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Fort Davis National Historic SiteHistoric photo of Fort Davis taken in 1886.
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Fort Davis National Historic Site
History & Culture
History of First Fort Davis: 1854-1862
   On October 23, 1854, the Commander of the Department of Texas, General Persifor F. Smith, issued the official order that established Fort Davis. Smith named the site in honor of then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.
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History of Second Fort Davis: 1867-1891
   After the Civil War, travel continued on the San Antonio-El Paso Road and so did raiding by Comanches and Apaches, which resulted in the Army re-establishing Fort Davis.
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African Americans in the Frontier Army
   The Act of 1866 increased the size of the Regular Army, thus changing the course of military history by affording African Americans a permanent place in the Armed Forces of the United States.
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Second Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper
   FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN GRADUATE OF WEST POINT
     
Born into slavery at Thomasville, Georgia on March 21, 1856, Flipper became the first African American graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
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Painting of the first Fort Davis by Auther Lee.  

Did You Know?
After Texas joined the Confederacy, Fort Davis was garrisoned by Companies C and D of the 2d Texas Mounted Rifles. Among the Confederate officers to command Fort Davis in 1861-1862 were Captain William C. Adams and Lieutenants Reuben Mays and William White.

Last Updated: September 21, 2006 at 09:26 EST