Fort McKavett. Upcoming Events

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1 Fort McKavett Gazette News of our Volunteers and Friends Volume 3, Number 2 Feburary, 2004 Upcoming Events February 14-15, Battleship Texas, Remember the Maine March 20, JSCAS Star Party March 26, Friday, Education Day at McKavett March 27, West Texas Heritage Day at McKavett May 14-15, Fort Chadbourne May 14-16, Texas State Railroad 150 Years a Cavalryman Fort McKavett Living History Days March 26-27, 2004 Special Note on Buddy Garza, Site Manager Buddy is home and doing fine after hip surgery. He hopes to be back at work in a few weeks. Our thoughts and best wishes go to Buddy at this time Black History Month Fort McKavett played host to all four of the Black Regiments during the 1800 s, the 9 th and 10 th Cavalry, the 24 th and 25 th Infantry Regiments as well as the 41 st and 38 th Infantry Regiments (forerunners to the 24 th ). Few Posts can lay claim to that distinction. All four Regiments served with Honor while serving at this Post. Fort McKavett State Historic Site

2 Fort McKavett s Medical Displays Fort McKavett has several Medical Displays and Medical Exhibits both at the Post and to show on the road. The Dead House holds Hospital Beds and a Surgeon s Exhibit to show visitors the medical treatment Soldiers could expect to receive. Below: Steward Matt Weeks and Surgeon Tad Gose represent Fort McKavett at events on site and at other events with the Medical Exhibits. Medical Practice in the 1800 s was crude by today s standards, but for it s time, it was state of the art at Fort McKavett. Make sure you visit the Medical Displays when you come to the March Event this year. Surgeon s Instruments on display at Fort McKavett s Dead House The Surgeon even pulled teeth and we have those instruments as well Fort McKavett Medical Display at Concho, 2003 From the Archives Although Lt. Henry O. Flipper did not serve at Fort McKavett, the Post had several tie-ins with his trial at Fort Davis in Col. Pennypacker, Lt. Col Van Voast, Surgeon (Major) W.E. Waters, 1 st Lt. William V. Richards, and Captain Barber, all of Fort McKavett, served on his court marshal. Col. Pennypacker was the President of the Court Marshall. Lt. Flipper was charged with the theft of funds from the Post. He was found not guilty on all charges with the exception of acts not becoming and officer and was dismissed from the service. Captain Barber volunteered to serve as his defense representative when all other officers refused. Barber got the main charges dismissed and handled the appeals after the trial. Merritt Barber was rewarded for his spirited defense with a promotion to Major and a transfer to the Adjutant Generals Department in Washington D.C. One other note of interest, Col. Wm. Shafter of the 1 st Infantry Regiment was in command of Fort McKavett and transferred to Fort Davis where he preferred charges against Lt. Flipper. Col. Pennypacker and the 16 th Infantry took his place on Post earlier in This was Shafter s second posting to McKavett with his first as Lt. Col. of the 24 th Infantry Regiment. Henry O. Flipper was the first black graduate of the Military Academy. Lt. Flipper went on to become a successful surveyor in West Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. He tried the rest of his life to have his conviction reversed with no success. Several Officers of his time had been punished much lighter for the same offences. He died in Long after his death, Flipper received a Presidential Pardon from President Clinton. February 19, Research on this subject still continues

