US Army Command and General Staff College - Summary Yearbook (Fort Leavenworth, KS)

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olticers and men of the 7th Cavalry who fell with Custer on the Little Big Horn. In 1881, General William T. Sherman ordered the establishment at Fort Leavenworth of a School of Application for Cavalry and lnfantry officers. This school was housed in the building now occupied by the Army National Bank, and for nine years it continued there, conducting a two year course for junior line oFHcers. During the Spanish-American War, this school closed its doors while stafT, faculty, and students, took part in the briet engagement with Spain. After the war, in 1901-1902, the General Service and Staff College was established at Fort Leaven- worth, and the College became a true post-graduate institution, to which came selected ofticers after at- tending the special schools of their various branches. In 1922 the school was renamed The Command and General Staff School, and from 1927 to 1935 the course was increased in duration to two years. ln 1946, a tinal redesignation established the present name: The Command and General Staff College. Between World Wars l and ll the College trained most of the olticers who were to lead the Corps and Armies of the United States forces engaged in that second great conflict. During WW ll, some 18,000 officers of all services passed through the special short courses oftered by the College. After the end of WW ll the College reverted to a full year course for its regular students and two courses a year for its Associate classes. The annual enrollment in both these programs now numbers around two thousand, of which approximately 540 U.S. and sixty Allied Officers are members of the regular ten month course. In addition to the Regular and Associate courses for selected officers of the U.S. services and some thirty to forty allied nations, the College conducts a number of special courses. These include refresher courses for National Guard and Reserve command- ers, and a nation-wide correspondence program for thousands of other olnficers. 1 ss 1 i f +1 s f ri f f vw, c - fs i 'ing 'Xxx IW, T lf X il .M Q xx f , . G51 - T ll . I ' A I ki -1 1-Aesege-f'i' sift., 1 2. 1. , f if, 3, J 52 W i ' YM, f ,LN H ,A W. 4 .Mig f ' - V- L00 V. Y , 'W - i Eli .ku .lk ' it t 'lu-in, Q - lll ! 'l L l ' I xS l ' - mx '-it if V' 1' . .1 - - lx' ' 1 -vl.l,i'T' - . V 5, 'ai .. is-ix i '- t iri iii it 1 slu t itltittillliiiir .. V , 'r - ' -' ' A ., ...sr 'u i r' T If , . ll' .l!.!lllE ' V ts iziu. will 'll' ,,. .---' .1 ..-A r ' . 3 - ' ' qiutln LIU, ,H 1. ' , we--45 ' ' - - 54f.,,. .-Qs.:-M 5 ' A .. r '. P ' S- fee s: My i x 'Z .Q-15? -f . vi- . V .1 , i-.4' 'X 4.. 1 rm f- fr'- t.mf:i-.-m'- wi cas ..'s'4'sf The city of Leavenworth has kept pace with the Fort. Though the removal of the railroad terminals from Leavenworth around the turn of the centrury dealt a severe blow to the expanding fortunes of the city, it has continued a steady growth and de- velopment since that time. lvlany of the students who pass through the College at Fort Leavenworth never learn the real history of their neighboring city, but they accord it the most sincere tribute which can be given by members of the Service and their families. They speak of it simply as a good army town, and from the soldier this is a hard-won accolade. 5

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.1 Y.-Y A Brief History of Fort Leavenworth T in iii l it E is ,E 5 :T 'iff Lglmg i t itil . fit'-r ' Q' ?Q::5:,:7 i,.2'3 E fig ,, ., Xi uqlh .f 4211, . .AI T X f +7 fl 2 In l827, Colonel Henry Leavenworth led four com- panies of the 3rd U. S. Infantry up the Missouri River in search of a site for a new army post. His orders directed him to locate the post near the mouth of the Little Platte River, and on May 8, l827, Colonel Leavenworth reached the mouth of this stream. Then continuing some eight miles further up the Missouri, he halted. With the sure eye of the frontier soldier he sought the highground of the west bank of the river, and on this spot began con- struction of the Post which was to bear his name. The post was established to provide protection for the new trade routes from the U.S. into Mexico, and Fort Leavenworth soon became a vital outpost on the Santa Fe Trail, principal trade route to the south and west. 4 Permanent settlement of the area around Forf Leavenworth was slow in the years following its establishment, but, in l854, with the passage by Congress of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, slave owners in Missouri decided to establish a community for themselves in Kansas. They selected a site some three miles south of Fort Leavenworth, and on June l2, l854, these men met in Weston, Missouri, to draw up the articles of incorporation for their new home. Leavenworth City, hrst town to be incorporated in Kansas was born. Seventeen years later, the citi- sens of this town decided to drop the City from the name of their community, and to call it simply Leavenworth. Meanwhile, Fort Leavenworth became an import- ant army post in the years before the Civil War. In the l84O's it served as a staging area for army expeditions into Mexico. Through it passed countless detachments of blue-clad cavalry troopers on their way to nameless engagements with the Indians, then fighting bitterly to stem the tide of invasion of their territory. During the Civil War, Camp Lincoln was established at Fort Leavenworth as a training center for Union troops. From it the garrison marched to the battle of Westport which was fought on October Qi-23, l864, on ground now occupied by Kansas City, Missouri. Here the combined forces of Union Generals Pleasanton and Curtis defeated the Con- federate troops of General Sterling Price, and the last Southern invasion of the far west was thrown back. After the Civil War, Fort Leavenworth continued in its role of staging area for the lndian-fighting army. The site of Sherman Army Airfield was used as a detention camp for Chief Joseph and four hun- dred of his Nez Perces after their defeat by General Miles on the Yellowstone River. In the Post Chapel today can be found plaques to the memory of the

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