From its earliest days as an isolated outpost of Spain, San Antonio has had a long and distinguished history as a military base. Small garrisons of Spanish troops were dispatched to Bexar to guard the first colonists and the early missions. In 1721, the Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo, governor of the “New Philippines” commanded the construction of a permanent barracks of adobe, a fort, and the Plaza de Armas, a parade ground which later became Military Plaza.
These Spanish regiments were never of sufficient size to end the raids by the warlike Apaches and Comanches. The garrison was attacked in 1730 by Apaches, and 15 of the soldiers were killed. A desultory war of raid and counterattack was fought for the next 150 years before San Antonio’s survival was assured.
The colonization of San Antonio by Americans under the leadership of Moses and Stephen F. Austin began a parade of different military forces to the area: Spanish, insurrectionary Mexican Republicans, Mexican Royalists, Texian volunteer militia, and Mexican. Each controlled the city for a time, San Antonio’s strategic value being obvious, as the only fort within hundreds of miles in any direction. By the time of the Texian’s famous defense against Santa Anna in 1836, the Alamo fortress consisted of an area of some four acres, enclosed by a series of stone walls and fences. Although General Sam Houston had ordered the fort destroyed and its defenders to fall back to Goliad, Santa Anna’s forced march across the Rio Grande prevented them from doing so. Although the Texians were killed, their spirited defense from the walls of the Alamo bought precious time for Sam Houston’s main army which defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto a few weeks later.
Yet, even the founding of an independent Republic of Texas did not allow the frontier town much peace. Range war with the Comanches intensified as more settlers moved into the area. And there was a continued threat of Mexican troops foraging into what some still believed was their territory. In 1842, a Mexican army under General Woll attacked and captured San Antonio. Many prominent citizens and town officials were taken prisoner, taken to Mexico and jailed. A company of early Texas Rangers stationed in San Antonio were better equipped to deal with the Comanches than with an army of 1200 Mexicans. Only a reorganized Texas militia checked Woll’s advance at the Battle of Salado Creek, seven miles from San Antonio.
With the annexation of Texas by the United States in 1845, a new chapter of military history was written in San Antonio. As Americans chased their Manifest Destiny west, San Antonio became important as a garrison and supply depot for troops and settlers headed toward the Rio Grande and distant California. Army troops were stationed in Military Plaza, in the barracks first built by the Spanish. The Army also leased the Alamo from Catholic Church authorities, reroofed it in 1849-1850, and used it as a supply warehouse. The city became the principal headquarters for forts extending south and west. The Army became the first big business to locate in San Antonio and its presence, in turn, attracted other businesses to town.
San Antonio’s military importance made it a prime target for secessionists at the beginning of the Civil War. On February 6, 1861, over a month before Texas formally joined the Confederacy, General David E. Twiggs of the U.S. Army’s Second Cavalry Regiment surrendered munitions and supplies totaling around $3 million to a secessionist force headed by Army Major Ben McCullough. Robert E. Lee of Virginia, the base’s inspector-general, was likewise beset by a mob of secessionists who demanded that he join them or leave town immediately. Lee refused to obey “any revolutionary government of Texas,” and returned to Washington without bothering to pack, and then on to serve his native Virginia. Thus, San Antonio passed the Civil War years as a Confederate city; legions of Confederate troops were mustered and trained in Military Plaza. Involuntary conscription into the Confederate army began in 1862 and proved very unpopular, especially with the immigrant German population. These farmers tried to remain neutral to the conflict, but reacted with rebellion against the military draft, some even forming their own militia. A number of serious confrontations erupted between these militia and Confederate forces. One of the most tragic of these conflicts occurred in 1862, when several dozen German Union sympathizers were chased and shot down by Confederate troops near the Nueces River. Yet, on the whole, the city was spared many of the horrors of the war, even prospering in a fashion by serving as a shipping point for Mexican goods bound for the Confederate states in defiance of Union blockades.
When the U.S. Army reoccupied the town in 1865 at the conclusion of the war, San Antonio resumed its role as headquarters for the great westward expansion. The poet Sidney Lanier who lived in San Antonio at the time, in a historical sketch published in 1873, put it this way: “The United States Government selected San Antonio as the base for the frontier army below El Paso, and the large quantities of money expended in connection with the supply and transportation of all materiel for so a long a line of forts have contributed very materially to the prosperity of the town.” (quoted in Corner, William. San Antonio de Bexar: A Guide and History. San Antonio: Bainbridge and Corner, 1890, p. 89).
