The Fort Bayard Historic District encompasses the area that was the location of Fort Bayard, a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

military installation north of present-day

Santa Clara, New Mexico Santa Clara is a village in Grant County, New Mexico, Grant County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,686 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 1,944 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. Today it is a bedroom commun ...

. Founded in 1866, the fort at first provided security (mainly by African-American "

Buffalo Soldier Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in th ...

s") against Native American attacks on settlers during the settlement of the region in the 19th century. It was then converted into the army's first

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

sanitarium, and later became a VA hospital. The property is now the Fort Bayard Medical Center, a long-term nursing care facility operated by the state of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. The only surviving 19th-century elements of the fort are some of its landscaping, and the Fort Bayard National Cemetery. The site was designated a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

in 2004.

History

Fort Bayard was established as a

installation in 1866 to protect miners and other settlers in the area along the

Apache Trail The Apache Trail in Arizona was a stagecoach trail that ran through the Superstition Mountains. It was named the Apache Trail after the Apache Indians who originally used this trail to move through the Superstition Mountains. The historic A ...

. The fort was named for

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

George Dashiell Bayard George Dashiell Bayard (December 18, 1835 – December 14, 1862) was a career soldier in the United States Army and a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He was wounded in the Battle of Fredericksburg and died the next day. Earl ...

, who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862. Fifteen square miles of land were set aside as the Fort Bayard Military Reservation by presidential order in 1869. In 1886, then- Second Lieutenant

John Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Wes ...

arrived at Fort Bayard and oversaw the installation of a

heliograph A heliograph () is a semaphore system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code) reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter. The heliograp ...

, linking the fort to an Army communications network from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Fort Bayard was one of many installations throughout the Southwest that was garrisoned by the so-called

Buffalo Soldiers Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in t ...

. Company B of the 25th United States Colored Infantry Regiment established the post, and they were joined by other black units, including troops from the

9th Cavalry Regiment The 9th Cavalry Regiment is a parent cavalry regiment of the United States Army. It is not related to the 9th Kansas Cavalry Regiment of the Union Army. Historically, it was one of the Army's four segregated African-American regiments and was pa ...

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

Clinton Greaves, stationed at Fort Bayard with C Company, 9th Cavalry Regiment, received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

for his actions against Apache raiders on January 24, 1877. A monument to the Buffalo Soldiers was erected on the old parade field of Fort Bayard in 1992. Following the capture of Geronimo in 1886, the Apache were no longer considered a major threat. Fort Bayard's continued usefulness, like that many posts in the southwest, thus came under scrutiny. Due to its distance from the border with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, the fort was selected for deactivation. However, U.S. Army Surgeon General

George Miller Sternberg Brigadier General George Miller Sternberg (June 8, 1838 – November 3, 1915) was a U.S. Army physician who is considered the first U.S. bacteriologist, having written ''Manual of Bacteriology'' (1892). After he survived typhoid and yellow fever, ...

, noting the excellent health record of the post, chose Fort Bayard as an Army

hospital and research center (Lectures on tuberculosis made at the fort are archived at the National Library of Medicine). The fort was then transferred to the Surgeon General's department in 1900. In 1919 the Army turned the fort over to the

U.S. Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...

to administer Hospital No. 55., a veterans' tuberculosis hospital. In 1922 the hospital became the part of the Veterans Bureau. The fort was partially reactivated as a military installation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. A number of German prisoners of war were held at the fort from 1943 to 1945. The fort is now administered by the New Mexico Department of Health as Fort Bayard Medical Center, a long-term care nursing facility that also contains a chemical dependency treatment center. Fort Bayard is located north of the intersection of United States Route 180 and

New Mexico State Road 152 State Road 152 (NM 152) is a state highway in the US state of New Mexico. NM 152's western terminus is in Santa Clara, at U.S. Route 180 (US 180) and NM 152's eastern terminus is at NM 187 south of Caballo. Route ...

, near Bayard, New Mexico.

Notable soldiers stationed at Fort Bayard

* General George Crook, circa 1885 * Colonel

Walter Loving Walter Howard Loving (December 17, 1872 – February/March 1945) was an African American soldier and musician most noted for his leadership of the Philippine Constabulary Band. The son of a former slave, Loving led the band during the 1909 U.S. p ...

* Then-Colonel Clarence R. Edwards, 1906Army and Navy Register, April 21, 1906, 17
* Then-Second Lt. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, circa 1886 * Sergeant James C. Cooney * Clinton Greaves, Corporal, Medal of Honor, circa 1877

References

External links

Fort Bayard
- Tour information
Historic Fort Bayard
- information

{{National Register of Historic Places African-American history of New Mexico Buffalo Soldiers

Bayard Bayard may refer to: People * Bayard (given name) * Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places * Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community *Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood * Bayard ...

Geography of Grant County, New Mexico National Historic Landmarks in New Mexico Tourist attractions in Grant County, New Mexico Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico National Register of Historic Places in Grant County, New Mexico

History

Notable soldiers stationed at Fort Bayard

See also

References

External links