Fort McKavett SHS and the Friends of Fort McKavett
present
"...more formidable than the lance or saber."
An Antebellum Texas Living History Event
November 17-19, 2023
HISTORY
Fort McKavett & The 8th United States Regiment of Infantry.
In 1842, the San Saba River Valley had been abandoned by any settled populations for nearly 70 years. The 1758 destruction of the Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba and the 1771 abandonment of the accompanying Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas (both near present day Menard) had ceded the entire region to the relative newcomers to Central Texas, the Penateka Comanche. That year, the San Saba Company was granted their petition of a land grant by the Republic of Texas Government. Named the “Fisher-Miller Land Grant” for the two prominent partners of the Company, Henry F. Fisher and Burchard Miller, this grant included over 3 million acres between the Colorado and Llano Rivers. The San Saba River, a tributary of the Colorado, was selected as an area ideal for future settlements.
In 1847, the San Saba Company had turned over their holdings to the Adelsverein, a German organization that had been encouraging emigration from Germany to Texas since 1842. In January 1847, Adelsverein agent John O. Meusebach, Indian Agent Robert S. Neighbors, and scientist Ferdinand Roemer joined in an exploratory journey to the San Saba River to negotiate with local Indians and survey potential settlement areas. Initial parlay
eff orts with the Indians were successful and the San Saba country was officially open to settlement.
The United States’ victory in the Mexican-American War, annexation of the North American Southwest, and discovery of gold in California dramatically increased interest in the San Saba Valley as a potential trail route west across Texas. In February 1849, U.S. Army Captain of Engineers William H. C. Whiting mounted an expedition from San Antonio to survey a potential northern route from that city to El Paso. On March 1st, his expedition encamped at the headwaters of the San Saba River before continuing on to the Concho Rivers and thence to the Pecos. In his official report, Captain Whiting called for the deployment of 2,000 mounted troops to be stationed on the Texas Frontier, 300 of which should be located at “Old Fort San Saba”, the decades-abandoned Presidio San Luis de las Amarillas.
The Army organization responsible for Texas, the 8th Military Department, responded by constructing forts. Built in a north-south line, the “First Federal Defense Line” consisted of Forts Worth (Ft. Worth), Graham (Hillsboro), Gates (Gatesville), Croghan (Burnet), Martin Scott (Fredericksburg), Lincoln (Hondo), and Inge (Uvalde). These western forts were accompanied by four forts established along the Texas-Mexico border: Forts Duncan (Eagle Pass), McIntosh (Laredo), Ringgold [also called Ringgold Barracks] (Rio Grande City) and Brown [formerly Fort Texas] (Brownsville). The commander of the 8th Military Department, Brevet Major General George M. Brooke, intended that this string of military installations would both maintain the peace with a defeated Mexico and protect Anglo-American settlements in Eastern and Central Texas. But as the Gold Rush began to push Americans west, these first installations became obsolete.
In 1851, a new commander of the 8th Military Department, Brevet Major General Persifor F. Smith ordered a new “Second Federal Defense Line” to be constructed nearly 100 miles west of the initial forts. In the North following Captain of Engineers Randolph B. Marcy’s 1849 Expedition, Forts Belknap (Newcastle), Phantom Hill (Abilene), and Chadbourne (Bronte) were established along westward routes out of Fort Smith, Arkansas. In the south, Forts Mason (Mason), Clark (Bracketville), and Terrett (Sonora) were established along several various routes leading to El Paso. On March 14, 1852, elements of the 8th United States Infantry Regiment arrived near the headwaters of the San Saba River to establish “Post on the San Saba”, soon to be called Fort McKavett.
The 8th Infantry Regiment was organized in 1838 near Albany, NY under the command of Colonel William J. Worth. It saw service during the Second Seminole War in Florida from 1840-42 before being assigned to Zachary Taylor’s Army of Occupation in Texas in 1845. They were assigned to the First Brigade under now Brevet General Worth and commanded by Major William G. Belknap. The Regiment fought under General Taylor at the Battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Monterrey where Captain Henry McKavett was killed by a cannon ball on September 21, 1846.
Following the Battle of Monterrey, the 8th was transferred to the Army commanded by Winfield Scott at Vera Cruz. They missed the Battles of Cerro Gordo and Contreras, but played a key role at Churubusco where the commander of Company H, Captain James V. Bomford was the first to plant a flag atop the citadel of Mexico City. Captain Bomford, Lieutenant James Longstreet, and Lieutenant George Pickett all received brevet promotions for meritorious service at the Battle of Churubusco. The Regiment off ered meritorious service again at the Battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec being the first in action at Molino and capturing the Garita de San Cosme during the action at Chapultepec.
After its service in Mexico, the 8th Infantry traveled to Jeff erson Barracks, MO via Vera Cruz and New Orleans before being transferred the newly established 8th Military Department headquartered in San Antonio. Upon landing in Texas at the Indianola Depot (Port Lavaca), a mysterious and rapid cholera epidemic swept the Regiment, fatally striking almost a fifth of the assembled men in less than a week; most soldiers afflicted died within a few hours.