San Antonio’s growing military population led the town’s rebirth as an American city. Businesses which catered to the military began to establish a presence in the city. During the Mexican-U.S. war in 1846, volunteer troops serving under General Zachary Taylor were drilled and trained in San Antonio. In 1875, the city donated 93 acres of land, a parcel known as Government Hill, for a permanent military base called Post San Antonio. Work on the primary walls began in 1876, forming the original quadrangle. Other facilities were added in the next few years: officers’ quarters, post commander’s quarters, and a base hospital. The defeated Apache Chief Geronimo was held at the Post in 1886.
In 1890, Post San Antonio was renamed Fort Sam Houston, in honor of the hero of the Texas Revolution. Over the next few years, the Fort was enlarged several times as U.S. presence in the West increased. An historic event occurred at the Fort on Feb. 15, 1910 when the first airplane in the Army was moved here by Lt. Benjamin Foulois, who is credited with performing the first flight in U.S. military history. By the time of World War I, Fort Sam Houston was home base for nine airplanes in addition to its regular contingent of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and military engineers. In all, over 200,000 army troops bound for the trenches of Europe were trained at the Fort.
By 1940, Fort Sam Houston was the largest of all U.S. Army bases as the country again prepared for war. A large Army hospital, Brooke Army Medical Center, was built on the fort in 1938. Several important tactical strategies in U.S. military history were devised here and a number of officers who served at “Ft. Sam” went on to important posts in World War II, among them Lt. General Walter Krueger and Lt. General Courtney Hodges who served with the U.S. Third Army and General Dwight D. Eisenhower. After the war, the Fort, then home of the U.S. Fourth Army, added other medical facilities including the Institute of Surgical Research in 1946, and the Burn Center in 1949. At that time, the Fort’s 1,500 buildings covered over 3,000 acres. Fort Sam Houston’s large concentration of military medical facilities was further augmented in 1973 with a new command called the Health Services Command. Presently, the Fort calls itself, the “Home of Army Medicine,” and hosts various commands, including the U.S. Army Medical Command, the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School, Brooke Army Medical Center, and the Fifth U.S. Army and Fifth Recruiting Brigade. The post’s National Landmark and Historic Conservation District designations include more than 900 historic structures, including the U.S.. Army Medical Department Museum and the Fort Sam Houston Museum. The Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery is also located on the post.
[Source: “FORT SAM HOUSTON.” The Handbook of Texas Online.http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/FF/qbf43.html [Accessed Thu Aug 23 14:01:43 US/Central 2001 ].
One of the most memorable episodes in San Antonio’s long military history occurred with the beginning of the Spanish-American War of 1898. The U.S. sought to increase its ranks by enlisting volunteer cavalry. The only such unit to actually see combat was the First United States Volunteer Cavalry, informally known as the “Rough Riders.” The regiment was mustered in San Antonio where it met its famous leader, Theodore Roosevelt. The group needed strong leadership as it was composed of many types of individuals from all walks of life, cowboys, Indian fighters, and bandits as well as Ivy Leaguers and society swells. Many bearing names as colorful as their dispositions, such as Rocky Mountain Bill, Bronco George, Dead Shot Jim, and Rattlesnake Pete, arrived from the Wild West while others, such as William Tiffany, became known as the “millionaire recruits” for their refined Eastern tastes in food and clothing. However, a newspaper of the time saw them all as “one homogeneous mass of patriotism and pluck, representing and illustrating our fierce democracy where every man is equally a sovereign…the rough frontiersman, daring but uncouth, and the cultured collegiate, genteel but full of spirit, stand upon a common level and mingle in a common purpose.” (San Antonio Express)
The unit was bivouacked in Riverside Park (now Roosevelt Park) where they were drilled and trained to fight using Krag-Jorgensen repeating carbines. Although the nominal commander of the regiment was Col. Leonard Wood, its actual leader was Lt. Col. Roosevelt, who had resigned his post as U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Navy to serve under Wood’s command. Roosevelt proved to be a popular leader and was lionized by the press while he was in town. Roosevelt, in turn, was effusive in his praise of his men, especially the recruits from Texas. “We drew a great many recruits from Texas,” wrote Roosevelt, “and from nowhere did we get a higher average, for many of them had served in that famous body of frontier fighters, the Texas Rangers. Of course, these rangers needed no teaching. They were trained to obey and to take responsibility. They were splendid shots, horsemen, and trailers. They were accustomed to living in the open, to enduring great fatigue and hardship, and to encountering all kinds of danger.” (Quoted in Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906, pp. 23-24.) On May 30, a scant month after the Riders arrived in San Antonio, they were ordered into action in Cuba, the first U.S. troops to land there. After a bloody battle with Spanish forces at Las Guisimas, the Spanish retreated to the well-fortified San Juan Hill. There, on July 1, 1898, the regiment joined other U.S. divisions to successfully storm San Juan Hill in one of the most famous battles in U.S. history. The Rough Riders and their ebullient leader Teddy Roosevelt are remembered in San Antonio by Roosevelt Park, where the regiment camped, Roosevelt Street, and the Roosevelt Bar of the Menger Hotel, where the Riders frequently stopped to wet their whistles.