3 Only Medal of Honor Holder for the 41 st Infantry was at Fort McKavett Although not assigned to Fort McKavett when he performed the duties that later brought him the Medal of Honor, George E. Albee was with the 41 st Infantry and later the 24 th Infantry Regiments at Fort McKavett. His citation reads: First Lieutenant George E. Albee, Action : At Brazos River, Tex., 28 October Entered service at: Owatonna, Minn. Birth: Lisbon, N.H. Date of issue: 18 January Citation: Attacked with 2 men a force of 11 Indians, drove them from the hills, and reconnoitered the country beyond. Meet some of our Docents Left: John Schultz portrays st U.S. Infantry at Fort McKavett. John lives in the Burleson area and makes the long drive out to many of our events both on and off the Post. Below: Richard Lyons from Austin as 35 th Infantry Sgt., and Dale Werner from the San Angelo area with his 4 th Cavalry Sgt. portrayal. In July, 1871, Lt. Albee and his Company C, 24 th Infantry was assigned to Fort McKavett where he served until October, He served as the Commanding Officer of his Company during his stay on the Post. Lt. Albee stayed with the 24 th Infantry until his retirement in He was issued the Medal of Honor and promoted to Captain on the Retired List in January, He died on March 24, 1918 and was buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Mary Hawes Albee ( ) is buried with him. Left: Rosieleetta (Lee) Abram portrays William Cathy (Cathy William), the only documented case of a woman in the Indian Wars Army. She was with the 38 th Infantry Regiment that later became part of the 24 th Infantry. A new Docent class will be May 22-23, 2004

4 Company K, 10 th Cavalry Company K was stationed at Fort McKavett from November1873 until September They left the Post and were assigned to Fort Clark where they were under Lt. Col. William Shafter of the 24 th Infantry. During their stay at McKavett, they were joined by Company C of the 10 th, Company A of the 4 th, and Company M of the 4 th Cavalry at different times. 150 Years a Cavalryman West Texas Heritage Days Fort McKavett March 26 th and 27 th, 2004 This shows the ability of Black and White Cavalry working together. According to some authors, this seldom happened. In our archives, we find that Company K worked well with all of these units, the Infantry, and even with Texas Rangers in guard duties, remote details, expeditions, patrols, Post Duties, and road building. They took part in the mapping of the Trans Pecos Region with Pecos Bill Shafter, the mapping of West Texas on the plains, and even a follow up foray into Mexico after McKenzie s raid. From the Official Records of the 10 th History In July, 1876, Troops B, E and K crossed into Mexico as part of a column commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Shafter, 24th Infantry. A detachment of this command, made up of twenty picked men of Troop B under Lieutenant Evans, and twenty Seminole scouts, all under command of Lieutenant Bullis, 24th Infantry, made a march of 110 miles in twenty-five hours and thereby succeeded in surprising a camp of twentythree lodges of hostile Lipans and Kickapoos near Saragossa, Mexico. They killed ten Indians and captured four, and also captured about 200 horses. They then made a bonfire of the camp material and with their prisoners and captured stock rejoined the main column as fast as their jaded horses would carry them. Education Day for Students on the 26 th (Friday) Infantry ~ Cavalry ~ Artillery ~ Buffalo Soldier Displays ~ Music ~ Barbeque ~ Civilian Displays ~ Buffalo Hunters ~ Time Line of U.S. Military through today ~ Sutlers Red ~ White ~Blue Special lighting on the Commanding Officers Quarters after Dark, bring your cameras Have something for the Fort McKavett Gazette? Send it to John Gabe Schooley at the Post and we will add it to the newsletter. See You at the Post

5 An Upcoming Special Project In the 1880 s, Fort McKavett s Cemetery had a stone fence surrounding it. There are no remains of that fence now. In our section of the Cemetery, we would like to build a 2-3 foot tall rock fence to mark it off. This would have to be done with volunteer labor. No date has been picked for this project yet, but as soon as one has been chosen (most likely sometime this summer, everyone will be notified. Please keep this in mind and give us a hand with this very special project if you can. From the Lt. Schooley s Desk Just a few notes to pass on, first I have a new address mckrlib@airmail.net and phone number If you need to contact me please use these they are linked to the research library direct. Second if anyone is planning on attending the Educational Day at the site please contact me ASAP so we can make sure on the meals, lodging and programs for the day. Inspector Generals Report on Fort McKavett Cemetery in 1879 Also, the county has now put in all weather roads through the Cemetery. If you haven t been there in a while, you need to plan on looking at the work the Cemetery Association and the County has done to improve conditions.