In the 1850s, conditions then as now were wild and turbulent and punctuated by violence. In North America then, US policymakers had to figure out how to absorb vast swathes of territory seized from Mexico during and after the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), contested by First Nations and tribes like the Comanches and Kiowa, among many others. Toward this purpose, in the first half of 1859, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891) was sent on a special mission to inspect US Army forts established in New Mexico and Western Texas. Nominally second in command of the First US Cavalry since 1855, in fact he was often utilized for various detached duties such as this one. In the summer of 1858, for example, he'd served from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as Acting Inspector General of the "Utah forces" (US Army) during the Mormon War of 1857-1858, and was then stationed for a time at Fort Riley, Kansas. Earlier in 1859, he had put in a request for another change of scenery -- an inspection tour of European defenses -- after serving briefly in Mexico as military attaché accompanying his brother-in-law Robert M. McLane (1815-1898), the US Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico as of March 7, 1859. But instead of Europe, off to New Mexico he must go.
First stop on the tour was Fort Union (see sketch map above), more or less situated to cover the Santa Fe Trail, and originally established in 1851. Johnston arrived and began his inspection over a brief two-day period, July 7-8, 1859, with the intention of returning when more of the garrison was present. The most pressing issue on hand was whether the fort should be shored up or moved to a better position. A board of three frontier officers had found a location about four miles away with better conditions, and voted to reconstitute Fort Union there. Johnston agreed with the board's logic, but proposed a more dramatic strategic-level relocation.*
"The site recommended . . . is in every respect preferable to that now occupied & if limited to those two points [i.e. the existing and the board-proposed fort locations], I would not hesitate to confirm the selection of the board," he reported from Santa Fe on July 9, 1859, to Winfield Scott, General-in-Chief, via Lieutenant Colonel Lorenzo Thomas, the Assistant Adjutant General and Scott's Chief of Staff, in Washington, D.C. "As far as public economy & the comfort of the garrison is concerned," he continued, "the position is excellent. But for the protection of the position it is useless to occupy either." At this point, Johnston pivots: "The favorite grazing grounds of the people of that region are much in advance of them. The most exposed part of that frontier lies to the southest of Fort Union & about the Pecos [see yellow arrow on map above] -- where the Comanches commit most of their depredations. This seems to me a favorable opportunity to remove the garrison of Fort Union to that neighborhood, It will have a better influence there I think than at any other point on the eastern frontier . . ."**
Having made his pitch, Johnston went on to say that Army detachments would rendezvous in that strategic area around July 20, 1859, that he would personally reconnoitre for a new fort site, and finally: "Should the General-in-Chief think it better to keep the garrison in its present position, there will be abundant time to prevent from your office any harm or inconvenience from my course."***
Having made his pitch, Johnston went on to say that Army detachments would rendezvous in that strategic area around July 20, 1859, that he would personally reconnoitre for a new fort site, and finally: "Should the General-in-Chief think it better to keep the garrison in its present position, there will be abundant time to prevent from your office any harm or inconvenience from my course."***
In a responding note dated August 16, 1859, General-in-Chief Winfield Scott "made his views known through an endorsement by his adjutant, Lorenzo Thomas . . . : 'Fort Union presents no very important bearing upon any of the Indian relations of New Mexico, and the troops could be better employed at a more suitable position within the Department, perhaps on the Pecos, as suggested by Col. Johnston.'"****
Referring to the map above, one can see that two new forts would indeed be sited in the area Johnston envisioned: Fort Sumner near the Pecos River, and Fort Bascom near the Canadian River. However, these didn't come into being until during the American Civil War. Finally, Fort Union would also continue in operation, due to several variables ranging from bureaucratic inertia to martial contingency; its form and situation would undergo several changes, however.
Referring to the map above, one can see that two new forts would indeed be sited in the area Johnston envisioned: Fort Sumner near the Pecos River, and Fort Bascom near the Canadian River. However, these didn't come into being until during the American Civil War. Finally, Fort Union would also continue in operation, due to several variables ranging from bureaucratic inertia to martial contingency; its form and situation would undergo several changes, however.
*Leo E. Oliva, Fort Union and the Frontier Army in the Southwest: A Historical Resource Study. Fort Union National Monument, Fort Union, New Mexico, Southwest Cultural Resources Center, Professional Papers No. 41, Division of History, National Park Service, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1993. See Chapter Two: The First Fort Union, which is organized chronologically.
**Quoted in Jerry Thompson, editor, Texas & New Mexico on the Eve of the Civil War: The Mansfield & Johnston Inspections, 1859-1861. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2001, page 34.
***Ditto, page 35.
****Quoted in Olivia, Chapter Two. Here's a link to this chapter: http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/foun/chap2.htm
See hyperlinked note 278.
Sketch map is a cropped version extracted from Olivia (cited above), Chapter Six, based on the larger map which was originally drawn by Robert M. Utley; color annotations added by Erik Donald France.
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