[Source: “FIRST UNITED STATES VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.” The Handbook of Texas Online.http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/FF/qlf1.html [Accessed Thu Aug 23 16:26:25 US/Central 2001 ].
In addition to Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio attracted other military bases as well. Kelly Field opened in 1917, named for Lt. George Kelly, the first U.S. military pilot killed in a crash of a military aircraft. The accident occurred at Fort Sam Houston in 1911. The base had two initial missions: training of airmen and aircraft maintenance and supply. Nearly all U.S. aviators in World War I were trained here, including some famous pilots such as Charles Lindbergh, Flying Tigers organizer Claire Lee Chennault, and Curtis Lemay, former Air Force Chief of Staff. During World War II, one area of Kelly was split off to form a separate air field, Lackland Air Force Base. Kelly’s primary area of responsibility during the war was as a distribution and repair center for aircraft, a role which continued to expand after the war.
In 1947, the base’s name was officially changed to Kelly Air Force Base as it assumed responsibility for strategically important aircraft such as the B-29, B47, and B-58 bombers, and fighters such as F-102 and F-106. The world’s largest clear-span hanger, covering over one million square-feet was built to accommodate planes such as the C-5 transport, one of the largest aircraft in the world, with its 223 ft. wingspan and 270,000 pound payload capacity. As part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, Kelly Air Force Base was closed in July, 2001. However, “Kelly USA” will continue to serve as a Foreign Trade Zone and an inland port which will service the vast international trade industry.
Another important San Antonio military institution, Randolph Field, was founded in 1930 as a facility dedicated to pilot training. It began as an Army Air Corps base and so many future military pilots were trained there that it was once known as “The West Point of the Air.” Its exact mission has varied over the years from basic training to advanced programs for bomber and fighter pilots and flight engineers. The base is located about 15 miles northeast of San Antonio, near the city of Schertz. At the time of the base’s construction, 1928-1933, it represented the largest project undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since the Panama Canal. It was designed by Lt. Harold Clark and features Spanish Renaissance-style architecture and over 30 miles of roads, ramps, and runways, and streets radiating out from the central administrative area like spokes of a wheel. In 1947, when the U.S. Air Force became a separate arm of the military, Randolph Field became Randolph Air Force Base.
Originally part of Kelly Field, Lackland Army Air Field was detached in 1942 to become a high-volume training facility for aviation personnel, including not only pilots but also navigators, bombardiers, fiscal officers, nurses, medical technicians, even chaplains bound for World War II. As the U.S. war effort accelerated, Lackland’s population swelled to 31,000 military personnel. After the war, the name was changed to Lackland Air Force Base when the Air Force became a separate military entity, but Lackland’s nickname, “The Gateway to the Air Force” still rang true, as all new Air Force personnel were processed through Lackland during their basic training. In addition to its training mission, the base has expanded its operations to include marksmanship, cryptography, and other programs. Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center, the Air Force’s largest hospital, is also located here.
