-46. He saw extensive service during

the Mexican War with the regiment. After the war, Reynolds served on regimental duty in Florida, Texas,

Utah, California, Rhode Island, and several other locations. Captain Reynolds was on frontier duty at Fort

Leavenworth and raised expeditions against Indians in the west and northwest in 1854 and 1858. He was

commandant of cadets and a tactics instructor at West Point, 1860-61. Reynolds commanded a brigade and

the 1st Corps in the Army of the Potomac. Captured by the Confederates in Northern Virginia in 1862 he

was held as a prisoner of war for three months. General Reynolds was in command of the engaged forces

on the first day of the battle of Gettysburg. He was killed, the first and highest-ranking general officer to die

during the fight. He is buried at Lancaster Cemetery, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Riley Avenue.

Namesake: Major General Bennet C. Riley.

Born: 1781.

Died: 1853.

Campaigns and Other Assignments: War of 1812, Seminole War, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns,

Mexican War,California.

Remarks: Riley was appointed an ensign rifleman from Maryland in January 1812. He later was

commissioned a third lieutenant and then a second lieutenant in 1814.71 He received a regular Army

commission and fought as a captain in the 6th Infantry against the Arikara Indians in 1823 in a force

commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Leavenworth. He stopped at Cantonment Leavenworth in 1829

on his way west and served at the post 1829-30 and 1832-34. Captain Riley was the second commander of

Fort Leavenworth, 1829-30.72 His missions included escorting the first wagon train from Fort Leavenworth

to Santa Fe in 1829. Santa Fe was then a part of the Republic of Mexico. Riley was appointed lieutenant

colonel of the 2d Infantry in 1839 and fought with them against the Seminoles in Florida the next year. He

was a brigade commander in the Mexican War and later governor of the California Territory, 1849-50. In

California, he favored civilian rule instead of military occupation. In 1850, Riley was appointed colonel

of the 1st Infantry but was too ill to assume the command. General Riley died in Buffalo, New York in

1853. A son graduated from West Point in 1855 and “joined the rebellion against the United States.” Camp

Center near Junction City, Kansas, was renamed Fort Riley in his honor. He is also the namesake for Riley

County, Kansas. Riley Avenue is the one named street in the warehouse area in the low ground to the north

of McPherson and the west of McClellan Avenues.

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Robinson Drive.

Namesake: First Sergeant73 Joseph Robinson.

Born: 12 October 1845.

Died: 18 December 1917.

Campaigns: WarCivil, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Born in Montreal, Canada. As a young man Robinson served in the Civil War as a private

with the Company H, 82d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. According to unit records, he was drafted

on 17 July 1863 and mustered out with his company on 13 July 1865. Robinson enlisted in the Regular

Army in Boston on 18 January 1866 assigned to the 3d US Cavalry. He served throughout the west with

the regiment including time spent at Fort Union, New Mexico, Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming, Fort Laramie,

Wyoming, Fort Grant, Arizona, and several posts in Texas.74 He rose through the ranks to become first

sergeant, Company D, 3d US Cavalry. Robinson was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions while in

charge of a skirmish line at Rosebud River, Montana Territory, 17 June 1876. At the Battle of the

Rosebud, Army forces with Crow and Shoshoni allies under the command of Brigadier General George

Crook fought Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne under Crazy Horse.75 The medal was awarded on 23

January 1880. First Sergeant Robinson retired from the Army in February 1894 with twenty-eight years

of service and settled in Leavenworth. His obituary in the 19 December 1917 Leavenworth Times states

that he died at his home on 417 Ottawa Street after falling on ice. He is buried at Fort Leavenworth

National Cemetery.

Rose Loop.

Namesake Confusion: There is some confusion as to the namesake for Rose Loop. There are two

possibilities, both mentioned in different sources. Of the two, Civil War era Brigadier General Thomas E.

Rose and World War II era Major General Maurice Rose, the latter namesake makes the most sense because

the loop was built after World War II. Both biographies are included.

Namesake Option #1: Brigadier General Thomas E. Rose.

Born: 1827.

Died: 1907.

Campaigns: War Civil, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Rose initially served as a private in the 12th Infantry Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861. He

transferred as a captain to the 77th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in 1861 and was appointed colonel

of the regiment in 1863. He was captured at Chickamauga. He escaped from a prison in North Carolina

but was recaptured.76 Jailed in Richmond’s Libby Prison, he led an escape through a tunnel chiseled through

the wall of a cellar to a storm sewer on 9 February 1864 but was recaptured after a few days. After being

exchanged, he received command of a brigade at the end of the war. Rose was brevetted a brigadier

general of volunteers in 1865. He was commissioned a captain in the 11th Infantry after the war in 1866.

Assigned to the 16th Infantry in 1870, Captain Rose remained with them until 1892. Lieutenant Colonel

Rose retired from the 18th Infantry in 1894. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

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Namesake Option #2: Major General Maurice Rose.

Born: 1899.

Died: 1945.

Campaigns: World War I, Interwar years, and World War II.

Remarks: Rose’s first military experience was as an enlisted cavalryman in the Colorado National Guard

before World War I. His budding career was short-lived when it was discovered he was only 15. He was

discharged. Rose was later commissioned in the Officers Reserve Corps as an infantry second lieutenant in

1917. During World War I, First Lieutenant Rose served as a platoon leader in the 89th Division in the battle

of the Argonne Forest and St. Miheil Salient. He was decorated for valor, wounded, and spent time in the

hospital. Discharged in June 1919 he reentered the Army in 1920 as a second lieutenant. Between the wars

he had the usual mix of troop and school assignments. Captain Rose graduated from the Infantry School in

1926 and the Cavalry School in 1931. He graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1937.

He was a colonel and the chief of staff of the 1st Armored Division as it battled German and Italian forces in

North Africa. In 1944, Brigadier General Rose commanded Combat Command A, and later was an assistant

division commander in the 2d Armored Division during operations in Normandy and St. Lo. He assumed

command of the 3d Armored Division in Northern France in August 1944. Under his command, the division

fought through France, Belgium, including the Battle of the Bulge, and entered Germany. Major General

Rose was mortally wounded by rifle fire during the nighttime hours of 29-30 March 1945 while trying

to locate a cut off unit. He is buried in the Netherlands American Military Cemetery and Memorial in

Margraten, Holland. Major General Rose was the highest ranking American Jewish officer killed in action

in World War II.77 He was not a college graduate, placing him in a small group of World War II general

officers with only a high school education. Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany, on the southwest corner

of the Grafenwoehr Training Army, is named in his honor. So too was Rose Barracks in Bad Kreuznach,

Germany, the former headquarters of the 1st Armored Division, which was closed in 2001. Two civilian

facilities, a school in Holland and a hospital in also Denver bear his name.

SabaluAvenue.

Namesake: Master Sergeant Wilberto Sabalu Jr.

Born: 25 June 1970.

Died: 6 May 2007.

Dedicated: 28 September 2010.

Campaigns: Cold War, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).

Remarks: Born in New York City, Sabalu enlisted in the Army on 21 November 1989. Trained as a

correctional specialist, during over seventeen years of service he was stationed at several posts in the

United States and overseas in Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan. Master Sergeant Sabalu’s service included a

tour with Company A, 705th MP Battalion at the USDB. Sabalu was assigned to the Total Army

School System Region Coordinating Element at Fort Monroe, Virginia, with duty at the US Military

Police School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He died of wounds while serving as an internment

specialist for Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan. He was killed by a rogue Afghan National

Army soldier who fired at his vehicle as it exited the prison at Pol-e-Charki, Afghanistan, 6 May 2007.

Master Sergeant Sabalu died in the same engagement as Colonel James W. Harrison (see Harrison

Drive). The Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan named a barracks at Camp Eggers

Sabalu House in his honor. MSG Sabalu is buried at Sunset Memorial Estates Cemetery, Waynesville,

Missouri. Sabalu Avenue connects USDB Road with the new Midwest Regional Confinement

Facility near building #424, the former headquarters for the USDB Farm Colony and other facilities on

the northwest corner of the post.

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School Circles.

Namesakes: GOA Omar Bradley, GOA Dwight D Eisenhower, GOA Douglas MacArthur, and GEN

George S. Patton.

Remarks: The driveways in front of Bradley Elementary, Eisenhower Elementart, MacArthur Elementary,

and Patton Junior High Schools, are formally named on some post maps.

ScottAvenue.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Winfield Scott.

Born: 1786.

Died: 1866.

Campaigns: War of 1812, Frontier duty, Blackhawk War,Indian Campaigns, Mexican War, Civil War.

Remarks: Scott began his distinguished military career as a captain in the light artillery in 1808. Serving as

a lieutenant colonel and colonel during the War of 1812, he was promoted to brigadier general in 1814.78 He

was severely wounded at the battle of Lundy’s Lane in 1814. He commanded the Army forces on the Trail

of Tears, the forced movement of the Cherokee Tribe and others to the west of the Mississippi in 1838 in

response to the Indian Removal Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Andrew Jackson

in 1830. Scott commanded the southern of the three US Armies in the Mexican War winning the battles of

Cerro Gordo, Contreras/Padierna, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec. Major General Scott

received a gold medal from Congress in 1847 for his meritorious conduct in the War with Mexico. He was

the Whig candidate for president, 1852, losing to Franklin Pierce.79 He served as commander in chief of

the Army for twenty years (1841-61), longer than anyone else. At the start of the Civil War he stayed loyal

to the Union despite his Virginia birth. Seventy-five years old and too corpulent to mount or ride a horse

at the start of the Civil War, Scott knew he could not take the field. Nevertheless, he was the author of the

“Anaconda Plan” strategy to isolate the Confederacy by blockading its ports and cutting off access to the

Mississippi River. Eventually this contributed to the winning strategy. Scott was brevetted a lieutenant

general upon retirement in 1861. He is buried at West Point although he was not a graduate. Scott Avenue

was previously name Arsenal Avenue but was renamed in 1887.

SedgwickAvenue.

Namesake: Major General John Sedgwick.

Born: 1813.

Died: 1864.

Campaigns: Seminole Wars, Mexican War, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Civil War.

Remarks: Sedgwick was the son of a Revolutionary War general of the same name. He graduated from

USMA in 1837 and was commissioned in the 2d Artillery. His early service was with his regiment against the

Seminoles and then on the Trail of Tears, removing the Cherokee and other tribes to west of the Mississippi

in the 1830s. He had border service in New York State and then was stationed in Virginia and Rhode Island

before the Mexican War. Sedgwick participated in many of the battles of the Mexican War with General

Scott’s southern Army. Sedgwick served in “Bleeding Kansas” before the Civil War being stationed at both

Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley in the mid and late 1850s. He replaced Robert E. Lee as lieutenant colonel

of the 2d Cavalry just before the Civil War when Lee was promoted to colonel. Sedgwick commanded a

brigade and a division early in the Civil War. He was severely wounded at the battle of Antietam, 1862.

103
Later as a corps commander, he was killed at Spotsylvania Courthouse, 1864. He is reported to have said,

“They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance” just before being shot in the head by a Rebel sharpshooter.

He is buried near an imposing monument in his hometown of Cornwall Hollow, Connecticut. His alma

mater recognized him soon after his death with a statue supposedly cast from Confederate cannon captured

by his 6th Corps.80

Sheridan Drive.

Namesake: General Philip H. Sheridan.

Born: 1831.

Died: 1888.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Civil War,Reconstruction, Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Sheridan graduated from USMA in 1853. A disciplinary problem as a cadet, it took him five years

to graduate. He was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant of Infantry in 1853 and a second lieutenant in

the 4th Infantry in 1854.81 He spent five years as a second lieutenant. He served in Kentucky, Texas, and the

far West before the Civil War. Sheridan was stationed in Oregon and promoted to first lieutenant just before

and a captain just after the start of the Civil War. He commanded cavalry in the Army of the Potomac, first

a regiment, then a division, and finally a corps during the war advancing in rank from colonel of Volunteers

(1862) to brigadier general of Volunteers (1862) and finally major general of Volunteers (1862).

Sheridan was appointed a Regular Army brigadier general in September 1864 and a major general in

November of that same year. He served at Fort Leavenworth as commander of the Department of the

Missouri, 1867-1869.82 He moved the department headquarters to Chicago. Lieutenant General Sheridan

was an official US Army observer at the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-71. General Sheridan coordinated

the military response to the Great Chicago fire, 1871. He was promoted to general in retirement in June

1888, two months before his death. Sheridan is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Sheridan Drive is

the longest paved road on Fort Leavenworth at 3.1 miles. Fort Sheridan, Illinois, the Vietnam-era M551

light tank, and Sheridan Barracks in Garmisch-Partenkirken, Germany, are named in his honor. He is the

namesake for Sheridan County in western Kansas.

Sherman Avenue.

Namesake: General William T. Sherman.

Born: 1820.

Died: 1891.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, Mexican War,Civil War.

Remarks: Sherman graduated from USMA in 1840 and was commissioned in the 3d Artillery, He roomed

with future Major General George H. Thomas. His early service was in the south and California. First

Lieutenant Sherman was on duty in California during the War with Mexico, for which he was brevetted to

captain in 1848. He served at Fort Leavenworth in 1852. He resigned his commission in 1853 and followed

various civilian pursuits including counselor at law in Leavenworth, 1858-59. Just prior to the Civil War he

was named superintendent of Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy (now Louisiana

State University), 1859-61. Sherman was reappointed to the Army in 1861 as colonel of the 13th Infantry.

Promotions soon followed. Sherman was promoted to major general of Volunteers in 1862 and brigadier

general in the Regular Army in 1863. He had Civil War service in both Western and Eastern theaters and

Major General Sherman executed the scorched earth “March to the Sea” through Georgia in 1864. Major

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General Sherman accepted the surrender of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston (USMA 1829) and

his army on 26 April 1865.83 General Sherman was commander in chief of the Army from 1869-1884. As

commander in chief he directed the establishment of the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry

School in 1881. He retired in 1884. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri. He was the

namesake for the World War II era M4 Sherman tank. One of the longest roads on post, Sherman Avenue

connects Sherman Gate in the South to Scott Avenue in front of Grant Hall.

StanleyAvenue.

Namesake: Honorable Arthur J. Stanley, Jr.

Born: 1901.

Died: 2001.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: World War I Stateside, Yangtze River Patrol, World War II.

Remarks: Born in Lincoln County, Kansas, Stanley served briefly in the Canadian Army in 1917 as a

sixteen year old until his age was discovered and he was discharged.84 A year later he enlisted in the 7th US

Cavalry and served in Texas along the Mexican border. He participated in a cavalry charge against Mexican

troops in June 1919. He left the Army as a sergeant. He enlisted in the US Navy in 1921 and served as a

fireman, first class on the USS. Pigeon on the Yangtze River in China. Between the wars he graduated from

law school, served in private practice in Kansas City, Kansas, and later as county attorney for Wyandotte

County. He was an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel staff planner with the Ninth Air Force in Europe

during the Second World War. Appointed a federal district judge in 1958, became a chief judge in 1961,

and attained senior status in 1971. Judge Stanley was president of the Kansas State Historical Society. He is

the author of Dowager Queen of Frontier Forts about Fort Leavenworth published by the Kansas State

Historical Society in 1976. Stanley Road runs through the housing area constructed south of the the

Leavenworth National Cemetery in 2013-2014.

Stilwell Avenue.

Namesake: General Joseph W.Stilwell.

Born: 1883.

Died: 1846.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Philippine War,WWI, China, WWII.

Remarks: Stilwell graduated from USMA in 1904 and was commissioned in the 12th Infantry. He was

an instructor of modern languages at West Point, 1906-10 and again 1914-17. He also taught History and

English, 1913-14. In World War I he was a staff officer with the 58th British Division, 17th French Corps,

and two US corps. He studied the Chinese language at the University of California at Berkeley and in China,

1920-23. He graduated from CGSS in 1926.85 Stilwell commanded a battalion of the 15th Infantry in China,

1926-28. Because of his language skills and prior experience in the country, Stilwell was military attaché in

China, 1935-39. He served four tours in China, including command of two Nationalist Chinese field armies.

General Stilwell commanded the 7th Infantry Division, the III Corps, the China-Burma-India Theater, and

Army Ground Forces from 1940 to 1945. He commanded the US Tenth Army, 1945-46, and Sixth Army,

1946. Stilwell died on active duty and is buried at West Point.

105
Stimson Avenue.

Namesake: Colonel Henry L. Stimson.

Born: 1867.

Died: 1950.

Campaigns: WWI, WWII.

Remarks: Stimson was a graduate of Yale, 1888, and Harvard Law, 1890. He was a unique blend of soldier

and diplomat. He served six presidents from William H. Taft to Harry Truman. Stimson served twice a

secretary of War, 1911-14 and 1940-45. He commanded two field artillery regiments in France, 1917-18,

and was governor of the Philippines, 1927-29. Stimson served as Secretary of State, 1929-33. He served as

chairman of the US delegation to the London Naval Conference, 1930-31. He advised President Truman on

the need for a post-war tribunal to try the leading German and Japanese war criminals after World War II.

He was namesake for the nuclear ballistic missile submarine, USS Henry L. Stimson (SSBN 655), launched

in 1965 and decommissioned in 1994. Henry Stimson died in October 1950 and is buried in Cold Spring

Harbor on Long Island, New York.

Sumner Place.

Namesake: Major General Edwin V.(Bull Head) Sumner.

Born: 1797.

Died: 1863.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Black Hawk War, Mexican War,Indian Campaigns, Civil War.

Remarks: Sumner was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2d Infantry in 1819. He had long service

on the frontier, including the Black Hawk War in 1832. He was promoted to captain in the 1st Dragoons in

1833. Sumner served with distinction during the Mexican War as a member of Kearny’s Army of the

West. He was brevetted twice for gallantry to major and lieutenant colonel. Colonel Sumner commanded the

1st Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth in 1855 after having served as regimental lieutenant colonel since 1848.

He commanded Fort Leavenworth in 1849 and again in 1856. He went on special duty to Europe in 1853 to

observe cavalry operations. During his service at Fort Leavenworth, he engaged in the pacification of the

Cheyenne Indians in the West and in efforts to keep the peace in Bleeding Kansas among the proslavery

and free-state partisans operating in the eastern part of the territory. Lieutenant General Winfield Scott,

the commanding general of the Army, assigned Sumner as the senior officer to accompany president–

elect Lincoln from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington DC for his inauguration in March 1861. At the

beginning of the Civil War he was the commander of the Army of the Potomac but was superseded and

became the oldest corps commander on either side in the Civil War. He commanded the II Corps through

the battle of Antietam and Fredericksburg (both 1862). He died on active duty in Syracuse, New York on

21 March 1863 while en route to command the Department of the Missouri and is buried in Oakwood

Cemetery in Syracuse, New York. His nickname “Bull Head” came from a legend that a musket ball

once bounced off his head. His son served as a general officer in the War with Spain, Boxer Rebellion

and Philippine War. Sumner Place runs along the northern and eastern sides of the Main Parade. It is the

location of several of the oldest buildings on post, including the Rookery (1834) and the Sumner House

(1840).

106
Swift Street.

Namesake: Major General Eben Swift, Jr.

Born: 1854.

Died: 1938.

Campaigns: Indian Campaigns, Philippine War,

Mexican Border, WWI in France and Italy.

Figure 29. Major General Eben Swift

(Arlington National Cemetery website)

Remarks: Swift graduated from USMA in 1876 and was commissioned in the 14th Infantry. He served in

the west prior to the War with Spain. Swift commanded a battalion and Henry Barracks, Puerto Rico, in the

occupation of Puerto Rico after War with Spain. Noted Army intellectual and trainer, Swift was stationed at

Fort Leavenworth three times. He wrote widely on military affairs and established the staff ride at the Army

Service Schools, 1904. He participated as an observer in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War in

1904. His service at Fort Leavenworth included duty as instructor and assistant commandant of the Infantry

and Cavalry School, 1904-06. Swift commanded the 2d Cavalry on the Mexican Border in 1916 and the 82d

Division in France in WWI. He also commanded US Forces in Italy near the end of the war. He is buried

in Arlington National Cemetery. He was the namesake Camp Swift in Bastrop, Texas, during World War II.

Swift is one of the few people to be memorialized with both a street and a building on Fort Leavenworth.

Sylvan Trail.

Location: Runs northeast-southwest on the northern end of post connecting McPherson Avenue and

Sheridan Drive.

Namesake: The tree lined area it traverses.

Remarks: One of the few generically named roads on Fort Leavenworth. It runs through the woods and

follows Quarry Creek downhill from McPherson Avenue to near Sherman Army Airfield. It first appears

on maps as a trail in 1908 and as a road in 1926.86 Named during an earlier era when Latin was a part of

the high school and college curriculum and Army officers, especially those with the responsibility to name

roads, would have known that sylva is the Latin word for wood. It was runs through a wooded area for

most of its length. Sylvan Trail is parallel to a bridle path and its gently rolling and tree shaded topography

makes it a favorite for runners and bikers. The only structures on Sylvan Trail are those associated with the

US Disciplinary Barracks trusty unit on its northeast end on what was once called Sherman Heights on the

high ground west of Sherman Army Airfield.87 The road runs through areas identified as archaeologically

significant with regard to early pre-historic inhabitants of this part of eastern Kansas.

107
Thomas Avenue.

Namesake: Major General George H. Thomas.

Born: 1816.

Died: 1870.

Campaigns: Seminole War, Florida War, Garrison and Frontier duty, Mexican War,Indian Campaigns,

Civil War,Reconstruction.

Remarks: Thomas graduated from USMA in 1840 and was commissioned in the 3d Artillery. He roomed

with future General William T. Sherman at West Point. Early duty was on the east coast and Texas.

After the Seminole War (1840-42) he served in the garrison of coast defense forts in Louisiana, South

Carolina, and Maryland. He served in the occupation of Texas, 1845-46 and then saw extensive service in

the Mexican War, 1846-48. His postwar service was against the Seminoles in Florida and then in harbor

defense service in Massachusetts. First Lieutenant (later Captain) Thomas was an instructor of artillery

and cavalry at West Point, 1851-55.88 He was wounded in the chest by an arrow in a pre-Civil War Indian

campaign on the Brazos River in Texas in 1860. Major Thomas was a Virginian who stayed with the Union

in the Civil War, declining an offer from the governor of Virginia to serve as the chief ordnance officer of

Virginia forces.89 He began the war as the lieutenant colonel of the 2d Cavalry. He commanded a regiment,

division, corps and army during the Civil War. Major General Thomas commanded the Army of the

Cumberland when it held against superior Confederate forces in September 1863 and earned the nickname,

the “Rock of Chickamauga.” For his actions during the Civil War Major General Thomas received the

“Thanks of Congress” in March 1865.90 After the war Major General Thomas commanded the Department

of the Tennessee, 1866-67. He was commander of the Military District of the Pacific when he died at the

Presidio of San Francisco. Major General Thomas is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, New York. Fort

Thomas, Kentucky, the military installation and the town were named in his honor.

Upton Avenue.

Namesake: Major General Emory Upton.

Born: 1839.

Died: 1881.

Campaigns: Garrison and Frontier duty, Civil War,Reconstruction.

Remarks: He studied for one year at Oberlin College and graduated from the USMA, 1861, 8th in a class

of 44. He was commissioned in the 4th Artillery. Upton commanded all three arms in the Civil War: an

artillery battery and brigade in the early days; then an infantry regiment and brigade, and finally a cavalry

division later in the war. Upton was one of the “boy generals” of the Civil War, achieving the rank of major

general at age 25. Well known for his intellect, he served on a board of officers at West Point examining

Infantry tactics in light of lessons learned during the Civil War, 1866-67. He was commandant of cadets at

West Point, 1870-75, where he also taught infantry, cavalry, and artillery tactics and once again served on an

Army board examining tactics. He toured Europe and Asia to inspect foreign armies, 1875-77. He ended his

career as commander of the 4th Artillery Regiment at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. An Army

intellectual, he wrote Military Policy of the United States, published posthumously in 1904. He is buried in

the Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn, New York. Fort Kamehameha, the harbor defenses of Pearl Harbor in

Hawaii, was originally named Fort Upton.

108
USDB Road.

Namesake: US Disciplinary Barracks.

Opened: 2002.

Status: Still exists.

Remarks: The road leads to the new USDB following the track of an old gravel road. At its southern end it

parallels the Union Pacific right of way. The new facility opened in 2002 to replace the original Disciplinary

Barracks on main post opened in 1874. The new DB has space for less than 512 inmates.

91 This is much

less than the 1,200 inmate capacity of the old DB.92 The new DB is joined at the end of USDB Road on the

northwest corner of the post by the Midwest Joint Regional Confinement Facility opened in 2010 on

Sabalu Avenue. Together they compose the Fort Leavenworth Military Corrections Complex. Other then

the DB, the only post facility on USDB Road is the Kinder Range complex.

Wainwright Road.

Namesake: General Jonathan M. Wainwright.

Born: 1883.

Died: 1953.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Philippine War,WWI, Occupation of Germany, Garrison duty,

Philippines, WWII.

Remarks: Wainwright graduated from USMA in 1906 and was commissioned in the 1st Cavalry. His early

service was in Texas with his regiment. He saw action against the Moros in the Philippines, 1908-10. He

served on regimental duty in Idaho, Vermont, California, and Kansas, 1910-17. He was a student at the

American Expeditionary Forces General Staff College, 1918. He then served as a staff officer with British

51st and the US 82d Divisions, 1918. Wainwright was a staff officer in the Army of Occupation in Germany,

at Coblenz, Germany, 1918-20. He commanded 2d Squadron, 3d Cavalry, 1925-28. He was stationed at Fort

Leavenworth, 1928-31, graduating from the Command and General Staff School in 1931. He commanded

the Philippine Division and then the Philippine Corps, 1940-42. Wainwright commanded all forces in the

Philippines until the capitulation to the Japanese in May of 1942. He was captured on Bataan and held as

a POW from 1942-45. On his return home, General Wainwright was awarded the Medal of Honor for his

service in the Philippines at the beginning of World War II. His father, Robert P. P. Wainwright, a cavalry

major, died of illness in the Philippines in 1902 while his son was a student was the Military Academy.

General Wainwright was commanding Fourth Army at the time of his retirement for disability in 1947. He

is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He is the namesake of Fort Wainwright, Fairbanks, Alaska.

WalkerAvenue.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Walton H. “Johnnie” Walker.

Born: 1889.

Died: 1850.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Vera Cruz Expedition, 1914, Mexican Punitive Expedition, 1916,

WWI, Occupation of Germany, China, WWII, Korean War.

Remarks: He started college at Virginia Military Institute and transferred to West Point. Walker graduated

from USMA in 1912 and was commissioned in the 19th Infantry. He participated in the Meuse-Argonne

Offensive, 1918, as a major. He taught in the Tactics Department at West Point, 1923-25. Walker graduated

from the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth in 1926. He commanded a battalion of

109
the 15th Infantry in China, 1930-33. Walker commanded 3d Armored Division, IV Armored Corps, and XX

Corps in WWII. He took part in liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Walker commanded 8th

Army in Korea and defended the Naktong River on the Pusan Perimeter with a “stand or die” order.

Lieutenant General Walker was killed in a jeep accident in Seoul, 1950. His body was escorted back to

the United States by his son, Sam Sims Walker, a battalion commander in the 19th Infantry in Korea at

the time of his father’s death. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine, 1950. He is buried in

Arlington National Cemetery. Camp Walker in Daegu, Republic of Korea, and the M41 Walker Bulldog

light tank are named in his honor. On 23 June 2010 a bronze statue of Walker was unveiled at Eighth

Army headquarters in Yongsan, Republic of Korea.

Widmer Court.

Namesake: First Sergeant Jacob Widmer.

Born: 1845.

Died: 1880.

Campaigns: Civil War, Frontier Duty, Indian

Campaigns.

Figure 30. First Sergeant Jacob Widmer Tombstone,

Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: Born in the Duchy of Wurttemberg, Germany, Jacob Widmer immigrated to the United States

and enlisted in the Army in Philadelphia. According to unit records, he joined Company A, 113th

Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers (12th Cavalry) on 9 February 1864 and mustered out with the

company on 20 July 1865. Widmer enlisted in the Regular Army after the war and served during the Indian

Wars with the 5th Cavalry in Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, Nebraska, and elsewhere in the West.93

He was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions while serving with Company94 D, 5th Cavalry, on 29

September 1879 at Milk River, Colorado, in the White River War. 95 He was recognized for accompanying

a small detachment on a very dangerous mission through enemy territory to deliver dispatches requesting

reinforcements during a running battle with Ute Indians. He contacted friendly forces that marched to the

aid of his surrounded comrades and relieved the siege on 5 October 1879. The Medal of Honor was awarded

4 May 1880.96 On 5 July 1880 at Fort Niobrara, Nebraska, First Sergeant Widmer was shot with a .45 caliber

Springfield carbine and killed by a drunken soldier of Company D, Private Castigan, as he tried to get him

to report to stable duty.97 He was buried on 6 July 1880 in the post cemetery, the first interment. He was 35.

Fort Niobrara closed in 1906 and sometime later Widmer’s remains were relocated to the Fort Leavenworth

National Cemetery.

Williams Road.

Namesake: Major General Alpheus S. Williams.

Born: 1810.

Died: 1878.

Campaigns: Mexican War,Civil War,Reconstruction, Indian Campaigns.

110
Remarks:A Yalegraduate with a law degree, 1831.Williams practiced law in Michigan. He was a lieutenant

colonel of the 1st Michigan Volunteer Infantry in the Mexican War, 1847-48. He was the postmaster

of Detroit from 1849-53. Williams saw extensive action in the Civil War, when he served as a brigade,

division, and corps commander in the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the Tennessee. Brigadier

General Williams fought at Antietam, Gettysburg, and during the March to the Sea. Major General Williams

mustered out of federal service in January 1866. After the war he was a Reconstruction administrator in

Arkansas. He later served as US minister to San Salvador, 1866-69. He ran for governor of Michigan in

1870 and lost, but ran for Congress, was elected and served from 1875 until his death in 1878 from a stroke

in the US Capitol building. An equestrian statue of him is located in Belle Isle in Detroit, Williams Avenue

in the Gettysburg National Battlefield Park in Pennsylvania is named in his honor. He is buried in Elmwood

Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan.

WintAvenue.

Namesake: Brigadier General Theodore J. Wint.

Born: 1845.

Died: 1907.

Campaigns: Civil War,Indian Campaigns, Frontier duty, War with Spain, Philippine War,Boxer

Rebellion,Cuban Pacification.

Remarks: Wint first saw service in the Civil War. He mustered into the 70th Pennsylvania Volunteers (6th

Cavalry) as a private, in Company F on 12 October 1861. He rose through the ranks and was promoted

from sergeant to first lieutenant in Company A on 22 June 1964. He was mustered out of volunteer service

on 30 September 1864. Wint enlisted in the regular Army in 1865. Appointed a second lieutenant in the 4th

Cavalry, he was regimental adjutant from 1868 to 1871. Captain Wint commanded L Troop, 4th Cavalry at

Fort Leavenworth, 1885. He was wounded at the Battle of Santiago, Cuba, 1898, while serving as a major

with the 10th Cavalry. Brigadier General Wint commanded the Army of Pacification in Cuba, 1906-1907.

He died of heart disease at the relatively young age of 62 on 21 March 1907, while still on active duty in

the field in the Philippines. He had forty-two years of active service. He is buried at Arlington National

Cemetery. General Wint was the namesake for Fort Wint, Grande Island, Subic Bay, Philippines.

111
Notes

1. Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, 1789-1903 (Washington:

Government Printing Office: 1903, University of Illinois Press Reprint, 1965), Vol. 1, 85. The regiment originally 

constituted from state companies as early as 1784.

2. Lineage for the older regiments is convoluted, especially for artillery with its field, coast and air defense

manifestations.

3. Previously organized in regiments, from 1901 to 1907 the Army to establish a single corps of artillery

comprised of coast artillery and field artillery companies. In 1907 it separated the two branches and reorganized them

into regiments.

4. During the World Wars the Army developed standard construction plans for the buildings required to house,

train, feed and deploy the troops. The 1917-18 plans were called the 600-series and the 1940-45 plans were either 700- 

or 800-series.

5. This date comes from the Center of Military History website on its lineage and honors link: http://www.

history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lh.html.

6. Heitman, Historical Register, Vol. 1, 92. The Center of Military lineage and honors website (http://www.

history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lh.html) lists it as constituted on 11 January 1812.

7. Regimental commander Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis was on detached duty as chief of mounted recruiting.

Custer was a brevet major general during the Civil War.

8. His 23 years in command of the regiment was only one year less than Colonel (Brevet Major General)

Benjamin H. Grierson’s 24 years with the 10th Cavalry.

9. Seventeen “Eastman Forts” painted by Brigadier General Seth Eastman (1808-1875) who was a teacher of

drawing at West Point and a successful artist.

10. He was initially buried in the old officer’s burial grounds where Wagner Hall is now located. He was

disinterred in 1861 and moved to what would become one of the first twelve national cemeteries the next year.

11. The West Point class of 1843 provided ten general officers to the North and three to the South during the

Civil War.

12. Information from the vertical file folder on Judge Biddle in the archives of the Frontier Army Museum.

13. Email to the author on 9 December 2008.

14. An article on the scheduled dedication ceremony for Blochberger Hall from the 13 May 1963 Leavenworth

Times reports that the street and associated buildings were named through the efforts of Ms. Barbara Rideout of

DeRidder, Louisiana, who served with Colonel Blochberger at Camp Polk, Louisiana, in 1953 and became her friend. 

On hearing of the death, Rideout wrote the Army Surgeon General requesting that a hospital be named for Colonel 

Blochberger. Since the new post hospital at Fort Leavenworth was already named at its 1961 dedication, the post

memorial committee selected the two buildings used as nurse’s quarters and the nearby street as a memorial.

15. Leavenworth Times, 13 May 1963.

16. www.accident-report.com, accessed on 30 June 2015.

17. Heitman says he died in 1889.

18. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Peter Grande, the long serving chief of staff and informal historian of the

Military Correctional Complex, in a presentation to the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society on 17 March 2011.

19. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Peter Grande, the long serving chief of staff and informal historian of the Military

Correctional Complex, in a presentation to the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society on 17 March 2011.

20. In a New York Times op ed piece on 24 June 2010 , author and think tank fellow Thomas E. Ricks relates that

Bundel was removed by Army chief of staff George Marshall after he repeatedly told Marshall that he could not update

the complete set of Army training manuals in four months as the chief of staff demanded. He was replaced by Brigadier 

General Leslie McNair.

21. Other sources translate it as Thunder Traveling to the Loftier Mountain Heights.

22. Fort Leavenworth natural resources manager, Mr. Matthew C. Nowak told the author on 5 February 2009

that the tribe itself indicated it lost 20 members, but that other researchers have written that up to 100 died from disease 

during their stay.

23. The rank is honorary.

112
24. Revoked in 1917 because he was a civilian, it was restored in 1989.

25. The West Point Class of 1861 graduated 45 in May and 34 in June 1861 (Heitman, Vol. 1, 144). Custer was

last in the June class and if both classes had graduated at once he would have been last of 79.

26. According to the information in Colonel John O. Shoemaker’s October 1971 article in Military Review “The

Custer Court-Martial,” Custer left his place of duty at Fort Wallace on the south fork of the Smoky Hill River in

western Kansas without authorization.

27. In 1836 a second dragoon regiment was established and the unit became the 1st Dragoon Regiment.

28. One of his nine children became a US Senator from Iowa and served in Washington with his father.

29. Torpedo was the name for aquatic mines in that era.

30. The current USS Farragut (DDG-99) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer commissioned in June 2006.

31. Map dated 15 March 2013, created by Jeff Helton, the post global information system coordinator.

32. For readers old enough to remember the Groucho Marx radio and television quiz show, You Bet Your Life, 

originating from New York City from 1947-1961, Grant’s Tomb is the answer to the consolation prize question, “Who’s

buried in Grant’s Tomb?” The answer to the question was actually quite tricky. First, Grant’s Tomb is actually an aboveground sarcophagus so Grant is not buried at all, he is entombed. Second, since it contains the remains of Grant and his 

wife, both would have to be mentioned to get the question right. Contestants were usually awarded a correct answer for 

mentioning only Grant.

33. He was brevetted major general for the Grierson Raid. His obituary in the New York Times of 1 September

1911 states that his brevet as major general was dated 27 May 1865. Heitman lists it as 2 March 1867 (Vol. I, 478). For

John Wayne fans among the readers of this work, the Grierson Raid was portrayed in the 1959 MGM movie, The Horse 

Soldiers. The film was directed by John Ford.

34. Hancock received 42% of the electoral votes (155 of 396), somewhat of a landslide loss.

35. Heitman, Historic Register, vol. 1, 46-47.

36. Heitman, Historical Register, vol. 1, 499.

37. Fort Leavenworth Lamp, 7 April 2011. A3.

38. Since 1986 the Army has awarded the MacArthur Leadership Award to recognize company grade officers

who demonstrate the ideals for which General MacArthur stood - Duty, Honor, Country. The award promotes and

sustains effective junior officer leadership in the Army. Army Regulation 600-89, General Douglas MacArthur

Leadership Program, describes the program.

39. His obituary in the Leavenworth Times says he was born on 21 September 1859.

40. Commanded by Colonel J. Franklin Bell, namesake of the now demolished Bell Hall at Fort Leavenworth.

41. Heitman, Historical Register, vol. 2, 190.

42. Many of these are bound typescript volumes. Bell must have been highly thought of and literate enough in

the German language to have translated Moltke, Schlieffen, and Balck; not easy stuff. He was born in Milwaukee,

Wisconsin, and may have come from a German-speaking family, which later Anglicized its German name to Bell.

Historian Daniel Hughes, in his Moltke on the Art of War: Selected Writings (New York, Random House, 1993),

comments that Bell’s translations were quite rough, although they were sufficient enough to support the college 

education mission.

43. The US Army did not create a cavalry branch until 1861. Dragoons and Mounted Rifles were established in

the 1830s to add mobility to match the current threat, the Plains Indians.

44. Ulysses Lee, United States Army in World War II: The Employment of Negro Troops (Washington, DC: 

US Army Center of Military History, 1965), 123. As war clouds gathered and the Army began mobilization, the Army 

began concentrating cavalry units at Fort Riley.

45. Ms. Phyllis Bass, director of the Richard Allen Cultural Center in Leavenworth, Kansas, told the author that

Mr. Hollowell attended the Army Music School through the efforts of an officer in the 10th Cavalry. This was probably 

the 1st Squadron commander, Major William O. Heacock (USMA, 1925) to whom Staff Sergeant Hollowell reported 

when he served as the band leader and squadron sergeant major in 1940-41.

46. Information from Mr. Hollowell’s personnel file obtained from the National Personnel Records Center, St.

Louis, Missouri. World War II must not have been all work and no play. On 24 April 1944, Mr. Hollowell was granted a 

copyright for a song titled “Your Love” dedicated to his wife.

47. The 33d Army Band is now the US Army Europe Band and Chorus.

113
48. The 371st Army Band was renamed the Combined Arms Center Band in 1974 (John Cowines, History of

Fort Leavenworth, 1964-1973, unpublished manuscript, 1974, 138, CAC History Office collection).

49. Chief warrant officer 4 was the highest warrant officer grade at the time and remained so until 1991 when the

Army created chief warrant officer 5.

50. When the United States joined the war in 1917, it interned enemy aliens from German (and later AustroHungarian) naval vessels.

51. These were Infantry units.

52. Carl Waldman, Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes (New York: Facts on File Publications, 1988), 109.

53. Waldman, Encyclopedia, 109.

54. The duty was with the Isthmian Canal Commission during the early days of the planning and construction of

the Panama Canal.

55. Even at the end of the World War I horse cavalry was still considered a viable combat force for many

missions including reconnaissance, surveillance, raids, and attacks in rough terrain.

