View source for Fort Duncan

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
 | name                     = Fort Duncan
 | nrhp_type                = hd
 | designated_other1        = TSAL
 | designated_other1_date   = May 28, 1981
 | designated_other1_number = [http://atlas.thc.texas.gov/Details/8200000460 460]
 | designated_other1_num_position = bottom
 | image                    = Fort Duncan 1887.jpg
 | caption                  = Fort Duncan 1887
 | locmapin                 = Texas#USA
 | map_label                = Fort Duncan
 | locmap_relief            = y
 | coordinates              = {{coord|28|42|7|N|100|30|17|W|region:US-TX_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
 | location                 = Bounded by Monroe and Garrison Sts,. city limits on the S, and the Rio Grande on the W, [[Eagle Pass, Texas]]
 | area                     = {{convert|100|acre}}
 | built                    = {{Start date|1849}}
 | added                    = December 9, 1971
 | refnum                   = 71000954<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Fort Duncan Commanding officer headquarters.jpg|thumb|Commanding officer quarters looking towards the magazine and museum]]
'''Fort Duncan''' was a [[United States Army]] base, set up to protect the first U.S. settlement on the [[Rio Grande]] near the current town of [[Eagle Pass, Texas]].

==History==
A line of seven army posts was established in 1848–49 after the Mexican War to protect the settlers of West Texas and included [[History of Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]], [[Fort Graham]], [[Fort Gates]], [[Fort Croghan]], [[Fort Martin Scott]], [[Fort Lincoln, Texas|Fort Lincoln]] and Fort Duncan.<ref name=Crimmins>Crimmins, M.L., 1943, ''The First Line of Army Posts Established in West Texas in 1849'', Abilene: West Texas Historical Association, Vol. XIX, pp. 121-127</ref> Fort Duncan was established on March 27, 1849, when Captain [[Sidney Burbank]] occupied the site with companies A, B, and F of the [[1st Infantry Regiment (United States)|First United States Infantry]].<ref name=Thompson>Thompson, R.A., 2004, ''Fort Duncan, Texas: Rock of the Rio Grande Line of Defense'', Austin: Nortex Press, {{ISBN|1571685340}}</ref>{{rp|5}} On November 14, 1849, the post was named Fort Duncan, after Col. James Duncan, a hero of the [[Mexican–American War]].<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|7}}

The post consisted of a storehouse, two magazines, four officers' quarters, and a stone hospital, in addition to quarters for enlisted men. Construction was done half by the troops and half by hired workers. There was ample stone but no timber for building, and the men suffered from exposure. Company C, [[1st Regiment of Artillery]], asked permission to construct quarters at its own expense. During the 1850s, Fort Duncan provided merchants and traders protection from border frontier outlaws and [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. The fort also served as a post for scouting Native Americans.

In 1854, Lt.s [[Philip Sheridan]], [[Zenas Bliss]], [[Richard W. Johnson]] and Assistant Surgeon [[Albert J. Myer]] were stationed here, the Lieutenants after graduating from [[West Point]].<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|19, 25, 27}}

Fort Duncan became involved in an invasion of Mexico on 2 October 1855, when [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]] Captain '''James H. Callahan''' led an effort to capture "runaway [[Slavery|slaves]]", but confronted by Mexican regular troops, [[Seminole]]s and the ex-slaves, Callahan retreated to [[Piedras Negras, Coahuila|Piedras Negras]], which caught fire, threatening his force with annihilation until Capt. Burbank covered Callahan's retreat across the Rio Grande with Fort Duncan artillery.<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|30}}

Secretary of War [[John B. Floyd]] ordered the post abandoned in May 1859,<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|36}} but Lt. Col. [[Robert E. Lee]] ordered the fort reoccupied in March 1860 during the [[Cortina Troubles]].<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|38}} The fort at this time consisted of "25 buildings ... nearly all are stone and [[adobe]] with [[thatched]] roofs."<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|41}}

General [[David E. Twiggs]] ordered the fort evacuated on 21 February 1861, just before the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]].<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|42}} However, Major [[William H. French]] was able to evacuate three companies of artillery at Fort Duncan and two at [[Fort Brown]] to [[Fort Jefferson, Florida|Fort Jefferson]] and [[Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park|Fort Zachary Taylor]] in Florida.<ref name="Reid">{{cite book|last1=Reid|first1=Thomas|title=America's Fortress|date=2006 |publisher=University Press of Florida|location=Gainesville |isbn=978-0-8130-3019-7|pages=42–43}}</ref> The [[Confederate States of America|CSA]] garrisoned the fort with volunteers and Texas Rangers, renaming it '''Rio Grande Station''', which became an important port for the export of cotton into Mexico.<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|46}}