The demands of two world wars led also to the opening of Brooks Air Force Base. The facility was originally known as Gosport Field when it opened in 1917, named for the Gosport flight instructor training system developed by the Royal Air Force. However, after the death of Cadet Sidney Johnson Brooks in a training accident, the base was renamed Brooks Field in 1918. In addition to its flight instructor school, Brooks also trained B-25 bomber pilots, airship personnel and paratroopers. In 1929, it was the scene of the first large paratroop deployment in U.S. military history. The School of Aviation Medicine, first relocated to the base from New York in 1926, was charged with research in the area of aircraft-related health issues such crew airsickness, injury hazard reduction, and cold-related health problems. The School was later moved to nearby Randolph Field. There it remained until 1959 when it was again relocated to Brooks as the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. Dedicated in 1961 by newly-elected President John F. Kennedy, its primary mission was support of the national space exploration program, all regular flight training operations having been curtailed the previous year. Researchers here have developed many of the discoveries which have enabled both unmanned and manned space missions, such as an early space capsule used in a 1959 flight. Brooks Air Force Base continues to serve as headquarters for the 311th Human Systems Wing with its mission “the development of combat power and efficiency through the many facets of aerospace medicine.”
Military Base Attractions
You don’t have to be a military buff to appreciate San Antonio’s long military tradition. Visitors are welcome at all of the city’s bases but except for Fort Sam Houston, a pass will be required. Once you are on base, certain areas may be off-limits but all have visitor’s attractions.
Fort Sam Houston
1212 Stanley Rd., San Antonio
(210)221-1151
www.fshtx.army.mil
Now designated a National Historic Landmark, Fort Sam Houston welcomes visitors with several attractions which are fully open to the public. The original Quadrangle features its famous clock tower and resident wildlife such as deer and peacocks. It’s the Fort’s oldest structure. Call (210) 221-1232. The Fort Sam Houston Museum, (210) 221-1886, features exhibits which tell the story of the Fort’s past as well as the more general history of the military in San Antonio. The museum is free, as is the Gift Chapel, dedicated by President William Howard Taft in 1909. The U.S. Army Medical Department Museum traces the development of military medicine in U.S. history. It includes displays of uniforms, medical instruments, army ambulances, even a railroad hospital car. There is also a gift shop and book shop in the museum. Admission is free. Call (210) 221-6277. In addition to the public areas, Fort Sam Houston boasts a number of other notable places which are at least worth a drive-by. However, these remain part of the working base so call before visiting sites such as The Pershing House, named for General of the Armies John J. “Blackjack” Pershing, the Infantry Post, built in 1885, the First Flight Memorial, marking the spot where, in 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois made the first U.S. military flight. Also notable are two residences where General Dwight D. Eisenhower lived during two tours of duty at the Fort.
Brooks Air Force Base
8008 Inner Circle Rd. , Brooks A.F.B., San Antonio
(210) 531-9767
www.brooks.af.mil/
Brooks offerings include Hanger 9, historically the oldest aircraft hanger in the U.S.A.F. It holds exhibits on the history of Brooks A.F.B., manned flight and aerospace medicine. The museum includes a gift shop. There is no admission charge, but be sure to call before you go as the museum sometimes operates by appointment only.
Lackland Air Force Base
37th Training Wing
1701 Kenly Avenue, Lackland A.F.B., San Antonio
(210) 671-3055
www.lackland.af.mil/homepage/
Lackland is the home of the U.S. Air Force History and Traditions Museum at 2051 George Avenue, Building 5206. The museum is dedicated to the history of military aviation with 30 aircraft on display covering the period from World War I to the present. There is also a museum gift shop. Admission is free but groups of over 15 require an appointment.
Randolph Air Force Base
12 FTW Public Affairs
1 Washington Circle, Suite. 4, Randolph AFB, San Antonio
(210) 652-4407
www.randolph.af.mil/
Tours of the “Showplace of the Air Force” must be scheduled at least three weeks ahead of time by writing or calling the above address. Tours normally last approximately two hours.
Sidebars
Insiders’ Tips
The picturesque clock tower on Ft. Sam Houston’s historic Quadrangle was originally designed as a water cistern.
Next time you are on the River Walk, notice all the different military uniforms you see on visitors.
At present, approximately 150,000 military and ex-military personnel reside in San Antonio.
When the young Robert E. Lee was assigned to the Army post in San Antonio he was responsible for making maps later used in the Mexican-American War.
Hanger 9 at Brooks Air Force Base houses the Edward H. White II Memorial Museum. Colonel White, an Apollo astronaut who was the first American to walk in space, died in the tragic launch pad fire in 1967. White had been born at Fort Sam Houston.