Fort Insley
Encyclopedia
In spring and summer 1864 Fort Blair
, Fort Henning
and Fort Insley were constructed to help protect the town and post of Fort Scott
from Confederate forces. Fort Insley was named for Capt. Martain H. Insley. It was located just northeast of town, about 1½ blocks northeast of the main part of the post of Fort Scott. It overlooked Buck Run Creek.
Each blockhouse was built of sawed wood slabs or thick boards, which were covered with rough boards. Each had a wood shingle roof and had ports for aiming rifles and small cannon. Each was two stories tall. Each blockhouse was surrounded by log palisades covered on the outside by earthworks, which in turn were surrounded by wide, deep ditches.
Fort Insley was the largest of the blockhouses, measuring twenty by thirty feet. It was garrisoned by a detachment from the 6th Kansas and served as an ammunition storehouse. The three blockhouses helped protect Fort Scott in October 1864 when Maj. Gen. Sterling Price
retreated south during his failed invasion of Missouri (see Price's Missouri Raid). He hoped to overrun Fort Scott, but retreated without a fight.
After the Civil War Forts Henning and Insley were torn down. Fort Scott itself closed in October 1865.
Fort Blair (Fort Scott)
In spring and possibly through summer 1864, three blockhouses were constructed to help defend the town and post of Fort Scott. These were Fort Blair, Fort Henning and Fort Insley. Fort Blair was enclosed by a rectangular wall of log palisades covered on the outside by earthworks, which in turn were...
, Fort Henning
Fort Henning
In spring and probably into summer 1864 Fort Henning was constructed. It, along with Fort Blair and Fort Insley, was built to help protect the city and post of Fort Scott. Fort Henning, located at the intersection of Second and National Streets, was almost in the center of town. Fort Henning...
and Fort Insley were constructed to help protect the town and post of Fort Scott
Fort Scott
General Winfield Scott, former General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army, was the namesake for five places named Fort Scott:*Fort Scott, Kansas, a city that grew up around a military fort of the same name**Fort Scott National Historic Site...
from Confederate forces. Fort Insley was named for Capt. Martain H. Insley. It was located just northeast of town, about 1½ blocks northeast of the main part of the post of Fort Scott. It overlooked Buck Run Creek.
Each blockhouse was built of sawed wood slabs or thick boards, which were covered with rough boards. Each had a wood shingle roof and had ports for aiming rifles and small cannon. Each was two stories tall. Each blockhouse was surrounded by log palisades covered on the outside by earthworks, which in turn were surrounded by wide, deep ditches.
Fort Insley was the largest of the blockhouses, measuring twenty by thirty feet. It was garrisoned by a detachment from the 6th Kansas and served as an ammunition storehouse. The three blockhouses helped protect Fort Scott in October 1864 when Maj. Gen. Sterling Price
Sterling Price
Sterling Price was a lawyer, planter, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil...
retreated south during his failed invasion of Missouri (see Price's Missouri Raid). He hoped to overrun Fort Scott, but retreated without a fight.
After the Civil War Forts Henning and Insley were torn down. Fort Scott itself closed in October 1865.