The dragoons left Fort Scott in 1846 to fight in the Mexican War under Colonels Stephen Kearny and Zachary Taylor. Both officers were quickly promoted. Captain Benjamin Moore, first post commander of Fort Scott, served under Brigadier General Kearny and was killed in the Battle of San Pasqual.
Fort Scott's usefulness was waning.
In 1853, the War Department abandoned Fort Scott. Two years later on May 16 1855, the government held an auction and sold the buildings that made up Fort Scott. The town of Fort Scott was born.
The border wars between Proslavery Missourians and Free-State Kansans brought troops back to the area in 1857 and 1858 to ensure peace. When Kansas voted down slavery and the two factions formed an uneasy truce, troops left the area.
With the nation caught up in the Civil War, the War Department saw the need to reopen Fort Scott on March 19, 1862. Colonel Charles Doubleday and the 2nd Ohio Cavalry strengthened the area around Fort Scott with crescent-shaped fortifications called lunettes and built blockhouses.
During the Civil War, Fort Scott served as the Union supply depot. In 1862, the casualties of war resulted in the necessity of establishing U.S National Cemetery No. 1.
The fort served as a refugee center for displaced Indians. The 1st Kansas Infantry, the first black regiment that fought in the Civil War, was also stationed here.
When the Civil War ended, the War Department withdrew all troops from Fort Scott. Though soldiers occupied it once more in 1869 to guard against hostilities between the settlers and the railroad workers, it was finally abandoned in 1873.
Sources/suggested reading
Forts of the West by Robert W. Frazer
Tour Guide to the Old West by Alice Cromie
Kansas Historical Tour Guide by D. Ray Wilson
The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America: The Plains States
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