56. This was the largest combined reunion of Civil War veterans. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hosted

the event. It was a combined reunion of members of the Grand Army of the Republic and United Confederate Veterans.

Over 50,000 veterans came to the camp on the Gettysburg battlefield. 

57. Lowe is the author of a book entitled Five Years a Dragoon published in 1906. It is still in print.

58. Information from Portrait and Biographical Record of Leavenworth, Douglas and Franklin Counties

(Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1899, facsimile reprint by Higginson Book Company, Salem, Massachusetts, 

1998), 695-6. Other sources say he was sheriff from 1876 to 1881.

59. Although he served and was honorably discharged from the US Army as a sergeant, his son Percy’s obituary

in the 11 May 1910 Leavenworth Times identifies him as Major P.G. Lowe. Other sources identity him as a captain

although he had no other military service. The titles may have been honorary or related to his wagon master days.

60. Newspaper clippings in the vertical file folder in the archives of the Frontier Army Museum provides

information that ground was broken for the headquarters in July 1958 and the battery was deactivated in February 1969.

61. McClellan was somewhat of a linguist, reputed to have reading knowledge of French, German, Spanish and

Russian.

62. President Lincoln got 212 electoral votes to 21 for McClellan, a landslide defeat.

63. The dragoons were redesignated cavalry in the summer of 1861.

64. This is a deduction by the author. No officer named Organ appears in post directories during the period the

street was constructed and no officer with that last name graduated from West Point or served in the Regular Army in

the 19th century according to Heitman. Sergeant Major Organ was on post, known to the Engineers and, by the size of

his tombstone in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, was of some prominence.

65. Willets Point in Queens, New York, was redesignated Fort Totten in July 1898.

66. The Fred C. Wing & Co’s Fort Leavenworth Directory for 1902-03 lists him as living in building #179 on

Arsenal Hill, today the area around the Grant Hall complex.

67. When the author spoke to a meeting of Leavenworth Chapter #27 of the National Association of Retired

Federal Employees on 1 October 2009, one member mentioned living on post at #73 Organ Avenue while growing up

as an Army brat.

68. Or 1,030 mile Ledo Road, accounts differ using different start and end points.

69. The Ledo Road was later renamed for General Joseph W. Stilwell, chief of staff of Allied Forces in the

China-Burma-India Theater.

70. The US Army Topographical Engineers Corps, informally identified as “topogs,” was established as a

separate corps in 1838. Its responsibilities were topography, mapping, and civil engineering works authorized by

Congress. During the Civil War in 1863 the topographical engineers were incorporated into the Corps of Engineers

(Heitman, Historical Register, Vol. 1, 43).

71. Heitman, Historical Register, vol 1, 831.

72. Colonel Forrest R. Blackburn’s December 1971 Military Review article “Cantonment Leavenworth, 1827-

1832,” states that Major Daniel Baker assumed command from Colonel Leavenworth in October 1827, so Riley may

have been the third commander.

114
73. One source, Deeds of Valor by Walter F. Beyer and Oscar F. Keydel (1902) indicates he was a sergeant at the

time of the action.

74. Joseph Robinson file, National Archives and Records Administration.

75. The 3d Cavalry withdrew from the field after the battle and took no part in the Battle of the Little Bighorn

Valley, eight days later.

76. One account of this escape states that 109 men escaped through the tunnel. See Elizabeth R. Varon, Southern 

Lady Yankee Spy (New York, Oxford University Press, 2003).

77. A 2004 review of a book about Rose in the Journal of Military History (2004, #68, Volume 1, 293) states that 

although from a Jewish family, religion was not important to him. He always listed himself as Protestant on his dog tags

and is buried under a Latin cross in Margraten.

78. Scott served as a general officer longer than any man in American history. He was appointed a general

officer during the presidency of James Madison. When he retired at the beginning of the Civil War, he had been a 

general on active duty for 46 years! Others don’t come close; both General Lewis B. Hersey and Douglas MacArthur

each served as general officers on active duty for 33 years.

79. Scott received 14% of the electoral votes cast (42 of 296), so he lost in something of a landslide.

80. The West Point Association of Graduates website (http://www.westpointaog.org/page.aspx?pid=3854)

describes how if a cadet is deficient in academics, the cadet should go to the monument at midnight the night before the 

term-end examination, in full dress, under arms, and spin the rowels on Sedgwick’s spurs. With luck, the cadet will pass

the test. Douglas A. Darling (USMA, 1974), related that he has seen it work, but admits that the subject studied quite

hard for the test before visiting Sedgwick’s statue. Mr. Darling says that a cadet can only do this safely at night and that 

in the example he cites the company tactical officer chased the cadet—but not very aggressively.

81. For much of the 19th century West Point graduates held brevet rank until a vacancy occurred in a regiment

or on the staff.

82. Although at this time its proper title was a division, it was often referred to by its former name as a 

department.

83. Accounts of the Civil War focus on Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse as the final act of the war, but

Johnston still had an army in the field for an additional seventeen days

84. James J. Duncan, Arthur J. Stanley, Jr, unpublished paper accessed online at

http://www.10thcircuithistory.org/judge-bios-n-s/ 17 April 2014.

85. Along with his classmate Major Dwight D. Eisenhower and 81 others who became general officers in World

War II.

86. Maps in the collection of the archives of the Frontier Army Museum at Fort Leavenworth.

87. A facility of the Army Air Forces during World War II, it became Sherman Air Force Base when the US Air

Force was established in 1947.

88. He was called “Old Slow Trot” by the cadets because he recommended a slow pace and did not want to wear 

out the horses.

89. Letter from Thomas to Governor Letcher, 12 March 1861, from H. W. Crocker, The Politically Incorrect 

Guide to the Civil War, (New York, Regnery, 2008). 

90. One of only fourteen to receive this honor during the Civil War.

91. In the past the USDB held both male and female prisoners, but a reorganization of Department of Defense

corrections directed all women prisoners are housed at the DoD Women’s Correctional Facility at Marine Corps Air

Station Miramar in California.

92. The new facility is smaller because the downsizing of the Armed Forces resulted in fewer inmates. Also,

some long sentence inmates are placed in the US federal prison system.

93. Widmer has a connection to another Fort Leavenworth namesake. According to reenlistment papers found in

the National Archives, he was reenlisted in 1874 in the 5th Cavalry by First Lieutenant Eben Swift, a future major 

general and namesake for Swift Hall on McClellan Avenue and Swift Street off Hancock Avenue.

94. According to the Army Center of Military History, cavalryman began to use the term “troop” to describe

themselves and the basic cavalry unit during the Civil War, but the term was not directed for the entire force until an

1883 Army reorganization.

95. Also identified as Milk Creek.

115
96. Other accounts say it was awarded 10 April 1880.

97. Record of Death and Interment for First Sergeant Jacob Widmer dated on 6 July 1880 from the Widmer file

in the National Archives and Records Administration.

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Appendix B

Building Biographical Summaries

Andrews Hall.

Building #: 801.

Built: 1942.

Dedicated: 1945.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Frank M. Andrews.

Born: 1884

Died: 1943.

Campaigns: Philippine War,WWI Stateside, postWW I Occupation of Germany, WWII.

figure 31. Lieutenant General Frank

M. Andrews

(Arlington National Cemetery Website)

Remarks: Andrews is one of the founding fathers of the United States Air Force. He graduated from USMA

in 1906, commissioned into the 8th Cavalry. Lieutenant Andrews served with his regiment in Virginia,

Texas, Vermont, and overseas in Hawaii and the Philippines, 1906-17. He transferred to the aviation section

of the Signal Corps in 1917 and earned his wings a year later. After a series of air staff and command

assignments, Major Andrews graduated from the Army Air Corps Tactical School in 1928 and from the

Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth in 1929. He was an air power theorist between

the World Wars. General Andrews commanded Caribbean Command in 1941, the first Air Corps officer to

lead a joint command. He was on the cover of Time Magazine in 1941 as one of the Army’s senior officers.

He replaced General Dwight D. Eisenhower as commander of US Army Forces in Europe in February

1943. He died in a B-24 bomber crash in Iceland on 3 May 1943 along with Brigadier General Charles

H. Barth, his chief of staff and one of the namesakes for Barth Hall at Fort Leavenworth. He is buried at

Arlington National Cemetery. General Andrews is the namesake for Andrews Air Force Base, Washington,

DC. Andrews Hall was dedicated in memory of Lieutenant General Andrews on 17 January 1945. The

hangar-type building was used as a classroom during WWII. It is now the Frontier Army Museum.

Armed ForcesInsurance Founder’s Building.

Building #: 325.

Built: 1953.

Namesake: Armed ForcesInsurance.

Remarks: The Army Co-Operative Fire Association was founded by officers at Fort Leavenworth in 1887

in an era when civilian insurance companies were reluctant to insure military officers. The name later

changed to Armed Force Co-Operative Insuring Association and finally to Armed Forces Insurance. The

building is one of the private structures grandfathered to remain on post based on an agreement with the

Army. The main part of the building is called the Founders Building in honor of the officers who pooled

their money and established the association. The initial organizer was Captain (later Major General) Arthur

MacArthur. Later additions were named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Ezra Fuller and his daughter,

Lottie, who together served as secretary-treasurers for the organization for 41 years, and James W. Holman,

the executive director from 1951-75.1

When the Founders Building was constructed in 1953, the president of the association was Lieutenant

Colonel William R. Desobry. He retired from the Army in 1975 as a lieutenant general. The building is a

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one-story brick structure but has a basement and subbasement to provide workspace without adding height.

Armed ForcesInsurance has a more modern facility in Leavenworth opened in 1987. In June 2010 building

#325 also became the home of the Colonel Arthur D. Simons Center for Interagency Cooperation.

Arnold Conference Room.

Location: Lewis and Clark Center.

Built: 2007.

Dedicated: 2007.

Namesake: General of the Army / General of the Air Force Henry H. (Hap) Arnold.

Born: 1886.

Died: 1950.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Philippine War, Panama, WWI Stateside and in France, WWII.

Remarks: Consult a standard biographical dictionary for detailed information on this famous American. He

served at Fort Leavenworth in May of 1912. He graduated from CGSS, 1929, a classmate of fellow

air force theorist Frank M. Andrews. He was Chief of the Army’s autonomous Air Forces in WWII and

first chief of staff of the US Air Force. He is the only man to be both a General of the Army (1944) and a 

General of the Air Force (1949).

Barth Hall.

Building #: 44.

Built: 1881.

Dedicated:Around 1977.

Namesakes: Named for the Barth family which had three members who served in the US Army as general

officers. Building #44 was the first home of the Infantry and Cavalry School in 1881. It has served a

number of roles since its construction, including the post headquarters, an enlisted men’s club, and a bank.

Barth Hall is currently the headquarters for the Mission Command Training Program.

Namesake: Brigadier General Charles H. Barth.

Born: 1858.

Died: 1926.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, garrison duty, Philippine War,WWI.

Remarks: Charles H. Barth graduated from Leavenworth High School in 1876. He graduated from USMA

in 1881 and was commissioned in the 12th Infantry. After early service with his regiment in Nebraska,

Georgia, and New York, he graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in 1891.

He remained as an instructor and senior instructor at the school and the collocated Staff College in 1891-93.

Barth was appointed the post adjutant in 1893. Promoted to major in 1904 he returned to Fort Leavenworth

again in 1904-05. He served twice in the Philippines. Before World War I he served in California, New

York, Washington, DC, Texas and Illinois. Brigadier General Barth commanded the 81st Division in the

continental United States and in France in WW I. After retirement from the Army, General Barth served

as the governor of the Leavenworth Soldier’s Home, 1925-26. He is buried with fellow governors near the

main flag pole at the Leavenworth National Cemetery. General Barth is also the namesake for Barth Hall at

Camp Buckner, near West Point, New York.

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Namesake: Major General George B. Barth.

Born: 1897.

Died: 1969.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: WWI Army of Occupation in Germany, Garrison duty, Hawaii,

WWII in North Africa and France, Occupation of Japan, Korean War.

Remarks: Oldest son of Brigadier General Charles H. Barth. George B. Barth graduated from USMA in

1918 and was commissioned in the 40th Infantry. He was at Fort Leavenworth with the 49th Infantry, March

to June 1919. Barth branch transferred to field artillery in 1923. He served as a Reserve Officer Training

Corps instructor at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University), 1927-30. He studied at the

Command and General Staff School, 1934-36 and returned to the renamed Command and General Staff

College as chief of staff in 1949. In the run-up to World War II Barth served variously as a field artillery

brigade S-3 and executive officer, division G-3 and chief of staff, and task force deputy chief of staff. He

achieved a stellar reputation while in commanded of the 357th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division, in the

Normandy Campaign of 1944.2 Barth was Director of Operations and Training at CGSC, 1948-49. He

was the 25th Infantry Division Artillery commander during the dark early days of the Korean War in the

Pusan Perimeter. Major General Barth later served as the commanding general of the First Army. He is

buried at the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

Namesake: Brigadier General Charles H. Barth Jr.

Born: 1903.

Died:1943.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Garrison duty, Panama, WWII.

Figure 32. Barth Hall, the first home of the School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry in 1881

(Author’s collection).

Remarks: Charles H. Barth Jr. was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, the youngest son of Brigadier General

Charles H. Barth. As a young man, he attended Princeton for a year but entered West Point in 1921 and

graduated in 1925 as First Captain, commissioned in the corps of engineers. He obtained an engineering

degree from Cornell, 1927, and taught engineering at West Point, 1927-32 and chemistry and electricity,

1933-34. Captain Barth served with the 3d Engineers in Hawaii in 1934-36. He was a member of the

Command and General Staff School class of 1940 and left when the Regular Course ended early in

February for an assignment in Panama. Barth served as an engineer in Panama rising to be the

supervising engineer of the special engineering division,

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1940-41. After service in Cairo, Egypt, with US Army Forces in the Middle East, Brigadier General Barth

served as chief of staff to Lieutenant General Frank M. Andrews, commander of US Army Europe, in

London, 1942-43. He died in a B-24 bomber crash in Iceland on 3 May 1943 along with General Andrews.

He was the namesake for Barth Road in the former Panama Canal Zone.

Beehive (Engineer Barracks, Bell Apartments, and the National Simulation Center).

Building #: 45.

Built: 1882-83.

Dedicated: As Engineer Hall on 27 September 1921, rededicated as Bell Apartment on 5 January 1927.

Namesake: Formerly named for Major General J. Franklin Bell, Army educator and theorist.

Figure 33. Façade of the South face of Engineer Barracks, aka Bell Apartments or the

Beehive

(Author’s collection).

Remarks: The initial structure was built in 1882-83. It was originally a two-story barracks built to house a

small regiment of infantry. The post headquarters was located in the central section from 1882-1890, before

it moved to Barth Hall. It was called Engineer Hall and occupied by engineer troops for many years. The

third floor was added in 1902 and the rear (east) wings were added in 1910. It was remodeled into fortyeight student apartments in 1920-21. During the period 1927-78 although officially named Bell Apartments

it got the name “Beehive” sometimes after 1937 because more than 2,600 Army families with lots of

children called it home. It was vacant from 1978 to 1993 when it was renovated as the National Simulation

Center. During renovation the structure was gutted down to the outer brick walls and rebuilt to meet the

requirements of a modern computer based war gaming facility. Today it is essentially a 19th century façade

around a 21st century building. The building is now usually called “The NSC.”

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(Former) Bell Hall and Bell Room.

Building #: 111 and a room in the Lewis and Clark Center.

Built: 1959 and 2007.

Dedicated: 1959 and 2007.

Namesake: Major General J. Franklin Bell.

Born: 1856.

Died: 1914.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Philippine War, Philippines.

Remarks: Bell graduated from USMA in 1878. He was commissioned in the 9th Cavalry and transferred

to 7th Cavalry. His early service was on the Frontier. He was a professor of military science and tactics at

Southern Illinois University, 1886-89. During the War with Spain, he commanded the 36th US Volunteer

Infantry, July to December, 1901.3 He was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions near Porac, Luzon, in

the Philippine War. While in the Far East he held various senior positions, including provost marshal of

Manila, 1901-03. His reputation as a trainer and combat leader resulted in his appointment as the Army

Service Schools commandant, at Fort Leavenworth, 1902-06. During this time, General Bell served as an

observer of the French army annual maneuvers, August to November 1905. He left Fort Leavenworth to

serve as the chief of staff US Army, 1906-10. General Bell continued to serve on active duty after his tour

as chief of staff and died at Governors Island, New York. Bell Hall was constructed from 1956-58. It was

the home of the Command and General Staff College from 1959 to 2007. It was demolished in 2008-2009

and replaced with a parking lot. The Bell Room off the main lobby of the Lewis and Clark Center is a wellappointed temporary executive office and meeting room for visiting general officers and other VIPs. While

Major General Bell was commandant of the Army Schools at Fort Leavenworth he wrote a poem that is now

inscribed on the five-foot tall, 2,000lb bell in the Grant Hall clock tower

BlochbergerTerraceApartments.

Building #: 338, 339.

Built: 1958.

Dedicated: 14 May 1963.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel Irene C. Blochberger.

Born: 1911.

Died: 1958.

Campaigns: WWII, Alaska, Philippines, Occupation of Japan, Occupation of Germany, Cold War.

Remarks: See Appendix A remarks associated with BlochbergerAvenue. Blochberger Terrace consists of

two 2-story buildings used as lodging for unaccompanied International Military Students.

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Bowen Hall Fire Station.

Building #: 701.

Built: 1997.

Dedicated: 1997.

Namesake: Fire Chief Joseph T.Bowen.

Born: 1884.

Died: 1958.

Campaigns: World War I Stateside.

Remarks: Joseph T.Bowen was born 9 November 1884 in St. Louis, Missouri. He moved to Salt Lake City,

Utah, married, and joined the city fire department where he served until he joined the Army in 1918. He

was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served from May 1918 to August 1919 at Fort Leavenworth.

After the war in 1919, he joined the post fire department. Promoted to fire chief in 1920, he served as the

fire chief on Fort Leavenworth until 1954. His 34 years as chief are the longest in post history. An article

announcing his death in the Leavenworth Times says that during his firefighting career he saved thirty-five

lives.4 Chief Bowen died of a heart attack on 27 September 1958 in St. Louis, Missouri. He is buried in Salt

Lake City, Utah. The building was constructed as the post fire department headquarters and the fire station

to cover the west and southwest portions of post where most housing areas are now located. It is built on

the land that was the site of the Civilian Military Training Corps encampment between the world wars and

later a travel camp.

Boughton Memorial.

Building #: 342.

Built: 1921.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Colonel Daniel H. Boughton.

Born: 1858.

Died: 1914.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain in Cuba, Philippine War.

Remarks: Daniel H. Boughton graduated from USMA in 1881, a classmate of Charles H. Barth, one of

the namesakes for Barth Hall. Boughton was commissioned in the 3d Cavalry. His early service was in

Missouri, Wyoming and Arizona. He was a student at the Infantry and Cavalry School, 1885-87. Boughton

was an assistant quartermaster and taught law and history at West Point, 1890-94. He was on court-martial

duty at Fort Leavenworth, September and October 1895. Boughton studied at both Columbia University

and Washington University in St Louis, Missouri.5 He received a law degree from Washington University in

1897. He was recommended for promotion from captain to major by Theodore Roosevelt while serving in

Cuba in 1898. He commanded Fort Myer, Virginia, as a captain, 1899-1900. Major Boughton served with

the 10th Cavalry in the Philippines and was also a judge advocate general, provost marshal and commissary

general. He was senior instructor in the department of law and military art, and assistant commandant,

General Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth, 1904-08. During his time at Fort Leavenworth, he became

master of a local Masonic Lodge. He wrote the Army’s 1910 edition of the Field Service Regulations, the

predecessor of the current Army Doctrine Publication 3-0, Unified Land Operations. He was back in the

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Philippines, 1912-13 and returned sick to Fort Huachuca, 1914. He was attached to the 10th Cavalry as a

colonel, August 1914. He died at Fort Huachuca, Arizona on 24 August 1914. He is buried in Arlington

National Cemetery. The Boughton Memorial building is different from most other structures on post. It is

constructed of gray brick in Beaux-Arts style. Boughton Memorial houses the Fort Leavenworth post office

and is the only Masonic lodges on a US military reservation.6

Boyd Hall.

Building #: 226.

Built: 1903.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service

Schools general order #66.

Namesake: Major Charles T.Boyd.

Born: 1870.

Died: 1916.

Campaigns: War with Spain, Philippine War,

Mexican Punitive Expedition. Figure 34. Captain Charles T. Boyd

(Annual Report of the Assembly of Graduates 1917)

Remarks: Charles T. Boyd graduated from USMA in 1896 and was commissioned in the 7th Cavalry

as an additional officer, but reassigned to the 4th Cavalry the same day.7 His early service was with his

regiment. First Lieutenant Boyd sailed for the Philippines with his regiment. In July 1899, he joined the

37th US Volunteer Infantry as a major and became executive officer and then commander of the regiment.

He served with it until 1901.8 Captain Boyd was professor of military science and tactics, University of

Nevada, 1902-05.9 He studied law and was admitted to the California bar, 1903. Captain Boyd returned to

the Philippines in 1905 for a year’s service with the Philippine Scouts, which included duty as governor

of Cotabato District on Mindanao. Captain Boyd was the distinguished graduate of the School of the Line,

1912, and graduated from the Army Staff School, 1916, both at Fort Leavenworth. He was killed in action

at Carrozol, Mexico, 21 June 1916 during the Mexican Punitive Expedition while leading two troops of

the 10th Cavalry into action. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A son and grandson graduated

from West Point. There is a plaque in his memory on the walls of Memorial Chapel on Fort Leavenworth.

Boyd Hall is one of the three Artillery Barracks near the former West End Parade, now occupied by Frontier

Chapel, built in accordance to Quartermaster General Standard Plan 123B3. In 1921, along with nearby

buildings #196 and #221, it was converted into officer apartments.10 They were renovation once again in

1962 to serve as noncommissioned officer apartments. And later still were occupied by Command and

General Staff College students until converted for the last time as office space for a Mission Command

Training Program operations group.

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Bradley Elementary School and the Bradley

Suite 419-2 in Otis Hall.

Building #: 865.

Built: 1964-65.

Dedicated: 1965.

Namesake: General of the Army Omar N. Bradley.

Born: 1893.

Died: 1981.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Garrison

duty, WWI Stateside, Hawaii, WWII.

Figure 35. General of the Army Omar Bradley at the 

dedication of Bradley Elementary School

(FrontierArmy Museum)

Remarks: Consult a standard biographical dictionary for information on this famous American. The M2/3

Bradley fighting vehicle is named in his honor. The Bradley Suite is a VIP apartment in Otis Hall. Bradley

Elementary was constructed in 1964-65 and dedicated in 1965. The school was extensively remodeled in

2007.

Chapels

Fort Leavenworth has three chapels and one chapel memorial to bear witness to the preeminent American

value of the free exercise of religion as enshrined in the first two clauses of the First Amendment of the

United States Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or

prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In 1838, War Department General Order 29 authorized a chaplain

for the post.11 Religious services were held on post, often in any available building. Memorial Chapel,

dedicated in 1878 as the Post Chapel, served the Protestant community until replaced by the former Main

Post Chapel in 1966. The Catholic community built St. Ignatius Chapel on Kearny Avenue in 1871. This

building was later replaced with a second St. Ignatius at the corner of McClellan and Pope Avenues.

FrontierChapel.

Building#: 699.

Built: 2009-2010.

Dedicated: 17 September 2010.

Namesake: The ministers and people of faith who established religious life on the frontier as the United

States moved west.

Remarks: The Frontier Chapel owes its existence to a fire in late 2001 and an expending post population.

Before fire destroyed Saint Ignatius Chapel, it was the center of Roman Catholic religious observance.

Although at least one mass was said each Sunday at the Main Post Chapel (now called Pioneer Chapel),

most Catholic activities were associated with St. Iggy’s. The resulting movement of Catholic activities to

the Main Post Chapel increased crowding, not just in scheduling services in the sanctuary, but also the

meeting space and classrooms in the support wing. Frontier Chapel provides an additional sanctuary for

all faith group services as well as office space, classrooms, and other support rooms. The worship center

and an adjoining activities center are in the center of the structure with other rooms around the outside.

Memorial Chapel (formerly Post Chapel).

Building #: 54.

Built: 1878.

Dedicated: 28 December 1965.

Namesake: Soldiers and civilians memorialized within the chapel.

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Remarks: The chapel was constructed in 1878 using prison labor from the military prison, supervised

by Colonel Asa Blunt, commandant of the military prison. It was built with native stone quarried on

post. Plaques on the walls memorialize men and women who served or lived at Fort Leavenworth.

There are 100 names on 88 plaques, many that honor those who died fighting in the west, including the

men of the 7th Cavalry who died in the Little Big Horn Valley, Montana, in June of 1876. Post tradition

relates that an aide to the department of the Missouri commander, Brigadier John Pope, suggested

the use of plaques to memorialize those who died in combat.12 Six civilians are memorialized, as are

the men of several regiments.13 A plaque above the church organ honors the memory of Ms. Margaret

Coarza Berry, who served as the Memorial Chapel organist and music director from 1930 to 1980.

With some irony, Ms. Berry, a Roman Catholic, became expert in the ritual and liturgy of the Protestant

denominations holding services in Memorial Chapel and oriented many a recently arrived clergyman

on how things were done in Memorial Chapel. Eleven men memorialized on the walls of the chapel are

also honored elsewhere on post.14 Memorial Chapel served as the Post Chapel until 1966. The chapel

currently is used by two faiths, Lutheran and Episcopalian.

Pioneer Chapel (formerly Main Post Chapel).15

Building#: 56.

Built: 196-65.

Dedicated: 16 January 1966.

Namesake: Those hardy souls who braved the elements and endured hardships to be the first United

States citizens to settle in the West.

Remarks: For many years the locus of religious life on Fort Leavenworth, it hosted Catholic, Jewish,

Protestant services and associated activities. It is distinguished by twenty-one stained glass windows

dealing with both religious and secular themes. The ten on the western side are based on the New

Testament, three in the vestibule commemorate American history, including the pioneers who are its

namesake, and eight on the eastern side based on the Old Testament. All have a military connection

reflecting the Army and the world situation in the period 1967 to 1970 when they were installed. In the

vestibule is a display of artifacts salvaged from the ruins of St. Ignatius Chapel.

Saint Ignatius Chapel Memorial.

Building #: None now, originally 170.

Built: 1889.

Dedicated: 2006.

Namesake: Inigo Lopez de Recalde de Loyola (St. Ignatius Loyola).

Born: 1491.

Died: 1556.

Campaigns: Navarre’s wars against other Spanish dukedoms and nearby French kingdoms.

Remarks: Born in his family’s ancestral castle of Loyola in the Basque province of Guipúzcao and

baptized Inigo, he took the name Ignatius later when living in Rome. He served as an officer in the army

of the Duke of Najera / Viceroy of Navarre, 1509-21. He was badly wounded in the legs at Pamplona

by a French cannonball in 1521 and retired because of his wounds. During his covalence, Ignatius read

a number of religious texts on the life of Jesus and the saints. He vowed to live a religious life. He

studied at the Universities of Alcala and Salamanca in Spain, and received a master of theology degree

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from the University of Paris (today popularly called the Sorbonne) in 1529. He was one of the principal

founders of the Society of Jesus—the Jesuits—and the religious order’s first superior general in 1534. He

was canonized (declared a saint) by the Roman Catholic Church in 1622. St. Ignatius Chapel was built in

1889 under a license, dated 18 June 1889, granted by the Army for a private structure to be built on post. The

license was terminated and the building returned to Army control on 14 March 1967. The chapel was

destroyed by fire in December 2001. On 16 April 2004 a ceremony of closure was held on the site and

work on a memorial park begun. A memorial constructed in 2006 now exists on the site at the corner of

Pope and McClellan Avenues. The memorial consists of a low brick wall outlining the foundation of the

former building with a higher wall containing the cornerstone of the original church in the southeast

corner of the site. The St. Ignatius Chapel memorial is the only thing on post memorializing only the

honoree’s first name.

Cook Gymnasium.

Building #: 1140.

Built: 2003.

Dedicated: 17 July 2003.

Namesake: Sergeant Major Henry L. Cook.

Born: 1953.

Died: 2001.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Cold War, Operation Just Cause (Panama), Korea, Persian Gulf

War,Germany.

Remarks: Born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Henry L. Cook completed initial entry training as a military

policeman at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in 1973. During his 27-year military career he served in corrections

and other Military Police specialties in the Continental United States, the Federal Republic of Germany,

Republic of Korea, Panama, and Saudi Arabia. Sergeant Major Cook’s overseas deployments included five

months in Panama (1989) during Operation Just Cause and eight months in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

during the Persian Gulf War (1990-91). His final duty position was the operations sergeant major with

the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. His awards included the Legion of Merit, the

German Schiessenschnur silber (Silver Shooting Cord), and nine awards of the Good Conduct Medal.16 He

collapsed and died while playing basketball. The gym is one of the hidden facilities on post, inside the US

Disciplinary Barracks compound known only to those on the staff—or the inmates—of the DB.

Cooke Hall.

Building #: 22.

Built: 1934.

Dedicated: 1934.

Namesake: Major General Phillip St. George Cooke.

Born: 1809.

Died: 1895.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Black Hawk War, Mexican War,Indian Campaigns, Civil War.

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Remarks: Cooke graduated from USMA in 1827 and was commissioned in the 6th Infantry. He reported

to West Point named St. George Cooke, but the member of Congress who appointed him confused his

name with another Cooke and he was enrolled as Phillip. He served for forty-six years in the Army. His

Fort Leavenworth experience included his marriage to Rachel W. Herzog on post in 1830, perhaps the

first officer married at Fort Leavenworth. He served at Fort Leavenworth in four decades: 1829-30, 1842-

43, 1846, and 1855-56, the last year as the post commander. Cooke’s career was quite varied. He was the

commander of the Mormon Battalion that marched from Fort Leavenworth to California in 1846. He dealt

with “border ruffians” and “jayhawkers” along the Missouri-Kansas border. He spent 1858-60 in Italy as a

military observer, including the Solferino campaign. A manual he wrote on cavalry tactics became the Army

standard in 1861. Cooke was one of the Virginia-born officers who continued to serve the Union during

the Civil War. His son, John, and son-in law, J.E.B. Stuart, served as Confederate general officers; another

son-in-law, Dr. Charles Brewer, served as a Confederate surgeon. Still another son-in-law, Jacob Sharpe,

served as a major in the 56th New York Volunteer Infantry and colonel of the 156th New York Volunteer

Infantry on the Union side.17 Cooke was the Army of the Potomac cavalry commander. From a family with

split loyalties, Major General Cooke was emblematic of the divisions during the “War Between the States.”

The scars of those split loyalties healed slowly. It was not until 1887, 22 years after the end of the war, that

father and son made up.18 Cooke is buried at Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan. Vandenberg Air Force

Base, California, was previously named Camp Cooke. Cooke Hall was originally quarters for nurses and

other Army women but became a male BOQ in 1963, and sometime later a VIP guesthouse. It is now the

home of Executive Services and the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Activity on post and the Mission

Contracting Office.

Craig Hall.

Building #: 221.

Built: 1901.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order #66.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel John M. Craig.

Born: 1878?

Died: 1918.

Campaigns: Philippine War,WWI.

Remarks: He served as a private and sergeant in Company E, 20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry in the

Philippines, 1898-99. When discharged, he enlisted in the 36th US Volunteer Infantry. He served as a

private, sergeant, battalion sergeant major and second lieutenant with the 36th USVI, 1899-1901. He was

appointed second lieutenant in the 12th US Infantry, 1901. Craig attended the Infantry and Cavalry School

in 1904. He was on regimental service before the World War. He was killed in action in France, 21 July

1918. He is buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco, California; Craig Hall is one of

the three Artillery Barracks near the former West End parade now occupied by Frontier Chapel. It is built

to Quartermaster General Standard Plan 123B2. In 1921, along with nearby buildings #196 and #226, it

was converted into officer apartments.19 In 1962 the building was remodeled into noncommissioned officer

apartments. However, by 1988 the building was once again officer housing. As with the other two Artillery

Barracks, Craig Hall was a part of an artillery regimental complex of a barracks, guard house, gun and

wagon sheds, and a brick stable. Today the Craig Hall complex is the most complete example of an artillery

regimental complex on Fort Leavenworth. It is occupied by elements of the Mission Command Training

Program.

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Custer House.

Building #: 3.

Built: 1883.

Dedicated: sometime after 1977.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel Thomas W.Custer.

Born: 1845

Died: 1876.

Campaigns: Civil War,Reconstruction duty in South Carolina, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns,

Yellowstone and Black Hills Scientific Expeditions.

Remarks: He entered military service as a private in Company H, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861

at the age of seventeen.20 At the end of his enlistment he accepted a commission as second lieutenant with

Company B, 6th Michigan Cavalry in November 1864. He was awarded the Medal of Honor twice21 during

the Civil War for capturing enemy colors twice within three days, once at Namozine Church Virginia (3

April 1865) and the second time at Sayler’s Creek, (6 April 1865). He was brevetted as a captain, major,

and lieutenant colonel for valor during the Civil War. After the war he was appointed a first lieutenant in

the 7th Cavalry and served with it on the Plains, including command of Company C. Custer was the brother

of George A. Custer and died in the Battle of the Little Big Horn on 25 June 1876. His name is inscribed

on the 7th Cavalry plaque on the wall of Memorial Chapel on Fort Leavenworth. He is buried at the Fort

Leavenworth National Cemetery. The large 2 1⁄2 story single family brick house was constructed to house

staff officers of the department of the Missouri headquartered on post. It is a blend of several architectural

styles including Georgian revival and Queen Anne. The Custer House has been subdivided into three large

and three small guest suites and is used as a VIP guest house. Although not built to a Quartermaster General

standard plan, it is identical in design to building #6, the Combined Arms Center chief of staff’s house built

the same year.

Davis Hall.

Building #: 196.

Built: 1901.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order #66.

Namesake: Colonel William D. Davis.

Born: 1869.

Died: 1918.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, War with Spain in Cuba, Philippine War, Panama, WW I.

Remarks: Davis graduated from USMA in 1892 and was commissioned in the 17th Infantry. He was

stationed at the Army Torpedo (controlled aquaticmines) School, Willets Point, New York, 1895-96.

22

Davis

served with the 17th Infantry in Cuba, 1898. Captain Davis was detailed to the Quartermaster Department

in 1906 and served as the construction quartermaster at Fort Leavenworth, 1908-10 at the end of the

post-War with Spain construction boom. He attended the Army Service Schools from August to

December 1912 and returned to study at the Army School of the Line, 1916, all at Fort Leavenworth.

Major Davis was a School of the Line instructor, 1916-17. Promoted to lieutenant colonel and then

colonel in 1917, he commanded the 361st Regiment, 91st Division, in training at Camp Lewis,

Washington, and in France, 1917-18. He was killed in action in France, 1918 while in command of the

regiment. Colonel Davis is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Davis Hall is one of the three

Artillery Barracks near the former West End Parade now occupied by Frontier Chapel. The building is a

copy of Quartermaster General’s Office Standard Plan 123A. Like its two neighbors (buildings #221

128
and 226) in Artillery Barracks, it was a part of a complex of buildings consisting of a barracks, guard

house, gun shed, and stable. Only the guard house remains.23 The building is identified on a late 1930s

Fort Leavenworth real property record—perhaps from 1939 or 1940—as a West Point Prep School.

Between the World Wars, eight posts had prep schools for West Point. Fort Leavenworth was one of

them.24

DePuyAuditorium.

Building #: 120.

Built: 1994.

Dedicated: 1994.

Namesake: General William E. DePuy.

Born: 1919.

Died: 1992.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, WWII, Cold War,Vietnam.

Remarks: DePuy joined the South Dakota National Guard while in college. He graduated from South

Dakota State University in 1941. Commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps and initially

assigned to the 20th Infantry at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, as a platoon leader. He participated in the

Louisiana Maneuvers in 1940. Captain DePuy landed on Utah Beach on 8 June 1944 as the operations and

training officer of the 1st Battalion, 357th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division. He was appointed the regimental

operations officer and later in December 1944—at the age of 25—was given command of the 1st Battalion,

357th Infantry as it fought across Germany and into Czechoslovakia. At the war’s end DePuy was appointed

the division operations officer. His experience in the 90th Division, one of the “draftee” divisions, burned

into his memory the result of the lack of adequate preparation of leaders for war.25 He valued the leadership

he received during the war from Major General (then Colonel) George B. Barth, namesake of Barth Hall.

DePuy graduated from a four-month Command and General Staff School course at Fort Leavenworth in

1945. He spent the Korean War years working with the Central Intelligence Agency on covert actions

against China. In the 1950s he served in CONUS and Europe, including command of a battalion and

battle group. DePuy served as the J-3 for Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, and later commanded

the 1st Infantry Division during his five years in that country during the war. General DePuy was the first

commander of Training and Doctrine Command. He was a noted author and doctrinal thinker, considered

the father of AirLand Battle, the predecessor of today’s Army operational doctrine. The Army Training

and Doctrine Command headquarters building at Fort Eustis, Virginia, is named DePuy Hall in his honor.

DePuy Auditorium is on the first floor of Eisenhower Hall.

Dickinson Hall.

Building #: 55.

Built: 1883.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order #66.

Namesake: Captain Walter M. Dickinson.

Born: 1856.

Died: 1898.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain.

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Remarks: Attended Massachusetts Agricultural College (now the University of Massachusetts,

Amherst) for three years. Graduated from USMA in 1880, was commissioned in the 4th Cavalry and

stationed at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, with later service at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. He

was assigned to Fort Leavenworth, 1882-85, and graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School in

1885. He transferred to the 17th Infantry in 1891 and served as a professor of military science and tactics

at Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1892-96. At the outbreak of the War with Spain he was

regimental quartermaster at Columbus Barracks, Ohio. Captain Dickinson landed at Daiquiri, Cuba in

April 1898. He died at Santiago de Cuba of wounds received on 1 July 1898 at battle of El Caney. He

was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, 1 November 1898. Dickinson Hall was the third post hospital,

1882-1902. Replaced by building #198, it was converted to the Hospital Corps barracks. An 1871 map at

the Frontier Army Museum archives shows the first post hospital located where Barth Hall (building #44)

is now and the second hospital was where Root Hall (building #197) is now along McClellan Avenue.

Dickinson Hall is now used as office space.

Dodge Hall.

Building #: 268.

Built: 1947.

Dedicated: 1953.

Namesake: Colonel Henry “Honest Harry” Dodge.

Born: 1782.

Died: 1867.

Campaigns: War of 1812, Blackhawk War,Indian Campaigns, Mexican War.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks for Dodge Road). The building currently serves as office space for post

housing.

Eisenhower Hall (building #120), Eisenhower Cafeteria (in Eisenhower Hall), Eisenhower

Auditorium (in the Lewis and Clark Center, (building #127), Eisenhower Elementary School

(building #327), and Eisenhower Suite in Otis Hall (building #213).

Built: 1992, 2007, 1955, and 1903, respectively.

Dedicated: Building in 1992, auditorium in 2007, and school dedicated in 1955.

Namesake: President and General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Born: 1890.

Died: 1969.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Mexican Border, WWI Stateside, Post-WWI Europe, Panama,

Philippines, WWII.

Remarks: Consult the many biographies for information on this famous American. Captain Eisenhower

was an instructor of provisional officers at the Army Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth from 

December 1917 to March 1918.26 Major Eisenhower was the honor graduate of the Command and

General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth in 1926. Eisenhower Hall is a one of the main academic

buildings of the Command and General Staff College and the Army Management Staff College

completed in 1994 and renovated in 2013. The name encompasses two buildings, the General

Instruction Building and the Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library. However, most

observers call the GIB Eisenhower Hall and the library the CARL. Eisenhower Auditorium is the

largest auditorium in the Lewis and Clark Center.27 The Eisenhower Suiteis a VIP apartment in Otis Hall

occupied in 1925-26 by Major and Mrs. Eisenhower and their 3-year old son (later an Army Reserve

130
brigadier general) John. Each year the top international military student graduate is awarded the

Eisenhower Award. Eisenhower Elementary was constructed in 1955 and extensively renovated with

classrooms added in 2003-2004.

