Fort Duncan
Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established March 27, 1849, by Capt. Sidney Burbank with Companies A, B, and F, First U.S. Infantry. Name honors Col. James Duncan, a hero of the Mexican War. Fort served as a frontier outpost near trail of California emigrants; base of operations against hostile Lipan Apache Indians. In 1851 it became the headquarters of the First Infantry. By 1856 garrison included units of mounted rifles and first artillery. Abandoned May 1859, post was regarrisoned in March 1860 because of border assaults by Juan N. Cortina, desperado of the area. At outbreak of the Civil War, 1861, fort was again abandoned, only to be occupied later as "Rio Grande Station", by Confederate forces. In 1868 Fort Duncan was regarrisoned by the 9th Infantry and headquarters company of 41st Infantry, under Col. William R. Shafter. Seminole-Negro Scouts, organized here Aug. 16, 1870, played a large part in ridding Western Texas of Indians. After 1883, post declined in importance; known as Camp Eagle Pass, it was abandoned about 1900. Mexican border troubles in 1916 again brought reoccupation; its use as a training camp continued during World War I. In 1938 the fort property was purchased by City of Eagle Pass, for use as park and recreation area. (1970)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1849 on the Rio Grande, Fort Duncan guarded the California emigrant trail and anchored campaigns against the Lipan Apache in the newly won Southwest. Its long life mirrored the era's conflicts: abandoned and regarrisoned amid border raids, briefly held as a Confederate "Rio Grande Station" during the Civil War, and later home to the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts organized here in 1870. Reoccupied during the Mexican border troubles of 1916 and used as a World War I training camp, it finally became a city park in 1938.
Why it matters
Few posts so fully span the American frontier military experience—from the Mexican War generation through the Civil War, the Indian campaigns, and the Buffalo Soldier and Seminole-Negro Scout traditions.
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Related people
- · Sidney Burbank
- · James Duncan
- · William R. Shafter
- · Juan N. Cortina
Related events
- · Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts organized
Themes & tags
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