| Among the tasks assigned to the United States Army on the Northern Plains during the 1870s were those of protecting exposed frontier settlements and routes of commercial travel, and furnishing escorts for railroad surveying parties and scientific expeditions. To assist with these tasks, as well as other civilian support functions, a system of forts was established along the westward-moving frontier. Fort Abraham Lincoln was one such fort, situated on the west bank of the Missouri River approximately four and one half miles southwest of Bismark, Dakota Territory. Initially, Fort Abraham Lincoln protected work crews and survey parties of the Northern Pacific Railroad from Indian attacks. It also served as the headquarters and supply depot of the Middle District of the Department of Dakota. The Department of Dakota, commanded from St. Paul, Minnesota, by General Alfred Terry, included the present states of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. The department's Middle District oversaw military operations at Fort Rice, Fort Stevenson, Camp Hancock and the Grand River Agency. The fort was in reality two posts, infantry and cavalry. Companies B and C of the 6th U.S. Infantry established the infantry post on June 14, 1872. This post was originally named Fort McKeen in honor of Colonel H. Boyd McKeen, 81st Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, who was killed in action at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 3, 1864. Fort McKeen was renamed Fort Abraham Lincoln in the fall of 1872. A cavalry post was authorized by Congress in 1873 and mostly completed that same year on the flats below the infantry post buildings. By 1874, Fort Abraham Lincoln housed three companies of the 7th Cavalry, making the fort a nine- company command. With a total complement of approximately 650 men, the fort was among the largest and most important on the Northern Plains. Fort Abraham Lincoln was the headquarters of the 7th U.S. Cavalry until June, 1882, when the 7th Cavalry and its headquarters were transferred to Fort Meade in present-day South Dakota. Lt. Colonel (Brevet Major General) George A. Custer was the first commander of the enlarged fort and served here from 1873 until the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. The officers and soldiers stationed at Fort Abe Lincoln participated in some fo the most important expeditions and campaigns of the 1870s. In 1873, Lt. Colonel Custer and eight companies of the 7th Cavalry, three companies of the 17th Infantry and one company of the 6th Infantry accompanied the Stanley Expe- dition which surveyed a railroad route along the Yellow- stone River. The expedition went as far west as Pompey's Pillar and had several encounters with the Sioux. The Black Hills Expedition, organized at Fort Abraham Lincoln and commanded by Custer, departed for the Black Hills on July 2, 1874. This expedition was established to explore the Black Hills, find a location for a new military post, and discover possible routes of communication through the region. The expedition was also to determine if rumors about the presence of gold in the hills were true. On May 17, 1876, columns of cavalry and infantry, accompanied by Scouts, moved west out of Fort Abraham Lincoln as part of the 1876 Centennial Campaign. When an expedition departed, the women and children left behind at the fort never knew when of it, the soldiers would return. The leave-taking ceremonies were always tearful. Libby Custer, who accompanied her husband on the first day, described the leave taking of the Centennial Campaign at Fort Abraham Lincoln: "After we had passed the Indian Quarters we came near Laundress Row, and there my heart entirely failed me. The wives of children of the soldiers lined the road. Mothers, with streaming eyes, held their little ones out at arm's length for one last look at the departing father. The toddlers among the children, unnotic- ed by their elders, had mad a mimic column of their own. With their handkerchiefs tied to sticks in lieu of flags, and beating old tim pans for drums, they strode lustily back and forth in imitation of the advancing soldiers. They were for- tunately too young to realize why the mothers wailed out their farewells." The departing army, commanded by General Alfred Terry, consisted of 1,000 men, including a 20-member military band, 1,670 horses, 150 teamsters and more than 100 head of beef cattle. As the 7th Cavalry left Fort Abraham Lincoln, the band played, 'The Girl I Left Behind Me,' as well as 'Garry Owen.' Five weeks later, on June 25, 1876, Custer and 265 men died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in central Montana. During the six years following the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Fort Abraham Lincoln continued to protect transport- ation routes and railroad construction crews, as well as government property. Upon completion of the railroad to the Montana border, Fort Abraham Lincoln had fulfilled its primary purpose. Consequently, the fort gradually declined in importance. In 1882, the 7th Cavalry headquarters were transferred to Fort Meade, in present-day South Dakota. The army abandoned Fort Abraham Lincoln completely in 1891. Many buildings of the fort were dismantled by area settlers and the materials used in the construction of area homes and farms. By 1900, all structures had been dismantled. It is said that many of the older houses in the Mandan-Bismark area have lumber and pieces of the old fort within them. |
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| Fort Abraham Lincoln Military Post |
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