Felts Conference Room.

Building #: Room 259 in Bldg #121.

Built: 1992.

Dedicated: 2006.

Namesake: Colonel Thomas Felts.

Born: 1961.

Died: 2006.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Cold War, West Germany, Operation Enduring Freedom

(Afghanistan).

Remarks: A graduate of the University of Richmond in 1983, he was commissioned in Military Intelligence

through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He spent his early career in the continental United States and

Germany. Colonel Felts graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1997, and the School of

Advance Military Studies’Advanced Military Studies Program in 1998. He returned to Fort Leavenworth as

an Advanced Operational Arts Study Fellow, 2006. Colonel Felts was killed in action by an improvised

explosive device in Afghanistan while serving as senior team leader of a military transition team with the

2d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. He is buried at the Seven Pines National Cemetery near

Sandton, Virginia. The conference room was dedicated in 2006 and is the main conference room in the

School of Advanced Military Studies.

Flint Hall.

Building #: 315.

Built: 1910.

Dedicated: 1951

Namesake: Colonel Harry A. (Paddy) Flint.

Born: 1888.

Died: 1944.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: WWI, Post-war Occupation of Germany, WWII in North Africa,

Sicily, England and France.

Figure 36. Orders dedicating Flint Hall, 1951

(CARL Special Collections)

131
Remarks: Flint graduated from USMA in 1912 and was commissioned in the 4th Cavalry. After initial

regimental service at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, Flint served in Hawaii at Schofield Barracks, 1913-16.

He served as a cavalry and artillery officer in WWI, first in Texas and Alabama, then with the American

Expeditionary Forces. He served as an artillery lieutenant colonel in the occupation of Germany at Coblenz.

At Fort Leavenworth, Flint was instructor of equitation and commander of the General Service Schools

Detachment (Colored), 1922-23, and graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1924. He

was a student at the French Ecole Superieure de Guerre, 1924-26. Colonel Flint served with the 2d Armored

Division in North Africa, including duty as a liaison officer with the Free French Forces. Colonel Flint

commanded the 56th Armored Infantry Battalion (12th Armored Division) and then 39th Infantry Regiment

(9th Infantry Division) in WWII. He developed the slogan “AAA-0” (Anything, Anytime, Anywhere, bar

Nothing) for his regiment. He died of wounds at St. Lo, France, in July 1944. Flint Hall was constructed

according to Quartermaster General Office standard plan 139H as a 1 1⁄2 story brick signal corps stable with

a capacity of 138 horses. After a fire in 1925 the building was reconstructed as a recreation center for the

African American soldiers of the General Service Schools Detachment (Colored) / 10th Cavalry, and later

as offices. Flint Hall was the first home of the School of Advanced Military Studies.

Frontier Conference Center.

Building #: 318.

Built: 1940.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: The halcyon days when Fort Leavenworth was on the Frontier.

Remarks: Building #318 was built in 1940 as the post officer’s club. It consolidated Officer’s Open Mess

Activities that previously were in several different locations on main post. The former officer’s club was

converted into an all-ranks facility and conference center in 1995. The Frontier Conference Center has

restaurant and bar facilities, a number of ballrooms and other event rooms available for post activities. The

center is supported by kitchen and catering facilities. Several of these are “hidden” rooms in the sense that

they are only identified by carved wooden signs over their entrances. These include:

• Centennial Room: Named in 1981 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the

School of Application for Cavalry and Infantry, established in 1881.

• Conestoga Ballroom: Named for the large freight wagon associated with supplying the Army 

during the mid-19th century migration west. The Conestoga Ballroom is the largest room in the 

building and can be divided into three separate rooms, if required.

• The Hearth Room: Named for the large fireplace at the back of the room.

• De Cavagnial Room: Named for the French military post (1744-63) located in the northwestern

corner of what is now the Fort Leavenworth military reservation.

• Solarium Dining Room: Named for the glass enclosed and south-facing dining room that

overlooked the now removed outdoor pool.

132
Fuller Hall.

Building #: 119.

Built: 1901, renovated in 1937.

Dedicated: 8 May 1937.

Namesake: Colonel Ezra B. Fuller.

Born: 1848.

Died: 1925.

Campaigns: Civil War, Frontier duty, Indian

Campaigns, War with Spain Stateside, Occupation

of Cuba.

Figure 37. Command and General Staff School

General Orders announcing the naming of Fuller

Hall

(FrontierArmy Museum)

Remarks: Fuller’s first military service was with the 141st Illinois Infantry in 1864. When discharged a

year later he enlisted in the 8th Illinois Cavalry. Selected for the USMA, he graduated in 1869 and was

commissioned in the 8th Cavalry. His early service was with his regiment in the Pacific Northwest and

Montana. Lieutenant Fuller was one of the replacement officers assigned to the 7th Cavalry after the battle of

the Little Big Horn Valley in June 1876. He was assistant professor of natural and experimental philosophy

at West Point, 1881-85, later was professor of military science and tactics at Clemson University, Clemson,

South Carolina, 1895-98, and professor of military science and tactics at Maryland Agricultural College

(now the University of Maryland), College Park, Maryland, 1903-04. He retired for disability in 1904.

He was then recalled to active duty to serve as the librarian of the Army Staff College, 1906-22, at Fort

Leavenworth. He was secretary and disbursing officer of the Command and General Staff School. Fuller

was the secretary-treasurer of the Army Co-Operative Fire Association (later the Armed Forces Cooperative Insuring Association) (1909-25). Promoted to lieutenant colonel upon his retirement in May

1904, he was promoted to colonel on the retired list in July 1918. For many years Colonel Fuller was

the secretary and treasurer of the US Cavalry Association and editor of Cavalry Journal from 1907 to

1920. He retired in 1923 after 59 years in uniform. Fuller Hall was built as an eight-horse stable. It was

initially used to stable the “public mounts” of post senior leadership.28 Later it was the school carpentry

shop, and then the school bookstore. It was remodeled in 1936-37 as office space and now serves as

executive offices. Colonel Fuller is also the namesake for a wing of a private building on post. The Fuller

Addition of the Armed Forces Insurance building on Biddle Avenue is named in honor of him and his

daughter.29 The name Fuller has a double tie to Fort Leavenworth. Colonel Fuller’s son, Major General

Horace H. Fuller, was the commandant of the Command and General Staff School from June to

December 1941, but left to assume command of the 41st Infantry Division in the Pacific theater.

133
Funston Hall.

Building #: 314.

Built: 1910.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Major General Frederick Funston.

Born: 1865.

Died: 1917.

Campaigns: War with Spain, Philippine War, Mexican Punitive Expedition.

Remarks: The son of a congressman, he spent two and a half years as a student at the University of Kansas.

In 1891, he was a reporter for a Kansas City newspaper.30 An adventurer, he spent 1892-94 in Alaska. He

later served as a captain in the Cuban Insurgent Army (1896); he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel until

he was invalided home with malaria. He was appointed the colonel of the 20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry,

1899-1900 and led them in the Philippines.31 In February 1900, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his

actions in the Philippines in the capture of Insurecto leader Emilio Aguinaldo. After his extensive service

in the Philippines, Brigadier General Funston was the commander of the Department of California where

he acquitted himself well during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. He was the commandant, School

of the Line, 1908-11, at Fort Leavenworth and returned to the Far East as Commander of the Philippine

Department, 1911-1914. General Funston died on active duty while commanding the Mexican Vera Cruz

Expedition in 1914. He is buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery, California. General Funston

was the namesake for Fort Funston, Ogden, Kansas, a cantonment on the southeast side of Fort Riley. The

building on Sedgwick Avenue is constructed using Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 181A, a

two company barracks for coast artillery.

32 It housed the post signal detachment and at some point became

a bachelor officers’ quarters.

Gates Training Room.

Building #: 193.

Built: 1901.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: General Horatio Gates.

Born: 1727.

Died: 1806.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Germany, Nova Scotia, French and Indian War,West Indies,

Revolutionary War.

Remarks: Born in county Essex, England, he joined the British Army as a lieutenant in 1745 and served

in North America and the Caribbean. Major Gates retired from the British Army in 1765 and moved to

Virginia in 1772. He was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Virginia colonial militia and joined the

American Revolution. In June 1775 he was made the adjutant general of the Continental Army with the

rank of brigadier general. During the war, as a major general, he commanded forces in Canada, New York,

Boston and South Carolina. Gates held both command and staff positions during the war. He commanded the

victorious forces at the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga (1777) and commanded the American

forces at the defeat at the battle of Camden, South Carolina, (1780).33 After the war he retired to New York

City. He is buried in Trinity Churchyard on Wall Street in Manhattan. Now occupied by the Combined

Arms Center adjutant general section, the building was originally constructed as a 11⁄2 story Quartermaster

General Office standard plan 139L cavalry stable with a capacity of 104 horses/mules. The training room

is at the west end of the building.

134
Gentry Health Clinic.

Building #: 1054.

Built: 1990.

Dedicated: 14 October 1990.

Namesake: Colonel (Dr.) Ernest R. Gentry.

Born: 1884.

Died: 1961.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Philippines, Panama.

Remarks: He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1905 and from the Johns Hopkins Medical School

in 1909. A contemporary of Major (Dr.) Walter Reed, he entered service from Kansas in 1909 and was

appointed a first lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps in 1910. Dr. Gentry served as Fort Leavenworth

post surgeon as a first lieutenant in 1910. During his first tour on post, he helped manage a typhoid fever

epidemic that broke out in the city of Leavenworth. Dr. Gentry served in the Philippines, 1912-14. He

gained a reputation as an expert on communicable diseases, a very important skill during this period of US

colonial expansion and the construction of the Panama Canal. He was a tropical disease board member in

the Philippines and served on the adjunct faculty of the University of the Philippines Medical School. A

frequent contributor to medical publications, Colonel Gentry served the nation for 30 years. He is buried in

Arlington National Cemetery. Building #1054 was constructed as a general medical clinic. In 2011 it was

renovated and reopened as a behavioral health and preventative medicine center.

Grant Hall and Auditorium.

Building #: 52 C; an auditorium on the second floor

of the building over the sally port.

Built: 1904 to 1907.

Dedicated: 2 September 1907.

Namesake: President/General Ulysses S. (Sam) Grant.

Born: 1822.

Died: 1885.

Campaigns: Mexican War, Frontier duty, Indian

Campaigns, Civil War,Reconstruction.

Figure 38. Grant Hall Sally 

Port

(Author’s Collection)

Remarks: Consult his autobiography and the many biographies on this famous American. Grant was

appointed the first full general since George Washington on the retired list, 1885. He briefly served as

Secretary of War (August 1867 to January 1868), and was president of the US for two terms, 1869-77. He

is buried in Grant’s Tomb, General Grant National Monument, Riverside Drive, New York City. There is

also a Grant Hall at West Point. Grant Hall was constructed to connect Sherman and Sheridan Halls to serve

as academic buildings for the Army Schools of the Line. Grant Hall was constructed from Quartermaster

General’s Office standard plans 1-937 and 3-1273. It has a 159 foot tall clock tower with a four-face tower

135
clock and a five foot tall bell weighting 2,000 pounds. Grant Auditorium was the primary assembly hall

when the Command and General Staff College and its predecessors occupied the building (1907 to 1959).

The eagle over the sally port appears in the official crest of the Command and General Staff College,

although it faces to its left whereas the eagle on the crest faces to the eagle’s right. This anomaly probably

resulted from a simple drafting error in drawing up the crest. In the summer of 2010 the clock tower and its

contents were renovated to recondition the clock movement, reconnect the bell, and repair decaying bricks.

Gregg Hall.

Building #: 214.

Built: 1903, remodeled in 1921 and 1934.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 under the

provisions of General Service Schools General

Order #66.

Namesake: Captain John C. “Jack” Gregg.

Born: 1864.

Died: 1899.

Campaigns: Indian Campaigns, War with Spain in

Florida and the Philippines, Philippine War.

Figure 39. Original 1934 aluminum sign for Gregg

Apartments at ground floor level on north side of

building

(Author’s collection).

Remarks: He graduated from USMA in 1887. He was 2d captain of cadets as a first classman; commissioned

in the 4th Infantry. His early service was with his regiment in Utah, 1887-91. Lieutenant Gregg graduated

from the Engineer and Torpedo School at Willets Point, New York, in 1892 followed by regimental service

in Utah, Illinois, and Texas.35 First Lieutenant Gregg graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School at

Fort Leavenworth in 1897. He traveled to North Africa and Europe to study foreign armies in 1897.

Gregg traveled to the Philippines by way of the Suez Canal. He was killed in action 31 March 1899 near

Mariquina, Luzon, Philippines. Gregg Hall is one of twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan

Avenues constructed in accordance with Quartermaster General’s Office stand plan 150. It initially was

home for members of a small infantry regiment, became a bachelor officer’s quarters in 1921, and was

redesigned as officer family apartments in 1934. It remains so today.

Greenleif Hall.

Building #: 1952.

Built: 1997.

Dedicated: 1997.

Namesake: Major General Francis S. Greenleif.

Born: 1921.

Died: 1999.

Campaigns: World War II, Cold War.

Remarks: He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1940. He was a lineman on the university’s

football team but missed the team’s 1941 trip to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, when his Guard unit

was called to active duty. Lieutenant Greenleif fought at Normandy, St. Lo, and the Battle of Bulge with

the 134th Infantry of the 35th Infantry Division. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action in

136
Europe. After the war he remained in the National Guard and his service culminated as chief of the National

Guard Bureau, 1971-74. General Greenleif promoted desegregation of the National Guard. Following his

retirement from active Guard service, he served as the executive vice president of the National Guard

Association for twelve years. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Greenleif Hall is currently one

of the two main buildings of the Robert J. Temple Mission Training Complex.

Gruber Gym.

Building #: 302.

Built: 1908.

Dedicated: 1941.

Namesake: Brigadier General Edmund L. “Snitz” Gruber.

Born: 1879.

Died: 1941.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Philippine War,WWI Stateside. Panama.

Figure 40. Gruber Gym dedication plaque. Previously located on Sheridan Drive with a M1902 3in gun caisson, M1902 

field gun carriage, and an M1905 3in gun. The gun, carriage and caisson are now in the Frontier Army Museum.

(Authors collection)

Remarks: Snitz Gruber graduated from USMA in 1904 and was commissioned in the 5th Artillery. His

early service was with the field artillery units in Kansas and Utah. He served in the Philippines from 1906

to 1908. After graduating from the Mounted Service School at Fort Riley, Kansas, he again deployed to the

Philippines with his regiment in 1909 and 1910. Lieutenant Gruber was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, May

to June 1908. He served as a student officer and observer with the German Army, 1910-12, and attended

the Imperial German Riding Institute, 1912. After field artillery service in the continental United States and

at the War Department during World War I, he resigned his commission for a time to serve as president of

the Kentucky Military Institute. Reappointed as a major in 1920, Gruber graduated from the Command and

General Staff School in 1923, and served as an instructor, 1927-32. Lieutenant Colonel Gruber commanded

the 2d Field Artillery (Pack) at Fort Clayton, Panama, 1932 to 1935. Brigadier General Gruber returned

as Commandant of the Command and General Staff School, 1940-41. Gruber died while on active duty. A

prolific songwriter, he wrote more than 100 songs for his own enjoyment. He was the author with West Point

classmates, First Lieutenants William L. Bryden and Robert M. Danford,of the lyrics to the Field Artillery

Song in March 1908.36 They wrote the song to celebrate relief of their battalion, 2d Battalion, 5th Artillery,

by the 1st Battalion at Fort Stotsenburg, Luzon, Philippines. Music was added in 1917 in an arrangement

by John Phillip Sousa. The Field Artillery song was incorporated into a book of songs published by the

US Military Academy in 1921. The Caisson Song became the official Army song on 11 November 1956.

Gruber Gym was first called the Cavalry Drill Hall / New Riding Hall. It was used as a riding hall, 1908-41,

then a classroom for WWII, and part converted to a bowling alley in 1960; it is now a gym.

137
Harney Gym and Pool.

Building #: 664.

Built: 1985.

Dedicated: 1985.

Namesake: Brigadier General William S. Harney.

Born: 1800.

Died: 1889.

Campaigns: Second Seminole War,Blackhawk War,Indian Campaigns, Mexican War,Civil War.

Remarks: Harney began his military service when he was appointed a second lieutenant in the 1st Infantry

in 1818. His early service was with that regiment and later the 1st Artillery. First Lieutenant Harney returned

to the 1st Infantry in 1822 and remained with that regiment until he was appointed the lieutenant colonel

of the 2d Dragoons in 1836. In 1846, he became colonel of the regiment and led it in battle in the War with

Mexico. He served at Fort Leavenworth in 1854 and 1857-58. He had a long and distinguished Army career

and was one of four general officers in the regular Army at the start of the Civil War. He was commander

of the Department of Oregon and later commander of the Department of the West (St. Louis). Suspected of

Southern sympathies at the start of the Civil War, he was relieved in 1861. An Indian affairs specialist, after

the Civil War he was a key figure in the Indian Peace Commission that negotiated treaties with all the Plains

Indians in 1867-68, and he urged Congress to honor past treaties. The Sioux called General Harney, “Manwho-always-kept-his-word.” He is the namesake for Harney Peak in South Dakota, the highest mountain in

North American east of the Rocky Mountains. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Harney Gym

and Pool represent the gradual movement of soldier life support to the southern end of post, joining the

Single Soldiers Quarters, PX-Commissary complex, Hoge Barracks, and other activities.

Harrold Youth Center.

Building #: 1056.

Built: 1990.

Dedicated: 1990.

Namesake: Captain Patrick K.

Harrold, United States Air Force.

Born: 1944.

Died: 1969.

Campaigns: VietnamWar (Laos)

Figure 41. Harrold Tombstone, Mount St. Joseph Cemetery, Abilene,

Kansas

(Author’s Collection)

Remarks: He was born in Willimantic, Connecticut, his father’s hometown.37 His father was a career Army

officer and Patrick lived many places. He grew up on Fort Leavenworth as a military brat and graduated

from Leavenworth High School, Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1963. Harrold graduated from Kansas State

University with a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology in 1967. He received his commission in the Air

Force on 29 September 1967, upon completion of Officer Training School in San Antonio, Texas. He

later attended pilot training. He was assigned to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Korat, Thailand, in

September 1969 with the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron. First Lieutenant Harrold and Captain John C.

138
Clark II were pilots assigned to an F4E Phantom fighter jet dispatched on an operational mission over Laos

on 5 December 1969. The Phantom was shot down and both crew members declared missing in action. In

1993, while searching for different remains, US officials found what they believed to be pieces of Patrick

Harrold’s plane on a hillside in Laos. After three excavations and DNA testing of the bone fragments found

at the site, Captain Harrold was officially declared dead on 3 October 1993, almost 24 years after he was

declared missing. He was buried at Mount St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Abilene, Kansas, after a funeral

at nearby St. Andrew’s Catholic Church. Abilene, Kansas, was his wife’s hometown.38 Building #1056 is a

pre-teen and teenage recreation center located near the eastern end of Biddle Boulevard. It contains activity

rooms and a gymnasium. His parents were instrumental in have the youth center named in his honor.

Hastings House.

Building #: 296.

Built: 1905 or 1908.39

Dedicated: 1936.

Namesake: Miss Virginia M. Hastings.

Born: 1921.

Died: 1936.

Remarks: Built asthe commanding officer’sstable, it wasremodeled twice, first for use as noncommissioned

officer quarters and finally in 1935 as a Girl Scout hut. It was named for a member of the first Girl Scout

troop on post who died in her sleep on 10 January 1936 after a brief illness. In 1938, the Hastings Family

left Fort Leavenworth for Fort Bliss, Texas. At Easter time, Mrs. Hastings sent a donation and requested the

chaplain purchase a lily and that Virginia’stroop place it on her grave. Thus began the tradition of a Brownie

Girl Scout Troop placing a lily on her grave every Easter that continues to this day. Virginia is buried in

the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. The building is a one and a half storey masonry structure with

rounded arches reflecting a Richardsonian Romanesque influence similar to Schofield Hall (building #43)

and the old US Disciplinary Barracks machine shop (building #468). When built, it had a central room that

served as the entrance and provided office space. A wing on the west side had two boxed stalls and two open

stalls. On the east were a carriage room and a harness room.

(Former) Havana Beach Club.

Building #: 695.

Built: 1987.

Dedicated: 1987.

Namesake: Pun on the nickname of the students of The Combined Arms and Services Staff School.

Remarks: This was the recreation area of Hoge Barracks (see below). It served the students at the

former Combined Arms and Services Staff School (CAS3, pronounced “CAS Cube.”). CAS3 was an

Army officer education program that existed from 1982 to 2004 to train captains in staff processes and

military decision-making. Initially located in modular buildings just south of the Fort Leavenworth

National Cemetery, CAS3 moved into the Johnson Wing of the now-demolished Bell Hall (building

#111) when it was completed in 1987. The slang term for students at CAS3 was “Cubans” and so the

place where they relaxed came to be called the Havana Beach Club. The area included dining and bar

areas inside and picnic areas with beach volleyball areas outside. Alas, it has not survived the

disestablishment of the school and now sits vacant.

139
Henry Leavenworth House.

Building #: 4.

Built: 1883.

Dedicated: 1968.

Namesake: Brigadier General Henry Leavenworth.

Born: 1783.

Died: 1834.

Campaigns: War of 1812, Indian Campaigns, Frontier duty.

Remarks: Born in Connecticut. He raised a company of infantry and fought with General Winfield Scott as

a captain in the 25th Infantry Regiment in the War of 1812, when he served with distinction in several

actions including the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. He was one of only nine officers to receive two brevets during

the war. Leavenworth was promoted to major in the 9th Infantry in 1813, and after service in the 2d

Infantry, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 5th Infantry in 1818. In December 1824, Colonel

Leavenworth assumed command of the 3d Infantry Regiment.43 He led US Army troops in the Arikara

War, the first US military expedition against a Great Plains Indian nation, in 1823. He was colonel of

the 3d Infantry and was at the head of Companies B, D, E, and H when he selected the site for

Cantonment Leavenworth in May 1827. General Order #11 renamed the post Fort Leavenworth in

1832.44 He died of a fever in Indian Territory in 1834 at the same time he was promoted to brigadier

general for ten years of faithful service in the grade of colonel. Initially buried in the field, his remains

were later removed to his hometown of Delhi, New York, and 1902 moved to the Fort Leavenworth

National Cemetery after the citizens of Leavenworth petitioned the citizens of Delhi for his remains. The

building today is a single family 2 1⁄2 story brick and limestone structure in a modified Queen Anne style.

The Leavenworth House is one of four large sets of quarters built in 1883 funded by a $41,000

appropriation from the War Department in response to the establishment of the School of Application for

Cavalry and Infantry two years earlier. It is the architectural twin of the CGSC deputy commandant’s house

(Bldg #2). It is typically occupied by a senior leader and family. The building served as a post VIP guest

house from 1951 to 1973. A wooden plaque near the front door identifies all former residents who ranged

in rank from second lieutenant to major general. Previous famous residents include Major (later major

general) Charles H. Barth and Colonel (later general) Hugh H. Drum.

Hoge Barracks / Hall.

Building #: 695.

Built: 1987.

Dedicated: 1987.

Namesake: General William M. Hoge.

Born: 1894.

Died: 1979.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: WWI, Philippines, Alaska, WWII, Korean War, Cold War.

Remarks: Hoge graduated from USMA in 1916 and was commissioned in the corps of engineers. Early in

his career, after service in Texas and in Washington, DC, he commanded a company of the 7th Engineers

at Fort Leavenworth, 1917-18. He served in France and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,

1918. Major Hoge was stationed briefly with the Kansas City, Missouri, office of the district engineer in

1919. He graduated from the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth in 1928. Major

Hoge commanded the 14th Engineer Regiment (Philippine Scouts), 1935-37. Brigadier General Hoge

was the officer in charge of the construction of the ALCAN (Alaskan-Canadian) Highway, completed

in 1943.40 He later commanded the Provisional Engineer Special Brigade, which landed first to prepare

140
the American sector for the Normandy Landings. He later commanded the 9th Armored Division combat

command that captured the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River and the 4th Armored Division.

Lieutenant General Hoge commanded IX Corps in the Korean War and finished his long Army career as

the commander in chief, US Army, Europe. After he retired he came to live with a son in Easton, Kansas,

and died at Munson Army Hospital, Fort Leavenworth. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Hoge Barracks is the headquarters for Fort Leavenworth lodging operated under contract to International

Hotels Group as a Holiday Inn Express. The Hoge Barracks complex consists of twelve

interconnected three-storey buildings and has 288 rooms with associated lodging support

facilities, including an outdoor swimming pool. Originally designated as Hoge Barracks, it is now

identified as Hoge Hall, probably because the marketing department at International Hotels Group

considered a barracks as beneath its Holiday Inn brand.

Hunt Lodge.

Building #: 425.

Built: 1919.

Dedicated: 1919.

Namesake: The Fort Leavenworth Hunt.

Remarks: This rustic cabin in a valley on the western side of post near Salt Creek Valley was built of stone

and local whole-log beams by prison labor from the US Disciplinary Barracks. It was used as a mess hall

by the USDB for inmates and staff working away from the main DB facilities. It also may have served as

a trusty barracks. It is named in honor of the Fort Leavenworth Hunt, organized in 1926 and recognized by

the National Steeple Chase and Hunt Association in 1931.41 In the early years, the General Service Schools

Detachment (Colored) / 10th Cavalry Regiment supported the hunt. The African American soldiers of the

10th Cavalry served as staff to the Hunt, taking charge of the horses and hounds and providing instruction

in the intricacies of cross-country horsemanship. Disbanded during World War II, the hunt resumed in 1964.

Recognized by the Masters of Foxhound Association in 1966, it continues today, pursuing coyotes and not

foxes. With surrounding woods, broad lawns, and playing fields, the Hunt Lodge is used as a special rustic

outdoor event center for post organizations.

James Hall.

Building #: 215.

Built: 1902-03.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools Order #66.

Namesake: First Lieutenant John F.James.

Born: 1878.

Died: 1906.

Campaigns: Philippine War.

Remarks: He enlisted as a sergeant in the 3d Virginia Volunteer Infantry in 1898 for the War with Spain.

He was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the 7th US Volunteer Infantry in July 1898 and served until

28 February 1899. He was soon offered a commission as a second lieutenant, 10th Infantry in April 1899.

James was promoted to first lieutenant in the 8th Infantry in February 1901. He graduated from the Infantry

and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in 1904. Returning to the sound of the guns with his regiment, he

was killed in action near Julita, Leyte, Philippines, 9 August 1906. He was the namesake for Battery James,

a four gun 3 in. battery at Fort Mills, Corregidor Island, Philippines. James Hall is one of twelve Infantry

Barracks along Pope and Doniphan Avenues constructed in accordance with Quartermaster General’s

Office standard plan 150.

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(Former) Johnson Wing of Bell Hall and the Johnson Suite 415-2 in Otis Hall.

Building #: 111.

Built: 1985.

Dedicated: 1985.

Namesake: General Harold K. Johnson.

Born: 1912.

Died: 1983.

Campaigns: Philippines, WWII, Bataan Death March, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks for Johnson Drive) The Johnson Wing was added to the southern end

of Bell Hall to house the Combined Arms and Services Staff School (CAS3) and later served as Faculty and

staff officers for the Command and General Staff College. The demolition of the Johnson Wing along with

Bell Hall was completed in February 2009. The Johnson Suite is a VIP apartment in Otis Hall.

Kuykendall Room in the Pioneer Chapel.

Dedicated: 1998.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel George B. Kuykendall, Jr., Ph.D.

Died: 1998.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: West Germany, Cold War,Republic of Vietnam.

Remarks: Born in San Antonio, Texas, George Kuykendall was commissioned in the field artillery upon

graduation from Trinity University at San Antonio in 1956. He served in field artillery, air defense artillery,

and ordnance atseveral locationsin the continental United States and overseas during a twenty-one year Army

career. Major Kuykendall graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in

1971. While a student, he was active in on-post religious programs as a volunteer. After receiving a master’s

degree and doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, in 1973, he

returned to Fort Leavenworth as an instructor and the first director of the Graduate Studies Program at

the Command and General Staff College. Lieutenant Colonel Kuykendall retired from the Army in 1977

and became the volunteer director of lay ministries at the main post chapel. He also served as a staff

representative of the Officer’s Christian Fellowship and was active in the Gideons. Over the next twentyone years, Dr. Kuykendall served as a counselor, religious educator, and role model to Soldiers and their

families. The George Kuykendall Room at the Pioneer Chapel is a multipurpose room with kitchen facilities

which supports religious and community programs. Although a bronze plaque informs those present of his

many contributions to the Fort Leavenworth military community over his twenty-eight years of service to

the post as a Soldier and a civilian, it is often called the “donut room” because its location around the corner

from the chapel sanctuary seems an appropriate place to provide refreshments after a religious service.42

142
Lee House and Fitz Lee Hall.

There are two buildings on Fort Leavenworth named for Private Lee. This distinction makes him one of a

handful serving as namesake for two or more place-names on the post, and the only enlisted soldier.

Lee House

Building #: 331.

Built: 1911.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Private Fitz Lee.45

Fitz Lee Hall.

Building#: 27.

Built: 1938

Born: 1866.

Dedicated: 1998.

Namesake: Private Fitz Lee

Died: 1899.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, War with Spain.

Figure 42. Private Fitz Lee Tombstone

Section G, Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

Remarks: Born in Virginia, Lee enlisted in M Troop, 10th Cavalry in 1889. He served at Fort Leavenworth

from 1892 to 1894 with his regiment. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for action on 30 June 1898 at

Tayabacoa, Cuba with Troop M, 10th Cavalry. Lee volunteered to rescue wounded men under fire.46 He

returned to Fort Leavenworth and was medically discharged on 5 July 1899. Lee was not married and

resided at 127 Cheyenne Street in Leavenworth. According to the Leavenworth Times, he died two months

later on 14 September 1899 from Bright’s Disease.47 He is buried in Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

Lee House is a story-and-a-half 4-plex. An architectural survey of the post in the early 1980s identifies

it as a typical example of early 20th century military architecture. It was constructed in accordance to

Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 82P, designed for four noncommissioned officer families.48

The theater was dedicated in a ceremony on 11 September 1998 in honor of Private Lee. The theater is

constructed to Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 608-360 to 373, war department theater.

143
Leigh Hall / Frontier House.

Building #: 313.

Built: 1939.

Dedicated: 1939.

Namesake: Captain Francis Leigh.

Born: 1888(?).

Died: <1939.

Campaigns: World War I, Occupation of Germany,

garrison duty.

Figure 43. Leigh Hall Plaque on building 

#313

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: Francis Leigh enlisted in the Army in 1908 and served his early career as a band member and

band leader.49 In June 1917 he was commissioned through the Officers Reserve Corps. He commanded

Company B, 353d Infantry, 89th Division during the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives in France.

He was promoted to captain in November 1918. Because of his renown as a bandmaster, Leigh was asked

to serve as the president of a board examining Army bandmasters and bandsmen in Europe to recommend

qualified enlisted members for promotion to the newly created rank of warrant officer.50 When Captain

Leigh returned to the United States he wanted to stay with music, resigned his commission, was accepted

as a warrant officer and stationed in Hawaii. In 1921, he was called from duty in Hawaii by Army chief of

staff General John J. Pershing to serve at the Army Music School at Washington Barracks, Washington

DC. General Pershing had been impressed by the English and French regimental field bands he saw in

Europe and wanted an American equivalent. Mr. Leigh helped organize the band, now called Pershing’s

Own, and led it for its first public appearance at the 1921 internment of the World War Unknown Soldier in

Arlington National Cemetery. Mr.Leigh was bandmaster of the US Army Band from January to September

1922.51 He fell out of favor with the Army chief of staff and was replaced, perhaps because he was losing

his hearing from his wartime service. He arrived at Fort Leavenworth in 1922 and was the bandmaster of

the General Service Schools band until his retirement from the Army in July 1924.52 Boy Scouting was

established on Fort Leavenworth in 1912 but lasted only one year. Warrant Officer Leigh is credited with

restarting the program on post in 1922. There has been an active Boy Scout troop on post since that time.

During the 1930s the Boy Scout summer camp was called Camp Francis Leigh. Building #313, a stone and

concrete building was constructed as the Boy Scout Hut. It was constructed from 1922 to 1939 by the USDB

Guard and Service Company. The building was dedicated by Brigadier General Leslie J. McNair in 1939

and named for Warrant Officer Leigh because of his initiative in restarting the program. Sometime after

World War II the Boy Scouting program on post outgrew the building and it was given to Girl Scouting. The

Girls Scouts renamed it Frontier House. It was the location for large meetings while the Hastings House was

the “little house” for smaller gatherings.

144
Lewis & Clark Center.

Building #: 127.

Built: 2007.

Dedicated: 2007.

First Namesake: Captain Meriwether Lewis.

Born: 1774.

Died: 1809.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Whiskey Rebellion, Corps of Discovery.

Remarks: Lewis was born in Virginia and graduated from Liberty Hall, now Washington and Lee University,

in 1793. Lewis joined the Army as a private during the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania, in 1794,

with the distinction of being the first to volunteer as a member of the Virginia Corps. He was promoted to

ensign in the 2d Sublegion in 1795.53 Lewis spent the rest of the 1790s on regular Army duty with the 1st

Infantry and in Major General “Mad Anthony” Wayne’s northwestern campaigns and on the frontier in

Ohio and Tennessee. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1799 and captain in 1800. In 1801, Captain Lewis

was appointed President Jefferson’s private secretary. Informed of Jefferson’s desire to mount an expedition

into the newly acquired Louisiana Territory, Lewis studied to prepare for the mission, including study with

the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. He was appointed the leader of the 52-member Corps of

Discovery.54 The Corps of Discovery, an Army unit, traveled by boat and overland from St. Louis to Cape

Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia River and back 1804-06. They camped near what is now Fort

Leavenworth on July 2, 1804. After the successful completion of the journey, President Jefferson appointed

Lewis the governor of the Louisiana Territory in 1808. He died a violent death in September 1809 on the

Natchez Trace in Tennessee while traveling to Washington to answer questions about his term as governor.

Lewis is buried in Grinder’s Stand, Tennessee, in a special grave site established by the state of Tennessee

in 1848. Fort Lewis, Washington, is named in his honor.

Second Namesake: Brigadier General William Clark.

Born: 1770.

Died: 1838.

Campaigns: Corps of Discovery, Indian Campaigns, Frontier duty, War of 1812.

Remarks: Clark was born in Virginia, the youngest brother of Revolutionary War hero and woodsman

George Rogers Clark. Clark served with militia units in campaigns against Ohio Valley Indians, 1789-1792.

He was appointed an officer in the regular Army in 1792 and assigned to the 4th Sublegion in September of

that year. He fought in the battle of Fallen Timbers, 1794. In 1796, he resigned his commission to manage

the family plantation. In 1804, he returned to the Army and was appointed the co-leader of the 52-member

Corps of Discovery, with the rank of second lieutenant, but is traditionally identified as a captain.55 After

Clark had spent several months studying astronomy and map-making the expedition set out. After the

successful completion of the expedition, President Jefferson appointed him principal Indian agent for the

Louisiana Territory and brigadier general of its militia, posts which he occupied from 1807-13. In 1813 he

became governor of the newly-formed Missouri Territory. When Missouri became a state in 1820, Clark ran

for governor but lost. In 1822, he became the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis. He remained the

superintendent until shortly before his death in 1838.

145
The Percival Lowe Tombstone Mystery - Solved

A visitor to the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery will find

two graves for Percival G. Lowe, side by side. The visitor may

wonder why. The answer, of course, is that there were two Percival

G. Lowes, father and son. The elder was quite accomplished and

merited the large block of granite. However, his son also served.

Percy, born in Leavenworth, Kansas, on 18 November 1863, and

was an 1883 civil engineering graduate of Pennsylvania Military

College (now Widener University) in Chester, Pennsylvania. After

working as a surveyor, he enlisted in Company B, 18th US Infantry

at Fort Hays, Kansas, in 1885 and served in the ranks as a private,

corporal and sergeant until 1889. In March of that year he accepted

a commission as a second lieutenant. He served with his regiment

and as a surveyor and engineer in the west. He graduated from the

Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in 1894. Lowe

was promoted to first lieutenant in the 4th Infantry in April, 1896.

He transferred back to the 18th Infantry in 1897 and was a member

of the Abercrombie Expedition, a geodetic survey of the Valdez

Inlet and Copper River basin in Alaska in 1898. He served as the

expedition topographer—and named a river for himself. He was

promoted to captain in the 25th Infantry (an African American

regiment) in June 1899, given command of Company L, and

deployed with them to the Philippines in September. Captain Lowe

was the commander of “Lowe’s Scouts,” a special reconnaissance

unit. He remained with the regiment until it redeployed in 1902.

Captain Lowe was several times mentioned in dispatches. He

retired from the Army because of poor health and died in Colgate,

Oklahoma on 10 May 1910.

Lowe Hall / Resiliency Center.

Building #: 198.

Built: 1900-02.

Dedicated: Unknown / 9 June 2011.

Namesake: First Sergeant Percival G. Lowe.

Born: 1828.

Died: 1908.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns.

Figure 44. First Sergeant Percival G. Lowe’s Grave,

Section F, Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks on Lowe Drive) Constructed from a Quartermaster General’s Office

standard plan56 the building served as the fourth post hospital, 1902-61. During World War II, Ann

Dunham, mother of President Barack Obama, was born at Building #198 while her father was stationed

at Fort Leavenworth. From 1961 to 2009 it was the garrison headquarters. On 9 June 2011, newly

renovated Lowe Hall was rededicated as the Fort Leavenworth Resiliency Center. The Resiliency

Center provides emotional, spiritual, physical, social, and family-related services to service members,

their families, and military veterans. The Resiliency Center is on Thomas Avenue.

Figure 45. Captain Percival Lowe Tombstone,

Section F, Fort Leavenworth National

Cemetery

(From Captain P.G. Lowe’s obituary in the 11 May

1910 Leavenworth Times)

146
MacArthur Room, MacArthur Elementary School, and MacArthur Suite 415-1 in Otis Hall.

Building #: MacArthur Elementary School (Bldg #326) and the MacArthur Room in Lewis and Clark

Center (Bldg #127).

Built: 2007/1955.

Dedicated: 2007/1956/2013-14, respectively.57

Namesake: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.

Born: 1880.

Died: 1964.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Philippine War,VeraCruz Expedition, WWI, Army of

Occupation in Germany, WWII, Korean War.

Remarks: Consult the many biographies available for information on this famous American.

Douglas MacArthur lived at Fort Leavenworth as a child, 1886-89, while his father was stationed at

the post. First Lieutenant MacArthur commanded Company K, 3d Engineers, was the battalion adjutant,

and an engineer instructor at the Army Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth, 1908-1912. He is buried at

the MacArthur Memorial, Norfolk, Virginia.

The MacArthur Room is an executive office for visiting VIPs off the main lobby of the Lewis and

Clark Center. MacArthur Elementary School is one of the three operated by Kansas Unified School

District #207. General of the Army MacArthur attended the dedication ceremony of his namesake

school. MacArthur Elementary School was renovated twice in 1998 and 2007. On 13 August 2013 a 

groundbreaking ceremony was held for a replacement for the 1950s era school. The new MacArthur

Elementary is under construction near the intersection of 5th Artillery Road and Iowa on the

southwest edge of post. The relocation recognizes the shifting of post housing areas to the south and

west on post. The new school is scheduled for completion in August 2015.

