Fort Marcy was a military reservation in New Mexico.
At the height of the Mexican War, an undersized military and trading expedition left Austin, Texas, to seize the Santa Fe Trail in 1841. The troops assembled were inadequately equipped, disorganized, and warded off by the Mexican army. As a result, the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846. Led by General Stephen W. Kearney, his Army of the West, with approximately 1,700 troops, marched into the city of Santa Fe to claim the city and the entire New Mexico Territory on August 18, 1846. On the next day, Kearney ordered two of his chief engineers, William Emory and Jeremy Gilmer, to stake out a good site for a defensive fort. This was crucial in order to prevent an upheaval by the already conquered population. Gilmer served as a major general and chief engineer of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Lt. Emory exposed the perfect spot in what he called “the only point which commands the entire town.” At the location was a summit positioned on a flat-topped hill, a mere 650 yards Northeast of Santa Fe’s plaza.
Hired workmen and troops assembled the fort, using 9 foot high and 5 foot thick adobe walls to construct the irregular hexagonal structure. Inside of the fort, an adobe blockhouse and powder magazine were established to store artillery and weapons. Fort Marcy was initially intended to barrack 280 soldiers. No garrisons were inside of the actual fort. Limited quarters were located and constructed on the outside mesa. The fort was never required to defend Santa Fe, resulting in the men being headquartered and horses stabled near the old Spanish military establishment, 600 yards from the governor’s palace. Kearney named the newly established fort after William L. Marcy, the secretary of war and his boss at the time.
Fort Marcy engaged in little action during the American Civil War and became abandoned upon an executive order from President Andrew Johnson on August 28, 1868.
In 1887, A local citizen, Mrs. Tassie Wilson, went to the territorial capital for a visit. During her stay, she and her friends discovered a plethora of Spanish coins hidden beneath the walls of old Fort Marcy. This incident, first reported by the Silver City Enterprise on September 30, claimed her find to be more than 2,300 coins, dated back to 1740 and 1726, which were donated to the Historical Society of New Mexico. The paper went on to state: “After the discovery was made, large numbers of Santa Fe citizens turned out and dug the whole country up in the vicinity of the fort, but without finding anything new.” The chaotic hunt was ultimately the destructive force that ended the remaining standing walls. The government sold the Fort Marcy location at auction in 1891. The city of Santa Fe acquired the site on the hill in 1961, while landscaping it and establishing a scenic overlook of the city.