Fort Blair

Civil War Tour

Fort Blair, constructed as a garrison for soldiers guarding the Military Road, was attacked by rebel forces of William Quantrill on Oct. 6, 1863.

Although greatly outnumbered, Lt. James Pond and men from the 3rd Wisc. Cav. and Kans. ...

The Battle For Fort Blair

William C. Quantrill, a former Kansas school teacher, headed a guerilla army which had committed many outrages around Lawrence and Kansas City, one being the Lawrence Massacre. Quantrill received a commission of Colonel, supposedly either from General Sterling Price or ...

2nd Kansas Colored Infantry at Fort Blair

The brush arbor was located in this general area and was used for a dining area for the troops at Ft. Blair. The colored troops were having lunch here when Quantrill's attackers approached from both the east and the south. ...

Fort Blair West Breastworks

The west wall of the breastworks had been removed the day before the attack in order to enlarge the encampment to make room for more than 100 additional cavalry troops which had arrived under the command of Lt. Pond.

Marker can ...

Fort Blair Blockhouse

This is a replication of the blockhouse which records tell us was in the center of the encampment. The original blockhouse measured 16 feet square and was constructed of logs. It was built to store equipment and supplies. Reports indicate ...

Fort Blair Breastworks

The breastworks that enclosed Ft. Blair measured 80 feet by 100 feet. A trench, called a rifle pit, encircled the breastworks on the inside. The dirt that was extracted to create the rifle pits was then piled outside the walls ...