Route of Old Military Road
Santa Anna, Coleman County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Opened in 1850s for supply trains and cavalry travel along line of U.S. forts from Belknap on the Brazos to Fort Mason and to Fort Clark near the Rio Grande. Along this road passed great men, including Col. Robert E. Lee, later (1861-65) general of Confederate forces in the Civil War. (1972)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Opened in the 1850s, this military road carried supply trains and cavalry along the chain of U.S. forts that guarded the Texas frontier, running from Fort Belknap on the Brazos down toward Fort Mason and Fort Clark near the Rio Grande. Notable soldiers traveled its route, among them Col. Robert E. Lee, who a decade later would command Confederate armies. The road knit together the far-flung outposts meant to shield settlers.
Why it matters
The road maps the antebellum army's effort to hold the Texas frontier, the military infrastructure of westward expansion in the years just before the Civil War.
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Related people
- · Robert E. Lee
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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