Fort Leavenworth is the third oldest continuously active military reservation in the United States and the oldest active Army post west of Washington, D.C. It has stood guard on the nation’s frontier for 182 years. In the early days, Fort Leavenworth was on the frontiers of basic exploration and physical defense. Today, it is on the frontiers of military thought, training and education.

Situated on high bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, the land Fort Leavenworth occupies was favored by the American Indians, who used the river as a trade route, gathered food in the river valley and hunted bison on the plains to the west. Archeological evidence on post suggests that people have periodically inhabited the area for about 10,000 years.

The first Europeans to explore the area were probably 18th century French
fur traders. Fort de Cavagnial was established in 1744 as a safe trading post and
base for exploration. The fort was abandoned in 1764 when the territory was ceded
to the Spanish.

Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark saw the remains of Fort de Cavagnial on July 2, 1804, as they led the Army’s Corps of Discovery up the Missouri River into the Louisiana Purchase. The expedition celebrated Independence Day north of present-day Fort Leavenworth at the mouth of Independence Creek, near present-day Atchison, Kan. The expedition camped overnight on islands near the fort on the way west and on the return trip in September 1806.

Col. Henry Leavenworth, with the officers and men of the 3rd Infantry Regiment from Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis, Mo., established Fort Leavenworth in May 1827.

The post was one of a half dozen forts guarding the western frontier, and a base for patrols escorting the profitable trade along the newly opened Santa Fe Trail. In its early days Fort Leavenworth divided its time between guarding the Indians on their reservations and punishing those on the warpath. Soldiers from Fort Leavenworth escorted doctors to the reservations and expelled squatters from Indian lands. It was also the base for Col. S. W. Kearney’s 1839 campaign against the Cherokees. He left with 10 companies of dragoons, the largest U.S. mounted force ever assembled to that point in time, to subdue the warring bands.

The 1846 war with Mexico marked a turning point for Fort Leavenworth. It was the outfitting post for Kearney’s Army of the West, which captured Santa Fe and San Diego. After this the post was used as a major supply depot, supplying the forts, posts and military camps of the west - some as far as the Pacific Ocean.

When the Kansas Territory was organized in 1854, Governor Andrew Reeder set up executive offices on post and lived for a short time in the quarters now known as “The Rookery.” Troops from Fort Leavenworth were heavily involved in the border conflict at that time, known as
“Bleeding Kansas.”

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Camp Lincoln was established on post as a reception and training station for Kansas volunteers. News of the approach of Confederate Gen. Sterling Price prompted construction of Fort Sully, a series of earthworks for artillery emplacements on Hancock Hill, overlooking what is now the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. But Price’s forces never reached Fort Leavenworth, having met defeat at Westport, Mo., which is now part of Kansas City. During its long history, the post was never subject to enemy attack.

Following the Civil War, Fort Leavenworth returned to its missions of supplying the Army in the west and attempting to control the American Indian tribes on the western plains. From 1870 to 1883, Fort Leavenworth was home to Headquarters, Department of the Missouri. This headquarters controlled Army activities in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and portions of Texas and Wyoming. In the early part of this period there were many conflicts with various Indian bands.

The post also continued to supply the western forts and field forces through its arsenal and quartermaster depot.

In 1866, the U.S. Congress authorized the formation of several black regiments. One of these, the 10th Cavalry Regiment, was formed at Fort Leavenworth under the command of Col. Benjamin H. Grierson. Today, a monument stands at Fort Leavenworth in tribute to the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments.

The late 19th century also saw the origination of some of today’s landmarks. The Victorian home at No. 1 Scott Ave., built in 1861 as the residence of the arsenal commander, is now the residence of the commanding general of the Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth.

The United States Disciplinary Barracks was established in 1875.

The fort’s first Catholic Church was built in 1871, and was later replaced by St. Ignatius Chapel in 1889. St. Ignatius Chapel was destroyed by fire in December 2001 and its foundation is preserved in a memorial park.

The first Protestant chapel, Memorial Chapel, was built by prison labor in 1878 of stone quarried on post.

In 1881, Gen. William T. Sherman directed the establishment of a “school of application for infantry and cavalry.” That school evolved into today’s U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

World War I proved the wisdom of Sherman’s initiative. Fort Leavenworth graduates excelled in planning complex American Expeditionary Forces operations. By the end of the war, they dominated staffs throughout the AEF.

In the years between the World Wars, graduates included such officers as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar N. Bradley and George S. Patton Jr. During World War II, some 19,000 officers completed various courses at Fort Leavenworth. By the end of 1943, commanders and staffs of 26 infantry, airborne and cavalry divisions had trained as teams at the school.

In 1946, the school was given its current name. In 1959, the college moved into J. Franklin Bell Hall on Arsenal Hill. In 1985, the Harold K. Johnson wing was added to house the Combined Arms and Services Staff School. Eisenhower Hall was dedicated in 1994. Classes for the School of Advanced Military Studies and the School for Command Preparation, as well as the Combined Arms Research Library, are in Eisenhower Hall.
The Lewis and Clark Center — the new home of the Command and General Staff College — opened in 2007. The $115 million state-of-the-art training center includes 96 classrooms for more than 1,500 students and 600 faculty members.

The Combined Arms Center (CAC) was created in 1973 during the same major reorganization of the Army that created TRADOC and FORSCOM. The senior headquarters on post, CAC has had responsibilities in training, doctrine and leader development since it was created. Today, through its major subordinate organizations and associated schools and centers, CAC has the mission of preparing the Army and its leaders for war as the Center for Excellence in leader development, doctrine, collective training and battle command.

Fort Leavenworth still stands guard on the nation’s frontiers. The frontiers today are frontiers of the mind: challenges in doctrine development, collective training and leader education. The post’s long and proud history of service to the Army and the nation is an inspiration to those who serve here today, charged with meeting the challenges of the future.

National Cemetery

The Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery is one of the first 12 national cemeteries established by President Abraham Lincoln on July 17, 1862. Veterans since the War of 1812 have been laid to rest in the cemetery.

One veteran of the War of 1812 is the cemetery’s most famous occupant, Col. Henry Leavenworth, who gave his name to the fort, the city, the county and the cemetery. Other notable Soldiers buried in the cemetery include 10 Medal of Honor recipients, seven Confederate prisoners of war, and Soldiers killed most major military operations up to and including Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Although there is no longer space for new burial sites, burials frequently take place for those who already have family members interred in the cemetery.

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