General MacArthur was the only Army 5-star general who did not graduate from the Command

and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth.

147
Maglin Hall.

Building #: 320.

Built: 1910-11.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Major General William H. Maglin.

Born: 1898.

Died: 1958.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: WWI Stateside, Hawaii, WWII, Occupation of Japan and Korea,

Korean War.

Remarks: Served as a private and a corporal in the 5th Cavalry, 1917-18, during World War I. Maglin

graduated from USMA in 1924, commissioned in the infantry. He served in military police units throughout

the 1920s and 30s.58 Captain Maglin commanded infantry companies in CONUS and an MP company in

Hawaii. He later served as a professor of military science and tactics at the University of Maryland, College

Park, 1937-39. He graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1939. He spent World War II in

provost marshal assignments in the United States, North Africa, and Europe. During the war, he established

the Army’s first military police school, 1944-45, at Camp Custer, Michigan. During the Occupation of

Japan at the end of the war in the Pacific, he reorganized and trained the Korean national police, 1945.

Colonel Maglin commanded the MP School at Fort Gordon, 1948. His final assignments included provost

marshal in Europe, 1951-52, and provost marshal general of the Army, 1953-57. He was the first MP general

officer. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Maglin Hall was constructed as a guardhouse using

Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 2-954.59 Because of its unique construction—it includes a

cellblock with triple bolt locks—it still provides office space for the post provost marshal’s office and the

post MP station.

Mann Hall.

Building #: 217.

Built: 1902-03.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order #66.

Namesake: First Lieutenant James D. Mann.

Born: 1859.

Died: 1891.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Mann graduated from USMA, 1877 and was commissioned in the 7th Cavalry. His early

assignments were in the west. He commanded G Troop, 7th Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, 1883-85. He

graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School, 1885. First Lieutenant Mann died at Fort Riley, Kansas,

on 15 January 1891 from wounds received at the Drexel Mission skirmish at White Clay Creek, South

Dakota, 30 December 1890. Mann participated in, and prior to his death wrote an account of, the fight at

Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on 29 December 1890. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Mann

Hall is one of twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan Avenues constructed in accordance with

Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 150. Today it is officer family housing.

148
Marshall Hall and the Marshall Suite 421-1 in Otis Hall.

Building #: 127.

Built: 2007.

Dedicated: 2007.

Namesake: General of the Army George C. Marshall.

Born: 1880.

Died: 1959.

Campaigns: Philippine War,China, WWI, WWII, Cold War.

Remarks: Consult the many biographies available for information on this famous American. Lieutenant

Marshall was an Infantry and Cavalry School honor graduate in 1907, and graduated from the Army Staff

School, 1908, both at Fort Leavenworth. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The George C.

Marshal European Center for Strategic Studies in Garmish-Partenkirken, Germany, is name in his honor.

Each year the top US graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College receives the Marshal

Award. Marshall Hall is an amphitheater-type auditorium in the Lewis and Clark Center. The Marshall Suite

is a VIP apartment in Otis Hall.

Maxey Hall.

Building #: 218.

Built: 1901.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service

Schools general order #66.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Maxey.

Born: 1873.

Died: 1918.

Campaigns: War with Spain, Philippine War,WWI. Figure 46. Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Maxey

(as a Captain)

(Annual Report of the Association of Graduates, 1918.

Via Internet)

Remarks: Maxey graduated from USMA in 1898 and was commissioned in the 6th Infantry. He saw action

in the in Cuba at the battle of San Juan and at Santiago. Following the war he served with his regiment in

New York, Kentucky, and Texas. Following his first tour in the southern Philippines, 1899-1902, Lieutenant

Maxey was a tactics instructor at the General Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1902-03. After

a three year tour with the 24th Infantry at the Presidio of San Francisco, Captain Maxey deployed with the

regiment to the Philippines, 1906-08. Captain Maxey served his third tour in the Philippines with the 24th

Infantry as a company commander from 1908-1912.60 He was the honor graduate of the Army School of

the Line, 1915 and graduated from the Army Staff School, 1916, both at Fort Leavenworth. In World War

I, he commanded the 2d Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Division, in France. Maxey was wounded in action at

Cantigny, France, 14 May 1918, and died of wounds two weeks later, 28 May 1918.61 Lieutenant Colonel

Maxey was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Maxey Hall is one of twelve Infantry

Barracks along Pope and Doniphan Avenues constructed in accordance with Quartermaster General’s Office

standard plan 150. Today it serves as officer housing.

149
McGrath Hall.

Building #: 216.

Built: 1902-03.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service

Schools general order #66.

Namesake: Major Hugh J. McGrath.

Born: 1856.

Died: 1899.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Campaigns, War with

Spain, Philippines. Figure 47. Major Hugh J. McGrath

(Annual Report of the Association of Graduates, 1900) 

Remarks: McGrath graduated from USMA in 1880, commissioned in the 4th Cavalry at Fort

Leavenworth. His early service was with his regiment in Nebraska and the southwest, 1880-85.

Lieutenant McGrath graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School, 1887, followed by regimental

service in Arizona, Idaho, and the state of Washington, 1887-1891. He taught military science at the

University of Wisconsin, 1891-94 and received a law degree from Wisconsin in 1893. Captain (and

later major of Volunteers) McGrath saw service in Cuba, including chief engineer of 2d Division of the

7th Corps and acting judge advocate of the division, 1889-99. He departed Cuba for the Philippines

where he commanded two squadrons of the 4th Cavalry (2d and 3d). McGrath was wounded in action at

Novaleta, Luzon, 8 October 1899, and died of wounds in a hospital in Manila on 7 November 1899. He

was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 1902. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

McGrath Hall is one of twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan Avenues constructed in

accordance with Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 150. Today it serves as officer housing.

150
Colonel John M. McHugh Training Center at Townsend Hall.

Building #: in Townsend Hall, Building #61.

Dedicated: 17 May 2011.

Namesake: Colonel John M. McHugh.

Born: 3 December 1963.

Died: 18 May 2010.

Campaigns: Gulf War, Global War on Terror, Kuwait, Afghanistan.

Remarks: McHugh graduated from USMA in 1986 commissioned in aviation. Second lieutenant

McHugh’s initial assignment after rotary wing aviator training was as a platoon leader with the 4th

Squadron, 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment in Nuremburg, Germany. He deployed with the regiment to

Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990-1991. During his career, he served as an

observer/trainer at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California, the Joint Maneuver Training

Center, Hohenfels, Germany, and the Battle Command Training Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Colonel McHugh also served in aviation and air traffic service assignments in Giebelstadt, Germany, Fort

Carson, Colorado, and Fort Rucker, Alabama. Lieutenant colonel McHugh commanded 1st Battalion,

11th Aviation Regiment at Fort Rucker. His final aviation assignment was the deputy commander of the

164th Theater Airfield Operations Group at Udairi Army Airfield in Kuwait. Colonel McHugh was

assigned as the chief of Operations Group Alpha in June 2009 following graduation from the Army War

College. While on a training needs assessment mission to Kabul, Afghanistan, Colonel McHugh was

killed by a suicide bomber. He was only the second MCTP member to die in combat. On 17 May 2011,

in conjunction of its name change to the Mission Command Training Center, the Battle Command

Training Center rededicated the former battle seminar facility as the Colonel John M. McHugh Training

Center in recognition of his four assignments to Army combat training centers. The center uses the latest

information technology to conduct conferences and command seminars in support of the MCTP

worldwide training mission.

McNair Hall.

Building #: 286.

Built: 1908.

Dedicated: 1944.

Namesake: General Leslie J. McNair.

Born: 1883.

Died: 1944.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Mexican Expedition of 1914, WWI, Occupation of Germany,

Hawaii, WWII.

151
Remarks: He graduated from USMA in 1904, a classmate of “Snitz” Gruber. He was commissioned in

the artillery, but detailed ordnance, 1905-09. He rose from first lieutenant to major with the 4th Artillery

before World War I. McNair was sent to France to observe artillery practice, January to August 1913. He

was stationed with the Army Expeditionary Forces general headquarters in France as chief artillery trainer,

1917-19.62 Following the war, he was an instructor at the General Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth,

1919-21. Major McNair was professor of military science and tactics at Purdue University, 1924-28. From

1928 to 1938 he served at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, commanded field artillery units and supported the Civilian

Conservation Corps. He returned to Leavenworth as commandant of the Command and General Staff

School, 1939-40 and was in charge when the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939 ushering in

war in Europe. Army chief of staff George Marshal called McNair the “brains of the Army” and put him

in charge of the 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers that identified the strengths and weakness of the American

Army just weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was commander of Army Ground Forces in WW

II and developed the training plan that built the winning ground force.63 He was wounded in Tunisia, 1943

while on an inspection tour. To engender pride in the infantry McNair established the Expert Infantryman’s

Badge, 1943, and later the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. He was killed in an aerial fratricide incident by

US Army Air Force bombers in France on 25 July 1944. His son, Colonel Douglas C. McNair (USMA

1928), chief of staff of the 77th Infantry Division, was killed two weeks later by a sniper on Guam. Fort

McNair, Washington, DC is named in his honor. McNair Hall was built to house the African American

soldiers of the Army Service Schools Detachment (Colored). It is built to Quartermaster General’s Office

special plan 1-146B. McNair Hall and its neighbor Funston Hall are occupied by the Army’s Training and

Doctrine Command Analysis Center (TRAC). The TRAC director’s conference room in McNair Hall is

named the Buffalo Soldiers Conference Room.

McPherson Hall.

Building #: 464.

Built: 1878.

Dedicated: 1944.

Namesake: Major General James B. McPherson.

Born: 1828.

Died: 1864.

Campaigns: Garrison and Frontier duty, Civil War.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks for McPherson Avenue). Fort McPherson, Georgia, is named in his

honor. The building forms a part of the façade of the front (south side) of the old US Disciplinary Barracks.

Recently refurbished, it is used for office and storage space.

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MeadeApartments.

Building #: 328, 329. (Note: Building #100 on Meade Avenue constructed in 1859 was formerly called

MeadeApartments).

Built: 1911.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Major General George G. Meade.

Born: 1815.

Died: 1872.

Campaigns: Second Seminole War, Mexican War, Civil War,Reconstruction.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks on Meade Avenue). Meade Apartments were the first housing built on

post for married student officers in accordance with Quartermaster General Office’s Standard Plan 237C,

approved in 1910. Fort Meade, Maryland, is named in his honor. There is no indication he ever served at

Fort Leavenworth.

Figure 48. Meade Apartments on Meade Avenue at Fort Leavenworth

(Author’s collection)

153
Michie Hall.

Building #: 219.

Built: 1902-03.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order #66.

Namesake: First Lieutenant Dennis M. Michie.

Born: 1870.

Died: 1898.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, War with Spain.

Figure 49. First Lieutenant Dennis M. Michie

(Annual Reunion of the Assembly of Graduate, via Internet)

Remarks: Michie graduated from USMA in 1892 and was commissioned in the 17th Infantry. He was head

football coach at West Point as a cadet, 1890-92. He was the son of Brigadier General Peter F. Michie, a

USMA professor of natural philosophy (physics), and grew up at West Point. His early service was with his

regiment at Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming, 1892-94.64 He served with the regiment at Pueblo, Colorado in

July and August 1894 protecting railways from destruction in the great railroad strike. Second Lieutenant

Michie again served with his regiment in Ohio, Georgia and Kentucky, 1895-97. He graduated from the

Infantry and Cavalry School, 1898, at Fort Leavenworth. In July 1898, newly promoted First Lieutenant

Michie was serving as an aide-de-camp to a brigade commander when he was killed in action at Santiago

de Cuba on the first day of the battle as he checked the disposition of troops. He was the namesake of Fort

Michie, a coast artillery post on Great Gull Island off the eastern tip of Long Island, New York. The football

stadium at the United States Military Academy is named Michie Stadium in his honor. Michie Hall is one of

twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan Avenues constructed in accordance with Quartermaster

General’s Office standard plan 150. Today it is officer housing.

Mitchell Hall / Band Building.

Building #: 220.

Built: 1902-03, renovated in 1934.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order #66.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel David D. Mitchell.

Born: 1848.

Died: 1900.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, War with Spain Stateside and in the Philippines, Philippine War.

Remarks: Born in Missouri, Mitchell was appointed a second lieutenant in the 15th Infantry in 1876. First

Lieutenant Mitchell graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School, Fort Leavenworth, with the first class

in 1883. Promoted to captain in his regiment in 1896, during the War with Spain he was appointed major and

then lieutenant colonel of the 1st Territorial Volunteer Infantry with enlistees from Arizona, New Mexico,

Oklahoma, and Indian Territory.65 Captain Mitchell was killed in action at Mavitac, Luzon, Philippines,

1900, while commanding a company of his regiment. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Mitchell

Hall is located near the twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan Avenues, but constructed in

accordance with a different Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan (61C). It initially was home for

band members of a small infantry regiment with kitchen, mess hall and offices on the first floor, enlisted

men’s barracks on the second, and an open practice room on the third floor. It became a bachelor officer’s

quarters in 1921 and was redesigned as two officer family apartments in 1934.

Figure 49. First Lieutenant Dennis M. Michie

(Annual Reunion of the Assembly of Graduate)

154
Muir Hall.

Building #: 285.

Built: 1908.

Dedicated: 1944.

Namesake: Major General Charles H. Muir.

Born: 1860.

Died: 1933.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain, Occupation of

Cuba, Philippine War, China Relief Expedition, Panama, WWI, Army of Occupation of Germany after

WWI.

Remarks: Muir graduated from USMA in 1885 and was commissioned the 17th Infantry. His early service

was on frontier duty with his regiment in the Dakotas and Wyoming from 1885 to 1892. After duty at Fort

Omaha with the 2d Infantry, he attended and was the honor graduate of the Infantry and Cavalry School,

1893-1895. First Lieutenant Muir was an instructor in the department of engineering, and later law, at Fort

Leavenworth, 1895-1898. He served as 2d Infantry regimental adjutant in Cuba and was recommended for

the Medal of Honor. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He was on sick leave and at Fort

Leavenworth in November 1898. After occupation duty in Cuba from April to September 1899, he was

appointed second in command, and later the commander, of the 38th US Volunteer Infantry, 1899-1901 in

the Philippines. Volunteer Major Muir was in command when they mustered out in San Francisco, 1901.

After a second tour in the Philippines as adjutant of the 2d Infantry, Captain Muir was detailed to the first

Army general staff, 1903-1907. From 1908 to 1910 Major Muir served a third tour in the Philippines,

commanding a battalion and serving as a chief of staff during maneuvers. For the next seven years he

served successively with the 27th, 26th, 5th and 33d Infantry Regiments in Texas and the Panama Canal

Zone. During World War I he commanded the 28th Division in the fighting on the Marne and in the MeuseArgonne in 1918 and IV Corps in the Army of Occupation. Following the war he was commandant of Army

Service Schools, 1919-20, at Fort Leavenworth. After duty as the commander of Camp Lewis, Washington,

and the 3d Corps Area he retired in 1924. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Muir Hall was

constructed as a 200-horse brick stable using a Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 139H.66 It was

later used as office space. Some Command and General Staff College classes were taught in it 1949-50 as

the World War II education backlog exceeded the classroom facilities on post. It is now office space.

Munson Army Community Health Center.

Building #: 343.

Built: 1961.

Dedicated: March or May 1961 (accounts differ).

Namesake: Brigadier General (Dr.) Edward L. Munson.

Born: 1868.

Died: 1947.

Campaigns: War with Spain, China, Japan, Philippine War,WWI.

Remarks: Munson received a medical degree from Yale University in 1892. He was appointed an assistant

surgeon in 1893. Early in his career he also served in the Navy as an assistant surgeon. He was one of the

physicians who attended President McKinley after he was shot in Buffalo, New York in 1901. He was an

instructor atArmy School of the Line, 1908-12 at Fort Leavenworth. In 1912, he established the Field Service

School for medical officers at Fort Leavenworth. While stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Dr. Munson designed

155
the “Munson last” shoe for infantry use. He was a public health advisor to the Philippine government, 1914-

17 and 1920-21. Dr. Munson wrote and spoke widely on public health, military psychology, and military

medicine throughout his Army career.67 He assisted in earthquake relief in Japan, 1923. He retired in 1931

and became a professor of Medicine at the University of California, Berkley. General Munson is buried

at Arlington National Cemetery. Munson Army Community Health Center is the fifth Fort Leavenworth

post hospital.68 Although the facility has fully staffed clinics and same-day surgery capability, emergency

activities and overnight patients are transported to hospitals in Leavenworth and elsewhere.

Neary Hall.

Building #: 233.

Built: 1903.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service

Schools general order #66.

Namesake: First Lieutenant William C. Neary.

Born: 1861.

Died: 1898.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain.

Figure 50. First Lieutenant William C. Neary

(Arlington National Cemetery website)

Remarks: Born in Georgia, he entered Army and served as a private and corporal in Company E, Engineer

Regiment, 1884-88. He was appointed a second lieutenant in the 3d Infantry in 1888, and promoted to first

lieutenant, 4th Infantry, 1895. He graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in

1891. Deployed to Cuba for the War with Spain, First Lieutenant Neary was wounded while serving with

his regiment on 1 July 1898. He died of wounds on 9 July 1898 at El Caney, Santiago, Cuba. He is buried

at Arlington National Cemetery.69 Neary Hall is one of twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan

Avenues constructed in accordance with Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 150. It initially

was home for members of a small infantry regiment, became a bachelor officers quarters in 1921, and

was redesigned as officer family apartments in 1934. It remains so today.

Osage Child Development and School Age Services Center.

Building #:1098.

Built: 2012.

Dedicated: 2012.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Osage (Wazhazhe or Ni-uko’n-sha, “people of the middle waters”) Native American tribe.

156
Remarks: Speakers of a Sioux language, the Osage had migrated to the Osage River in western Missouri

by 1673 where they encountered French trappers and traders. They both farmed and hunted large game on

the Great Plans. Each Osage village had two chiefs, one for peace and one for war. As experienced warriors,

the Osage allied with the French against the Illiniwek during the early 18th century. Pressure from other

tribes, white settlement, and treaties moved them westward and they eventually settled on a reservation in

Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). The tribe bought its own reservation—Osage County, Oklahoma,

the only Indian tribe to do so. Today they consist of three bands: Great Osage, Little Osage, and Arkansas;

There are also Osage counties in Kansas and Missouri. The child development center in Osage Village was

one of three built to expand the capacity of the child development system on post.

Otis Hall and Otis Suite.

Building #: 213.

Built: 1903.

Dedicated: Unknown, probably 1909.

Namesake: Major General Elwell S. Otis.

Born: 1838.

Died: 1909.

Campaigns: Civil War,War with Spain, Philippine War.

Remarks: He received degrees from the University of Rochester, 1858, and Harvard Law, 1861. During the

Civil War he served as a captain and lieutenant colonel in the 140th New York Regiment and fought in many

of the battles of the Army of the Potomac including Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. He was badly wounded

as a corps commander later in the war. After the Civil War, Otis served in the west. He was the lieutenant

colonel of the 22d Infantry (1866-1880) and in 1880 was appointed the colonel of the 20th Infantry. Colonel

Otis was the first commandant of the Infantry and Cavalry School, 1881-85. General Otis was commander

of US forces and governor general of Philippines, 1899-00. He was called “granny” by the troops because

of his age and graying hair. Otis retired in 1902. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. An apartment

in Otis Hall was the home for Major and Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower when “Ike” was a student at the

Command and General Staff School, 1925-1926. The building is now used as VIP quarters. The Otis Suite

is a VIP apartment on the first floor. Otis Hall was built to the same Quartermaster General’s Office design

as nearby Root Hall, building #197, which was constructed the year before.

Patch Community Center.

Building #: 345.

Built: 1906-07, Addition in 1924.

Dedicated to Patch: Unknown, probably 1909.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Alexander McC. Patch.

Born: 1889.

Died: 1945.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Garrison duty, WWI, WWII.

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Remarks: Patch was an Army “brat” born at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He graduated from USMA in 1913 and

was commissioned in the 18th Infantry. After early service with his regiment in Texas and Arizona, 1913-

17, he deployed to France with the regiment in 1917. Major Patch was the director of the Army Machinegun

School and later worked as a staff officer in the G-5 Section (Plans) at the American Expeditionary Forces

General Headquarters, 1918-19. After the war Patch served at Fort Benning, Georgia, in Washington DC,

and as a professor of military science and tactics at Staunton Military Academy, Staunton, Virginia, 1921-

24. Patch was a distinguished graduate of the Command and General Staff School, 1925. After CGSS, Patch

returned to Staunton from 1925-28, and again following the War College, from 1932-36. Before World War

II, Lieutenant Colonel Patch served at Fort Benning as the senior instructor to the Alabama National Guard,

and as the commander of the 47th Infantry Regiment. Brigadier General Patch deployed to the Pacific in

January 1942. He commanded the Americal Division (23d Infantry Division) in the Pacific Theater, 1942-

43, and the Seventh Army in Sicily and France, 1944-45.70 He was the commander of the FourthArmy at Fort

Sam Houston, Texas, at the time of his death. Lieutenant General Patch is buried at West Point. His son,

Captain Alexander M. Patch III (USMA 1942), was killed in action in France in on 22 October 1944 while

leading a rifle company in the 79th Infantry Division. The building was dedicated in 1907 as a YMCA.

It was constructed with funds provided by philanthropist Helen Miller Gould who donated the money in

honor of her father, financier and railroad magnate, Jay Gould.71 Patch Barracks in Stuttgart-Vaihingen,

Germany, home of US European Command, is named in his honor. The auditorium, indoor swimming

pool, and gym were added in 1924. In February 1954 the Army revoked the license granted to the YMCA

to operate a building on post and took control of it. It now serves as a youth center, scout meeting place,

and other school age services. Since the destruction of St. Ignatius Chapel in 2001, it is the only

formerly private building on Fort Leavenworth that is now in public hands.72

Patton Junior High School.

Building #: 392.

Built: 1957, renovated in 2005.

Dedicated: 1957.

Namesake: General George S. Patton, Jr.

Born: 1885.

Died: 1945.

Campaigns: Mexican Punitive Expedition, WWI, Hawaii, WWII.

Remarks: Consult the many biographies for information on this famous American. . Patton graduated from

the Command and General Staff School in 1924. Killed in an automobile accident in Germany in 1945, he

is buried at the Hamm Military Cemetery, Luxemburg. The early Cold War era M46/47/48 Patton medium

tank was named in his honor. An 1866 post map in the archives of the Frontier Army Museum indicates

that a “Graves Cold” existed on the spot of the school. The area later was used as noncommissioned officer

housing—probably for “colored” NCOs.

158
 Pershing Conference Room in Eisenhower Hall.

Building #: 120.

Built: 1992.

Dedicated: 1992.

Namesake: General of the Armies of the United States John J. Pershing.

Born: 1886.

Died: 1948.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain, Philippine War, Mexican Punitive

Expedition,WWI.

Remarks: Consult the many biographies for information on this famous American. He is buried at Arlington

National Cemetery. The World War II-era M-26 heavy tank and the Cold War era Pershing I and II medium

range missile system were named for General Pershing.

Pike Hall.

Building #: 232.

Built: 1902-03.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service

Schools general order #66.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel Emory J. Pike.

Born: 1876.

Died: 1918.

Campaigns: Occupation of Cuba, Philippine War,

Mexican Punitive Expedition, WWI.

Figure 51. Lieutenant Colonel Emory J. Pike

(shown as a cadet)

(Annual Report of the Association of Graduates, 1921)

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Remarks: Pike graduated from USMA in 1901 and was commissioned in the 2d Cavalry. His early service

was with his regiment in Cuba, at Fort Myer, Virginia, the Philippines, and Montana. He served in Cuba

twice. First Lieutenant Pike’s first tour at Fort Leavenworth was with the 15th Cavalry from March 1908 to

July 1909. He was a distinguished graduate of the Army School of the Line, 1914, and completed the Army

Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in 1915. His orders to serve as instructor at the Army Staff College in 1915

were cancelled so he could participate in Mexican Border duty. Captain Pike returned to Fort Leavenworth

in 1917, but was ordered to join the 82d Division at Camp Gordon, Georgia. When the division deployed

to France, Major Pike commanded the 321st Machine Gun Battalion.73 Wounded in action on 14 September

1918 near Vandiers, France, he died the next day. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for reorganizing

infantry units under fire; the action that caused his death. He was the first member of the 82d Division to

be awarded the Medal of Honor.74 Pike Hall is one of twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan

Avenues constructed in accordance with Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 150.

Pony Express Station / former USDB Farm Colony Office.

Building #: 424.

Built: 1923.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Pony Express Company.

Established: 1860.

Ended: 1861.

Remarks: This building is near the location of a previous one used by the Pony Express as a relay station.

It served as the headquarters building for the US Disciplinary Barracks Farm Colony. Although the Pony

Express, officially called the Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express, route ran from St. Joseph,

Missouri, to Sacramento, California, it was operated by the Russell, Majors and Waddell Freight Company.

The firm was a partnership among three men, William H. Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander

Majors, who had a stage and freight contracting operation at Fort Leavenworth. Company headquarters

was in downtown Leavenworth, Kansas, at 400-402 Delaware at 4th Street. To connect its headquarters

in Leavenworth with the start point in St. Jo, the company established a route with three way stations.

This connector route followed a trail across the post to the predecessor of Building #424. The pony

express service carried light mail and began in April 1860. It ended operations in October 1861, having

never made a profit. The Pony Express was made obsolete by the completion of the first transcontinental

telegraph in October 1861. The building today is against the Army reservation boundary fence between

the Disciplinary Barracks and the Joint Regional Confinement Facility. It hosts an Army and Air Force

Exchange Service snack bar for the soldiers in the correctional facilities and the two nearby military police

battalion headquarters complex.

Pope Hall.

Building #: 470.

Built: 1963.

Dedicated: 1963.

Namesake: Brigadier General James Worden Pope.

Born: 1846.

Died: 1919.

Campaigns: Indian Campaigns, War with Spain, Philippine War.

160
Remarks: James Pope attended Indiana University for two years, 1862-64, and then transferred to the

US Military Academy, graduating in 1868. Commissioned in the 5th Infantry, he spent much of his first

ten years in the Army on regimental service in the west. His duty stations included Fort Riley, Kansas,

Fort Lyon, Colorado, and several locations in Montana. Second Lieutenant Pope was stationed at Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas, from April 1871 to July 1876. He commanded the Army escort for the Yale University

Scientific Expedition in Wyoming in 1872. Second Lieutenant Pope first served at the US Military Prison

in 1875, one year after its founding, where he supervised much of its early construction. He participated

in campaigns led by Colonel Nelson Miles against Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux chief Sitting Bull and Oglala

Lakota Sioux chief Crazy Horse in 1877 and 1878. First Lieutenant Pope again served at the Military Prison

from 1879 to 1884 and returned in 1887 to serve as commandant until 1895. His seven years and seven

months is the second longest term as commander in US Military Prison/Disciplinary Barracks history.

Captain Pope was the acting warden of the newly established US Penitentiary in Leavenworth from July

to August 1895. He was promoted to major in 1897 and assigned as the construction quartermaster of

Fort Yellowstone, Wyoming, in charge of improvements to Yellowstone National Park. Following service

as depot quartermaster at Tampa, Florida, Lieutenant Colonel Pope was appointed chief quartermaster

general of volunteers during the War with Spain in the Philippines, 1898-99, under Major General Wesley

Merritt. Lieutenant Colonel Pope served asthe department of the Pacific chief quartermaster general (1901-

04) and commanded the Philadelphia Army Depot in 1905. Promoted to colonel in 1907, Pope was chief

quartermaster for the departments of the Gulf (1907-08) and Colorado (1908-10). Colonel Pope retired in

1910 and was promoted to brigadier general on the retired list in 1916. He died in Denver, Colorado, on 23

August 1919 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was a prolific author writing many articles

for military and naval journals. Pope Hall was built as an administration building for the Disciplinary

Barracks. It was the last building constructed inside the walls of the former USDB before the facility

was moved to its new location in the northern end of Fort Leavenworth in 2002. It is now the home of

the Combined Arms Command Capabilities Development and Integration Division. This was the second

building on Fort Leavenworth named for General James W. Pope. The original Pope Hall stood at the corner

of Scott and McPherson Avenues just to the south of the USDB sally port. Built in 1892 by prison labor of

native stone in the Richardson Romanesque style, it served as a community center with an auditorium and

gymnasium. It was destroyed by fire in May 1957.

Rachel Cooke Child Development Center.

Building #: 62.

Built: 1995.

Dedicated: 1995.

Namesake: Mrs. Rachel H. Cooke.

Born: 1810?

Died: After 1890.

Campaigns: Army wife on the Frontier.

Remarks: She married Lieutenant Phillip St. George Cooke on 28 October 1830 at Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas, and they moved into a cottage on post. This was perhaps the first wedding at Fort Leavenworth. The

couple remained at Fort Leavenworth until 1832. The couple had a son, John R. Cooke, and three daughters.

Mrs. Cooke experienced life to the fullest as an Army wife on the frontier; the cold of Wisconsin winters

and the heat of Texas summers. She was tough. In 1838 while living at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, her husband

accidentally shot her in the mouth.75 Her son served in the 8th Infantry but resigned his commission in

1861 and served as a general officer for the Confederacy. Two daughters married soldiers who fought for

the South, including Flora who was the wife of J.E.B. Stuart. One daughter married an infantry officer in

the Union Army; son-in-law Jacob Sharpe served as a major in the 56th New York Volunteer Infantry and

colonel of the 156th New York. The Civil War must have been a very stressful time for Mrs. Cooke with

161
a husband, a son, and three sons-in-law engaged in the conflict on opposite sides.76 Her date of death is

unknown, but she celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary in 1890. Mrs. Cooke is one-half of the only

couple to have buildings named for them at Fort Leavenworth. The building is used as both a childcare

center and classroom space for the post education center.

Roberts Room in the Lewis and Clark Center.

Building #: 127, Room 2500.

Built: 2007.

Dedicated:January 1959.

Renamed: 20 August 2010 in a ceremony hosted by the Combined Arms Center commanding general,

Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen, Jr.

Namesake: US Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas.

Remarks: Formerly known as Trophy Lounge, the atrium-like space was renamed in honor of the senior

senator from Kansas to commemorate his help in acquiring funding for the Lewis and Clark Center. Senator

Roberts, a former US Marine officer, addressed the Senate on 7 June 2000, about the deteriorating state

of Bell Hall, the then-home of the Army Command and General Staff College.

77 His effort in bringing the

situation to the attention of the Senate resulted in the dedication of the Lewis and Clark Center seven years

later on 13 August 2007. Senator Roberts is a native of Dodge City, Kansas, and graduated from Kansas

State University. He served in the US House of Representatives for sixteen years representing the Kansas 1st

Congressional District and was first elected to the Senate in 1996. As the intellectual center of the Army, the

Command and General Staff College hosts many visiting civilian and military dignitaries from around the

globe. In addition, each intermediate level education class includes international officers who matriculate

with their United States military and civilian classmates. Visiting dignitaries and their US Army hosts often

exchange gifts as a token of friendship and mutual respect. International military students usually

present an individual gift to the college to commemorate their “Leavenworth year.” Although normally

presented in person to the commandant or deputy commandant, these gifts are public property. They are

cataloged and stored under the supervision of the director of logistics. As space permits gifts are rotated on

display throughout the Lewis and Clark Center. One of these venues is the Roberts Room on the first floor

of the building just off the large three-story atrium near the front entrance.79 The Roberts Room is used for

ceremonies, presentations, small receptions, and meetings.

Rookery.

Building #: 19.

Built: 1828-34.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: The name has several reported origins.

Remarks: The oldest building on post and reputed to be the oldest continuously occupied building in the

state of Kansas. It is constructed of masonry and timber with a brick extension on its north side. The floor

joists and some of the partitions are of hewn logs. It was the temporary home of Kansas territorial governor

Andrew J. Reeder in 1854. First Lieutenant Douglas MacArthur reportedly lived in the left (northern) half

of the building when stationed at Fort Leavenworth as an Army Engineer School instructor, 1907-12.80

There are several explanations for the unusual name: 1) it is usually occupied by full “bird” colonels, 2)

as the home for rowdy young officers in the 19th century they were noisy as birds, or most probable, 3)

in the early 19th century a cheaply built building was called a rookery. The building is divided into two

apartments.

162
 Root Hall.

Building #: 197.

Built: 1901.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Honorable Elihu Root.

Born: 1845.

Died: 1937.

Remarks: Root graduated from Hamilton College, 1864, and New York University Law School, 1867.

He was a successful New York corporate lawyer when appointed secretary of war by President McKinley

and retained by Theodore Roosevelt. He served 1899-1904. Under President Roosevelt’s direction, he

modernized the War Department and instituted a series of reforms. These included enlarging the US Military

Academy, reorganizing the Army school system, founding the Army WarCollege (1901), creating the general

staff (1903), and reforming of the National Guard. He was later secretary of state, 1904-09 and a senator

from New York, 1909-15. He was an early supporter of the League of Nations. He was awarded a Nobel

Peace Prize in 1912, as a result of his work to bring nations together through arbitration and

cooperation. He is buried at the Hamilton College Cemetery, Hamilton, New York. There is also a Root

Hall at the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The 21⁄2 story brick buildings,

formerly a bachelor officer’s quarters, now provides office space for several post organizations. The

basement level, which is a walk-out on the east side, houses the loan closet for International Military

Officers.81 Root Hall was built to the same Quartermaster General design as nearby Otis Hall, building

#213, which was constructed in 1902.

Rucker Hall.

Building #: 50.

Built: 1969.

Dedicated: 1969.

Namesake: Colonel WilliamA. Rucker.82

Born: 1831.

Died: 1893.

Campaigns: Civil War.

Remarks: Rucker began his military service during the Civil War as a commissary captain of Michigan

Volunteers in 1862. In November of 1862 he received the additional duty of assistant paymaster, a position

he held until 1866. Major Rucker remained in the Army after the war as an assistant paymaster (1866),

lieutenant colonel and deputy paymaster general (1882) and colonel and assistant paymaster general of the

Army (1888). He served as paymaster for the Department of the Missouri at Fort Leavenworth, 1878-80 and

1885-90. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His brother, Major General Daniel H. Rucker, was

quartermaster general of the Army. Built as a computer center, the building is now the home of the Center

for Army Lessons Learned. Rucker Hall is the last building constructed on Arsenal Hill, the former location

of the Fort Leavenworth Arsenal. It is architecturally out of place being a squat and almost windowless

brick building, reflecting its initial service to house the main frame computers of the 1960s. The buildings

surrounding it were constructed in the mid-19th and early 20th century.

163
 Santa Fe Child Care Center.

Building #: 2400.

Built: 2012.

Dedicated: 2012.

Namesake: The Fort Leavenworth branch of the Santa Fe Trail.

Remarks: Fort Leavenworth was one of the Missouri river points of entry for the trails that carried

commerce, emigrants and military traffic to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and other points west during the period,

1820-1880. US Army posts along the trails provided way stations to support the migration and protected

settlers from Indians and each other. The trail grew shorter as the railroad got closer to Santa Fe. In 1880

the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad reached Santa Fe and brought an end to most trail activity.

The Santa Fe Child Care Center was one of two opened in 2012 to expand the child services beyond the

Rachael Cooke Child Care Center opened in 1995. The Santa Fe Child Care Center is on Hancock Avenue

at its intersection with Kansas AvenueAdjacent to newly constructed quarters.

Schenck Hall.

Building #: 231.

Built: 1902-03.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order #66.

Namesake: First Lieutenant William T. Schenck.

Born: 1872.

Died: 1900.

Campaigns: War with Spain, Philippine War.

Remarks: Schenck served as private, corporal, and sergeant in Troop I, 1st Cavalry from November

1891 to November 1894. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 10th Infantry in 1894 and

served with the regiment until 1898. He was promoted to first lieutenant in the 25th Infantry, an AfricanAmerican unit, in 1898, while stationed at Fort Logan, Colorado. He graduated from the Infantry and

Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in 1899. Schenck was killed in action near Subig (today Subic),

Luzon, Philippines, 29 January 1900, while serving with the 25th Infantry. He is buried in Arlington

National Cemetery. Schenck Hall is one of twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan Avenues

constructed in accordance with Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 150.

SchofieldHall.

Building #: 43.

Built: 1892.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Lieutenant General John Schofield.

Born: 1831.

Died: 1906.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: 

Civil War, Reconstruction, Garrison and

Frontier duty, Hawaii.

Figure 52. Schofield Hall with its Richardsonian Romanesque 

architectural style elements

(Author’s collection)

164
Remarks: Schofield graduated from USMA in 1853 and was commissioned in the 1st Artillery. An

intellectual, he taught natural philosophy at West Point and Physics at Washington University in St.

Louis, 1855-1861. Schofield was a division, corps, and army commander during the Civil War. He had

extensive service in Missouri early in the war. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1892 for his actions

at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Missouri, August 1861, while leading a charge. He participated in the

Atlanta Campaign. He was military governor of Virginia during Reconstruction. Schofield was

secretary of War, 1868-69 in the first Grant administration. He was stationed at Fort Leavenworth,

1869-70, as commander of the Department of the Missouri. In 1873, Schofield was given a secret task by

Secretary of War William Belknap to investigate the strategic potential of a United States presence in the

Hawaiian Islands. Schofield’s report recommended that the United States establish a naval port at Pearl

Harbor. He later served as superintendent of West Point, 1876-81. He was Commanding General of the

Army from 1888 until his retirement in 1895. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Schofield

Barracks in Hawaii is named in his honor, as was Battery Schofield (one 6in gun on a disappearing

carriage) used for coast artillery training at West Point. The gun from Battery Schofield later sent to

Fort Winfield Scott, California, where it today serves as a working display. Schofield Hall has

architectural style with elements of Richardsonian Romanesque with pronounced arches.83

Sheridan Hall.

Building #: 52A.

Built: 1859.

Dedicated: 2 September 1907.

Namesake: Major General Philip H. Sheridan.

Born: 1831.

Died: 1888.

Campaigns: Civil War,Reconstruction, Indian Campaigns.

Figure 53. Period Photograph of the raising of Sheridan Hall. Both Sheridan and Sherman Halls had to be lifted to

conform to the floors of Grant Hall as it was being constructed

(FrontierArmy Museum)

165
Remarks: See Appendix Aremarks for Sheridan Avenue. Called Warehouse #2, the building was constructed

as a two story ordnance storehouse as part of Leavenworth Arsenal. When the post quartermaster depot

moved out of the building in 1895, the Infantry and Cavalry School moved in. It was jacked up three feet in

1906 to be on the same level as Grant and Sherman Halls as they were prepared to host the Army Service

Schools. An addition in the rear (south) was completed on 5 May 1911 as the Army Engineer School.84 The

addition used Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 1-937. Sheridan Hall became the Combined

Arms Center headquarters in 1994.85 Fort Sheridan, Illinois, the Vietnam-era M551 light tank, and Sheridan

Barracks in Garmisch-Partenkirken, Germany, are named in his honor.

Sherman Hall, Conference Room, and VIP Room at Sherman Army Airfield.

86

Building #: 52B, 120.

Built: 1859, 1992.

Dedicated: 1890, 1992.

Namesake: General William T. Sherman.

Born: 1820.

Died: 1891.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, Mexican War,Civil War.

Remarks: See Appendix A remarks for Sherman Avenue. The building was constructed as a two story

ordnance storehouse for the Leavenworth Arsenal using the same plans as those for Sheridan Hall. It was

remodeled in 1872 with glass windows and a cupola on the roof.87 The structure became the headquarters

building for the Department of the Missouri in 1882. General Sherman gave permission to name the

building after him in 1890. When the Department of the Missouri headquarters moved to Chicago in 1890, a 

third floor was added. When the additions were completed, the Infantry and Cavalry School moved in.

