Apache Campaigns - Fort Huachuca - U.S. Army

In December 1881 the troop strength at the camp was increased from two companies to
four. The post now accomodated 14 officers and 214 enlisted men in these understrength
companies.
On February 11, 1882 it was made official. Henceforth to be known as Fort Huachuca,
the five-year-old station was now tied in with the military telegraph network in the Department of
Arizona. Other lines of communication included daily stage service and a railroad siding on the
New Mexico and Arizona line only seven miles away.
In April Gen. William T. Sherman paid a visit to the post and surveyed what is now called
the Old Post. He gave his approval for the construction of permanent facilities to replace the old
canvas and wood structures further up the canyon. In August Sherman recommended to the
Secretary of War: “In regard to the posts in Arizona I have heretofore reported as the result of my
personal inspection that the posts of Huachuca and Grant be enlarged and improved to the largest
possible extent and that all others be neglected. General Crook will soon be there, and I advise
that he be supplied $20,000 each for Grant and Huachuca....” In his Annual Report to the
Secretary of War dated 16 October 1882, the amount to be spent on Huachuca was raised to
$52,000. He encouraged Congress to “be liberal to the troops who must guard that frontier.” 113
In a letter one month later, Sherman recognized the inequity incurred by cavalry regiments that
were “banished” for prolonged tours “in the remote and less favored parts of our vast country.”
He proposed that regiments not be sent to the “remote corners” for more than five years. 114
150
William T. Sherman. Photo courtesy the Grierson Collection.
HUACHUCA ILLUSTRATED