Federal troops reoccupied Fort Duncan on 23 March 1868 by the [[41st Infantry Regiment (United States)|41st Infantry]] under the command of Lt. Col. [[William R. Shafter]], and Lt. [[Henry Ware Lawton]] as [[quartermaster]].<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|52–53}}  An additional unit of [[Buffalo soldier]]s stationed at the fort, besides the 41st, was the [[9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|9th Cavalry]].<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|56}} This included George B. Jackson, later a businessman in [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] called "the wealthiest black man in Texas" during the second half of the 19th century.<ref>Suzanne Campbell of [[Angelo State University]], [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]], "George B. Jackson, Black (or African-American) Businessman, Rancher, and Entrepreneur," [[West Texas Historical Association]], annual meeting, [[Lubbock, Texas]], April 2, 2011</ref>  The [[25th Infantry Regiment (United States)|25th Infantry]] arrived under the command of Major Bliss in 1870, and the [[Black Seminole Scouts]] were organized at the fort, initially under the command of 2nd Lt. Henry Field Leggett, but later commanded by 2nd Lt. [[John L. Bullis]].<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|54, 60, 63}}

The post was abandoned once again on 31 August 1883.<ref name=Thompson />{{rp|91}}

==Camp at Eagle Pass==
'''Camp at Eagle Pass''' was established on 3 April 1886 as a sub-post of [[Fort Clark, Texas|Fort Clark]] until it was discontinued in February 1927.<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|92–93}}  The 3rd Texas Volunteer Infantry was based here from 25 May 1898 until 16 February 1899.<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|102}}  The camp was ordered abandoned in 1904<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|105}} but a detachment of [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Signal Corps]] was placed here on 9 February 1911 while "Mexico was aflame with [[Mexican Revolution|revolution]]" until 1914.<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|106}}  The [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] was mobilized here in 1916, joining the [[Coast Artillery Corps]],<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|94, 109}} while the [[90th Aero Squadron]] operated [[DH-4B]]s from here in 1919 until 1920, which included [[Jimmy Doolittle]].<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|115–116}}  Only a caretaker force remained to watch over the hospital from 1922 until final closure of the camp in 1927.<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|116}}

==Military Aviation==
[[File:Benjamin Foulois.jpg|thumb|U.S. Army Air Corps Major General Benjamin Foulois]] 
On 3 March 1911, [[Benjamin Foulois]] and [[Philip Orin Parmelee]] flew the US military's first cross country reconnaissance flight here from Laredo using a [[Wright Model B]] covering 106 miles in two hours at an altitude of 800 feet.<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|107–108}}

==Preservation==
In 1933, the City of Eagle Pass Parks and Recreation Department began maintaining the old fort as a public park.<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|118}} The city formally acquired the property in 1938 at an auction price of $3760<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|119}} and converted it into Fort Duncan Park. In 1942 the mayor offered the fort to the military for use during World War II.<ref name=Thompson/>{{rp|120}} The government used the Fort Duncan Country Club as an officers' club and the swimming pool for commissioned personnel stationed at [[Eagle Pass Army Air Field]]. The site was listed in the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1971. Seven of the original buildings still stand today. In the early 1980s, the Fort Duncan Country Club caught fire and only the outer walls remain.

The Commander's Headquarters building has been converted into the '''Fort Duncan Museum''', with exhibits of local and fort history and artifacts.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Fort Duncan Texas historical marker.jpg|Texas historical marker, CSA
File:Fort Duncan Texas historical marker 2.jpg|Texas historical marker 
File:Fort Duncan Texas Historical marker for barracks.jpg|Texas Historical marker for barracks
Fort Duncan in Eagle Pass IMG 0262.JPG|Fort Duncan Headquarter and Museum
File:US Infantry cap.jpg|Museum 19th century infantry hat, or shako
File:US Cavalry cap.jpg|Museum 19th century cavalry hat
File:John Deere plow.jpg|Museum [[John Deere]] plow
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|National Register of Historic Places|Texas}}
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Maverick County, Texas]]
*[[Forts of Texas]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{Gnis|2032125|Fort Duncan}}
* {{cite web |url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/5507014217 |title=Fort Duncan - Eagle Pass ~ Marker Number: 14217 |date=1936 |website=[[Texas Historic Sites Atlas]] |publisher=[[Texas Historical Commission]]}}
* {{cite web |url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/2071000954 |title=Fort Duncan - Eagle Pass ~ National Register District |date=1971 |website=[[Texas Historic Sites Atlas]] |publisher=[[Texas Historical Commission]]}}
* [http://www.eaglepasstx.us/default.aspx?name=Parks_Museum Fort Duncan Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201193414/http://www.eaglepasstx.us/default.aspx?name=Parks_Museum |date=2014-02-01 }}
* {{Handbook of Texas|id=qbf17|name=Fort Duncan}}
* {{cite web |title=U.S. Army on the Texas Frontier |url=http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/military.html |website=Texas Beyond History |publisher=University of Texas at Austin}}

{{NRHP in Texas}}
{{Maverick County, Texas}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas|Duncan]]
[[Category:Museums in Maverick County, Texas]]
[[Category:History museums in Texas]]
[[Category:Military and war museums in Texas]]
[[Category:Former installations of the United States Army]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Maverick County, Texas]]
[[Category:Military installations established in 1849]]
[[Category:1849 establishments in Texas]]