An addition was added in 1911 using Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 1-937, similar to that

on Sheridan Hall. Sherman Hall is also a small conference room in the Lewis and Clark Center. He was the

namesake for the World War II-era M4 medium tank.

Sigerfoos Hall.

Building #: 230.

Built: 1902-03.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order#66.

Namesake: Brigadier General Edward Sigerfoos.

Born: 1868.

Died: 1918.

Campaigns: War with Spain, Philippine War, Mexican Punitive Expedition, China, WWI.

Remarks: An 1891 graduate of Ohio State University, Sigerfoos was commissioned in the 5th Infantry.

He graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth as an honor graduate in 1895.

First Lieutenant Sigerfoos served as a commissary officer in Cuba, 1898, followed by four years in the

Philippines. Promoted to captain in 1901, Sigerfoos was professor of military science and tactics at the

University of Minnesota, 1905-09.88 He was conferred with a master of laws at the University of Minnesota,

1909. Back at Fort Leavenworth, Sigerfoos taught in the department of law, 1912 -13. He was stationed

with the 15th Infantry in China just prior to World War I. Assigned to the Army Expeditionary Forces; he

rejuvenated Army Schools of the Line in France, 1917-18.89 He commanded the 56th Infantry Brigade,

28th Division, 1918.90 Badly wounded on 28 September while in command, he died of wounds eight days

166
later. He was the most senior US officer killed in action in WWI. Sigerfoos Hall is one of twelve Infantry

Barracks along Pope and Doniphan Avenues constructed in accordance with Quartermaster General’s

Office standard plan 150.

Simons Center for the Study of Interagency Cooperation Building #: in the Armed Forces Insurance

Founder’s Building, #325.

Built: 1953.

Dedicated: 21 April 2010.

Namesake: Colonel Arthur D. Simons.

Born: 1916.

Died: 1979.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: World War II in the Pacific, Turkey, Laos, Panama, South

Vietnam, North Vietnam, and Iran.

Remarks: Simons graduated from the University of Missouri in 1941 and was commissioned artillery

through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. His early service was with the 98th Field Artillery Battalion

in New Guinea. Captain Simons commanded a battery in 1942-1943. He served in the Philippines with

the 6th Ranger Battalion as a company commander and battalion executive officer. While with the ranger

battalion Simons participated in the Cabanatuan Raid that liberated over 500 US and allied prisoners of

war from a Japanese POW camp in northeastern Luzon. After the war, Simons left the Army for a time but

retuned in 1951 and continued his service in special operations. Special operations assignments took him to

Turkey, Laos, and Panama with military advisory groups and Special Forces Groups. He served with

Military Assistance Command Vietnam with the Studies and Observation Group. In 1970, Simons was the

ground commander for Operation Ivory Coast, the joint special operations mission to liberate POWs at Son

Tay, North Vietnam.91 Colonel Simons retired from the Army in July 1971. In late 1978 he was contacted

by computer entrepreneur H. Ross Perot to organize a raid to rescue two of his Electronic Data Systems

employees imprisoned in Iran just before its revolution. The mission was a success. The Simons center

occupies a suite of offices on the ground floor of the Armed Force Insurance Founder’s Building. The

Simons Center is funded by Command and General Staff College Foundation by a gift from Mr. Perot. It is

a research, analysis, studies, and publications focuses on interagency issues at the tactical and operational

levels of war with the goal of enhancing interagency knowledge at CGSC.92

Single Soldier Quarters.

Building #: 635.

Built: 2003 with additions in 2009-2010.

Dedicated: 31 May 2003.

Description: The Single Soldiers Quarters was constructed to permit the consolidation of single soldiers

from several older barracks on post into modern quarters near the new commercial and recreation center of

the post along Cody, Kansas, and Grant Avenues. It is within walking distance of the Harney Gym/Pool

complex, the commissary, and the Post Exchange. It is a three-story structure built with a central core

with five adjacent wings providing the rooms for soldiers. This complex reflects the new philosophy of

the Army that a Soldier is entitled to her or his own room. In late 2009 to mid-2010 the Single

Soldiers Quarters was enlarged with another barracks, dining facilities, and a battalion support area to

support the troops. Reflecting the desire for more diversity of the current Army, those memorialized are a

cross section of the Army. Each is discussed below.

167
Namesake: Sergeant Major Lacey B. Ivory.

Born: 1958.

Died: 2001.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Germany,

Cold War, Persian Gulf War.

Figure 54. Sergeant Major Lacey W. Ivory

(DOD)

Remarks: Born in Marvell, Arkansas, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated from Manual

High School in 1977. He enlisted in the Army soon after graduation and served in the continental United

States, Germany, and deployed to Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War. He received a progression

of degrees from Des Moines Area Community College, The State University of New York System, and the

University of Maryland, College Park, where he received a master of education in 1997. He was the

senior enlisted assistant to the assistant secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs when he

was killed in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on 11 September 2001. He served 24 years in the Army

and was awarded the Purple Heart and the Legion of Merit. Sergeant Major Ivory is buried in Arlington

NationalCemetery.93

Namesake: Captain Chester L. (Chet) Lee.

Born: 1939.

Died: 1966.

Campaigns: Cold War,Vietnam.

Remarks: He was born in Hot Springs and lived in Poyen, Arkansas. He graduated from Henderson

State Teacher’s College (now Henderson State University) and was commissioned in the regular Army

as a military police officer. Lieutenant Lee’s initial assignment was the 1st Guard Company at the US

Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from 1961 to 1965. He also served in the 205th Military

Police Company as an assistance provost marshal. In late 1965, First Lieutenant Lee was assigned as the

commander of Company C, 716th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group in Gia Dinh, Republic of Vietnam. The

716th Military Police Battalion was one of a group of multi-national forces charged with the security of

installations in Saigon with mobile and stationary patrols. He and his driver, Specialist 4th Class Michael T.

Mulvaney, were killed as they responded to an enemy attack on the Victoria Hotel BOQ around midnight

of 1 April 1966. Posthumously promoted to captain, he was the first officer in the 89th MP Group killed

in action in Vietnam. Captain Lee and Specialist 4 Mulvaney were the first two military police officers

inducted into the American Police Hall of Fame, Titusville, Florida.

168
Namesake: Private First Class

Vernon H. Janzen.

Born: 1922.

Died: 1946.

Campaigns: World War II. 

Figure 55. Janzen Grave, Baptist Cemetery, Lorraine, Kansas

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: Janzen was born on a farm near Lorraine in central Kansas. After working in the oil fields after

high school, he was drafted into the Army in 1942. Janzen served as a medic in North Africa, Sicily, Omaha

Beach, and Central Europe with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He was awarded the

Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award for valor, for actions in September 1944 when he evacuated

casualties under fire in Germany. Janzen was the only private invited to fly back to the United States along

with 52 officers and fellow Kansan General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the spring of 1945. He participated

in the parades and fanfare associated with General Eisenhower’s formal return from overseas. The party

landed in Washington DC and went on to New York City for welcome home ceremonies. He dined at the

White House at the invitation of President Harry Truman. Private First Class Janzen eventually flew into

Kansas City, Missouri, and finally by rail to Abilene, Kansas. He processed out of the Army at Fort

Leavenworth. He was killed in an aircraft training accident in April 1946. PFC Janzen is buried in the

family plot in the Baptist Cemetery, Lorraine, Kansas.

Namesake: Chaplain (Colonel) Louis A. Carter.

Born: 1876.

Died: 1941.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Indian Campaigns, Frontier duty, War with Spain, Philippine

War,Philippines.

Remarks: Born in Auburn, Alabama, he was a doctor of divinity by 1910. He entered the Army soon after

at age 34 after having been pastor of a large congregation in Knoxville, Tennessee. Chaplain Carter was

a Baptist who served on frontier duty in the west at several Arizona posts. He valued education and was

post schoolmaster and librarian at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Mostly stationed in the southwest, Chaplain

Carter also was stationed with the 10th Cavalry at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont, in 1911, and served in the

Philippines in 1915 at Fort Stotsenburg in central Luzon. Chaplain (Major) Carter was on the faculty of

the Army Chaplains School at Fort Leavenworth in 1924. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1930, he was

the first African-American chaplain to attain the rank of colonel in the Army in 1936. He served 30 years

in the Army with four black regiments (9th and 10th Cavalry and 24th and 25th Infantry). Carter instilled

in his men feelings of their worth as soldiers and pride in their black heritage. He was a contemporary of

Lieutenant Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., in the 10th Cavalry and Major Charles Young in the 9th Cavalry. He

retired as a colonel in 1940. He is buried at the Fort Huachuca post cemetery. Carter Street at Fort Huachuca

is named in his honor.

169
Namesake: First Lieutenant William McBryar.

Born: 1861.

Died: 1941.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War

with Spain, Philippine War.

Figure 56. First Lieutenant William McBryar

(Arlington National Cemetery website)

Remarks: Born in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, McBryar had three years of college and was proficient in

Spanish. He enlisted in the Army in New York City in 1887 and served as a sergeant with Company K, 10th

Cavalry. McBryar participated in action against Apache Indians on 7 March 1890 and on 15 May 1890 was

awarded the Medal of Honor for the action. Sergeant McBryar was one of only eighteen African Americans

to be awarded the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars, and the only member of the 10th Cavalry.

By 1892, McBryar was the first sergeant of Company K, 10th Cavalry, a position he retained until 1898.

McBryar served in Cuba as a quartermaster sergeant with Company H, 25th Infantry and participated in the

fight for El Caney at Santiago de Cuba on 1-2 July 1898. For his bravery in Cuba, Quartermaster Sergeant

McBryar was commissioned a second lieutenant and served in Company M of the 8th US Volunteer Infantry

(Immunes) from July to September 1898.94 He was commissioned a second lieutenant and later promoted

to first lieutenant in the 49th US Volunteer Infantry Regiment.95 The 49th USVI Regiment deployed for the

Philippines in late 1899, served in southern and central Luzon, and mustered out at San Francisco, 20 June

1901. First Lieutenant McBryar commanded Company K, 49th USVI from January to March 1901. When

mustered out of Volunteer service he returned to civilian life. He briefly served in the Army as a private in the

9th Cavalry—including service at Fort Leavenworth—from 1904-05, but his age (44) and previous injuries

made Army life difficult. In addition to the Medal of Honor, First Lieutenant McBryar was awarded the

Cuba Campaign Badge, the Philippine Campaign Medal, and the Philippine Congressional Medal. He is

buried in Arlington National Cemetery, where he once worked as a watchman.96 First Lieutenant McBryar

was inducted into the Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame on 17 May 2009 recognizing his long service as a

noncommissioned officer.

Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library.

Building #: 120.

Built: 1992.

Dedicated: 2014.

Namesake: Congressman Isaac (Ike) Newton Skelton IV.

Born: 1931.

Died: 2013.

Remarks: Born in Lexington, Missouri, he graduated from Wentworth Military Academy (AA 1951),

University of Missouri (AB 1953, LL.B 1956), and studied at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Stricken with polio at age 14 and lost the use of his left arm. His early career was as a lawyer in private

practice and a prosecuting attorney. Skelton served in the Missouri Senate, 1971-1977 and was elected to

the US House of Representatives in 1976 representing the 4th Congressional District. He served in congress

for thirty-three years rising to be the ranking member (1998-2006) and chairman (2007-2011) of the House

170
Armed Services Committee. Skelton was an acknowledged authority on national defense, an astute military

historian, and an advocate for the Armed Forces, especially the men and women who serve in them. He was

a longtime supporter of military installations in Missouri, including basing B-2 bombers at Whitman Air

Force Base and consolidating the Army Engineer, Chemical, and Military Police schools at Fort Leonard

Wood. Skelton was instrumental in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, which created the joint

commands and the personnel policies that matured the joint concept, including joint military education.

The academic library at the Joint Force Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia is named in his honor, as is

the Missouri National Guard Ike Skelton Training Site in Jefferson City. Skelton received the 2012

Thayer Award, presented each year by the West Point Association of Graduates to an outstanding citizen

other than a West Point graduate. He is buried in Lexington, Missouri. The Ike Skelton Combined Arms

Research Library is the academic library for the Command and General Staff College and the post

family library.

 Smith Dental Clinic.

Building #: 57.

Built: 1968.

Dedicated: 1968.

Namesake: Major General Thomas L. Smith.

Born: 1891.

Died: 1965.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: WWI, Garrison duty, Panama, Philippines, WWII.

Remarks: Smith spent two years at the University of Alabama and received his DDS from the Southern

Dental College (now the Emory University School of Dentistry), 1916. He joined the Army soon after. His

early service was on the East Coast at several Army installations in New York, Delaware, Virginia, and

Georgia. Dr. Smith served with the 80th Division in France with the American Expeditionary Forces in

World War I, 1918-19. After the war he had several postings in the continental United States, 1919-1925.

He was in Panama from 1925-28. He was the dental representative at the Medical Field Service School

at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, from 1934-38. Dr. Smith was the dental surgeon of the Philippine

Department, 1939-41, leaving just before World War II hostilities began. After service in Mississippi and

Tennessee in 1942-43, he was the theater dental surgeon in the European Theater of Operations, 1944-46.

Promoted to brigadier general and appointed the 10th Chief of Army dental corps, on 17 March 1946, he

served in that capacity until 20 April 1950. He retired in August 1951. He is buried in Arlington National

Cemetery. The dental clinic underwent a complete modernization in 2008 and 2009.

Elizabeth M. S. Smith Hall.

Building #: 195.

Built: 1901.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Elizabeth Marsh Schenck Smith.

Born: 1882.

Died: 1978.

Campaigns: A military spouse who served with her husband in the United States and overseas.

Remarks: She was the founder of the Fort Leavenworth Women’s Club, 1920. Smith was the daughter

of a Civil War veteran and the wife of an Army officer. Her husband, Colonel Charles C. Smith (USMA,

1894), was a student and permanent party on post. Mrs. Smith lived at Fort Leavenworth from 1919-21.

171
Ms. Smith became involved in organizing the first women’s club on Fort Leavenworth in response to the

passing of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. Because she lived on a government

installation she had no “state of legal residence” she could only registered to vote in the state in which the

military installation was located, while her husband could vote absentee in his state of legal residence.97 She

organized Army women to protest the injustice. Smith was one of the founders of the first parents-teachers

association in the state of Kansas. She learned Braille during World War II at the age of 60 to translate

books for the blind. The building was the guard house for a complex of buildings associated with Artillery

Barracks, including a barracks (building #196) a stable and gun shed (now both demolished). At some point

it became noncommissioned officer family quarters and is now occupied by the Fort Leavenworth stray

animal clinic.

Hamilton A. Smith Hall.

Building #: 229.

Built: 1902-03.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order

#66.

Namesake: Colonel Hamilton A. Smith.

Born: 1871.

Died: 1918.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Garrison duty, War with Spain,

Alaska, Philippine War, Mexican Border, WWI.

Figure 57. Colonel Hamilton A. Smith

(Arlington National Cemetery website)

Remarks: Smith graduated from USMA in 1893 and was commissioned in the 3d Infantry. His early service

was with his regiment at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, 1893-98. He fought with the 3d Infantry at El Caney,

San Juan, and Santiago in Cuba. Captain Smith served in the Philippines, Alaska, and state of Washington

as a company commander and regimental commissary officer, 1904-1910. He was a student officer at Fort

Leavenworth where he was the distinguished graduate of the School of the Line, 1912, and graduated from

the Army Staff College, 1913. Sailing for Europe in mid-1917, Colonel Smith was killed in action near

Soissons, France, on 22 July 1918, while commanding the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.

He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A son served in the American Expeditionary Forces as an

Engineer sergeant. Hamilton A. Smith Hall is one of twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan

Avenues constructed in accordance with Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 150.

William H. Smith Hall.

Building #: 228.98

Built: 1902-03.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service Schools general order #66.

Namesake: First Lieutenant William H. “John” Smith.

Born: 1865.

Died: 1898.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, War with Spain.

172
Remarks: Smith graduated from USMA in 1883 and was commissioned into the 10th Cavalry. His early

service was with his regiment at Forts Grant and Apache, Arizona. He studied foreign armies while on sick

leave in Europe, 1891. Smith was the regimental adjutant from 1892-95. He was honor graduate of the

Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth in 1897. Smith turned down a staff captaincy to stay in

command of G Troop, 10th Cavalry. He was killed in action leading his company in a charge up Kettle (San

Juan) Hill, Santiago, Cuba, 1898. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, 17 March 1899. W.H.

Smith Hall is one of twelve Infantry Barracks along Pope and Doniphan Avenues constructed in accordance

with Quartermaster General’s Office standard plan 150.

Splinter Conference Room.

Building #: 196 Basement.

Built: 2004.

Dedicated: 8 December 2006.

Namesake: Major Christopher J. Splinter.

Born: 1960.

Died: 2003.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Cold War,

 Korea, Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Figure 58. Major

Christopher J. Splinter

(University of Wisconsin, Platteville)

Remarks: Born and raised in Platteville, Wisconsin, he graduated from the University of WisconsinPlatteville, 1986. Commissioned through the Reserve Officers Training Corps, Lieutenant Splinter’s early

assignments were at platoon and company level at Fort Carson, Colorado, Camp Castle, Republic of Korea,

and Fort Riley, Kansas. Captain Splinter commanded Company B, 70th Engineer Battalion. Major Splinter

was an engineer observer / trainer with the Battle Command Training Program’s Operations Group Charlie

at Fort Leavenworth, 2001-03. He was killed in action on 24 December 2003 in an ambush in Samarra, Iraq,

while serving as the operations officer of the 5th Engineer Battalion, 1st Engineer Brigade, 4th Infantry

Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Splinter Conference Room in the basement of the

Mission Command Training Program Operations Group Charlie building was dedicated on 8 December

2006.99

173
Stotsenburg Hall.

Building #: 102.

Built: 1859.

Dedicated: 27 September 1921 by General Service

Schools general order #66.

Namesake: Colonel John M. Stotsenburg.

Born: 1858.

Died: 1899.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns,

Philippine War.

Figure 59. Gate Post, Fort Stotsenburg, Pampanga,

Luzon, Philippines

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: Born in Indiana, he graduated from USMA in 1881 and was commissioned in the 6th Infantry.

His early service was with his regiment in Arizona and New Mexico. Second Lieutenant Stotsenburg

commanded a company of Indian Scouts in the field from 1882 to 1887, including duty at Forts McDowell

and Huachuca, Arizona, and Forts Stanton, Bayard, and Wingate, New Mexico. In 1889, First Lieutenant

Stotsenburg was appointed regimental quartermaster. He participated in the Sioux Campaign of 1890-91,

including the fight at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on 29 December 1890. After service in Nebraska and

Virginia, First Lieutenant Stotsenburg graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth

in 1897. Following graduation he was stationed with the 6th Infantry on post. First Lieutenant (later Captain

of the 6th Cavalry) Stotsenburg was professor of military science and tactics at the University of Nebraska,

1897-98. Stotsenburg was appointed major of the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry and deployed with the unit

to the Philippines in April 1898. His duty performance in garrison and combat resulted in his appointment,

on 10 November 1898, to colonel of the 1st Nebraska. He was killed in action at Quinqua, Bulacan, Luzon,

Philippines, on 23 April 1899. President McKinley attended his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery on

1 June 1899. The building was one of four on the installation remaining from the Leavenworth Arsenal.100

It was converted to married officer housing after World War I and for many years was the post finance

office. Colonel Stotsenburg was the namesake for Fort Stotsenburg, a former cavalry post in central Luzon

in the Philippines that was later a part of Clark Air Base.101

Summerall Suite.

Building #: 213, Suite 421-2.

Built: 1903.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: General Charles P.Summerall.

Born: 1867.

Died: 1955.

Campaigns: War with Spain, China Relief Expedition, Philippine War,Alaska, World War I, Army of

Occupation of Germany.

174
Remarks: Summerall graduated from USMA in 1892 and was commissioned in the 1st Infantry. After an

initial assignment at Benicia Barracks, Benicia, California, (1892-93) he transferred to the 5th Artillery at

the Presidio of San Francisco. Second Lieutenant Summerall served with his regiment and as an engineer

officer in California, New York, on the Gulf Coast, and on detached service, 1893-98. First Lieutenant

Summerall served as an engineer officer with the department of the Gulf and on duty with Light Battery F,

5th Artillery en route and in the Philippines, 1898-99. He performed combat duty in the Philippines until

July 1900 when he sailed for China where he saw action against Chinese troops during the China Relief

Expedition, the Boxer Rebellion. He returned to Manila in June 1901. Captain Summerall was assigned

to the 106th Company, Coast Artillery, and served in the state of Washington and the territory of Alaska,

commanding several posts, 1901-03.102 He transferred to the 3d Battery, Field Artillery, and served in Georgia

and Virginia, 1903-05. Captain Summerall was a senior instructor of artillery and commander of the field

artillery detachment at the US Military Academy, 1905-1911. Major Summerall commanded an artillery

battalion in San Antonio, Texas, and at Fort Myer, Virginia (1911-14) and later served on staff duty in Texas,

Pennsylvania, Alabama, and in Washington DC In 1917 Major Summerall was a member of the US Military

Mission to the British and French Armies, 1917. Brigadier General Summerall commanded the 67th and

later the 1st Field Artillery Brigades in the US and France, 1917-18. Major General Summerall commanded

the 1st Division during the St. Mihiel Offensive and later V Corps in the Meuse-Argonne operations, 1918.

During the occupation of Germany Summerall commanded two corps and served on several commissions,

1918-19. Major General Summerall commanded the 1st Division (1918-21), the Hawaiian Department

(1921-24), 8th Corps Area (1925), and then 2d Corps Area (1926). General Summerall served as chief

of staff of the United States Army from November 1926 to November 1930. After retirement, General

Summerall became president of the Citadel until 1953. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The

Summerall Suite is in Otis Hall.

Sumner House.

Building #: 17.

Built: 1840.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: Brigadier General Edwin V.Sumner.

Born: 1797.

Died: 1863.

Campaigns: Black Hawk War, Mexican War,Indian Campaigns, Civil War.

Remarks: See remarks in Appendix A for Sumner Place. The Sumner House is a Registered National

Historic Landmark and probably the oldest brick structure in the state of Kansas. Sitting on the north

side of the Main Parade, the house was built as quarters and the headquarters of the post commander. It

served as such from 1840 to 1890. In 1872, the inspector general of the Army noted in his report that it

was the only building on post with indoor toilets. A son served as a general officer in the War with Spain,

Boxer Rebellion, and Philippine War. A grandson served as an aviator in the WWI. The second oldest

building on Fort Leavenworth, Sumner House is one of those on post reputed to be haunted.103

175
Sutler’s House.

Building #: 5.

Built: 1841.

Dedicated: Unknown, informal. Namesake: Post Sutler Hiram Rich.

Born: 1799.

Died: 1862.

Figure 60. Hiram Rich Grave,

Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: The sutler ran a general store under contract to the Army that supplied soldiers and their families

with tobacco, coffee, sugar, household items, liquor, and other sundries not available through the Army

supply system, the forerunner of the modern Post Exchange. Rich was the post sutler from 1841-62. Hiram

Rich worked as a trader in Missouri and elsewhere in the Midwest trading mostly with the Indian tribes,

1822-41. He obtained a contract from the federal government to supply the Pottawatomie Indians, 1836 and

later traded with the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, and Sioux in the late 1830s. He was identified as “colonel” as

an honorific title which indicates his importance to Fort Leavenworth. He was appointed fort postmaster in

1841. John James Audubon visited him and stayed in the sutler’s house in 1843 when the famous artist was

painting birds along the Missouri River. He accompanied Colonel Stephen W. Kearny and the 1st Dragoons

Mexican War’s Santa Fe expedition in an official capacity as sutler, 1946-47. In 1852, he was secretary of

a commission from Kansas to Congress to urge the establishment of a territorial government. He is buried

at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. The building was originally a story-and-a-half log cabin. A direct

descendent, his great-great-grand daughter, Clara Flint Vanderstaay, still lives in Leavenworth.104 A great

great grandson still lives on a farm in Salt Creek Valley west of post that Rich bought in 1857. The sutler’s

house at one point served as the designated quarters for the depot quartermaster, the senior logistician on

post in the 19th century before the reorganization of the Army after the War with Spain.105 The Sutler’s

House is now designated as general officer family quarters. Post legend has it that the ghost of a young

woman haunts the Sutler’s house, although it would be unusual for the present brigadier general occupants

to reportseeing ghosts. Major generalselection boards may look upon such statements with some suspicion.

Swift Hall.

Building #: 46.

Built: 1882.

Dedicated:April 1952.

Namesake: Major General Eben Swift, Jr.

Born: 1854.

Died: 1938.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Philippine War, Mexican Border, WWI.

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Remarks: See Appendix A for Swift Street for additional biographical information on General Swift. He was

stationed at Fort Leavenworth three times: 1893-97, 1904-06, and 1916. Major Swift established the

staff ride at the Army Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth, 1904. A military intellectual, Swift wrote

on military affairs. He was assistant commandant of the Army Service Schools at Fort Leavenworth,

1904-06. Swift Hall was formerly used as Women’s Army Corps barracks and is currently used as

office space by the Mission Command Training Program. The building is a 2 1⁄2 story brick barracks on

the west side of the Main Parade next to Barth Hall. It is one of the last remaining 19th century structures

on that side of the parade.

Syracuse Houses.

Building #s: 20 and 21.

Built: 1855.

Dedicated: Unknown, informal.

Namesake: Mr. Erasmus T.Carr,Architect.

Born: 1825.

Died: 1915.

Figure 61. Erasmus T. Carr (1915)

(King Solomon Masonic Lodge)

Remarks: He designed the Syracuse houses and other buildings in Leavenworth. Carr arrived on post in

September 1855 and was hired as a foreman to build houses. When the original architect, R.G. Otis, was

fired he became the construction superintendent. He became “master mechanic” in the Quartermaster Depot

and served from 1857-70. He was an architect and builder in Leavenworth. In 1863 he was selected as the

architect for the Kansas State Penitentiary. Carr designed and built many structures throughout the state of

Kansas and served as the Kansas state architect from 1870-1885. Mr. Carr served for many years as a city

council and school board member. He is buried in Mount Muncie Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kansas. The

E.T. Carr collection of drawings and plans is in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of

Kansas. The Syracuse Houses are yellow-painted 2 1⁄2 story wood frame double officer quarters, on the east

side of the Main Parade. They are the only two structures built in this style on post.

Taylor Suite.

Building #: 213, Suite 417-2.

Built: 1903.

Dedicated: Unknown.

Namesake: General Maxwell D. Taylor.

Born: 1901.

Died: 1987.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Garrison duty, Hawaii, World War II, Occupation of Berlin,

Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War.

Remarks: Consult a biography for information on this famous American. Taylor graduated from the

Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1933-35. He is buried in Arlington

National Cemetery. The Taylor Suite is in Otis Hall.

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Tice Hall.

Building #: 1951.

Built: 1990.

Dedicated: 1994.

Namesake: Major General Ralph T.Tice.

Born: 1924.

Died: 1994.

Campaigns: WW II, Occupation of Japan, Cold War.

Remarks: He received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri. Inducted into the

Army in May 1943, he served as a combat engineer with the 78th Combat Engineer Battalion in the Pacific,

1944-45 and then the 8th Engineer Combat Squadron during the Occupation of Japan, 1946. He joined the

Kansas National Guard as a first lieutenant in 1950 with the 35th Infantry Division Artillery and progressed

through the ranks and duty positions of increasing responsibility, including commanding general of the 69th

Infantry Brigade in 1977. He was Kansas adjutant general, 1980-87.106 He worked for the National Weather

Service in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1941-79. He and his brothers could have avoided military service

in WW II with exemptions as farmers but their father told them he would not ask for an exemption; they all

served. He is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Topeka, Kansas. The Major General Ralph T. Tice Award

is presented each year to the most outstanding Kansas Army National Guard company grade officer.

Tice Hall is a one story brick and concrete structure. It is a part of the Herbert R. Temple Jr. Mission

Training Complex near Sherman Gate. It also serves as the headquarters of the 35th Infantry Division.

Temple Mission Training Complex and Auditorium.

Building #s: 1951 and 1952.

Built: 1990 and 1997.

Dedicated: 1997.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Herbert R. Temple,Jr.

Born: 1929.

Campaigns: Korean War, Cold War.

Remarks: He enlisted in the 160th Infantry, 40th Infantry Division, California Army National Guard in

1947. He fought as a staff sergeant with the 5th Regimental Combat Team, 24th Infantry Division in the

Korean War.He rejoined the California National Guard on his return from Korea in 1952. He was a company,

battalion and brigade commander in the California National Guard. He came to the National Guard Bureau

in 1975 and was appointed chief of the Bureau in 1986. He served until 1990. He retired with 42 years

of active and National Guard service. After retirement General Temple remained prominent in National

Guard issues. He is the namesake for the Herbert R. Temple Jr., National Guard Marksmanship Center at

Camp Robinson, Arkansas. The Temple MTC is composed of two main buildings, Tice and Greenlief Hall,

and several smaller brick structures used for storage and military exercises. The Temple Auditorium is an

assembly room in Tice Hall.

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TownsendHall.

Building #: 61.

Built: 1890-94.

Dedicated:April 1952.

Namesake: Brigadier General Edwin F.Townsend.

Born: 1833.

Died: 1909.

Campaigns: Civil War,Reconstruction, Indian Campaigns, Frontier duty.

Remarks: Townsend graduated from USMA in 1854 and was commissioned in the 3d Artillery. He was

a classmate of J.B. Hood, McPherson, J.E.B Stuart and O.O. Howard. His early service was on the west

coast. He resigned his commission and was a lawyer in Milwaukee from 1856-61. Townsend reentered the

Army in 1861 as a first lieutenant in the 14th Infantry. Advanced to captain in the 16th Infantry in May

1861, he fought in the south and west in the Civil War. He commanded a battalion at the Battle of Shiloh,

Tennessee, in 1862. He commanded the ordnance depot in Nashville, 1862-65. After the war, he served in

the South and West with the 25th, 27th and 9th Infantry regiments. In 1879 he was appointed lieutenant

colonel of the 11th Infantry and then became the colonel of 12th Infantry. He commanded the regiment from

1886 to 1895. He also was the commandant of the Infantry and Cavalry School, 1890, at Fort

Leavenworth. Townsend retired as a colonel but was promoted to brigadier general on the retired list

in 1904. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The building was constructed using Quartermaster

General’s Office standard plan 2-441. It served as the post mess hall, then as a library, recreation center,

and gym. Townsend Hall was renovated in 2008-2009 and dedicated on 1 September 2009 as the Battle

Seminar Facility for the Mission Command Training Program. The facility was rededicated on 17 May

2011 as the Colonel John M. McHugh Training Center at Townsend Hall. Colonel McHugh was the chief

of MCTP Operations Group Alpha when killed in Kabul, Afghanistan in May 2010.

Truesdell Hall.

Building #: 225.

Built: 1959.

Dedicated: December 1959.

Namesake: Major General Karl Truesdell.

Born: 1882.

Died: 1955.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Cuban Occupation, Mexican Punitive Expedition, WWI, China,

Hawaii, WWII Stateside.

Remarks: He enlisted in the Army after graduation from high school in 1901 and served three years in the

ranks. Truesdell was commissioned from the ranks as a second lieutenant in 1904. He graduated from the

Army Signal School at Fort Leavenworth in 1912. During World War I Truesdell served as chief signal

officer for both the 26th and 1st Divisions. He served at Fort Leavenworth as an instructor at the General

Service Schools, 1919-1920. He was an honor graduate of the Army School of the Line, 1921. Truesdell

was chief of the school section that wrote Command and General Staff School correspondence course

curriculum, 1923-26. He served in China as executive officer of the 15th Infantry in the late 1920s and

early 1930s.107 Truesdell commanded the 16th Infantry Regiment, the 1st Infantry Division (1940) and

VI Corps, 1941-42. While in command of the corps, he participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers, 1941.

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General Truesdell was CGSS commandant, 1942-45, as it educated officers for service in World War II.

His son graduated from West Point (1933) and retired as a US Air Force major general. Truesdell is buried

at Arlington National Cemetery. The building sits just to the west of the Lewis and Clark Center. It has

been used as visiting officers’ quarters, dining facility, the post arts and crafts shop, and office space for

the Mission Command Training Program. For many years it has been an outside-the-walls location of a

US Disciplinary Barracks barber shop. Among its current tenants is the Combat Studies Institute.

WagnerHall.

Building #: 52D.

Built: 1889-95.

Dedicated: September 1907.

Namesake: Colonel Arthur L. Wagner

(Promotion to brigadier general recommended

on the day he died; it was rescinded).

Born: 1853.

Died: 1905.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns,

Philippine War, Puerto Rico.

Figure 62. Excerpt from the Annual Report of the Army 

Service Schools, 1915, on the Construction and Naming of

Wagner Hall

(Combined Arms Research Library)

Remarks: Wagner graduated from USMA in 1875 and was commissioned in the 6th Infantry. His early

service was in the west including several months constructing telegraph lines to Fort Buford, Dakota

Territory in 1878. Lieutenant Wagner showed an aptitude for instruction. He was professor of military

science and tactics at Louisiana State University (1881) and the East Florida Seminary (now University

of Florida), 1882-85. He graduated from the Infantry and Cavalry School, 1886 and remained at Fort

Leavenworth as an instructor at the Infantry and Cavalry School and the General Service Schools, 1886-

1897. Just preceding the War with Spain, Major Wagner served as the chief of the division of military

information of the War Department. Major Wagner deployed to Cuba at the start of the war and later joined

Major General Miles headquarters as it took part in military operations in Puerto Rico. Wagner sailed for

the Philippines in 1899 and occupied staff billets on Luzon until 1902. Wagner was assistant commandant

of the Army Service Schools, 1903-04. He was a noted military author. Wagner Hall is located on what was

formerly called Merritt Place, and is now part of Sherman Avenue. In 1916 it was connected to Sherman

hall by a two level bridge. Wagner Hall was the college library until 1959. It now provides office space for

Combined Arms Center organizations.

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Young Conference Room.

Building #: 120, on the 2d floor of the Combined

Arms Research Library.

Built: 1992.

Dedicated: 9 November 1994.

Namesake: Colonel Charles Young.

Born: 1864.

Died: 1922.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns,

Philippine War, Mexican Punitive Expedition, War

with Spain Stateside, World War I Stateside.

Figure 63. Colonel Charles Young

(photo courtesy of the Annual Report of the

Association of Graduates, 1922)

Remarks: The son of enslaved parents whose father served in the Union Army, Young graduated from

USMA in 1889, the third African-American graduate of West Point. He was commissioned in the 10th Cavalry.

After regimental service, Lieutenant Young was professor of military science and tactics at Wilberforce

University, Wilberforce, Ohio from 1894-98. First Lieutenant Young also served a short time (December

1896 to October 1897) with the 7th Cavalry.108 During the War with Spain Ohio Governor Asa S. Bushnell

offered First Lieutenant Young command of the 9th Ohio Colored Infantry, 1898-99. This posting earned

him the rank of major of Volunteers.109 First Lieutenant Young served with the 9th Cavalry from 1889 to

1896. Promoted to captain, he commanded a 9th Cavalry troop in the Philippines and San Francisco, 1901-

Captain Young was acting superintendent of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks, 1903.110 Young

commanded 3d Squadron, 9th Cavalry in the Philippines, 1908-09, and later commanded 2d Squadron,

9th Cavalry at Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming, 1909-11.111 Major Young commanded a cavalry squadron and

saw active service during the 1916 Punitive Expedition to Mexico. Young twice served as military attaché in

Haiti and Liberia. Colonel Young was the highest ranking African American soldier in the Army during

World War I. He retired for disability in 1917 as a colonel of cavalry, but was recalled to active duty with

the National Guard of Ohio and served at Camp Grant, Illinois. Anxious to command his black troopers in

France in World War I, the 54-year-old colonel rode on horseback from his home in Ohio to the War

Department in Washington, DC to demonstrate his fitness for duty. The War Department denied his request. In 

28 years of commissioned service he served with the 9th Cavalry, 10th Cavalry, and 25th Infantry, all

African-American units. He was a linguist with knowledge of Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, and German.

Young was an author, poet, and playwright. He died in Liberia and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery

with his funeral in the Amphitheater—one of one of only ten soldiers ever so honored. On 25 March 2013

the president established the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument at his former home and

farm in Wilberforce, Ohio.

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Notes

1. This information was provided by Ms. Lori L. Simmons, director of Marketing Communications at AFI.

2. He served as a mentor to the twenty-five year old regimental operations and training officer, future Army

general William E. Depuy.

3. The 36th USVI was recruited in the Philippines from discharged state volunteers and regulars.

4. Leavenworth Times, 28 September 1958, 1.

5. The memorial program in the archives of the Frontier Army Museum from the dedication of the Boughton

Memorial states that while teaching at West Point, he scheduled his classes in the morning so he could travel the 50

miles to New York City to attend law school class in Manhattan.

6. Three lodges use the facility: Hancock Lodge, Armed Forces Scottish rite, and the Fort Leavenworth

Chapter of the National Sojourners.

7. For most of the 19th century West Point graduates were brevetted second lieutenants and either assigned

to a unit as—in the words of an 1812 act of Congress—a supernumerary officer of a brevet second lieutenant until a 

vacancy occurred.

8. The 37th USVI was recruited in the Philippines from discharged state volunteers and Regulars plus about

600 recruits from the US

9. During this time he briefly served as an observer in Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War.

10. Blue print, records group 92.16, Central Plains regional facility of the National Archives and Records

Administration.

11. Lieutenant Colonel Richard H. Wright, Memorial Chapel, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 1878 (Fort

Leavenworth, Kansas: Fort Leavenworth Historical Society, 2003), 6.

12. A pamphlet produced by the Chapel Memorial Association in the late 1960s reports that a Colonel W.J.

Valkman an assistant adjutant general on the staff of Major General John Pope, commander of the department of the 

Missouri at Fort Leavenworth, first suggested that memorials be placed on the walls of the chapel to recognize

soldiers and others. A search of available records indicates that there was no one of that name who served as an

officer in the Army in the 19th century. However, First Lieutenant William J. Volkmar (USMA, 1868) served as the

aide-de-camp and chief signal officer to Brigadier General John Pope from December 1876 to June 1879.

13. The 8th Infantry, 20th Infantry, and 7th Cavalry.

14. They are Christopher C. Augur, Henry Leavenworth, George B. Barth, Asa P.Blunt, Charles T. Boyd,

George A. Custer, Thomas W. Custer, Edmund L. Gruber, John Pope, Phillip H. Sheridan, and William T. Sherman.

15. According to an email from Kelvin L. Crow CAC historian, dated 11 August 2010, the post

memorialization committee approved the name change on 18 July 2010.

16. American soldiers stationed in Germany have the opportunity to complete for certain German Army

qualification badges. The Schiessenschnur is a weapons qualification award given in three grades: bronze, silver, and

gold.

17. Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, Vol.2 (Washington,

DC: Government Printing Office, 1903, University of Illinois Press facsimile reprint 1965), 146.

18. Colonel William P. Pipkin, (US Army Retired), “Phillip St. George Cooke” from Articles on the History

of Fort Leavenworth compiled by Lieutenant Colonel Richard H. Wright (US Army Retired), publisher and date of

publication unknown, 141. Dick Wright compiled and privately published articles about Fort Leavenworth,

including many by his friend Phil Pipkin , 141.

19. Blue print, records group 92.16, Central Plains regional facility of the National Archives and Records

Administration.

20. Some reports say he lied about his age and enlisted at age 16.

21. According to local Fort Leavenworth historian John Reichley, Custer was the first of nineteen service

members to be awarded the Medal of Honor twice.

22. Renamed Fort Totten in 1898 after Brevet Major General Joseph G. Totten (1788-1864), the Army’s Chief

Engineer.