Upon arriving in Texas, the 8th Infantry Regiment was stationed to the frontier, garrisoning several forts alongside the 1st Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Dragoons. On December 16, 1851, General Persifor Smith commanding the 8th Military Department ordered the 8th Infantry to establish two new posts on the Second Federal Defense Line. One was to be located on the Concho River and would serve as the new Regimental Headquarters; the second was to be located at the headwaters of the San Saba. However, the order was countermanded and the Regiment was ordered to locate its headquarters at the San Saba. Later, a military substation called Camp Johnston was established on the Concho River.
Initially, the Post on the San Saba was built upon a small hill adjacent to a permanent pond. Soldiers of Companies B, D, E, F, and H immediately constructed a lime kiln and bakery after their arrival on March 14, 1852. However, within six weeks of their arrival the pond thought to be “active” had proved to instead be stagnant and the post was relocated to another hill 2 miles downstream near a collection of several spring fed pools and streams. This became the permanent location of Fort McKavett, named for Captain Henry McKavett who was killed in Mexico.
Comprised of 640 acres, the Army squatted on the land until a lease contract was signed in 1855 with M. A. Dooley, the property’s owner. The first buildings to be constructed at the fort, after the essential lime kiln, were five barracks for quartering enlisted soldiers. This was followed by eleven single room kitchens that were temporarily used as Officer’s Quarters. A hospital was built in 1853, removing medical operations from Barracks No. 1 to a purpose-built structure.
On August 19, 1853, Lieutenant Colonel William G. Freeman arrived at Fort McKavett on his inspection tour of the 8th Military Department. His inspection covered all aspects of Fort McKavett’s operation including the status, uniforming, and armament of troops, the Quartermaster, Commissary, and Medical Department, and general observations of the Post.
Concerning the soldiers, Col. Freeman made the following report: “The battalion is variously armed and clothed, which, besides the inconvenience attending its instruction, greatly detracts from its appearance on parade occasions (…) In consequence, four companies turned out with the full dress of the old pattern with the new caps and pompons, and the fifth (H) in the old undress with the new caps without pompons.” Regarding arms, he stated: “Three companies had the ordinary percussion musket, one (Company B) the musket with Maynard’s primer, and Company F appeared in the ranks with both rifles and muskets.” Freeman went on to state that: “Instruction had been carried on only to a limited extent, owning to the greater part of the command being constantly occupied as wood cutters, teamsters, mechanics, etc. in building and supplying the post (…) I found military instruction invariably subordinated, perhaps necessarily, to the labours of the axe, saw, and hammer.”
Col. Freeman notes that the fort cultivated “large gardens (…) producing an abundance of the finest vegetables” and that “Beef is issued six days in every ten'' and the first bakery constructed at the original fort site continued to produce fresh bread for the men. He echoed the Assistant Surgeon Samuel W. Crawford’s report stating: “Bowel infections have increased in number during the year. Cold and damp, indulgence in alcoholic liquors to excess exposure at night, exposure to draughts of air when the body was perspiring, have all contributed to these affections”.
Bayonets & Lieut. McClellan's Manual.
In February 1852, Lieutenant of Engineers George Brinton McClellan published a manual for bayonet drill and training that was borrowed heavily from his translation of celebrated French fencing instructor “Gomard” whose given name was A.J.J. Possilier. Bayonet fencing was a relatively new practice in military circles despite nearly two centuries of their use.
As firearms developed and became more prevalent on European battlefields, there was still significant concern of mounted soldiers threatening infantry formations. The Spanish are credited with the first integration of pikemen and firearm-wielding soldiers carrying arquebuses in formations called tercios. As warfare continued to develop in the early Modern period, Pike-and-Shot formations were increasingly common across nations’ armies to allow infantry formations the ranged ability of firearms while protecting them from cavalry with long spears to ward off horsemen.
In 1671, King Louis XIV was the first national/military leader credited with issuing bayonets to his troops. Bladed weapons made specially in Bayonne, France were issued as inserts designed to fit into the muzzles of muskets, turning them into spears. This revolution in military aff airs ended the need for hybrid pike-and-shot units and bayonets became standard issue for infantrymen across Europe.
These “plug bayonets” presented a problem, they were difficult to remove once they had been inserted, especially if they had been forced in upon receiving charging cavalry. In the late 17th Century, Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban developed a socket bayonet which allowed for both easy installation and removal within seconds and allowed the musketeer to continue loading and firing the musket with the bayonet at the ready. Socket bayonets of varying complexity and locking mechanisms became the primary form of bayonet through the 19th Century.
Lieutenant McClellan adapted fencing principles laid down by Gomard (Possilier) for use by U.S. Infantry soldiers alongside their standard manual of Arms, Winfield Scott’s Third Revised Edition of Infantry Tactics. This manual included footwork, parries, thrusts, volts (vaults), and retreats to teach proper handling of bayonets in combat with mounted cavalrymen wielding sabers or lances, dismounted soldiers wielding swords, or other bayonet-armed infantrymen. The manual first published in 1852, received minor revisions but remained in force in the United States through the Civil War.
