{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Fort McIntosh | nrhp_type = hd | image = FMcI.jpg | caption = Fort McIntosh | location = [[Laredo Community College|Laredo Junior College]] campus, [[Laredo, Texas]] | coordinates = {{coord|27|30|19|N|99|31|14|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Texas#USA | map_label = Fort McIntosh | locmap_relief = yes | area = {{convert|193.8|acre}} | built = {{Start date|1853}} | architecture = Late [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] | added = June 25, 1975 | refnum = 75002011<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }} [[File:Fort McIntosh.jpg|thumb|300px|Fort McIntosh]] '''Fort McIntosh''' was a [[U.S. Army]] base in [[Laredo, Texas|Laredo]], [[Webb County, Texas]], from 1849 to 1946.
Fort McIntosh was established on 3 March 1849 by the 1st US Infantry, under the command of Lt. E.L. Viele,<ref>Texas Historical Marker # 5479001996</ref> to guard the Texas frontier at the site of a strategic river crossing. Originally named Camp [[George W. Crawford|Crawford]], the fort was renamed Fort McIntosh in 1850 in honor of [[Lieutenant Colonel]] James Simmons McIntosh, a hero in the [[Battle of Molino del Rey]] during the [[Mexican–American War]].
The fort was abandoned by Federal troops at the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]]. The [[Battle of Laredo]] took place near the fort on March 19, 1864, when 72 men repelled three attacks from a force of 200 federal soldiers sent from [[Brownsville, Texas|Brownsville]], Texas. On October 23, 1865, the post was reoccupied by federal troops of the 2nd Texas Cavalry.
In the late 19th century, several [[African-American]] units among them the 10th Cavalry, the "[[Buffalo Soldiers]]", were stationed at Fort McIntosh. Other forts in the frontier fort system were Forts [[Fort Griffin|Griffin]], [[Fort Concho|Concho]], [[Fort Belknap (Newcastle, Texas)|Belknap]], [[Fort Chadbourne|Chadbourne]], [[Fort Stockton, Texas|Stockton]], [[Fort Davis National Historic Site|Davis]], [[Fort Bliss|Bliss]], [[Fort McKavett State Historic Site|McKavett]], [[Fort Clark, Texas|Clark]], [[Fort Richardson, Texas|Richardson]], [[Fort Inge|Inge]], and [[Fort Phantom Hill|Phantom Hill]] in Texas, and [[Fort Sill]] in [[Oklahoma]].<ref>Carter, R.G., ''On the Border with Mackenzie'', 1935, Washington D.C.: Enyon Printing Co., p. 48</ref> Thesystem had "subposts or intermediate stations" including Bothwick's Station on Salt Creek between Fort Richardson and Fort Belknap, Camp Wichita near Buffalo Springs between Fort Richardson and [[Red River Station, Texas|Red River Station]], and Mountain Pass between Fort Concho and Fort Griffin.<ref>Carter, p. 49</ref>
During [[World War I]], the fort was used as a training base, and had over 15,000 recruits pass through the gates. During [[World War II]], the 8th Service Command, the 56th Cavalry Brigade, the Southern Land Frontier, the [[Civil Air Patrol]], and battalion of military police all were stationed at the facility at one time or another.
The fort was deactivated in 1946, and the land is now part of the campus of [[Laredo Community College]] main campus.<ref>[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qbf35 Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," (accessed May 22, 2008).]</ref>
The Colburn Memorial [[United States Army Reserve]] Center is located within the fort.
==National Register of Historic Places== The [[National Register of Historic Places]] added Fort McIntosh (#75002011) to its registered historic districts in 1975. Its areas of historic significance are its 1850-1924 Late Victorian Architecture and Military background. All of Fort McIntosh buildings have been preserved and remodeled, and today they serve as educational buildings for Laredo Community College.<ref>[http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/tx/Webb/state.html National Register of Historic Places in Webb County]</ref> The former officers barracks has been renovated into Arechiga Hall, named for the third LCC president, [[Domingo Arechiga]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laredo.edu/online_catalog/historic-fort-mcintosh-campus.htm|title=Historic Fort McIntosh Campus|publisher=Laredo Community College|access-date=August 10, 2015}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Fort McIntosh Texas Historical Marker.jpg|Texas Historical Marker File:Fort McIntosh Texas Historical Marker 2.jpg|Texas Historical Marker for barracks File:Fort McIntosh Officers Row.jpg|Officers Row File:Fort McIntosh NCO row.jpg|NCO row File:Fort McIntosh Hospital.jpg|Hospital Image:Entrance to Fort McIntosh Cemetery IMG 1797.JPG|<span style="font-size:100%;">Gate to Fort McIntosh [[Cemetery]] in [[Laredo, Texas|Laredo]], [[Texas]]</span> Image:Fort McIntosh Cemetery monument, Laredo, TX IMG 1798.JPG|<span style="font-size:100%;">This monument honors all the fallen at Fort McIntosh Cemetery; no individual graves remain.</span> </gallery>
==Aerial view== {{wide image|Fort McIntosh U.S. Military Reservation 1892.JPG|1200px|align-cap=center|The full length of the Fort McIntosh U.S. Military Reservation in 1892.}}
==See also== {{Portal|National Register of Historic Places|Texas}} * [[Laredo, Texas]] * [[Laredo Community College]] * [[Downtown Laredo]] * [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Webb County, Texas]] * [[Forts of Texas]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commonscat-inline}}
{{NRHP in Texas}} {{Laredo, Texas}}
[[Category:Texas in the American Civil War]] [[Category:American Civil War forts|McIntosh]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Laredo, Texas]] [[Category:History of Laredo, Texas]] [[Category:Laredo, Texas]] [[Category:Former installations of the United States Army]] [[Category:Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas|McIntosh]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Webb County, Texas]] [[Category:Historic districts in Texas]] [[Category:Military installations established in 1849]] [[Category:Military installations closed in 1946]]