23. The stable, building #192, was destroyed by fire in 1943. Its limestone foundation survived for many

years covered by an asphalt parking lot. The last exposed limestone was removed during parking lot

reconstruction in June 2010.

182
24. Kelvin Crow, the Combined Arms Center historian has researched the presence of the United States

Military Academy Prep School at Fort Leavenworth. His investigation indicates that the USMA prep school

probably occupied Davis Hall in the 1940-41 school year. Among the indicators is a 1941 post phone book reference

to the school listing the commander as Captain Leonard C. Erickson.

25. The United States Army fielded 91 divisions in World War II: 20 from the regular Army, 18 from the

National Guard, 25 from the Organized Reserve, and 28 from the Army of the United States. By the time of the

Normandy Invasion, most divisions not yet in combat were “draftee” divisions composed of an experienced cadre

and filled with officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted men brought into the Army for the duration. Some,

including the 90th, fared poorly in combat until competent leadership emerged in the day-to-day business of

warfighting.

26. He may have visited the post earlier. Carlo D’Este in his book Eisenhower: A Solder’s Life (New York:

Henry Holt, 2002) relates on page 90 that Eisenhower visited Leavenworth in the summer of 1915 to purchase 

uniforms. He may have come on post.

27. This carries on a tradition. Eisenhower Auditorium was the largest auditorium in Bell Hall (1959-2007)

the former home of CGSC.

28. Just as today certain duty positions entitle officers and noncommissioned officers to have access to wheel

and track vehicles to do their jobs, the Army provided horses and mules to leaders.

29. Lottie M. Fuller was the assistant secretary-treasurer (1915-25) and secretary-director (1926-51).

30. He roomed with WilliamAllen White, famous newspaperman, future Pulitzer Prize winner and fellow

student at the University of Kansas,

31. The 20th KVI included Company C raised in Leavenworth, Kansas.

32. Blue print in RG 92.16 at the Central Plains regional facility of the National Archives and Records

Administration has a marginal note identifying it as a double signal corps barracks.

33. After the commander, General Benedict Arnold, left the field with a leg wound.

35. Now Fort Totten, Bay Terrace, Queens, New York.

36. Bryden and Danford both retired as major generals, Bryden in 1944 after service as commanding general

of the 4th Service Command, and Danford as chief of field artillery from 1938-42. Although little remembered

today, Gruber always acknowledged Bryden and Danford as collaborators.

37. Lieutenant Colonel Arthur K. Harrold, commanded the 475th Infantry Regiment, Mars Task Force, of the

China, Burma, India Theater in World War II from 20 April to 24 May 1945. The 475th is a predecessor of today’s

75th Ranger Regiment. Colonel Harrold and his wife were very active in POW/MIA causes after their son’s

disappearance.

38. Linda H. Harrold gave birth to their son, Timothy, one day after being notified that her husband had been

shot down and was listed as missing in action in Laos. She later returned to Kansas State University and earned a 

master degree in social work. Mrs. Harrold had a tie to the Army. She worked as a social worker at Irvin Army

Hospital, Fort Riley, Kansas, for 20 years. Mrs. Harrold died on 12 August 2008 at her home in Olathe, Kansas, and

is buried next to her husband in Mount St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery.

39. Quartermaster Corps records found in different files give conflicting dates. The post historical properties

office lists 1905.

40. Built to connect the continental United States with Alaska, when completed the ALCAN Highway

connected Dawson Creek, British Columbia, at the south end to Delta Junction, Alaska, in the north, a distance of

1,522 miles. Funded entirely by the United States, it is still considered an engineering marvel.

41. John Cowines, History of Fort Leavenworth, 1964-1973 (CAC History Office Files, unpublished

manuscript, 1974), 144. Other sources cite the Jockey and Steeplechase Club of America as the registration

organization in 1929.

42. The plaque was dedicated in 1998 soon after Dr. Kuykendall’s death from cancer in a ceremony presided

over by the Combined Arms Center commander, Lieutenant General Leonard D. Holder, and the United States Army

chief of chaplains, Major General Gaylord T. Gunhus.

43. According to Heitman, Historical Register, Vol. 1, 81-138, Army reorganization in 1815 amalgamated the

regiments of Infantry to six.

44. See Colonel Forest R. Blackburn, “Cantonment Leavenworth, 1827 to1832”, Military Review, 

December 1971, 66. US Post Office name remained Cantonment Leavenworth until 1841. See John Rydjord, 

183
Kansas Place-Names (Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1972).

45. Historian John Riechley told the author on 15 January 2009 that he was on the fort commemoration

board which named the Lee House and confirms that it is named for Fitz Lee and not some other Lee such as—for

example—Robert E. Lee.

46. One account indicates that he swam ashore under fire during an amphibious landing to rescue the men

after several others had failed.

47. Bright’s Disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases.

48. Plan set found in Record Group 92.26 at the Central Plains regional office of the National Archives and

Records Administration, Kansas City, Missouri.

49. Biographical information primarily from Sergeant First Class Michael A. Parnell, noncommissioned

officer in charge of the US Army Band “Pershing’s Own” received via email on 22 January 2009. SFC Parnell

identifies A History of the United States Army Band to 1946 by David C. McCormick as his source

50. Captain Leigh was a busy man. In addition to leading a rifle company in combat, he also won the division

marksmanship competition, and trained bands and buglers.

51. Here we have a clash of histories. The Army Band website states that WO Leigh left Washington in 1922

while Fort Leavenworth records say he arrived in 1921. He probably arrived in 1922.

52. Warrant Officer Francis Leigh appears in the post directories from 1922 to 1925. In the March 1925

directory he is identified as retired. In 1932 he was promoted to captain on the retired list by special legislation

because of his wartime service.

53. Heitman, Historical Register, Vol. 1, 631. The Legion of the United States was formed in 1792 as an

infantry formation. In 1796, the four sublegions were converted to infantry regiments. The 2d Sublegion became the

2d Infantry Regiment.

54. The actual number of the Corps of Discovery has been in dispute since 1806. The number 52 comes from

Charles G. Clarke, The Men of the Lewis and Clarke Expedition (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press,

2002 Edition), 71. This number does not include seven others who joined the expedition after it was underway,

including Toussaint Charbonneau and his Shoshoni Indian wife, Sacagawea.

55. Clarke, The Men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, relates (page 38) that Clark had been promised a

captaincy by Lewis and received the pay and recognition as a captain. The story of his rank is a bit complicated.

There was no vacancy for an infantry captain in the existing infantry regiments. Denied a captain’s commission by

the elite Corps of Engineers, Clark finally was commissioned a second lieutenant of “Artillerists.” while on duty with

the Corps of Discovery, Clark was assigned to Captain Josiah Dunham’s company of Artillerists at Fort Fort

Mackinaw, Michigan. See Arthur P. Wade, Artillerists and Engineers (McLean, Virginia: CDSG Press, 2011), 102, 

Clark was promoted to first lieutenant of infantry in January 1806 while still at Fort Clatsup, the Corps of

Discovery’s winter quarters in Oregon. See Heitman, Historical Register, Vol. 1, 306.

56. Blueprints for building #198 in Records Group 92.16 at the Central Plains NARA regional branch show

that all hospital construction was reviewed by the Army Surgeon General’s office.

57. MacArthur Elementary had a $5.9 million renovation in 1997 and a $2.1 million addition in 2004. The

construction of a replacement began in 2013 with an estimated August 2015 completion date.

58. The Army did not have a formal military police branch until 1941. Prior to that time, except during the

Civil War and World War I, there was no regularly appointed provost marshal general or regularly constituted MP

corps. Before the military police corps was established, infantry officers were often detailed to MP duties.

59. The blueprints for the building in Records Group 92.16 at the Central Plains NARA regional branch even

has a sheet detailing the construction of the all-steel beds in each cell.

60. From June 1912 to November 1913, Captain Maxey was stationed at Camp McGrath in the Philippines,

named for Hugh J. McGrath, who died of wounds in Manila in 1899. Major McGrath is the namesake for McGrath

Hall in the same Infantry Barracks complex at Fort Leavenworth as Maxey Hall.

61. The battalion executive officer was Captain (later Lieutenant General) Clarence R. Huebner.

62. During the war he was a temporary brigadier general.

63. The principal components of the Army in World War II were the Army Ground Forces, the Army Air

Forces and the Army Service Forces.

64. In 1930, President Hoover renamed the post in honor of former governor and US Senator Francis E.

Warren (1844-1929) who was awarded the Medal of Honor in the Civil War. It became an Air Force base with the

184
creation of the US Air Force in 1947. It is the oldest continuously active installation in the Air Force.

65. Organized in July 1898, it trained in Kentucky and Georgia before being mustered out in February 1899.

A book by James H. McClintock, published in 1916 and accessed online, relates on page 524 that the 

commanding officer was the governor of Arizona, Myron H. McCord, who had no military experience and that

“Drill was handled by Lieutenant Colonel David G. Mitchell, a regular army officer of ability.”

66. Muir Hall was constructed as a part of a stable complex that included Building #302 (Gruber Gym),

Building #315 (Flint Hall), Building #107, a guard house now used for storage, and a wooden stable and blacksmith

shop, now demolished.

67. As a captain in the 1890s he authored a book titled The Theory and Practice of Military Hygiene that

speculated that the mosquito might transmit malaria.

68. Fort Leavenworth was one of the first Army installations to have a fully staffed post hospital.

69. In 1903, the 57th Congress enacted a law to pay Annie R. Neary, 1LT Neary’s widow, a pension of $25 a 

month with an additional $2 a month for a minor child.

70. The name of the division is a combination of America and New Caledonia because it was formed in

New Caledonia. It was the only division raised and trained overseas in World War II. This tradition continued

during the Vietnam War when the 23d Infantry Division (Americal) was raised and trained in the Republic of

Vietnam.

71. Little known today, Jay Gould was in that class of entrepreneurs called by some “robber barons” in their

72. Before it burned, its neighbor across McClellan Avenue, St. Ignatius Chapel, was also a private building 

that reverted to the public domain.

73. This unit designation from the USMA Cullum Biography. Other sources say he commanded the 319th 

Machine Gun Battalion or that he was the division machinegun officer.

74. The only other “All American” to receive the Medal of Honor in World War I was Sergeant Alvin C. 

York.

75. Otis E. Young, The West of Philip St. George Cooke, 1809-1895 (Glendale, California: Arthur H. Clark, 

1951), 93-95. She recovered and must have forgiven him, because they had one more child.

76. The family reportedly did not make up until 1887.

77. Press release dated 20 August 2010 from the Headquarters of the Combined Arms Center and Fort 

Leavenworth.

79. The Lewis and Clark Center has four floors. The lay of the land provides two ground entrances. The main 

entrance is actually on the second floor.

80. Research can be confusing. Historian John Reichley told the author that his research indicates it was the 

right (southern) basement apartment.

81. International Military Officers attending the Command and General Staff College can borrow household 

items like child car seats, bicycles, and pots and pans to see them through their “Leavenworth Year.”

82. This information is taken from a plaque in the entranceway on the east side of the building.

83. Named after American architecture Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886) who is famous for extensive 

use of clusters of arches. It is not a pure Richardsonian Romanesque form but uses some elements of the style.

84. The lintel over the ground floor entrance still has the words “Engineer School” carved in it.

85. From a briefing developed by Kelvin Crow, Combined Arms Center command historian for a tour of the 

Building 52 complex on 19 December 2008. Before 1994, CAC headquarters was in Bell Hall (1973-77) and Fuller 

Hall (1978-94).

86. The airfield itself is named for another Sherman.

87. Previously it was an ordnance warehouse and its “windows” were closed with metal shutters.

88. His older brother, Edward, was a professor of Zoology at the school.

89. The Army closed the Army schools at Fort Leavenworth for the duration of World War I and 

reestablished them in Europe.

90. The 28th Division was commanded by fellow Fort Leavenworth namesake Major General Charles H. 

Muir.

185
91. The mission rescued no prisoners. They had been moved to another compound earlier. The raid did cause

the North Vietnamese to relocate all American POWs to a few compounds in Hanoi and improve their treatment. 

This boosted POW morale.

92. From CGSC Foundation website: From CGSC Foundation website: From CGSC Foundation website:

http://thesimonscenter.org/ (accessed on 29 June 2015)

93. Sergeant Major Ivory is survived by his wife, Lieutenant Colonel Deborah W. Ivory, and four daughters.

94. Irene and Frank N. Schubert, et. al., On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldiers II (Lanham, Maryland: Roman

and Littlefield, 2004), 187. In the days before a complete understanding of the germ theory of disease and the role 

played by insects in transmitting diseases like malaria and yellow fever, the Army thought that men from the 

American south and African-Americans had a natural immunity to tropical diseases. It formed ten “immune” 

regiments. The 7th through 10th US Volunteer Infantry (Immunes) were reserved for African-Americans. Only the 

9th went to Cuba. The 8th USVI (Immunes) remained in the American south. There is no indication the “Immunes” 

were immune. See Roger D. Cunningham’s paper “The Black Immune Regiments in the Spanish-American War.” 

https://armyhistory.org/the-black-immune-regiments-in-the-spanish-american-war/ (accessed 29 June 2015)

95. Heitman, Historical Register, Vol. 2, 243.

96. The picture of McBryar as a US volunteer first lieutenant is from the Arlington National Cemetery web

site: www.arlingtoncemetery.net/williamm.htm.

97. This also had property and tax implications. If a military spouse, almost all of them women in this era,

was a residence of the state where the Army post was located, she could not also be a residence where she may have 

owned property or had other legal obligations. This situation was not corrected until 1940.

98. Hamilton A. Smith Hall (building #229) and William.H. Smith Hall (building #228) are right next to each

other on Doniphan Drive. Only the Army would put two Smith Halls side by side.

99. Retired Army colonel Mike Edwards, the former commander of Operations Group Charlie, told the

author that it took nine months of staff work to get the conference room approved.

100. The others are building #100 and Sheridan and Sherman Halls, buildings #52A and 52C, respectively.

101. The gatepost pictured here is one of two at the entrance to the parade ground of Fort Stotsenburg, 

Pampanga, Luzon, Philippines. In May 1942 victorious Japanese Imperial Army forces removed the posts and 

unceremoniously dumped them in a landfill. After the defeat of the Japanese in the Philippines in September 1945 

the gateposts were relocated and reinstalled on the parade ground.

102. In 1901 Congress directed that the Army organize an artillery corps. The War Department designated 30 

companies of field artillery and 126 companies of coast artillery under one chief of artillery. An officer could be 

assigned to either field or coast artillery. By 1907 technology had advanced so that specialization was called for. The 

Army separated artillery into field and coast artillery. After that an officer had to select which branch in which to 

serve; Summerall picked filed artillery.

103. See John Reichley’s booklet The Haunted Houses of Fort Leavenworth (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Fort 

Leavenworth Historical Society, 1995), 14.

104. She also provided material for this entry.

105. A framed engineer drawing of the house, including the layout of its two floors, was seen by the author on 

11 December 2009 hanging in a hallway of the house. It is titled Deport QM Residence. It has no date but looks to be 

a copy of a 19th century drawing.

106. Leavenworth resident and retired Army command sergeant major John Webb relates that Major General 

Tice would visit Fort Leavenworth and often tell the story of how his first five days in the Army in 1943 were spent 

in the old post commissary, then a mess hall for the induction station, peeling potatoes.

107. Other sources have his service in China was from 1932-35.

108. Heitman, Historical Register, Vol. 1, 1066. It was somewhat unusual in the apartheid Army of the late 

19th and early to mid-20th century for an African-American officer to be assigned to something other than a 

“colored” regiment.

109. Young was one of only three African American Regular Army officers on active duty during this period.

110. Now Kings Canyon National Park.

111. Now E.F. Warren Air Force Base.

186
Appendix C

Other Feature Biographical Summaries

555th Parachute Infantry Battalion Memorial.

Location: Circle of Firsts Memorial Park.

Built: 2006.

Dedicated: 7 September 2006.

Namesake: Members of the 555th Parachute

Infantry Battalion.1

Established: 1943.

Disestablished: 1950.

Campaigns: WWII Stateside.

Figure 64. Bust of “Triple Nickle” First Sergeant Walter

Morris in Circle of Firsts Memorial Park. Buffalo Soldier

barracks in the background.

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: The “Triple Nickles” (the unusual spelling was intentional) was formed from the initial

parachute test platoon and later company of African Americans to qualify as paratroopers in the US

Army in February 1943 as the Army took its early steps toward eventual integration by race. The

company was activated on 30 December 1943. The unit was designated a battalion in October

1944 and was commanded by Captain James H. Porter. The unit served as “smoke jumpers” fighting

forest fires in the American West toward the end of World War II. From May to October 1945 battalion

members completed more than 1,200 jumps. It participated in several classified missions in seven

western states and a Canadian province. Triple Nickle soldiers jumped onto forest fires started by

Japanese high altitude balloons with incendiary bombs sent over the continental United States in the

jet stream.2 The battalion eventually was incorporated into the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d

Airborne Division, as its 3d Battalion. The unit was officially disbanded in August 1950. The memorial

depicts Walter Morris, one of the first black Army paratroopers. Morris was the first sergeant of an allblack service company charged with guarding the Army’s airborne school at Fort Benning, Georgia,

when he convinced the commander of the school that African Americans could do as well as white

paratroopers. At age twenty-three, he was appointed the unit first sergeant. According to his obituary in the

New York Times (21 October 2013) Morris was commissioned through officer candidate school, the only

black student in his class the the Adjutant General School. As a second lieutenant he was the adjutant

of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion. Walter Morris left the Army at the end of the war and died in

Florida in October 2013 at the age of 92.

Arsenal Grounds.

Location: On Arsenal Hill south of Grant Hall.

Built: 1858.

Namesake: The Fort Leavenworth Arsenal.

Established: 1858.

Disestablished: 1874.

Activities: Support of frontier expansion, garrison duty, and the Civil War.

187
Remarks: The War Department directed construction of an ordnance depot at Fort Leavenworth, 1858.

In 1860 it was upgraded to an arsenal.3 Stotsenburg Hall (building #102), Sheridan and Sherman Halls

(buildings #52A and C), and building #100 remain from that era. The arsenal moved to Rock Island

Arsenal, Illinois, in 1874. The area now occupied by Combined Arms Center headquarters and several of

its subordinate activities.

Bell Memorial Plaque.

Location: Northwest entrance to the Lewis and Clark Center.

Emplaced: 1959 on Bell Hall and relocated to the Lewis and Clark Center in 2007.

Namesake: Major General J. Franklin Bell.

Born: 1856.

Died: 1914.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Philippine War, Philippines.

Remarks: See Remarks in Appendix B for the Bell Room. The plaque was dedicated in a formal ceremony

on 14 June 1959, the Army’s 162d birthday.4

Berlin Wall Monument.

Location: South of Smith Lake between Truesdell Hall and the Lewis & Clark Center.

Emplaced: 1990.

Namesake: The wall separating West and East Berlin during the Cold War.

Wall Erected: 1961.

Wall Removed: 1989.

Remarks: The wall was the Berlin portion of the boundary between the Warsaw Pact and the NATO nations

that Winston Churchill described in his famous Iron Curtain speech at Westminster College in Fulton,

Missouri, in 1946: “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended

across the continent.” For years a metaphorical wall, in August 1961 the German Democratic Republic,

( East Germany) constructed a wall isolating West Berlin from East Berlin and East Germany. The

wall’s aim was to prevented defection from the GDR into West Berlin and West Germany. On 9

November 1989 the East German government permitted crossing to the West and the wall started to be

torn down. German unification occurred in 1990. The American commandant for Berlin, Major

General Raymond Haddock, gave the three concrete segments covered with graffiti to President Reagan

on 10 September 1990, who later gave them to the Command and General Staff College.

Bluntville.

Location: At the end of the ridge east of old USDB compound.

Established: 1870s.

Namesake: Brigadier General Asa P.Blunt.

Born: 1830.

Died: 1901.

Campaigns: Civil War, Garrison duty, Indian Campaigns.

188
Remarks: (See Remarks in Appendix A for Blunt Avenue) Bluntville was a family housing area for US

Military Prison non-commissioned officers and civilians. It later served African-American NCOs. Most

buildings were constructed by local contract in 1876 to meet the demand for housing because of the

establishment of the US Military Prison in 1874 (renamed the US Disciplinary Barracks in 1915). Some

buildings were moved in 1917 to make way for expansion of the USDB exercise yard. The houses were

torn down in the early 1960s. The asphalt roads in the area still exist. Today the area has athletic fields and

part is used in the summer for community gardens for post residents.

Brunner Skeet, Trap, and Archery Range.

Location: Westside of Sheridan Drive.

Established: 1991.

Dedicated:August 1993.

Namesake: Sergeant First Class W.A. Brunner.5

Born: 1923.

Died: 1993.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: WWII,

Occupation of Japan, Cold War,West Germany.

Figure 65. Sergeant First Class Brunner Tombstone,

Leavenworth National Cemetery

Remarks: Born on 31 July 1923 in Bower’s Mills in southwestern Missouri, he joined the Army on 18

January 1943. He fought as a rifleman in the Pacific during World War II. From March to August 1945 he

served in the Philippines with Troop B, 12th Cavalry in the 1st Cavalry Division. He served with the unit on

Leyte and Luzon, including the battle for Manila. Joining the unit as a private, he ended the war as a private

first class. After the war he served with the 12th Cavalry as a scout and scout squad leader in the occupation

of Japan. Returning to the United States as a staff sergeant in March 1946, Brunner reenlisted on 12 April

1946.6 From October 1946 to January 1947 he received training as a military policeman and, because of his

rank, as a confinement supervisor, initially at Fort Lewis, Washington, and then Camp McQuaide, California.

At Camp McQuaide, in Capitola, he was assigned to the West Coast Processing Center, the official stockade

for Army AWOLs and other troublemakers in the western United States.7 Following service on the West

Coast, in May of 1947, Staff Sergeant Brunner was assigned as a guard noncommissioned officer at the

Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. A confinement specialist until he retired, he served a total of

thirteen years at Fort Leavenworth. From January 1961 to January 1963 he served an unaccompanied tour

with the 709th MP Battalion at the Army stockade in Gutleut Kaserne in Frankfurt, West Germany.8 Upon

his return from overseas, Staff Sergeant Brunner served on temporary duty for a short time with the 207th

Military Police Company during the establishment of the Army Retraining Brigade at Fort Riley, Kansas.9

He retired in April 1968 at Fort Leavenworth and later worked for Trans World Airlines at its overhaul base

at the Kansas City International Airport as a security guard. An avid sportsman, he was a member of several

gun and outdoor clubs. Brunner was the manager of the Fort Leavenworth Skeet and Trap Club from 1990-

93.10 In 1991 he was instrumental in moving the range from a location in the flood plain on Chief Joseph

Loop to the northwest of the Sherman Army Airfield hangers to its current location in the hills on Sheridan

Drive along the western boundary of the post. This modern range complex replaced the old ramshackle

facilities. Friend Len Friez relates that “Brunner and I installed the skeet and trap machines taken from the

old facility, built benches, and other items necessary to get the facility operational.”11 The initial cost was

$330,000. The range was dedicated soon after his death from leukemia on 26 August 1993. Sergeant First

Class Brunner is buried in the Leavenworth National Cemetery.

189
Buffalo Soldier Monument.

Location: The Buffalo Soldier Commemorative Area between Truesdell Hall and Smith Lake on the east

side of Grant Avenue.

Established: 25 July 1992.

Namesake: African American soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments.

Established: Regiments organized in 1866.

Status: Still serving.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain, Philippine War, Mexican Punitive

Expedition, WWI Stateside, WWII North Africa, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam, Gulf War, Operation

Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn.

Figure 66. Buffalo Soldier Monument

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: In general, this is a monument to all men and women of African descent who served in segregated

Army units until the Army was officially integrated by presidential Executive Order #9981 in July 1948.

Specifically, it memorializes the 9th and 10th Cavalry (and by extension the 24th and 25th Infantry)

Regiments, all established in 1866.12 Men of the cavalry regiments initially served in the American West

and later wherever assigned.13 The 9th Cavalry was formed in Greenville, Louisiana, and the 10th Cavalry

formed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Tradition has it that the nickname for these African American soldiers

was bestowed by Native Americans who observed that their curly hair resembled that of the American

bison. Historian Ron Fields in his book, Buffalo Soldiers, 1866-91, comments that it is doubtful the troopers

ever used the name themselves but later generations have accepted the name with pride.14 The 10th Cavalry

served at Fort Leavenworth as school support, 1931-40. Initially, Army leadership resisted integration but

by 1951 the manpower requirements of the Korean War forced the Army to eliminate segregated units

and by 1953, 95% of Army units were integrated. Designated 509th and 510th Tank Battalions (Colored)

respectively after WWII respectively, the 9th Cavalry lineage is carried on by F Troop, 9th Cavalry, 1st

Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. The 10th Cavalry (officially designated as Buffalo Soldiers by the

Army Center of Military History) lineage is carried on by the 1st, 4th and 7th Squadrons, 10th Cavalry, 4th

Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Carson, Colorado. The statue at the center of the monument

depicts a cavalry sergeant mounted on a rearing horse during operations on a reconnaissance in the American

west.15 The project was first proposed by General Colin L. Powell when he was stationed on post in 1982-

1983. He wondered why the only recognition of the Buffalo Soldiers was two gravel alleys named for the

9th and 10th Cavalry in the post travel camp. A voluntary organization, now called the Buffalo Soldier

Educational and Historical Committee, began the planning and fund raising that culminated in the It was

funded completely by contributions.

190
Camp Conestoga.

Location: Near Buildings #688 and #895 on an unnamed gravel road off the Thank You Ma’am Trail

north of the Wainwright Hunt Complex.

Established: 1949.

Namesake: Conestoga Wagons of the American west.

Activity: Expansion of the frontier.

Remarks: Established as a Girl Scout camp in 1949. The name was taken from the Conestoga wagon

similar to that found at the Frontier Army Museum.16 This historical campsite has also felt the tread of many

Indian moccasins. It was here that the tribes camped during the peace negotiations between the “civilized”

and “uncivilized” Indians in 1833.

Camp Miles.

Location: In the woods north of Camp Conestoga near building #323 and the intersection of the Beeline

and Thank You Ma’am Trails.

Established: 1930s.

Dedicated: 1963 as a Boy Scout camping area.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles.

Born: 1839.

Died: 1925.

Campaigns: Civil War, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain.

Remarks: Last commanding general of the Army, 1895-1903.17 He served as a regimental, division and

corps commander in the Civil War Army of the Potomac. Miles was a corps commander at age 25 and

achieved the rank of major general at age 26. After the war he had extensive service on the frontier. He

became commander of the 5th Infantry Regiment in 1869. In 1892 he was awarded the Medal of Honor for

actions at the Civil War battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in 1863. General Miles represented the United

States at the Queen Victoria Jubilee Celebration in 1887, was an observer of Turco-Grecian War operations,

and attended the maneuvers of the Russian, German, and French armies in 1897. In the War with Spain,

Miles commanded forces in Cuba at Siboney, and after the surrender of Santiago de Cuba by the Spanish,

he personally led the invasion of Puerto Rico, landing in Guanica on the southwestern coast. He is buried at

Arlington National Cemetery in a mausoleum. Former coast defense installation Fort Miles, Delaware,

was named in his honor. He wrote memoires published in 1896, 1898, and 1911. The site is used as a Boy

Scout camp. It was formally dedicated on 1 May 1963 in a Scout-led ceremony.18

Camp Miley.

Location: North of Cody Road and West of Grant Avenue in the vicinity of the present golf driving range.

Established: 1898.

Disestablished: 1901.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel John D. Miley.

Born: 1862.

Died: 1899.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, War with Spain in Cuba, Philippine War.

191
Figure 67. Camp Miley Plaque, Fort Leavenworth

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: Miley graduated from USMA in 1887 and was commissioned as an additional second lieutenant

in the 5th Artillery. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 4th Artillery but soon transferred back

to the 5th Artillery. His initial service was in New York, Rhode Island, and California. First Lieutenant

Miley was in charge of the pneumatic dynamite battery at the Presidio of San Francisco.19 He received a law

degree from Columbia Law School in 1897 and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1889. He served as an

aide to Major General Shafter during the War with Spain. He was one of the commissioners who negotiated

the surrender of Santiago de Cuba, 1898. Miley was inspector general of US forces in Manila, 1899. He

died of cerebral meningitis and typhoid fever, 1899. Fort Miley in San Francisco was a coast artillery post

named in his honor. Camp Miley at Fort Leavenworth was established to muster volunteer troops into the

Army for the War with Spain and the following war in the Philippines against the Insurrectos. The 32d and

the 44th US Volunteer Infantry Regiments trained there as did the 21st, 22d, and 23d Kansas Volunteer

Infantry Regiments. The area today is marked by a limestone monument with bronze plaques.

Cheyenne HousingArea.

Location: On the west side of Sheridan Avenue not far north of its intersection with 5th Artillery.

Established: 2007.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Cheyenne (Tsitsistas or “beautiful people”) Native American tribe.

Remarks: An Indian nation originally from that part of Minnesota bounded roughly by the Mississippi,

Minnesota, and upper Red Rivers.20 They are speakers of an Algonquin language. Its first contact with

Europeans was with French missionaries and fur traders in late 17th Century. Driven out by the Sioux, the

Cheyenne moved west toward the Missouri River, the Black Hills and the North Platte River. Initially, they

occupied fixed villages, practiced agriculture, and made pottery, but lost these arts when driven out into

the plains to become roving buffalo hunters. Constantly pressed farther into the plains by the Sioux, they

established themselves on the upper branches of the Platte, driving the Kiowa in turn farther to the south.

They made their first treaty with the US government in 1825 because they wanted peace with whites. The

Cheyenne were in frequent conflict with US forces and settlers in the mid and late 19th Century. They

participated in the battle of the Little Bighorn Valley, June 1876. The Cheyenne, along with the Lakota

and Apache nations, were the last nations to be subdued and placed on reservations (the Seminole tribe

of Florida was never subdued). Today they occupy a reservation near the Black Hills, in the Dakotas. The

housing area is a new one established by Michaels Military Housing.

192
Circle of Firsts Memorial Park.

Location: To the east of Grant Avenue just south of Smith Lake.

Established: 1995.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: African American soldiers who achieved a recognized “first.”

Remarks: The firsts achieved in the US Army by African Americans. There are currently five firsts

recognized, General Colin L. Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of State;

General Roscoe Robinson, Jr., the first African-American 4-star general (1982); Second Lieutenant Henry

O. Flipper, first African-American graduate of West Point (1877); and the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion

(1944).21 Also recognized is Major General Benjamin H. Grierson, commander of the 10th US Cavalry

from 1866 to 1888. The most recent addition is that for retired General Colin L. Powell.

Civilian Conservation Corps Headquarters and Camps 2731 and 4717-C.

Location: East of Grant Avenue on the rise just north of Bldg #341.

Established: 1934.

Disestablished: 1941.

Namesake: Civilian Conservation Corps.

Remarks: The CCC was a Depression era effort to combat unemployment among young men and assist

in soil conservation, forest management, flood control, and other national resources and conservation

related activities. The Army at Fort Leavenworth supported it with officers and men from the 17th Infantry

providing cadre. Fort Leavenworth was the headquarters for CCC District of Missouri-Kansas. The district

was commanded by the commanding general of Fort Leavenworth, with Major Generals Heintzelman,

Brees, and Bundel serving with a reserve officer staff.22 The headquarters company was on post from 1933-

37. Work Camp 2731 was on post from 1934-35 and Work Camp 4717-C from 1935-37. The “C” designated

“colored” and African American men 18-23 filled the ranks of Camp 4717-C. More than 30,000 men passed

through the camp during its existence. The area had a center district headquarters area with a site for each

Camp. The area today is occupied by the Osage Village housing area, Eisenhower Elementary School, and

the two child development centers.

Constitution Grove.

Location: Along the walkway between the Lewis and Clark Center and Truesdell Hall south of Smith

Lake.

Established: 1988 (moved to current location in 2007).

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Signers of the US Constitution with military experience.

Campaign: Revolutionary War.

Remarks: The US Constitution was adopted on 17 September 1787 when 39 representatives from eleven

states signed the document. The Constitution Grove memorial recognizes the twenty-three signers with

military service in the Revolutionary War. They were: George Washington, Virginia; John Dickenson,

Delaware; James McHenry, Maryland; William Blount, North Carolina; Richard Dobbs Spaight, North

Carolina; Hugh Williamson, North Carolina; Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, South Carolina; Charles

Pinckney, South Carolina; Pierce Butler, South Carolina; Abraham Baldwin, Georgia; John Langdon, New

Hampshire; Nicholas Gilman, New Hampshire; Rufus King, Massachusetts; Alexander Hamilton,

193
NewYork; William Livingston, New Jersey; David Brearly, New Jersey; Jonathon Dayton, New Jersey;

Thomas Mifflin, Pennsylvania; Gouveneur Morris, Pennsylvania; and William Jackson, Secretary. Each

signer is recognized by a tree and a plaque.

Delaware Village Housing Area.

Location: West of Hancock Avenue at the intersections of 4th and 5th Artillery Roads.

Established: 1971.

Status: The original housing replaced in 2010 with new duplexes.

Namesake: Delaware (Lenni Lenape) Native American tribe.

Remarks: The Delaware, speakers of an Algonquin language, were originally an agricultural people from

the Eastern Seaboard area along the Delaware River and lower Hudson River in what today are the states

of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. They were among the first Native peoples to greet

Europeans in the 17th Century. They signed the first treaty with the US government in 1778, the Treaty

of Fort Pitt. War and pressure from white settlement dispossessed them from their original lands and they

moved successively to Ohio, then Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, and finally, Indian Territory (present day

Oklahoma). The tribe moved from Kansas in 1867. The Lenape people were divided into three dialectal

divisions, which became the basis for the three clans: Wolf, Turtle, and Turkey. The tribal headquarters

today is in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, with the Delaware-Muncie Tribal Council located in Pomona, Kansas.

Dragoon Glen.

Location: The sloping hillside to the east of the intersection of Sherman and Scott Avenues ending at the

water treatment plant.

Named: Unknown.

Namesake: 1st Mounted Rifles/1st Dragoons and 2d Dragoons.

Established: 1833.

Superseded: 1861.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Mexican War,Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: Established at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, as the US Regiment of Dragoons by Colonel Henry

Dodge. The dragoons became both 1st Regiment and 2d Regiment when the latter was formed in 1936.23 The

1st Regiment retained its designation until re-designated 1st Cavalry on 3 August 1861. The 2d

Regiment was re-designated 2d Regiment of Riflemen on 4 March 1843, reverted to 2d Dragoons on 4

August 1844, and finally designated 2d Cavalry on 3 August 1861. The 1st Regiment headquarters and

several companies wintered at Fort Leavenworth before the Civil War. The regimental headquarters and

various companies were stationed at Fort Leavenworth in the 1830s, 40s and 50s. Some notable members

of the dragoons with a connection to Fort Leavenworth: Stephen W. Kearny, 1st Dragoon lieutenant

colonel from 4 March 1833 to 4 July 1836 and then colonel until 30 June 1846; Nathan Boone (Daniel’s

son), 1st Dragoon major from 16 February 1847 to 25 July 1850 and 2d Dragoon lieutenant colonel from

25 July 1850 to 15 July 1853; Phillip St. George Cooke, 2d Dragoon lieutenant colonel from 15 July 1853

to 14 June 1858; and Jefferson Davis, 1st Dragoon adjutant from 30 August 1833 to 5 February 1834.24

Dragoon Glen today is a great place for winter sledding and to gaze at the great bend of the Missouri

River.

194
Flipper Memorial.

Location: Circle of Firsts Memorial Park at the Buffalo Soldier Monument.

Dedicated: 30 March 2007.

Namesake: Second Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper.

Born: 1856.

Died: 1940.

Campaigns and Assignments: Frontier duty, Victorio Campaign.

Figure 68. Second Lieutenant Henry O. 

Flipper bust in Circle of Firsts Park

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: Born a slave in Georgia, Flipper attended Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) for

three years before starting at West Point. A member of the USMA class of 1877, he graduated 50th of 76 in

his class. Flipper was the fifth African-American to attend and first graduate of West Point and the first black

commissioned officer in the regular Army. He was commissioned cavalry. He served with Company G, 10th

Cavalry.25 His first assignment was Fort Sill, Indian Territory, and several frontier posts in Texas. Second

Lieutenant Flipper spent some time at Fort Leavenworth with his regiment. He remained on frontier duty,

1878-82. Second Lieutenant Flipper was dismissed from the Army in 1882 by a court-martial for conduct

unbecoming an officer. He maintained his innocence. As a civilian, Flipper distinguished himself in a variety

of governmental and private engineering positions. He was an author of books on the west. He preferred to

be called Lieutenant Flipper. He is buried in the Thomasville Old Magnolia Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.

Second Lieutenant Flipper was posthumously granted an honorable discharge (1982) and a pardon from the

court-martial verdict (1999). Each year at West Point, a graduating cadet who “demonstrates the qualities

of leadership, self-discipline and perseverance in the face of unusual difficulty” is honored with the Henry

O. Flipper Award. Second Lieutenant Flipper’s bronze bust is on the west side of the Circle of Firsts facing

GrantAvenue.

Fort De Cavagnial Picnic Area/Military Police K-9 Area.

Location: Left side of McPherson Avenue in the northwest corner of post.

Established: 1744.

Namesake: French Fort De Cavagnial.

195
Remarks: Established during the reign of the French King Louis XV. It was named for Francois-Pierre

Rigaud, Baron of Cavagnial and Marquis of Vaudreuil (1698-1778). He was a French-Canadian naval

officer, governor of Louisiana (1742-53) and governor general of New France (Canada) (1755-1760). Fort

de Cavagnial was the first permanent European settlement and fort within the borders of the present day

state of Kansas. Like many frontier forts, it was both a commercial and military center. Among its residents

was Joseph Deruisseau who had a monopoly on trade on the Missouri River from January 1, 1745 to May

20, 1750. The first military commander was Chevalier Francois Coulon de Villiers. About 50 French

soldiers and fur traders who traded with the local Indian tribes, including the Kansa, Wichita, and Pawnee,

garrisoned it.26 The French abandoned it when the Louisiana Territory was ceded to Spain by France in the

Treaty of Fontainbleau in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years War (called the French and Indian War in

North America).27 William Clark noted in his journal on 2 July 1804: “The French formerly had a fort at

this place, to protect the trade of this nation.” The exact location of the fort is unknown, but it is almost

certainly was not at the location of the former picnic area. The picnic area was closed in 2008 and a

working dog facility for the Military Police was constructed in its place.

Fort De Cavagnial Memorial.

Location: Near the water tower at the highest point of Sheridan Drive.

Named: 1966.

Namesake: French Fort De Cavagnial.

Remarks: Plaque to commemorate Fort de Cavagnial. The exact location of the French fort has been lost

to history in spite of repeated archaeological efforts to locate it. Current information indicates it was several

miles upriver from the post. The Fort Leavenworth Historical Society placed the plaque in 1966.

Fort Leavenworth.

Location: On the west bank of the Missouri River north of the city of Leavenworth.

Established: 1827.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Colonel (Brevet Brigadier General) Henry Leavenworth.

Born: 1783.

Died: 1834.

Campaigns: War of 1812, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns.

Remarks: See Leavenworth House write-up in Appendix B for biographical details on Colonel Leavenworth

Established by four companies of the 3d Infantry in May 1827, it served as a contact with local Native

tribes and a garrison for protection on the frontier.28 Long a troop post, GO #8, 6 January 1882, established

the fort’s educational mission when it directed establishment of the School of Application for Cavalry

and Infantry. Fort Leavenworth was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and much of main post

was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1966. The post is the oldest continuously active

Army installation west of the Mississippi River.

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Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

Location: Between Biddle Boulevard and Hancock Avenue in the west central part of post.

