The Bastion That Never Was
When army engineers originally designed the second Fort Smith in 1838, they planned for it to withstand attack. A key feature in achieving this goal was a stone wall about twelve feet high and from two to three feet thick. This wall surrounded the buildings of the second fort. At the five corners of the wall the army intended to construct bastions, two-story fortified firing positions for cannons. Construction on this bastion began in March of 1839; by 1842 the foundation of the structure was nine feet high and five feet thick.
Quartermaster General Thomas Jesup inspected Fort Smith in 1845 and ordered this fortification converted into a commissary depot. General Jesup’s intervention led to Fort Smith’s continued growth by shifting the mission of the post from defense to supply. With supply as its primary mission, Fort Smith became one of the largest and busiest posts in the southwest prior to the Civil War.
Marker is on Parker Avenue, on the left when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
