Fort McIntosh (Texas)

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Fort McIntosh was a military base near Laredo, Texas that existed from 1849 to 1946.

Fort McIntosh was established in 1849 to guard the Texas frontier at the site of a strategic river crossing. Originally named Camp Crawford, the fort was renamed Fort McIntosh in 1850 in honor of Lieutenant Colonel James Simmons McIntosh, a hero in the Battle of Molino del Rey during the Mexican-American War.

The fort was abandoned by Federal troops at the outbreak of the American Civil War. The Battle of Laredo took place near the fort on March 19, 1864, when seventy-two men repelled three attacks from a force of two hundred Federal soldiers sent from Brownsville, Texas. On October 23, 1865, the post was re-occupied by a Federal troops when a company of the 2nd Texas Cavalry occupied the fort.

In the late 19th century, Several African-American units among them the Tenth Cavalry, the famous "Buffalo Soldiers", were stationed at Fort McIntosh.

During World War I, the fort was used as a training base and saw over 15,000 recruits pass through the gates. During World War II, the 8th Service Command, the 56th Cavalry Brigade, the Southern Land Frontier, the Civil Air Patrol, and battalion of military police all were stationed at the facility at one time or another.

The fort was deactivated in 1946 and the land is now part of the campus of Laredo Junior College.