Established: 1862.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Fort Leavenworth.

Remarks: It was one of the first twelve national cemeteries. Although formally established in 1862 and

made a national cemetery in 1867, the earliest interment was a Mexican War officer who died in 1846.29 The

remains of Colonel Henry Leavenworth were moved from his second resting place in Delhi, New York to

the cemetery and he was re-interred with great ceremony in 1902, 68 years after his death.30 His grave is

marked by the largest monument in the National Cemetery. The administration building was built in

1905. Graves include about 2,000 moved between 1885 and 1907 from now-closed military installations

in the west. The cemetery is now closed to most new interments except cremations. There are 22,950

interments on its thirty-six acres. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

Fort Sully.

Location: On Hancock Hill, the high ground to the west of the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

Established: 1861-64.

Status: Abandoned in 1865.

Namesake: Brigadier General Alfred Sully.

Born: 1821.

Died: 1879

Campaigns: Seminole War,War with Mexico, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Civil War,

Reconstruction, Garrison duty.

Remarks: Sully graduated from USMA in 1841 and was commissioned in the 2d Infantry. His early service

was in Florida with his regiment in the Seminole War, 1841-42, and on garrison duty in New York. Sully

served in the war with Mexico at Vera Cruz and on regimental recruiting duty, 1846-48. First Lieutenant

Sully was regimental quartermaster, 1848-52, with duty in Missouri, New York, and California. Captain

Sully was stationed in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Nebraska in the late 1850s. Major Sully was stationed

at Fort Leavenworth from April to November 1861 and commanded the fort in May 1861. As such he

supervised construction of temporary earthworks for artillery early in the Civil War. He had extensive

service in the eastern campaigns of the Civil War. In 1863 he moved west and spent the rest of the war in

campaigns against the Indians. He was superintendent of Indian Affairs in Montana, 1869-70. Brigadier

General Sully was stationed in the south in the early 1870s until appointed colonel of the 21st Infantry in

1873. He participated in the Nez Perce campaign, 1877. He died on active duty at Vancouver Barracks, state

of Washington. The Fort Sully earthworks were reinforced to repulse Confederate Major General Sterling

Price and an army of 12,000 as they approached Kansas City and Fort Leavenworth. Price and his force

were defeated at the battle of Westport by Federal forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis on October

23, 1864 and retreated further back into Missouri.31

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French Bronze Cannon.

Location: There are four: two face the east

overlooking the Missouri River on the bluffs along

Sherman Avenue, one sits in a small park in front of

Grant Hall (building #52C) facing north, and one

faces south in a traffic island at the intersection of

Grant and Pope Avenues.

Emplaced: Unknown.

Status: Still emplaced as memorials.

Figure 69. French 5.5” Bronze Cannon L’Impetueuse (Impetuous) and Bicentennial Memorial Plaque in front of Grant Hall

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: The guns were cast in the second half of the 18th century in Paris. The name of the foundry,

place, and date of manufacture are on each piece. The two overlooking the Missouri River were cast in

1774 and are named “Venture” and Voyager.” The gun in front of Grant Hall was cast in 1769 and named

“Impetuous.” And, finally, the piece in the traffic triangle was cast in 1775 and named “Impregnable.”

Originally thought to have been French aid to the United States during the American Revolution, there was

no explanation as to why they were located at a fort that did not exist at that time. Later, it was discovered

that they had been captured during the War with Spain in Cuba. The guns were stored at Rock Island

Arsenal. Former Frontier Army Museum director Steve Allie indicated that after the war, Fort Leavenworth

requested souvenir weapons for display and Rock Island sent them in 1899.32 The gun “Impetuous” in front

Grant Hall has the distinction of hosting a memorial plaque emplaced in 1976 to commemorate 200 years of

friendship between France and the United States. The plaque reads in part: “In Grateful Acknowledgement:

On 4 July 1976, the 200th birthday of our Republic, this French cannon was dedicated as a symbol of the

aid received from France during our struggle for Independence.”

Post lore says that the four French cannon were hidden during World War II so they would not be

victims of wartime scrap drives. This story is reinforced by a Kansas City Star news photo from 24 October

1942 at the garrison public affairs office showing one of the cannon being dismounted with a wrecker. It is

unknown if they were all removed and stored or just the piece shown.33

More Cannon

The French cannons are not the only obsolete artillery pieces found on post. There are four M1857 12-

pounder “Napoleon” bronze smoothbore gun-howitzers mounted on concrete display bases along Scott 

Avenue. These Civil War surplus cannon face east overlooking Dragoon Glen. There is an M1861 3in. 

ordnance rifle mounted on a reproduction wheeled carriage in Circle of Firsts Park. Finally, there are 

three larger cannon on concrete display stands in front of the Frontier Army Museum. One is a wrought 

iron M1863 10-pounder Parrott rifle given to post by the Dwight D. Eisenhower Veterans Administration 

Medical Center in Leavenworth. Finally, there are two cast iron 24-pounder smoothbore cannon. Former 

Frontier Army Museum director, Stephen Allie, says that records indicate that these last two cannon were 

once mounted in Fort Sully to the west of the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

Friendship Grove.

Location: Next to Hastings House of Hastings Avenue.

Established: 1989.

Status: Still exists.

Remarks: This grove of pear trees was planted on 15 March 1989 in the spirit of friendship and to

commemorate Arbor Day by Brownie Girl Scout Troop 540, the Fort Leavenworth Girl Scouts, and 4-H

Clubs of Leavenworth and Lansing, Kansas.

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Fuller Lake.

Location: East of Smith Lake near the Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library.

Built: 1925.

Status: Combined with Smith Lake in 2007 during the construction of the Lewis and Clark Center.

Namesake: Colonel Ezra B. Fuller.

Born: 1848.

Died: 1925.

Campaigns: Civil War, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain stateside, Occupation of Cuba.

Remarks: See Appendix B remarks for Fuller Hall. Fuller Lake was separated from Smith Lake by a dike.

The dike was removed and lake incorporated into Smith Lake in 2007 during the construction of the Lewis

and Clark Center. It reappeared briefly in 2014 when Smith Lake was drained and deepened during the

rehabitation of the causeway on Grant Avenue separating Smith and Merritt Lakes

Grant Gate, Pool, and Statue.

Grant Gate.

Location: Across from 7th Street and Metropolitan Avenue in Leavenworth.

Building #: 8.

Built: 1936.

Status: It still exists.

Remarks: A two-part main entryway into the post. The largest part of the gate was constructed by the

African American men of Civilian Conservation Corps Camp 4717-C. It was relocated slightly south

with the widening of Grant Avenue and the addition of new gatehouses and security barriers in

response to the attacks of 11 September 2001. The second component is that most noticed by those

passing by the main gate on Metropolitan Avenue in Leavenworth or entering the fort. This part dates

from 1972 and was a gift of the Command and General Staff College classes of 1971 and 1972.

Grant Pool.

Location: Near the intersection of Grant and Pope Avenues.

Built: 1925-26, rehabilitated 1975.

Status: Still exists.

Remarks: One of two outdoor pools in use on post; identified as building #166 on post maps.

Grant Statue.

Location: At the northern end of Grant Avenue near the intersection with Kearny Avenue.

Building #: 64.

Erected: 1889.

Status: Still exists.

Remarks: Bronze statue sculpted by Mr. Lorado Taft and emplaced under direction of Colonel Nelson A.

Miles, 1889. Grant had died in 1885.

Namesake: General / President Ulysses S. (Sam) Grant.

Born: 1822.

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Died: 1885.Campaigns: Mexican War, Frontier duty on the West Coast, Civil War.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks for Grant Avenue). The bronze statue of Grant standing on a pedestal

in a marshal pose was dedicated in 1887.

Grove of the Regiments.

Location: Between Truesdell Hall and the Lewis and Clark Center on the shores of Smith Lake.

Built: 1976.

Dedicated: 4 July 1976.

Namesake: The Regular Army and Volunteer units that served at Fort Leavenworth to 1976.

Remarks: The grove was dedicated as part of the Fort Leavenworth United States Bicentennial celebrations.

Originally constructed as a circular walking path on a hillside to the east of Eisenhower Elementary School,

it was moved to its present location during the construction of the Lewis and Clark Center in 2005-07. It

consists of limestone block piles with three bronze plaques dedicated to the Army units that have served at

Fort Leavenworth since its founding. Listed are the fifty-two regular Army units and the eight US Volunteer

units and the forty other volunteer units from seven states identified as having served on post from 1827 to

1976. Trees have been planted behind the plaques.

Hancock (West) Gate and Pool.

Hancock Gate:

Location: Southwest corner of post.

Established: 1937?

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Major General Winfield S. Hancock.

Born: 1824.

Died: 1886.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, Seminole War, Mexican War, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, Civil War,

Reconstruction.

Remarks: See Appendix A remarks for Hancock Avenue for biographical information. It is marked with

limestone block gateposts constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps laborers about 1937, probably from

African American Camp 4717-C. The gate was refurbished, widened, and a gatehouse added in

response to terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. In 2010 the approach road to the gate was relocated

to connect with 20th Street in Leavenworth as a part of a safety upgrade to the road system outside the

gate. Hancock Avenue just outside the gate was formerly crossed by railroad tracks providing access to

the nearby US Penitentiary rail yard and up Government Hill to the west. The tracks were abandoned in

1984.

Hancock Pool:

Location: East of Hancock Avenue and north of Walker Avenue (buildings #644, 645, and 646).

Established: 1980.

Status: Still exists.

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Remarks: The pool was constructed to provide a recreation facility on the western side of post in the

housing areas constructed in the 1950s to the 1970s. A pool formerly at that location was the enlisted pool

during the days of Army separation of recreational facilities by rank.

Hiram Rich Plaza.

Location: Post Exchange Area.

Built: 1996.

Dedicated: 28 April 1997.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: “Colonel” Hiram Rich.

Born: 1799.

Died: 1862.

Figure 70. Dedication of Hiram Rich Plaza, 28 April

1997 by Ms. Clara Vanderstaay, great- greatgranddaughter of Hiram Rich, and Colonel Rolly 

Desert, garrison commander

(Courtesy of Mrs. Vanderstaay)

Remarks: (See Appendix B for remarks associated with the Sutler’s House and Hiram Rich) The Hiram

Rich Plaza encompasses the PX and its associated food and other vendors. The dedication was unusual in

that a direct descendent of the namesake participated in the ceremony.34

Iowa Village Housing Area.

Location: North and South of Iowa Avenue near Biddle Boulevard.

Established: 2007.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Iowa (Ioway, from the Sioux word for “sleepy one”) Native American tribe.

Remarks: See the Appendix A listing for Iowa Avenue for detailed information on the nation. Iowa

Village is one of those constructed by Michael’s Military Housing under a long term contract with the

Army. The grand opening of Iowa Village area of 2-story wood frame duplexes was on 19 April 2007.

The area is unique because the quarters were constructed in gently rolling hills not previously occupied by

housing units.

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Kansa Village Housing Area.

Location: Astride Hancock Avenue south of Hancock Pool.

Established: 1959, rebuilt 2014.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Kansa (or Kaw, “people of the south wind”) Native American tribe.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks for Kansas Avenue). The Kansa Village houses were constructed

with funds from the Capehart Act of 1955 which provided funds for public housing.35 The housing area

consists of four- and six-plex two story brick units, most with full basements. The area is programmed to be

demolished and replaced by new quarters as a part of the Michael’s Military Housing contract to upgrade

post housing.

Kickapoo Village Housing Area.

Location: Astride Hancock Avenue west of Bradley Elementary School.

Established: 1972, Rebuilt in 2008-09.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Kickapoo Native American tribe.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks for Kickapoo Avenue). The old wood frame duplexes with car ports

were replaced with new 2-story duplexes with garages in 2009. The village houses Command and General

Staff College students.

Kinder Range.

Location: Westside of USDB Road northwest of Sherman Army Airfield.

Established: 1944, upgraded 2004.

Status: Still exist.

Namesake: First Sergeant William M. Kinder.

Born: 1922.

Died: 1985.

Campaigns: WWII, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War.

Remarks: Kinder enlisted in the Army during WorldWar II. While assigned to the United States Disciplinary

Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, he served on the Fort Leavenworth pistol team from 1957 to 1965, and was

team captain for both local and 5th Army pistol teams. He won numerous marksmanship awards. Kinder

served in the Army for more than 30 years from 14 October 1940 to 31 May 1971. After he retired from

the Army, Kinder was the coach of the Leavenworth High School rifle team.36 He is buried in the Santa Fe

National Cemetery, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The range consists of a 20-point pistol and a 20 point 1000-

inch rifle range designed to provide facilities for weapons training and to meet mandatory qualification

requirements. The range is used most often by those MPs assigned to the US Disciplinary Barracks. It is one

of the few facilities of a tactical nature on Fort Leavenworth, which primarily has an educational mission.

202
Lewis and Clark Trail Marker.

Location: Sherman Avenue at the east end of Buford Avenue.

Emplaced: 1997.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: US Army Corps of Discovery led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

Campaigns: Corps of Discovery.

Remarks: (See Appendix B remarks for the Lewis and Clark Center for biographical information) A granite

obelisk commemorates the Corps of Discovery of 1804-06 directed by President Thomas Jefferson to

explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. Lewis, Clark, and 52 Soldiers and civilians traveled more

than 8,000 miles in less than two and one-half years, losing only one member of their party to illness, at a

total cost to the American taxpayer of $40,000.37 Lewis and Clark’s trek also inspired explorers, trappers,

traders, homesteaders and others to move westward. Through the expedition’s peaceful cooperation with

the American Indian tribes they met, the corps compiled the first general survey of life and material culture

of the tribes of the Missouri, Rocky Mountains, and the northwest coast. The obelisk was emplaced by the

Kansas Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the

trip in 2004.

Main Parade.

Location: The area encompassed by Sumner Place, Kearny Avenue, and McClellan Avenue on the

northeast part of main post.

Established: 1827.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: The main parade ground of early Fort Leavenworth.

Remarks: The center of the cantonment established in the early years of the post. It initially wassurrounded

by temporary wooden structures, but in 1834 the Rookery was completed followed in 1840 by building

#17, now the Sumner House, the former post headquarters. The Main Parade is somewhat larger today than

when it was first established. Following custom it was the center for drill, training and ceremonial activities

for the early post. Simply called the garrison at first, it became the Main Parade when the Westend Parade

was established to the west of Thomas Avenue at the time of the War with Mexico (1846-1848). A South

Parade area to the south of the Main Parade area was used during the 19th century. Both are now gone: the

Westend Parade is occupied by the Frontier Chapel complex and the South Parade by Grant Pool and 

tennis courts. Main Parade is now primarily used for ceremonies. The Fort Leavenworth Main Parade was

placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

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Merritt Lake.

Location: Westside of Grant Avenue opposite Sedgwick Avenue.

Established: 1902.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Major General Wesley Merritt.

Born: 1836 (or 1834 or 1837, accounts differ).

Died: 1910.

Campaigns: Civil War,Indian Campaigns, War with Spain Stateside, Philippine War.

Remarks: Merritt graduated from USMA in 1860 and was commissioned lieutenant in the 2d Dragoons.

He served in Utah with his regiment before the Civil War. He was the adjutant of the 2d Cavalry, 1861-

62.38 In 1862-63 he was a staff officer with the defenses of Washington, DC He was promoted from captain

to brigadier general of Volunteers while in command of the reserve cavalry brigade. He served during the

Gettysburg campaign in 1863 and later in the Richmond campaign of 1864. Promoted to major general, he

commanded a cavalry division in the Shenandoah campaign of 1864-65. He helped arrange the surrender

ceremony at Appomattox, 1865. After the war he reverted to lieutenant colonel of the 9th Cavalry and

served with them from 1866-75.39 He was superintendent of West Point, 1882-87. Major General Merritt

commanded the department of the Missouri, 1887-91 at Fort Leavenworth, the department of Dakota,

1892-95, and the Military Division of the Missouri, 1895-97 headquartered in Chicago. Merritt was a corps

commander during the Philippine War and then served as military governor in the Philippines, 1898-99.

He accepted the Spanish surrender at the end of hostilities in the War with Spain in the Philippines. Major

General Merritt retired with forty years on active duty in 1899. He is buried at West Point. Battery Merritt

(four 12in mortars) at former Fort Grant, defense of the Pacific end of the Panama Canal, Panama was

named in his honor. Merritt Lake was established at the direction of Major General Merritt. In the early

decades of the 20th century, it was used for river crossing, bridge building, and other engineer training

activities.40 The waters are impounded by a causeway at the east end over which Grant Avenue passes.

Merritt Lake is some 30 feet higher in elevation than Smith Lake to its east. In 2014 the shoreline of the lake

was reinforced to prevent erosion and the causeway reconditioned.

Miles Point.

Location: High ground along Sheridan Drive near the post water tank.

Namesake: Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles.

Born: 1839.

Died: 1925.

Campaigns: Civil War, Frontier duty, Indian Campaigns, War with Spain.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks for Camp Miles for biographical information).

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Morrison Plaques.

Location: At the northwest door to the Lewis and

Clark Center and at front door of Sherman Hall.

Namesake: Major General J. Frank Morrison.

Born: 1857.

Died: 1932.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, War with Spain,

Philippine War,China, Mexican Border, WWI

stateside.

Figure 71. Morrison Plaque at entrance of Sherman

Hall

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: Morrison graduated from USMA in 1881 and was commissioned in the 20th Infantry. His early

service was with his regiment in Texas, Kansas, and Indian Territory. He was stationed at the US Military

Prison at Fort Leavenworth in 1883. Morrison was a student at the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort

Leavenworth in 1885. He served as professor of military science and tactics at Kansas State Agricultural

College (now Kansas State University), Manhattan, Kansas, 1887-91. He taught at the Infantry and Cavalry

School from 1897-98. Morrison served with his regiment in the battle of Santiago, Cuba, 1898-99. He was

again stationed at Fort Leavenworth with the 20th Infantry after returning from Cuba, 1899. Morrison was

in the field in the Philippines, 1899-1902. He was attached to the Japanese side as an observer during the

Russo-Japanese War, March to November 1904. Morrison was an instructor, senior instructor, and the

acting commandant at the Army Staff Schools 1907-12. He was stationed on the Mexican Border with

the 6th Infantry, 1914-15. Colonel Morrison sailed for China were he was commander of the 15th Infantry

and all the American troops in Tientsin, 1915-16. He was an official observer of WWI in France in early

1917. Brigadier General Morrison became head trainer for the Army, 1917. Major General Morrison

commanded the 8th Division and the Western Department, 1918-19. He retired in 1921. Morrison was a 

noted tactician. Battery Morrison (two 6 in. guns) at the former Fort Mills, Corregidor Island, Philippines,

was named in his honor.

Mormon Battalion Memorial.

Location: Corner of Kearny Avenue and Sumner Place.

Emplaced: 1988.

Namesake: The Mormon Battalion.

Mustered In: 1846.

Mustered Out: 1847.

Campaigns: Mexican War.

Remarks: The battalion enlisted at Council Bluffs, Iowa Territory, in July 1846. After a march to Fort

Leavenworth, the unit was armed, equipped, trained, and supplied before departing. They served at Fort

Leavenworth 1-13 August 1846. There were five companies of about 100 men each. Church leadership

intended battalion service as a show of Mormon loyalty to the United States during the Mexican War. The

battalion marched more than 2,000 miles to California as part of the Army of the West commanded by

Stephen W. Kearny. The Kearny Expedition was one of the longest foot marches in US Military history. The

way points from Fort Leavenworth included Kansas City, Santa Fe, Tucson, San Diego, and Los Angeles.41

When they arrived in Los Angeles the battalion’s regular Army commander, Lieutenant Colonel Phillip

St. George Cooke is reported to have said, “History may search in vain for an equal march of infantry.”

They left Fort Leavenworth in August 1846 and returned in July 1847. When discharged some returned

205
to Iowa by way of Salt Lake City across Wyoming and Nebraska. Many left the march to travel to Salt

Lake City. The Church of Latter-day Saints provided a plaque commemorating the battalion’s time at Fort

Leavenworth.42 Although many Army units have been religiously homogeneous, the Mormon Battalion is

the only unit in American military history organized solely on the basis of religion.

Nez Perce Village Housing Area.

Location: West of the intersection of Biddle Blvd and Pope Avenue.

Established: 2007.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Nez Perce (NiMiiPuu, “the people”) Native American Tribe.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks about Nez Perce Way). Nez Perce Village provides housing in 2-story

duplex structures with garages for officers stationed at Fort Leavenworth. The village is located on the site

of the former headquarters complex for Battery D, 5th Missile Battalion, 55th Artillery, a Nike-Hercules

unit stationed on post, 1958-68. After the battery was deactivated its former buildings were used to house

specialty clinics associated with Munson Army Health Center. They were demolished to make way for the

new housing area.

Normandy Village Housing Area.

Location: East side of Grant Avenue across from Hoge Barracks.

Established: 1947.

Demolished: August-October 2013.

Status: Original duplexesreplaced 2013-2015.

Namesake: Honors soldiers who established the Normandy beachhead in June 1944 and fought to liberate

France.

Remarks: Normandy Village was the first housing area built after World War II and the first housing area

constructed away from the old main post area. Known to old timers as East Normandy to differentiate it

from the now demolished West Normandy complex of World War I and II vintage. It was the only postWorld War II housing area on post built solely of two-story brick.43 The area is a prized location for those

assigned to the Command and General Staff College because it is a very short walk to the Lewis and Clark

Center and is within easy walking distance of Eisenhower Elementary School, the Main Post child care

centers, and the Post Exchange and commissary complex. In the summer and fall of 2013 the original

twenty-six duplexes in the housing area were demolished to make way for the construction of eighty-eight

free-standing homes. Before its demolition the area was occupied by permanent party field grade officers

and their families.44

Oregon Village Housing Area.

Location: Along Pick Avenue and Rose Loop north of the original MacArthur Elementary School.

Established: 1958.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Oregon Territory and the terminus of the Oregon Trail branch at Fort Leavenworth.

Established: 1843.

Disestablished: 1869.

206
Remarks: The trail for emigrants and trade covered the distance from the Missouri River to Oregon

City, Oregon. Fort Leavenworth was one of the many jumping off point on the Missouri River. The

Oregon Trail was called the “great medicine road of the whites” by the Native peoples.45 First blazed by

John Charles Fremont in 1842, it was further marked by participants of the Mormon migration of 1847 and

the California gold rush of 1849. By the 1850s it was a busy route for emigrants moving west. With the

establishment of Fort Riley in 1853, the first part of the trail became the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Riley

military road. This road was used by wagons from the Leavenworth-based Russell, Majors, and Waddell

freight line to supply military installations further to the west. The completion of the transcontinental

railroad in 1869 put a gradual end to the trail. More than 500,000 settlers traveled the trail alongside

wagons pulled by mules or oxen to Oregon’s Willamette Valley in search of farmland or to California

in search of gold. Contrary to popular myth, most did not ride in Conestoga wagons, the 18-wheelers of

their day, but walked beside farm wagons. Only the ill, new mothers, and the young rode. The trail led

gradually to the northwest from Kansas through Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. Wagon wheel

ruts still exist on Fort Leavenworth from near the Missouri River bank to the top of the hill leading to

what is now the intersection of Scott and Kearny Avenues. During the period of westward expansion,

the trail led first to the cantonment area at the Main Parade with a continuation to the southwest and

over Government Hill off post into Salt Creek Valley.46 The swale over Government Hill still exists. In

1970 the ruts were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Oregon Village is housing for

permanent party officer families. The Oregon Village houses were constructed with funds from the

Capehart Act of 1955 which provided funds for public housing.47 The buildings are one-story duplex units

with full basements. In 2008 a new section of modern two-story duplexes with 2-car garages was

constructed by Michael’s Military Housing on the northern end of the housing area near the Fort

Leavenworth National Cemetery. These are the harbinger of a gradual replacement of the entire

Capehart part of the development.

Osage Village and South Osage Village Housing Areas.

Location: East of Grant Avenue and south of the Normandy Housing area.

Established: 1991 and 2013.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Osage (Wazhazhe or Ni-uko’n-sha, “people of the middle waters”) Native American tribe.

Remarks: See the Appendix A remarks on the Osage Village Child Care and School Age Services

Center. Today the housing area of one-story duplexes with 2-car garages is occupied by junior

noncommissioned officers. It is an excellent location with easy access to nearby Eisenhower

Elementary School, and the PX-Commissary commercial complex across Grant Avenue. The South

Osage Village housing area was constructed in 2013 on the footprint of the old Pershing Park housing area,

demolished in 1993.

Pawnee Village Housing Area.

Location: West of Hancock Avenue astride Hunt Loop and Hunt Court.

Established: 1992.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Pawnee Native American tribe.

Remarks: The name means either “horn” or “hunter.”48 The Pawnee Nation’s traditional homelands lie

in present day Nebraska along the Platte River system and into Kansas as far south as the Republican

River. The tribe is estimated to have had 20,000 members at the beginning of the 19th century. They

practiced horticulture supplemented with buffalo hunting. The women tilled the fields and the men hunted

and occasionally worked the fields. The population declined because of warfare, disease, and relocation

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hardships. In the early 19th century the tribe coexisted with whites but encroachment deprived them of

all their lands by mid-century. They concluded three treaties with the federal government (1833, 1843,

and 1857) and ceded lands in exchange for a reservation in Nebraska. The Pawnee were the most famous

Indian scouts for the US Army, which angered other tribes.49 They were traditional enemies of the Sioux and

Cheyenne, who were frequently opponents of the US Army. From 1864 to 1877 a Pawnee Battalion served

the frontier constabulary Army wearing parts of the blue uniform of that period.50 Pawnee guarded the right

of way during the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1867-68. The nation relocated to its present

locations in central Oklahoma in 1876. The Pawnee never lived in the area that today is Fort Leavenworth,

but probably visited in their capacity as Army scouts. The tribe now has about 3,200 members. Because

of their service in uniform for the United States Army, the Pawnee today consider themselves the first

Native American patriots.51 Pawnee Village is housing for student officers. It is the oldest of the “new”

housing areas build near the Hancock Gate with a mixture of one- and two-story duplexes. These older

homes have one-car garages.

Polo Field (former name) / Doniphan Field.

Location: South of Doniphan Avenue behind Fitz Lee Hall (the post theater).

Established: 1902.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Game of polo.

Remarks: The field was constructed at the same time as the nearby Infantry Barracks along Pope

and Doniphan Avenues, 1901-03. It was used for mounted recreation, especially polo by officers and

others. Although it is just south of Infantry Barracks there is no indication it was ever used for training,

although the remnants of a brick reviewing stand on the south side of the field and photos in the

collection of the Frontier Army Museum indicates it was used for parades. Today it has several fenced

baseball and softball fields, a skateboard park, and a miniature golf course.

Pottawatomie Village HousingArea.

Location: On the hills west of Hancock Avenue near the southwest end of post and Hancock Gate.

Established: 2008.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: The Pottawatomie (Nishnabec, “people of the place of fire” or “true people”) tribe.

Remarks: Speakers of an Algonquin language, the Pottawatomie occupied the Great Lakes region

from prehistoric times through the early 1800’s. They controlled lands in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois,

Indiana, and a small portion of Ohio. The Pottawatomie allied with the losing French during the Seven

Years War. In need of trade goods, they entered into an alliance with the British during the

Revolutionary War. The new American nation made the tribes pay dearly for siding with the British. By

1800, tribal villages were largely displaced by white settlements. The Pottawatomie sided with

Shawnee leader Tecumseh’s “Red Confederacy” to fight the oncoming white civilization; the tribes

failed. The Pottawatomie were forced to leave their homelands for a new reserve in Kansas and later

moved into Indian Territory. In 1838, one band of Pottawatomie was forced to migrate from Indiana for

Kansas in a “trail of death.” Today two clans exist, the Prairie Pottawatomie and the Citizen

Pottawatomie.52 The Citizen Pottawatomie Nation is the ninth largest tribe in the United States with about

26,000 members.53 Pottawatomie Village was occupied in early2009. There is a Pottawatomie County in

east central Kansas.

208
Colin L. Powell Bust.

Location: Circle of Firsts Memorial Park at the Buffalo Soldier Monument.

Built: 2014.

Dedicated: 5 September 2014. Namesake: 

General Colin L. Powell.

Born: 1943.

Campaigns: Cold War, Vietnam, Invasion of Panama, Persian Gulf Warstateside.

Remarks: See the many biographies of this famous American who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

of Staff and Secretary of State. General Powell served at Fort Leavenworth twice, first as a student at the

Command and General Staff College in 1967-1968, and later as the deputy commanding general of the

Combined Arms Combat Development Activity, 1982-1983. It was during his later time on post that he

noted that, other than two short alleys named for the 9th and 10th Cavalry in the post travel camp, there

was little on Fort Leavenworth to commemorate the soldiers of African descent. His interest began the

coordination necessary to make the Buffalo Soldier Monument a reality. The Buffalo Soldier Educational

and Historical Committee, established in 1989 to create the Buffalo Soldier Monument, provided a life-size

and a half bronze bust created by sculptor Eddie Dixon, of Lubbock, Texas. The bust was cast at the Texas

Bronze Foundry in Lubbock. It sits on a four foot marble base. On 5 September 2014, the Combined Arms

Center hosted a dedication ceremony attended by General Powell and his wife Alma. The guest speaker was

retired General Dennis J. Reimer, a long-time friend and colleague of General Powell. Presenting the bust

on behalf of the Buffalo Soldier Educational and Historical Committee was Commander Carlton G. Philpot,

U.S. Navy, Retired, who has been involved with the Buffalo Soldier Monument since 1989.

RiversideApartments.

Location: Riverside Avenue southeast of old Disciplinary Barracks compound.

Built: 1921, renovated 2010-11.

Status: Still exist.

Namesake: The building is inside the loop formed by Riverside Ave.

Remarks: They were built as apartments for employees of the US Disciplinary Barracks. It is a three-story

flat roofed brick building. The building is similar in style to an elementary school constructed next door in

1923, now demolished. In late 2010 and early 2011 Riverside Apartments was renovated as office space.

Robinson Memorial.

Location: Circle of Firsts Park Memorial Park.

Dedicated: 27 May 1995.

Namesake: General Roscoe Robinson, Jr.

Born: 1928.

Died: 1993.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Korea,

Cold War, Vietnam, NATO.

Figure 72. Bust of General Roscoe Robinson Jr. in 

the Circle of Firsts Memorial Park

(Author’s collection)

209
Remarks: Robinson attended St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, for a year and then West Point.

He graduated from USMA in 1951 with a degree in engineering and was commissioned in the Infantry.

He served in segregated units at the start of his career. Robinson commanded a rifle platoon and rifle

company in the 7th Infantry Division during the Korean War when racial barriers in the Army crumbled in

the face of the Chinese onslaught and the best men were needed for tough jobs regardless of heritage. He

graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1963. He served as the logistics officer (G-4)

of the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam and later returned to command its 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry. He later

commanded the 2d Brigade of the 82d Airborne Division and then the entire 82d Airborne Division (1976-

78). His last command of troops was IX Corps in Japan (1980-82). Robinson’s final assignment was as

the military representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels. He is buried in Arlington

National Cemetery. Robinson Auditorium in Thayer Hall at West Point is named in his honor. He was the

first African-American to achieve four-star rank in the Army.54 His mother is reported to have told him when

he left for West Point: “If they don’t treat you right, come on back home.” At his retirement from the Army

in 1985 he reminded his listeners that he stayed.

Santa Fe Trail Swale.

Location: On the east slope behind the Memorial Chapel along Riverside Avenue.

Established: 1827.

Status: Still exist.

Namesake: Wagon ruts up the bluffs from the Missouri river to the high ground near the old Main Parade.

Remarks: The wagon wheel ruts lead to what is now Scott Avenue but during the period of westward

expansion led to the cantonment area around the Main Parade and the nearby warehouses. In 1970, the

swale was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The trail is no longer used for traffic. It was

replaced by the southern arm of Riverside Avenue.

Santa Fe Village Housing Area.

Location: Astride 6th Infantry Road and Kansas Avenue east of Hancock Avenue.

Established: 1961, renovated 2008-2011.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Santa Fe Trail.

Remarks: The trail used by migrants and traders to reach Santa Fe, New Mexico, and other points west.

Along with the Oregon and Chisholm Trails, it was one of the big three trails supporting westward expansion

in the mid-19th century. The trail from Fort Leavenworth was one of the feeder trails that led to all three.

It was opened in 1821 when Mexico gained independence from Spain and removed trade barriers allowing

Americans to trade with the new nation. After the Mexican War, US Army posts along the trails provided

way stations to support the migration and protected settlers from Indians and each other. The trail grew

shorter as the railroad got closer to Santa Fe. In 1880 the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad reached

Santa Fe and brought an end to most trail activity. The Santa Fe Village houses were constructed with

funds from the Capehart Act of 1955. The buildings are wood fame duplex units with full basements. They

were designated for enlisted service members and junior noncommissioned officers. The renovated housing

includes two-car garages, modernize interiors, and upgrade the heating, plumbing and other systems.

One change connected with the renovations was to block Kansas Avenue just past the PX Express

shoppette and build a child’s playground. This turned one of the post’s main east-west thoroughfares

into a more residentialstreet.

210
Shawnee Village Housing Area.

Location: Astride Hancock Avenue near the Hancock Gate.

Established: 1972, demolished and rebuilt in 2009.

Status: Still exists.

Namesake: Shawnee Native American tribe.

Remarks: Speakers of an Algonquin language, they originally inhabited the areas of Ohio, West Virginia,

Western Maryland, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. In the late 17th Century they migrated to Maryland, the

Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. They fought with the French in the Seven Years War (called the French

and Indian War in North America) and lost. They later fought the British in Pontiac’s Rebellion in 1764.

White settlement in their lands caused conflict between Indians and white settlers. Some members of the

tribe supported the British during the Revolution. At the battle of Fallen Timbers, 1813, Shawnee Chief

Tecumseh lost to Major General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. Tecumseh was killed in the fight but his reputation

as a leader and warrior has remained strong. American settlement drove the Shawnee from the Ohio country;

they settled in Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and finally Oklahoma. Originally constructed as two-story

duplexes with carports in the early 1970s, they were removed and replaced with modern two-story

quarters with two-car garages in 2009. Since 1868, a statue of Tecumseh has sat on the grounds of the

US Naval Academy providing an opportunity for midshipman to toss pennies for good luck on exams

and in athletics.

ShermanArmyAirfield.

Location: Northwestern corner of post along the Missouri River.

Established: 1925.

Status: Still active.

Namesake: Lieutenant Colonel William C. Sherman. 

Born: 1888.

Died: 1927.

Campaigns and Assignments: Engineer district duty, Garrison duty, Mexican Punitive Expedition, WWI.

Remarks: See Appendix A for Sherman Drive.

Lieutenant Colonel William C. Sherman is buried in Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. He was

posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel. The airfield was first established under the jurisdiction of

the US Disciplinary Barracks in 1923 as an emergency airfield with a grass surface. In 1926 the field

was transferred to the Command and General Staff School and later to the Army Air Forces. With the

establishment of the US Air Force in 1947 it became Sherman Air Force Base. Improved over the years, on

30 November 1953 it was returned to the Army and designated Sherman Army Airfield.56 Sherman Army

Airfield is an all-weather field primarily used for military VIP traffic, although hanger space is leased by

the city of Leavenworth for civilian use. The airfield has a hanger complex, built in 1932, with two bays;

both retain the brightly colored star within a circle logo of the US Army Air Corps. In the flood plain of the

Missouri River, it is occasionally flooded when water overtops the protective levees.

211
Sherman Gate.

Location: At the intersection with Metropolitan Avenue and 4th Street in Leavenworth.

Established: 2007.

Status: Still active.

Namesake: Major General William T. Sherman.

Born: 1820.

Died: 1891.

Campaigns: Garrison duty, Mexican War,Indian Campaigns, Civil War.

Remarks: (See Appendix A remarks for Sherman Drive) Sherman Gate was established during the

construction of the Lewis and Clark Center in 2007 when Sherman Avenue was extended from the vicinity

of Warehouse #341 south to connect with the Herbert R. Temple Jr. Mission Command Training Center

complex and Metropolitan Avenue in Leavenworth.

Smith Lake.

Location: East of Grant Avenue near McNair and Funston Halls.

Built: 1925.

Dedicated: 1937.

Namesake: Major General Harry A. Smith.

Born: 1866.

Died: 1929.

Campaigns and Overseas Assignments: Garrison duty, War with Spain Stateside, Cuban Occupation,

Philippine War, China, VeraCruz Expedition, WW I.

Remarks: Smith graduated from USMA in 1891 and was commissioned in the 1st Infantry. His early

service was with his regiment in California, 1891-96. He was on duty with the Kansas National Guard,

1896-98. Smith served as a major in the 21st Kansas Volunteer Infantry stateside during the War with

Spain. He mustered out of Volunteer service at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in December 1898. Smith was

a distinguished graduate of the Army School of the Line, 1908, and the Army Staff College, 1909. He was

an instructor and senior instructor at the Army Staff College, 1909-12, and again from 1912-1914. He was

stationed in Texas prior to the World War, including command of a battalion. Colonel Smith was a graduate

and later an instructor, and assistant commandant of the Army Service School at Langres, France, 1918.57

He was in charge of civil affairs in Luxemburg and Occupied Germany, 1918-19. Smith was commandant

of the Command and General Staff School, 1923-25. His final assignment was in command of Seventh

Corps Area, Omaha, Nebraska, 1927-29. Smith Lake was designated as a memorial to Major General Smith

in 1937. One anecdote told about the lake is that it was used by school troops living in Funston and McNair

Halls to raise ducks for food and to sell.

212
Trusty Unit.

58

Location: Northwest of Sylvan Trail on Sherman Heights.

Established: 29 April 1954.

Building #s: 1007 through 1010.

Built: 1965 and 1971.

Status: Still active.

Figure 73. Trusty Unit Complex on Sylvan Trail

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: This facility is unique on Fort Leavenworth in that it recognizes a group of service members

not usually singled out for respect, inmates at the US Disciplinary Barracks. Inmates at the USDB who are

nearing the end of their sentence, and meet other criteria, may be considered for trusty status. They sleep in

this special unfenced compound outside the walls of the DB and enjoy privileges not available to inmates

inside the walls. Trusty Unit inmates wear blue uniforms and generally work around post as part of their

rehabilitation.59 With the downsizing of the military prisoner population with the construction of the new

USDB, this group has been reduced. The local parolee company was established in April 1954 when selected

“minimum ‘A’ custody” prisoners were domiciled outside the walls of the USDB on Sherman Heights,

west of the DB proper.60 Captain Farris D. Alexander was the first officer in charge.61 A new compound was

constructed in 1965 and called the Local Parolee Unit. It contained an administration building, dining

facility, and barracks. Later an area was cleared for an athletic field and basketball and volleyball courts.

According to Military Correctional Complex chief of staff, retired Lieutenant Colonel Peter Grande, the

unit was renamed Trusty Unit after some discussion of the fact that the inmates were not actually paroled.

After the events of 11 September 2001, the inmates were temporarily moved into Pope Hall inside the

walls of the old DB so the trustee unit compound could be used by Army National Guard and Army

Reserve units brought to the post to increase force protection measures. The inmates moved back in

October 2003. On 29 August 2014, there were 20 trustees from a total inmate population of more than

440. The Trusty Unit has a capacity of 78.62

US Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) Former Location.

Location: At the intersection of Scott and McPherson Avenues.

Established: 1874.

Status: The USDB moved to a new location in 2002. The buildings at the former location are converted to

office space.

Namesake: US Military Prison, 1874 to 1915, renamed US Disciplinary Barracks in 1915.63

213
Figure 74. The former USDB compound looking south from wing #3 of the “castle” cell block. The Grant Hall clock

tower in the top background.

