Fort Mason was established on July 6, 1851, in present-day

Mason County, Texas Mason County is a rural county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. At the 2020 census, its population was 3,953. Its county seat is Mason. The county is named for Fort Mason, which was located in the county. History * ...

. It was named in honor of George Thomson Mason, a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

killed in the

Thornton Affair The Thornton Affair, also known as the Thornton Skirmish, Thornton's Defeat, or Rancho Carricitos was a battle in 1846 between the military forces of the United States and Mexico west upriver from Zachary Taylor's camp along the Rio Grande. ...

during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

near Brownsville, April 25, 1846. At various times from 1856 to 1861, this was the home fort for

Albert Sidney Johnston Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, figh ...

George H. Thomas George Henry Thomas (July 31, 1816March 28, 1870) was an American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and one of the principal commanders in the Western Theater. Thomas served in the Mexican–American War and later chose ...

Earl Van Dorn Earl Van Dorn (September 17, 1820May 7, 1863) started his military career as a United States Army officer but joined Confederate forces in 1861 after the Civil War broke out. He was a major general when he was killed in a private conflict. A g ...

, and Robert E. Lee. The fort was abandoned by the military in the 1870s, and restored by a group of local citizens in 1975. Visitors can tour the reproduction officers' quarters at the Fort Mason Museum. The fort is designated a

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the sta ...

in 1936, marker number 11275.

History

Fort Mason, Texas, was established by the

United States War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

as a front-line defense against

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...

, and

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

, on July 6, 1851. The site on Post Oak Hill near Comanche and Centennial Creeks was chosen by

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

William J. Hardee William Joseph Hardee (October 12, 1815November 6, 1873) was a career United States Army, U.S. Army and Confederate States Army officer. For the U.S. Army, he served in the Second Seminole War and in the Mexican–American War, where he was capt ...

and surveyor Richard Austin Howard. Bevet Major Hamilton W. Merrill, along with companies A and B of the Second Dragoons, established the fort itself. Originally part of

Gillespie County Gillespie County is a County (United States), county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 26,725. The county seat is Fredericksburg, Texas, Fredericksburg ...

, Mason County was named for the fort when it was established in 1858. Comanche chief Katemcy at one point turned over two white captives aged 11 and 12, and again bringing them back when the captives ran away from the fort to reunite with the Comanches. The fort was closed in January 1854, after which horse theft by Native Americans was reported and pursued by the military. It was reoccupied in 1856 by Company A, First Dragoons, from March to May and was occupied by companies B, C, D, G, H, and I of the

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

United States Cavalry The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, was the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army by an act of Congress on 3 August 1861.Price (1883) p. 103, 104 This act converted the U.S. Army's two regiments of dragoons, one ...

from January 14, 1856, with Col.

in command.Neighbors, K.F., 1975, ''Robert Neighbors and the Texas Frontier, 1836-1859'', Waco: Texian Press Among those in the Second Regiment of Cavalry before the Civil War,

Innis N. Palmer Innis Newton Palmer (March 30, 1824 – September 10, 1900) was a career officer in the United States Army, serving in the Mexican–American War, the Civil War, and on the Western frontier. Palmer was born in Buffalo, New York. Innis partici ...

George Stoneman George Stoneman Jr. (August 8, 1822 – September 5, 1894) was a United States Army cavalry officer and politician who served as the fifteenth Governor of California from 1883 to 1887. He was trained at West Point, where his roommate was Stonewall ...

, R. W. Johnson,

Kenner Garrard Kenner Garrard (September 21, 1827 – May 15, 1879) was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. A member of one of Ohio's most prominent military families, he performed well at the Battle of Gettysburg, and then le ...

, and

Philip St. George Cooke Philip St. George Cooke (June 13, 1809 – March 20, 1895) was a career United States Army cavalry officer who served as a Union General in the American Civil War. He is noted for his authorship of an Army cavalry manual, and is sometimes called ...

became generals for the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

, while those who became generals for the Confederate States Army included

Nathan George Evans Nathan George "Shanks" Evans (February 3, 1824 – November 23, 1868) was a United States Army officer who later served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Biography Evans was born in Marion, South Caro ...

Charles W. Field Charles William Field (April 6, 1828 – April 9, 1892) was a career military officer, serving in the United States Army and then, during the American Civil War, in the Confederate States Army. His division was considered one of the finest in ...

, William P. Chambliss,

Charles W. Phifer Charles Wesley Phifer (January 1834 – December 25, 1896) was a Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War who was unofficially appointed brigadier general. Early life Phifer, occasionally also spelled ''Pfifer'', was born in T ...

Fitzhugh Lee Fitzhugh Lee (November 19, 1835 – April 28, 1905) was a Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, the 40th Governor of Virginia, diplomat, and United States Army general in the Spanish–American War. He was the son of Sydney Smi ...

E. Kirby Smith Four-star rank, General Edmund Kirby Smith (May 16, 1824March 28, 1893) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department (comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Lo ...

, Robert E. Lee,

John Bell Hood John Bell Hood (June 1 or June 29, 1831 – August 30, 1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Although brave, Hood's impetuosity led to high losses among his troops as he moved up in rank. Bruce Catton wrote that "the dec ...

, and

. Fort Mason was Robert E. Lee's last command with the United States Army. Fort Mason was evacuated by federal troops on March 29, 1861, and reoccupied after the Civil War until 1869.

Confederacy

The

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

took control of Fort Mason on March 29, 1861. In 1862, the CSA held 215 men prisoner, who were transferred to Austin in 1862.

United States Army reoccupation

The United States Army reoccupied the fort on December 24, 1866, under the command of General John Porter Hatch. During this period, the fort was renovated with both civilian and military labor. Indian depredations had increased during the Civil War and were worse when the army returned. The

Reconstruction era of the United States The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebui ...

left its imprint on the fort's personnel, often leading to abandonment of duty and the resulting military discipline. By January 13, 1869, 25 buildings, either unoccupied or in poor shape, remained, with less than 70 soldiers. The order to close the fort was carried out on March 23, 1869. During 1870, the state of Texas organized several companies of frontier forces. Fort Mason was reopened in September of that year as headquarters for Companies A and B, Frontier Forces, under Capt. James M. Hunter, later county judge of Mason County. The fort was closed for good in 1871.

Restoration

Mason citizens recycled material from the fort when building their own homes. A restoration of the fort began in 1975. Today, the fort belongs to the Mason County Historical Society.

Gallery

File:Fort Mason 3.jpg, Fort Mason plan: The red dot indicates the location of the reconstructed officer's quarters. File:Fort Mason 2.jpg, Historical marker File:Fort Mason.jpg, Historical marker

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Fort Forts in Texas Texas state historic sites Buildings and structures in Mason County, Texas Populated places established in 1851 Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks Native American history of Texas Museums in Mason County, Texas Military and war museums in Texas 1851 establishments in Texas