Fort Concho - Commanding Officers

Commanding Officers

Among the infantry and cavalry officers who commanded Fort Concho were Colonels Ranald Slidell Mackenzie of New York, William R. Shafter of Michigan, Benjamin H. Grierson of Illinois, John Porter Hatch of New York, and Wesley Merritt. Under Grierson, there were African American troops at the fort as well, which became known as the headquarters of the Buffalo soldiers, the black troops of the 10th Cavalry.One of the buffalo soldiers, George B. Jackson, later became a businessman, rancher, and politician in San Angelo.

Mackenzie was the dominant figure in the history of Fort Concho. It was long said that he continued to exert his command from beyond the grave. Numerous ghost stories have been told about Concho.

In September 1872, Mackenzie and his troopers, called "Mackenzie's Raiders", surprised the Comanches and successfully attacked a large encampment. Twenty-three Indians were killed, and another 127 women and children were taken captive. The captives were marched to Fort Concho, where they were imprisoned through the winter in the stone corral. The following spring, the women and children were allowed to rejoin their families at the Indian reservation near Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

On the morning of September 27, 1874, Mackenzie and his troops were again thrust into battle with the Indians. Mackenzie came upon hundreds of teepees in the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle, considerably to the north of Fort Concho. Mackenzie immediately ordered his troopers to attack. There was little early warning, and the Indians were routed and their village destroyed. Mackenzie's men slaughtered more than a thousand horses and livestock to keep the Indians from reclaiming them.

Colonel Grierson commanded the 10th Cavalry, and "Fort Concho served as regimental headquarters for the Tenth United States Cavalry, known as the Buffalo Soldiers, from 1875 until 1882."

Grierson, regimental commander of the 10th Cavalry, faced a personal tragedy at Fort Concho when his daughter Edith, about twelve years of age, died in the upstairs bedroom of one of the houses at the fort. The child was particularly fond of playing jacks.