(Fort Leavenworth historical properties files)

Remarks: In 1872, Congress approved moving the military prison from Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois to

Fort Leavenworth. At the same time the Leavenworth Arsenal was moved to Rock Island. The Military

Prison accepted its first prisoners in 1875. Initially called the US Military Prison, it was renamed the

US Disciplinary Barracks in 1915.64 The USDB mission is to incarcerate US military prisoners sentenced

to long terms of confinement. The inmate population varied, but the facility could hold over a thousand

prisoners. Depending on their behavior, inmates could work in support or vocational programs around

post. Vocational training programs include in barbering, carpentry, and welding. Until discontinued in the

late 1990s because it was not considered vocational, inmates bagged groceries in the commissary, mowed

the grass and shoveled snow outside the walls.65 The old DB was closed in 2002 and replaced by a new

facility at the northern-most end of post on USDB Road. In the 127 years it was in operation it was twice

transferred to the US Department of Justice: 1895-1906 and 1929-40. The last formal retreat ceremony

at the flagpole in front of the “castle” was held on 5 October 2002. In 2006 the “castle,” the former eight

story cell multi-wing block constructed from 1908-15 was demolished to make way for a parking lot to

support future office “inmates.”66 There are three reminders of the time-phased construction of the USDB

covering 100 years. One is a marble plaque on the southern face of building #473 visible from McPherson

Avenue indicating that it was constructed in 1863.67 Another one are the Roman numerals MCMX (1910)

engraved in the lintel over the West Gate, the vehicle and—at one time—the rail entrance to the compound

on Bluntville Avenue. And finally, Pope Hall, building #470, has a cornerstone marked 1963. The buildings

on the south front of the old DB have recently been reconditioned to serve as office space. The project was

initially beset with difficulties because the compound was build piece by piece over the 128 years of its

existence and construction standards varied over that time. As can be seen in the photo above, at one time

the now open central area inside the walls of the DB had several buildings. Today the area has an

integrated landscaping and development plan. Unseen in the photo and unknown to visitors to the site

today are several tunnels that run under the grounds. The longest runs diagonally across the compound

from building #468 to the old steam laundry, building #474. According to former deputy commandant

and current Military Correctional Complex chief of staff Pete Grande, this tunnel is wide and tall enough

for two people to walk abreast. Other smaller tunnels connect several of the old buildings but they are

crawl spaces only and were last used to run communications cabling. At least two of the remaining

buildings (the medical clinic and Pope Hall68) have flat roofs and retain the anti-helicopter wires emplaced

in the 1970s to prevent a helicopter assisted escape.69 The parade ground in the center of the compound was

landscaped in the summer and fall of 2010. In addition to a picnic shelter, the landscaped area contains a

monument to the former castle cellblock and a podium with historical information on five of the buildings

that still face the courtyard. The historic six-section flagpole was refurbished in April and May 2010.

214
US Disciplinary Barracks Farm Colony Former Location.

Location: Kickapoo Road near building #424 in the northwest corner of Fort Leavenworth.

Established: 1914.

Status: Closed in 1996.

Namesake: Agricultural vocational training program at the USDB.

Figure 75. USDB Farm Colony Sign (portions of the new DB are visible on top of the letters A and R)

(Author’s collection)

Remarks: The USDB like other older prisons in rural states depended on farming to employ inmates and to

offset the cost of feeding them.70 The DB rehabilitative programs included a 2,400 acre farm complex with

about 470 acres of tillable soil and twelve major buildings about two miles to the northwest of the old DB

compound in relatively flat agricultural land.71 The complex included swine barns, poultry houses, dairy

barns, and other facilities associated with farming. It was started in 1914 and most of the facilities were

constructed during the period 1917-1922.72 Building #424 (also called the Pony Express Station), which

still exists, is a one-story brick structure built in 1923 to serve as the “farm house,” the administration,

housing, dining and recreational facilities for the minimum custody inmates assigned to the colony.73

Inmates assigned to the farm colony, usually those with less than a year left in their sentences, received onthe-job training in technical agriculture and the production of crops such as corn, milo, wheat, oats and

alfalfa. They are supervised by military and civilian personnel responsible for instruction and security. The

DB agricultural programs also included a greenhouse where inmates received training in the cultivation of

flowers and ornamental shrubs.74 In addition to plants and bulbs, the greenhouse sales store sold poultry,

eggs, fruits and vegetables from the Farm Colony. The greenhouse closed on 1 September 1999 and the

structure was demolished in July 2001.75 The profits from the sale of agricultural products were returned to

the DB fund to support inmate activities. The farm was discontinued in 1996 to allow construction of the

new DB complex on the site. An arched sign made of sections of pipe (probably made by inmates) on a

stone block foundation sits as a memorial on the east side of Kickapoo Road overlooking the site of the

former farm colony.

Jails Are Dangerous

In 2002, when the new DB was under construction, a staff sergeant assigned to the correctional brigade took

his wife and kids on a tour of the yet-to-be-completed facility on a Sunday. Somehow they accidentally

locked themselves in a cell overnight. In those days before the ubiquitous cell phone, they remained there

until discovered by the construction crew the next morning. There was plenty of embarrassment to go around

and the post Public Affairs office quietly issued a cryptic message to all directorate and department heads

reminding them to stay away from the new DB. (Courtesy of Lieutenant Colonel Christopher C. Garver,

former post Public Affairs operations officer)

215
US Military Prison Cemetery.

Location: North side of Sheridan Drive in the hills west of Sherman Army Airfield.

Established: 1884.

Status: Inactive but still maintained as a memorial.

Namesake: US Military Prison.

Remarks: Established as the US Military Prison Cemetery on a half-acre hillside. It was established in 1884

when the Army’s Quartermaster General on an inspection of the post found that seventeen prisoners were

buried in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery against regulations.76 There are 300 graves for inmates

who died or were executed and there were no next of kin or the next of kin refused the remains. The first

internment was on 10 March 1884 and the last on 7 April 1957, Fifty-six of the graves are unmarked.

The Bureau of Prisons controlled the USDB twice (1895-1905 and 1929-1940). During both periods they

continued to bury prisoner remains in the DB cemetery. The total includes fourteen German prisoners of

war who were executed in July and August 1945 for the murders of fellow POWs. The murders occurred at

POW camps in Arizona, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The Germans are buried in the northwest corner

of the cemetery. For many years, two local women who grew up in Germany, Mrs. Christel Denault and

Mrs. Wally Chicgal, placed flowers on the graves. German soldiers stationed at Fort Leavenworth decorate

the graves on Volkstravertag (People’s Remembrance Day, the German Memorial Day) on 18 November.

All the prisoners buried in the DB cemetery were granted less than honorable discharges from the Armed

Forces. No one with an honorable discharge is buried there.

Wainwright Bowl and Wainwright Riding Complex.

Namesake: General Jonathan M. Wainwright.

Born: 1883.

Died: 1953.

Campaigns: Frontier duty, Philippine War,WWI, Occupation of Germany, WWII.

Remarks: (See remarks for Wainwright Road).

Wainwright Bowl.

Location: Between McClellan and Bluntville Avenues near where they intersect.

Established: 1950s.

Status: Inactive.

Remarks: The bowl is a natural amphitheater formerly used for training and horse jump competition by the

Fort Leavenworth Hunt. A small brick building at its lower eastern end houses communications equipment

for the Army’s Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program. The area is occasionally

enclosed with a temporary fence and home to sheep whose shepherd has grazing rights on the installation.

Wainwright Riding Complex.

Location: Located on McPherson Road near the Fort Leavenworth Hunt hound kennels.

Established: 2005.

Status: Still active.

Remarks: The complex is the headquarters for the Fort Leavenworth Hunt. The complex straddles the

western end of McPherson Avenue. It includes a trailer serving as the Hunt headquarters, post Rod and

216
Gun Club kennels for hunting and other dogs, and a fenced outdoor riding arena. The complex location just

down the hill to the west from the Fort Leavenworth Stable Activity and at the intersection of several post

trails provides a convenient location for gathering for a hunt or a trail ride.

West Parade, West End Parade, Artillery Parade, Kearny Field.

Location: To the south side of Kearny Avenue across from the three Artillery Barracks.

Established: 1846.

Status: Site of the Frontier Chapel complex.

Namesake: The parade ground used by the units stationed on the west side of post.

Remarks: First used to muster volunteer units assembled on Fort Leavenworth for service in the Mexican

War, 1846-48. It was reportedly used to keep the volunteer units separate from the Regulars using the

Main Parade. It was again used during the Civil War to train volunteer units from the surrounding states

for service. The area was the site of a Camp Lincoln during the Civil War, 1861-65.77 Civil War era maps

show barracks in the area. After 1902 the Parade ground was used by the soldiers in the three Artillery

Barracks (Boyd, Craig, and Davis Halls) and others stationed at the west end of post away from the

main parade. Before the recent construction it was used as an athletic field. It was called Kearny Field.

The area is now the site of the Frontier Chapel complex.

West Normandy CantonmentArea.

Location: Along Grant Avenue from Cody Avenue

in the north to Corral Creek in the south.

Established: 1941.

Status: Demolished 1984-90.

Namesake: Named after the Normandy campaign

in World War II and because it was west of the

Normandy Housing Area.

Figure 76. West Normandy Cantonment Area

(FrontierArmy Museum)

Remarks: The West Normandy cantonment was initially constructed during World War II and in use until

the late 1950s.78 It contained almost 100 “World War II wood” barracks and other support buildings—

including a chapel built in 1942—to support the reception station. Toward the end of its useful life

in the 1960s, the barracks area on the north end was known as Rainbow Village because of the pastel

colors of the buildings. 79 The last buildings were demolished in 1983 to make way for Hoge Barracks, the

commissary, and post exchange-related activities. The chapel was moved after the war and reassembled

for a congregation on 2d Street in Leavenworth. The last building from the cantonment on the west side of

Grant Avenue, #684, occupied by the post adjutant general section, was torn down in 1990 to make way

for the new PX. The remnants of the area include limestone gateposts at the Cody Road end of 4th Avenue

and off Cody Road leading into the Hoge Barracks north parking lot, and Fourth Avenue itself. Other

remnants of the cantonment include the building #684 parking spaces near the intersection with

Kansas Avenue now used as parking spaces for a nearby playground, and warehouse #341 near Corral

Creek on the east side of Grant Avenue.

217
Whiskey River Bridge or Whiskey Bridge 80 (Officially known as the Kansas and Missouri Bridge).

Location: Removed in 1964, its western terminus was between the present day Reynolds and Buford

Avenues.

Constructed: 1869-71.

Status: Demolished 1964.

Namesake: Bridge which used to get to the whiskey in the “wet” state of Missouri.

Remarks: The informal name for the wrought iron railroad, and later vehicle and foot, bridge that crossed

the Missouri River at Fort Leavenworth. It was similar in style and construction to the first bridge

across the Missouri at Kansas City, Missouri, built in 1867. Whiskey River Bridge was the informal

name because of its access from the “dry” state of Kansas to the “wet” state of Missouri during the

period before and after Prohibition (1919-1933) when liquor by the drink was a county by county

option in the state of Kansas.81 It was completed in 1871 as a railroad bridge and opened to rail and

wagon traffic in April 1872.82 The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific used the structure until 1891

when they tu rn ed control over to the Chicago Great Western Railway. In 1893 the Great Western

discontinued use of the bridge. It was bricked over to provide pedestrian and wheeled vehicle access.83

A fire in 1914 made it unsafe and the bridge was closed. In 1920 the bridge was purchased by the US

Government which repaired it and opened it to vehicle and foot traffic in 1926. Throughout its life, the

bridge experienced problems with flooding and fire, especially on the lowland eastern approaches that

had to be built up with wooden trestles.84 The trestle is visible in the photo below on the right of the

photo. The right of way left the bridge on the Fort Leavenworth side and entered a deep cut in the

bluffs that gradually turned south and exited the fort near the present 5th Street in Leavenworth.85

During the late 19th and early 20th century before Prohibition, a vibrant “hospitality” industry sprang

up on the Missouri side of the bridge. The bridge was abandoned in 1955 when the Centennial

Bridge was opened connecting Metropolitan Avenue in Leavenworth with Missouri Route 92 in Platte

County, Missouri.86 The bridge was demolished in 1964.87 The timber pilings that supported the

abutments on the east side of the bridge can still be seen in the banks of the Missouri River at low water.

Figure 77. Kansas and Missouri (Whiskey River) Bridge across the Missouri at Fort Leavenworth.

Photo possibly taken, March 1892

(FrontierArmy Museum)

218
Zais Park.

Location: Near the intersection of Scott and Grant Avenues near the Grant Statue.

Built: 1910.

Dedicated: Unknown, probably the early 1980s.

Namesake: General Melvin Zais.

Born: 1916.

Died: 1981.

Campaigns: WWII, Vietnam, Cold War.

Remarks: He graduated from the University of New Hampshire, 1937. Zais was a member of the 501st

Parachute Infantry Battalion, the first parachute battalion in the US Army. He was serving with the 501st in

Panama at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Major Zais eventually commanded the 501st in Panama

in 1942. He completed the wartime Command and General Staff School in 1943. During World War II he

commanded the 3d Battalion, 317th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Italy and France.88 He attended the

regular CGSC class, graduating in 1949. As the operations and training officer (G-3) of US Army Europe

and Seventh Army in 1961, Colonel Zais established the first long range reconnaissance companies in the

Army in V and VII Corps. Major General Zais commanded 101st Airborne Division and XXIV Corps in

Vietnam and the Third Army at Fort McPherson, Georgia. Two sons are Army veterans, one retired as a

brigadier general and one a colonel. The area around the park was the location of the first cantonment

established by Colonel Leavenworth and four companies of the 3d Infantry in 1827. The Gazebo, built to a

Quartermaster General Office standard plan, was dedicated in 1910 and the park named for General Zais in

the 1980s. It is used for small ceremonies and its trees are decorated during the Christmas holiday season.

219
Notes

1. Many of the cadre of the battalion came from Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and identified

themselves as Buffalo Soldiers.

2. According to a paper by Joel Carpenter found on the Project 1947 website

(http://www.project1947.com/gfb/fugo.htm), the Japanese Fu-Go balloons (“Fu” is the first character of

the Japanese word for balloon, “Go” indicates operation) were the world’s first intercontinental

weapon system. Almost four thousand made it to North America, although with relatively small 

incendiary and explosive devices. The US government kept information about the attacks under wraps

concerned that they might spread panic and that some contained chemical or biological payloads.

3. An arsenal is an establishment for the manufacture or storage of arms and military

equipment. A depot is used primarily for storage.

4. Information is from a photograph with caption found in the vertical file on Bell Hall in the

archives of the Frontier Army Museum.

5. In an interview on 29 September 2009 with Connie Brunner Hachenberg and Charles E.

Brunner, two of Sergeant First Class Brunner’s five children, they said that they do not know their

father’s first name. His Social Security card, seen by the author, lists him as W.A. Brunner.

6. Just as no one knew his first name, his friends all called him “Brunner.”

7. AWOL is the acronym for absent without leave, a term still in use today.

8. According to his daughter Connie, with five children at home, including son Glenn born in

1960, the family elected to remain in Leavenworth.

9. The Army established the Correctional Training Facility in April 1968 at Camp Funston

near Ogden, Kansas, to the east of Fort Riley, with a mission to rehabilitate selected military offenders 

and return them to active duty.

10. This information comes from his obituary in the Leavenworth Times edition of Friday, 27

August 1993. Len Friesz, an old friend, told in author in an email that Brunner was only a dedicated

volunteer.

11. Email from Len Friez on 28 September 2009.

12. Initially organized as the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st Infantry Regiments, in 1868 they were

consolidated into the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments.

13. The Buffalo Soldiers patrolled the west with one of their principal duties protecting white

settlers from the Indians. In an ironic twist of fate, by the mid-1880s they were deployed to Indian

Territory (present day eastern and southern Oklahoma) protecting Indian lands and removing white

farmers—Boomers—who were illegally residing on Indian land. In one generation, the Buffalo Soldiers 

went from treating the Native Americans as enemies to be feared to friends to be protected. In fact,

even during the period of hostilities the situation was always complex, especially with regard to the 

five Civilized Tribes (the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole). See WilliamA. Dobak,

“Fort Riley’s Black Soldiers and the Army’s Changing Role in the West, 1867-1885.” Kansas History, A 

Journal of the Central Plains 22 (Autumn 1999): 223-27.

14. Ron Fields, Buffalo Soldiers, 1866-91 (New York: Osprey Publishing, 2004). 13.

15. Several observers have mentioned to the author that the uniform worn by the statue’s

subject, especially the hat, is more of a Hollywood depiction rather than the field uniforms worn during

most of the period.

16. The Conestoga wagon is a heavy, broad wheeled covered freight carrier used extensively in

the United States in the 1800s. Although frequently used as a generic term for the wagons used during 

the expansion of the American west, wagons used were, for the most part, ordinary farm wagons fitted 

220
with canvas covers. The Conestoga was the 18-wheeler of its day.

17. On his retirement in 1903, the office of commanding general of the US Army was abolished 

by an Act of Congress and the Army chief of staff system was introduced.

18. The program for the dedication ceremony is in the Boy Scouting memorabilia in the Special 

Collections and Archives of the Combined Arms Research Library.

19. The M1890 pneumatic dynamite gun was built by a private company and fired charges of 

dynamite by compressed air. A 3-gun battery was installed in 1894 over the objections of the Army, it

was decommissioned and its guns scrapped in 1904.

20. Carl Waldman, Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes (New York: Facts on File

Publication, 1988), 49.

21. The first African American to achieve general officer rank in the US Armed Forces, Brigadier 

General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. is not recognized. Hurdles seem to be the cost of the memorial bust

and some lingering sentiment among parts of the contemporary African American community that 

Davis was too accommodating to the racial attitudes of his time.

22. Longtime Leavenworth resident and retired Army command sergeant major John Webb

relates that during the Depression Major General Heitzelman opened the forested areas of the Fort 

Leavenworth installation to families to cut firewood for personal use.

23. Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army

(Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1903 (University of Illinois Press reprint, 1965), 66.

24. Heitman, Historical Register, vol. 1, 65-66.

25. Cavalry companies were not redesignated as troops until 1883.

26. Some sources indicate as few as 12-14 French marines.

27. France got it back in 1800 in the Third Treaty of San Idefonso negotiated by Spain under 

some duress as Napoleon expanded French holdings.

28. Colonel Leavenworth left Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, by steamboat on 17 April 1827 for 

Franklin, Missouri; he proceeded on horseback arriving in the area of the present fort on 4 May. He

reconnoitered the area and sent a letter to the War Department on the 7th announcing his intention to 

establish the cantonment at its present location (Elvid Hunt and Walter E. Lorence, History of Fort

Leavenworth, 1827-1937 (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: The Command and General Staff School Press, 

1937, Fort Leavenworth Historical Society reprint, 1981), 15-16.

29. Lieutenant Colonel James Allen (d. 1846) is the oldest know military burial at the Fort

Leavenworth National Cemetery. Cemeteries for officers and enlisted men existed on post before the

establishment of the national cemetery and the remains were moved to the new cemetery. They were

located where Wagner Hall (Bldg#52D) and Quarters #1 (#1 Scott Avenue) are now located.

30. His initial resting place was in the field where he died in western Kansas. His remains were

eventually moved to New Orleans by riverboat and then by ship to New York. They were finally

moved with great ceremony to Delhi, New York, in the Catskill Mountains, his home town.

31. During his lifetime two other installations were named for General Sully, both in the Dakota

Territory along the Missouri River. Fort Sully I was occupied from 1863-66 and Fort Sully II from

1866-94. This information comes from Harold H. Schuler, Fort Sully: Guns at Sunset (Vermillion,

South Dakota: University of South Dakota Press, 1992), 25.

32. The Frontier Army Museum has a copy of The Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance for

Fiscal Year June 30, 1901 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1902) which lists the details 

of the guns. Local historian John Reichley has an alternative explanation. He believes that the guns

came from the Philippines and were at the Old Soldiers Home in Leavenworth, now the Dwight D.

221
Eisenhower Medical Center. In 1942 they were moved to Fort Leavenworth to prevent their being

melted down for “bullets for the boys.”

33. Jeff Wingo, the garrison public affairs officer, believes this was a staged photo. It makes

sense. Who were they being hidden from? Post leadership responsible for the scrap drive would also be 

a party to hiding the cannon. Also, several other cannon from the 18th and 19th centuries survived so

the scrap drive could not have been very thorough.

34. Other examples of this on Fort Leavenworth include both General of the Army Douglas

MacArthur and General of the Army Omar Bradley attending the dedications of the elementary schools 

named in their honor.

35. Senator Homer E. Capehart was a Republican senator from Indiana who sponsored the

original legislation.

36. Fort Leavenworth deputy to the garrison commander, retired Army lieutenant colonel Jack E.

Walker, remembers SFC Kinder as coaching the Leavenworth High School team when they were

beating college teams.

37. Using an inflation calculator based on the consumer price index found at

http://www.westegg.com/ inflation/infl.cgi and accessed on 25 March 2014, $40,000 in 1806 would

amount to about $586,000 today. For what President Jefferson paid it was a great bargain.

38. The dragoons were redesignated cavalry in the summer of 1861.

39. Sources do not indicate it, but Merritt may have been the first lieutenant colonel (second in

command) of the regiment.

40. Leavenworth resident and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel Thomas Rourke told the

author that he saw chains in the trees near the east side of the lake, possible the remains of river

crossing training. Historian John Reichley writes a twice-weekly column for the Leavenworth Times 

newspaper. He told the author that after he mentioned the chains in a column they were removed.

41. Charles G. Clarke, The Men of the Lewis and Clarke Expedition (Lincoln, Nebraska:

University of Nebraska Press, 1979), 149, relates that Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the 41-year old son

of Sacagawea born on the Lewis and Clarke Expedition, served as a guide for the Mormon Battalion.

42. There are a number of monuments to the battalion along the trail from Council Bluffs, Iowa,

to San Diego, California.

43. Upper Kansa Village is a combination of wood and brick. They were flat roofed structures

reflecting the architectural styles of the 1950s.

44. The term permanent party refers to soldiers stationed at an Army installation on permanent

change of station orders with the intention of staying at that duty station for three or four years, as 

opposed to orders directing a shorter temporary stay.

45. According to information found at the Vieux Crossing state historic site in Pottawatomie

County, Kansas.

46. Hunt and Lorence, History, 280, relate that the current metal signposts that say “To Oregon”

marking the trail were installed in 1936 so the route of the trail on post would not be lost.

47. Senator Homer E. Capehart was a Republican senator from Indiana who sponsored the

original legislation.

48. Waldman, Encyclopedia, 179.

49. The Pawnee and all Native American tribes were the responsibility of the Department of the

Interior’s Indian Affairs Office (today the Bureau of Indian Affairs) so they technically worked for that

organization and not the Army.

222
50. During a presentation to the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society on 15 October 2009 on the

Pawnee Scouts, Dr. Mark van de Logt, Benedictine (Kansas) University history professor, related that 

the Pawnee were a martial people generally well suited for warfare; effective but undisciplined in the

eyes of their Army colleagues. The Army liked the Pawnee because they knew the terrain, spoke local 

languages, and were inexpensive, but had trouble controlling them because few Pawnee spoke English

and vice verse.

51. According to Dr. van de Logt mentioned above who worked for the Pawnee tribe as a 

researcher and historian from 2002-2008.

52. In 1867 Pottawatomie tribal members in Kansas signed a treaty which called for them to sell 

their lands in Kansas and buy lands in Oklahoma. One of the stipulations of the treaty was that they

became United States citizens, hence “Citizen” Pottawatomie. The Prairie Band Pottawatomie own land 

north of Topeka, Kansas, and have undertaken that current favorite Native American occupation of 

operating a casino where the descendents of those who dispossessed them of their lands and fortune in 

the 19th century deposit their own fortunes on the gaming floor and in the hotel and restaurants.

53. Citizen Pottawatomie web page, http://www.Potawatomie.org/culture.

54. Robinson’s class of 1951 included five black graduates, up to that time the largest contingent

of African- American cadets to graduate from West Point. This information is found in the Roscoe 

Robinson papers in the Library of Congress accessed on line at

http://rs5.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2003/ms003032.pdf

55. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2003/ms003032. pdf.25.

56. Now renamed Fort McNair.

56. Analysis of Existing Facilities Report: Master Plan Phase I (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, April 

1970), 24.

57. The Army schools at Fort Leavenworth were closed during World War I, 1914-19. An

equivalent system of thirteen schools was operated by the Army Expeditionary Forces in France.

58. The reader is reminded that according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a trusty is a convict 

considered trustworthy and allowed special privileges, while a trustee is one to whom something is

entrusted.

59. The general inmate population wears brown uniforms, shirt and pants that appear to be dyed

Army wash and wear fatigues phased out in the early 1980s.

60. The location on Sherman Heights was probably first used as a barracks site soon after Sylvan

Trail was opened sometime before 1926. A 1945 map in the archives of the Frontier Army Museum 

shows several buildings and the notation that it is the location of the 3d Staff Squadron. Military 

Correctional Complex chief of staff Pete Grande told the author on 15 October 2009 that he has seen 

earlier photos of Series 700 “World War II wood” buildings in the area.

61. Email from retired Army lieutenant colonel Peter Grande, Military Correctional Complex

chief of staff on 26 December 2008.

62. The Joint Regional Correctional Facility, opened next to the new DB in 2010, had 142

inmates on 17 March 2011. The inmates at the JRCF are not eligible to become trustys.

63. At that time there were three DBs. The Army established disciplinary barracks at Alcatraz

Island, California, staff by the 2d Disciplinary Battalion, Fort Jay, Governor’s Island, New York,

staffed by the 3d Disciplinary Battalion, and the disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 

staffed by the 1st Disciplinary Battalion.

64. In accordance with War Department Circular #12, dated 26 March 1915.

65. One of the ironies of the discontinuation of the non-vocational programs is that the Army now

223
contracts with the US Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, to mow the grass so that federal prisoners 

have replaced DB inmates. Volunteers now bag groceries at the commissary for tips.

66. Other sources say it was built 1909-21. With the demolition of the Castle, the Grant Hall clock

tower is once again the tallest structure on Fort Leavenworth.

67. Only building #466 constructed in 1860 is older.

68. Pope Hall was used for vocational training with a textile repair operation and a wood shop on

the first floor and graphic arts on the second. In the late 1980s an inmate who worked in the wood

shop built himself a collapsible ladder of scrap lumber and used it to escape over the nearby wall.

He was eventually caught, but was admired for his creativity. Needless to say, the scrap bin became

an item on the daily security checklist.

69. They were removed on 29 March 2010 as part of a building renovation. The reader should not

disregard this threat. Between 1971 and 2009 there have been 33 documented escape attempts from 

jail by helicopter, 26 of them successful.

70. . Peter J. Grande, United States Disciplinary Barracks (Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2009),

77. Mr. Grande, a fellow member of the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society, sent the author this

information from a pre-publication draft on 2 October 2009.

71. Grande, USDB, 77-78.

72. Hunt, History, 279.

73. Annual Historical Summary, United States Disciplinary Barracks, 1 October 1976 to 30

September 1977. Fort Leavenworth, USDB, no date (probably October 1977), 3-4.

74. The greenhouse products were sold in building #399, a three-story brick structure constructed

from inmate- made bricks. It now houses Envision Xpress, the post’s self-service supply center 

contractor for the purchase of disposable supplies such as pens, paper, computer supplies, and

bathroom tissue. A new building stands on the flat area where the greenhouse formerly stood. It is a 

part of the post communications infrastructure.

75. Grande. USDB. 147.

76. This information was contained in a typewritten manuscript in the archives of the Frontier

Army Museum by William J. Morrisroe titled The USDB Cemetery and dated 1 November 1961. There

are no page numbers but this information appears on the first page. All seventeen remain in the national

cemetery.

77. Camp Lincoln was a common name for volunteer muster locations during the war.

Historian John Reichley relates that a second Camp Lincoln existed during the Civil War in the area 

just south of the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery in the area now occupied by the Bowen Hall fire

headquarters and family housing. A full color brochure produced by the Fort Leavenworth Public

Affairs Office (no date, probably 2010), states that two of the units to train at Camp Lincoln were the 

2d Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry (Colored) and the Independent Colored Kansas Battery 

(mustered into Federal service as the Independent Battery, US Colored Light Artillery).

78. The graphic of West Normandy comes from a map of the post prepared in 1956 by the Fort

Leavenworth Historical Society for the Fort Leavenworth Historical Committee. It is maintained by the 

Frontier Army Museum. The school depicted in the lower right is Eisenhower Elementary School and

the golf house in the upper left is the Trails West Golf Course. The club house depicted is now 

replaced by a new one. East Normandy housing area is today called the Normandy Housing Area. 

Pershing Park housing area no longer exists.

79. In a presentation to the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society in January 2011 titled “Growing

Up on Fort Leavenworth,” Madeline Perez Webb and Virginia Perez Torchia described living in an 

apartment in a former barracks building in the mid-1950s. The area was then called Lower Slobovia

224
after the cartoonist Al Capp’s L’il Abner.

80. Long time Leavenworth residents and post historians have used both names.

81. According to an article in the 15 November 1948 issue of Time Magazine, the state of Kansas 

remained “dry” until 1948, when county option was approved. Kansas was a “dry” state longer than 

any other, 1881 to 1948. Missouri state law, on the other hand, prohibits counties from banning the 

retail sale of liquor. Time Magazine accessed on 30 June 2015 at http://www.

time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853403,00.html.

82. Hunt, History. 245

83. Retired US Penitentiary employee and local historian Mr. Ken LaMaster told the author in an 

email on 9 December 2008 that the bricks used to pave the Whiskey River Bridge roadway were from 

the USP brick factory that operated from 1897 to 1936.

84. Leavenworth Times, History and Facts Regarding the Fort Leavenworth Bridge, by Harry H.

Seckler, 10 November 1946. The egress which remains today below the bluffs along Sherman Avenue

is from the time when the bridge was used for wheeled vehicle traffic. It has a retaining wall running

north-south close to the automobile roadbed. When the bridge was constructed, the rails from the west 

end of the bridge continued west through a cut in the hillside and turned south in the vicinity of the 

present Gibbon Avenue and thence off post.

85. The roadbed of the Rock Island tracks crossed Corral Creek on a trestle. Sections of the

elevated road bed can still be seen today to the west side of Sherman Avenue just to the south of 

building #341.

86. Some references say 1958.

87. The Frontier Army Museum has a number of pictures of the demolition of the bridge.

88. Retired lieutenant general David E. Grange served as an enlisted soldier in the 3d Battalion,

317th Parachute Infantry Regiment and at one time was Zais’ radio operator.

225

Bibliography 

Several works have been essential to compiling Fort Leavenworth: The People Behind the 

Names. The seminal histories of the post provide the context and in some instances contain

appendices identifying what was named for whom when. In this group is History of Fort

Leavenworth, 1827-1937, by Colonel Elvid Hunt and Captain Walter E. Lorence, 2d Edition

(1937). Accessible in the 1981 reprint by the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society, appendices list

officer namesakes for streets, buildings and other features. Hunt and Lorence was brought up to

date with The History of Fort Leavenworth, 1937-1951, by Colonel Orville Z. Tyler, Jr. (1951).

Like its predecessor, it contains an appendix with updates of street, place and building names.

Following in the footsteps of Hunt, Lorence, and Tyler, in 1964 Major Talbott Barnard compiled

The History of Fort Leavenworth, 1952-63. It relates the history of the post from the end of the

Korean War to the start of the Army’s involvement in Vietnam and includes appendices on post

construction projects and buildings and place-names. Other histories of the post add to the general

chronology and help establish who served when. Among these are A Brief History of Fort

Leavenworth, 1827-1983, edited by Dr. John W. Partin (1983), and Fort Leavenworth, Dowager

Queen of Frontier Posts, by Judge Arthur J. Stanley, Jr. (1976).

Predating these histories is an interesting and informative work. In 1909, Mr. Henry Shindler, a 

retired noncommissioned officer and foreman of the Staff College Press, compiled A Compendium of

Laws. Mr. Shindler assembled an exhaustive list of public laws, War Department regulations, general

orders, civil and criminal court opinions, easements, rights of way, agreements, leases, grants,

licenses, charters and other documents that allowed for all sorts of activities to occur on post. It 

includes a chapter on the fort’s “roads and avenues” identifying them, where they go and in many

cases who they were named for. This 142-page book provides the history of many of the post’s

academic, civic, cultural, religious and social institutions and memorials and is a great starting

place for historical research on Fort Leavenworth.

In addition to general histories, there are excellent monographs that provide an in-depth look

at some aspect of the installation. Among them is retired Lieutenant Colonel Richard H. Wright’s

Memorial Chapel, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (2003). This volume informs about the religious life

of the post and the buildings that have hosted religious observance. Especially valuable is his detail

description of the 88 memorial plaques on the walls of the 1878 Memorial Chapel. If you believe in

ghosts or just want to know the spookier side of post history, Mr. John Reichley’s booklet, The

Haunted Houses of Fort Leavenworth (1995), is a good place to start.

Until recently, most commemorative place-names on Fort Leavenworth were named for Army

general officers who, for the most part, served in the middle and late 19th and the first half of the 20th

centuries. Many of them were West Point graduates. The United States Military Academy maintains

excellent source material on graduates and former students. Much of it is online from the

USMA Library Special Collection web site (http://www.library.usma.edu/archives/ special.asp).

Available digitally at this site are valuable finding aids, including an alphabetical locator of graduates

and former cadets with each graduate’s Cullum number. Brevet Brigadier General George W. Cullum,

the first compiler of these alumni biographies, assigned numbers based on order of merit upon

graduation, hence the term “Cullum number.” With the Cullum number, the researcher can locate

information in the Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of USMA. These

biographies run through 1950. For newer graduates the options are The Assembly, the magazine

of the Association of Graduates published six times a year, TAPS, the memorial supplement of

The Assembly, and the Register of Graduates, with brief biological information on recent

227
graduates provided by the individual graduate or former student. These are available on line with

registration and in the Command and General Staff College’s Combined Arms Research Library

(and other academic and larger public libraries).

For officers who were not graduates of West Point, Francis B. Heitman’s Historical Register

and Dictionary of the United States Army, From its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2,

1903 is an excellent source. This two-volume work provides detail of regular and volunteer Army

officers who served from the establishment of the United States Army after the adoption of the US

Constitution in 1789 to the War with Spain. It also provides information on the units of the

period and the organization of the Army and its subordinate organizations. Where a conflict arose 

about a date or unit of assignment for namesakes from the 19th century, Heitman was used as the

primary source.

Primary sources

Army Times 

Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth Archives (CAFLA)

Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library (ISCARL)

Fort Leavenworth Lamp

Frontier Army Museum (FAM)

Kansas City Star

Kansas Historical Quarterly 

Kansas Preservation Society 

Leavenworth Times

National Records and Archives Administration (NARA)

Select Bibliography

Books and Manuscripts

Adams, Matthew L. Designating US Seacoast Fortifications: War Department General

Orders and Letters from the Adjutant General 1809-1950. Self-published, 2000.

Allie, Stephen J. Director of the Frontier Army Museum. Numerous discussions, 2008-09.

Annual Historical Summary, United States Disciplinary Barracks, 1 October 1976 to 30 September

1977. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: US Disciplinary Barracks, no date but probably Ooctober 1977.

Barnard, Major Talbott. The History of Fort Leavenworth 1952-63. Fort Leavenworth: Command and

General Staff College Press, 1964.

Berhow, Mark A. ed. American Seacoast Defenses: A Reference Guide. Bel Air, Maryland: Coast

Defense Study Group Press, 1999.

Berhow, Mark A. ed. American Seacoast Defenses: A Reference Guide, 2d edition. Bel Air,

Maryland: Coast Defense Study Group Press, 2003.

Bernstein, Lewis and William G. Robertson. The House on the Cliff. Fort Leavenworth,

Kansas: Combined Arms Center, no date.

Beyer, Walter F and Oscar F. Keydel. Deeds of Valor. 1906. Accessed on Google Books. http://

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228
Champaign, Duane. Native American Almanac. New York: Facts on File Publications,

1988.

Chandler,Jeanne. “Updating Homes, Conserving History.” Defense Communities, SeptemberOctober 2006. accessed online at http://www.mmhusa.com/images/phma.pdf.

Chapel Memorial Association. Chapels of Fort Leavenworth. No date or pages.

Clarke, Charles G. The Men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Lincoln: University of

Nebraska Press: 2002.

Cowines, Joh. History of Fort Leavenworth, 1964-1973. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas:

Combined Arms Center History Office Files, unpublished manuscript, 1974.

Crocker, H.W. III. Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War. Washington DC: Regnery

Publishing, 2008.

Evenson, Lieutenant Colonel James L. USMCR. Capability in Decline: a Historical analysis of

the Post-World War II Degradation of Domestic Railroads and the Impact on the United

States Military. Master’s thesis. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Command and General Staff

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Field, Ron. Buffalo Soldiers, 1866-91, New York: Osprey Publishing, 2004.

Field, Ron. Forts of the American Frontier, 1820-91, Central and Northern Plains. Oxford: Osprey

Publishing, 2004.

Foreman, Grant. The Last Trek of the Indians, reissue of 1946 edition. New York: Russell & Russell,

1972.

Frazer, Robert W., Forts of the West, Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press,

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Grande, Peter J. United State Disciplinary Barracks. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2009.

Hagan, William T. American Indians, revised edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,

1979.

Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, From its

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Printing Office, 1903 (1965 Reprint).

Hoagland, Alison. Army Architecture in the West: Forts Laramie, Bridger, and D. A. Russell,

1849-1912. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004.

Hughes, Quentin. Military Architecture. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1974.

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Mariani & AssociatesArchitects. Study/Survey of Historically Significant Army Family

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McCormick, David C. A History of the United States Army Band

Morrisoe, William J. The USDB Cemetery, unpublished manuscript. Frontier Army Museum

Collection, 1961.

229
Odom, William O. After the Trenches: the Transformation of Army Doctrine, 1918-1939.

College Station, Texas: TexasA&M University Press, 1999.

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Combat Studies Institute, 1983.

Pipkin, Colonel William P. “Phillip St. George Cooke,” Articles on the History of Fort

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Portrait and Biographical Record of Leavenworth, Douglas and Franklin Counties. Chicago:

Chapman Publishing Company, 1899 (facsimile reprint by Higginson Book Company, Salem,

Massachusetts, 1998.

Quastler, I.E. Kansas Central Narrow Guage. David City, Nebraska: South Platte Press, 1999.

I.E. Union Pacific West from Leavenworth: A History of the Leavenworth Kansas and

Western Railway. David City, Nebraska: South Platte Press, 1999.

Reichley,John. The Haunted Houses of Fort Leavenworth. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Fort 

Leavenworth Historical Society, 1995.

Rydjord,John, Indian Place-Names. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1968.

Rydjord,John, Kansas Place-Names. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972.

Schuler, Harold H. Fort Sully: Guns at Sunset. Vermillian, South Dakota: University of South

Dakota Press, 1992.

Shindler, Henry. A Compendium of Laws Covering Interest Upon the Fort Leavenworth Military

Reservation Together with a History of Its Institutions and Other Information for the Benefit of

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Shubert, Irene and Frank N. Shubert. On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldiers II. Lanham,

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230
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Facilities Engineer, 1970.

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About the Author

Quentin W. Schillare enlisted in the Army as a private in 1967 and retired as a lieutenant colonel in

1997. A graduate of Infantry Officer Candidate School, he served in the Continental United States at

Forts Leonard Wood, Dix, Benning, Knox, Hood (twice), Lewis, and Leavenworth (twice). He served

overseas in Vietnam, Korea, Germany (twice), Kuwait, and East Africa. He received a BA in history

and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. He is a graduate of the Army Command and General

Staff College, where he received an MMAS in history, the Advanced Military Studies Program, and the

Army WarCollege Defense Strategy Course.

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