Fort Sam Houston

From FortWiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Fort Sam Houston (1845-1846) (1849-1853) (1857-1861) (1865-Present) - Established in 1845 as the San Antonio Quartermaster Depot and later as the Post at San Antonio. The post was renamed Fort Sam Houston on 10 Sep 1890 after General Sam Houston, a hero of the battle of San Jacinto and first president of the Republic of Texas. Still an active military post and a part of Joint Base San Antonio with Lackland Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base.

Fort Sam Houston Clock Tower
Entrance to Fort Sam Houston Quadrangle

History

At first, the Army leased facilities in the City of San Antonio, including the Alamo. In fact, the Army repaired the Alamo structure and added a roof so it could be used as a headquarters.

In 1876, the Army began to move its facilities to the present site of Fort Sam Houston upon completion of the Quadrangle. The post has since increased in size from the original 92 acres donated to the Army by the city, to approximately 3,000 acres today.

As it expanded, additional facilities were built to meet the Army's needs. The headquarters and garrison always have constituted one of the Army's most important commands. Prior to the Civil War, the headquarters controlled 25 percent of the Army's forces. From 1910 until World War II, Fort Sam Houston was the largest Army post in the continental United States. Many of the most distinguished American soldiers have served here, including no less than 13 Army Chiefs of Staff and two United States presidents. The post's prominence led to significant tactical and organizational innovations. Military aviation was born here in 1910 and revitalized during the 1940s and 150s. Large-scale troop maneuvers have been conducted, including the first effective use of the Command Post Exercise in 1911. Field exercises in the 1930s developed the Triangular Division. This streamlined, mobile organization was the foundation of the Army combat power in World War II. The delivery of troops to the battlefield by air also was tested here in 1939-41. The aeromedical evacuation of casualties was first developed here as early as 1917.

At the end of the Second World War, the Army decided to make Fort Sam Houston the principal medical training facility. In conjunction with this decision, came the determination to develop Brooke General Hospital into one of the Army's premier medical centers.


Fort Sam Houston Partial Commanders List (edit list)
Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes
1901-05 1901-07-16  “Lt. Col. Godfrey, Edward S. 2208
1901-08-28 1902-04-03  “Lt. Col. Dorst, Joseph H. 2476
1902-04-04 1902-05-20  “Lt. Col. Forbush, William C. 2254
1907-10-25 1909-10-09 “ Col. Niles, Lotus 2554
1914-08 1915-05 “ Col. Van Deusen, George William 2842
1919-10-26 1920-01-12  —Brig.‑Gen. Scott, William S. 2852
1920-01-12 1920-09  —Brig.‑Gen. Treat, Charles Gould 2944
1922-01 1923-01 — Brig.‑Gen. Smith, William R. 3459
Dates are formatted in yyyy-mm-dd to sort correctly.
The Cullum Number is the graduation order from the United States Military Academy by year and class rank and links to a page for the officer on the website version of the Cullum Register. Listings without a Cullum Number indicate that the person was not a graduate of the United States Military Academy.

Current Status

A part of Joint Base San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston is an active U.S. Army base and is the largest and most important military medical training facility in the world.

Location: Located in San Antonio, Texas. Interstate 35 at the New Braunfels Street exit.

Maps & Images

Lat: 29.444456 Long: -98.462348

  • Multi Maps from ACME
  • Maps from Bing
  • Maps from Google
  • Elevation: 750'

Sources:

Links:

Visited: 31 Mar 2016, 17-29 Nov 2011, 12 Oct 2007

Picture Gallery


Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
content
Toolbox