Fort Sully

During the Civil War, Fort Leavenworth served as an arsenal, a supply base, and a training and organizational camp for volunteer troops. On a hill overlooking the National Cemetery, a series of defensive earthworks was built and fortified with two 24 pound siege and garrison guns as the primary armament, along with field gun emplacements and rifle pits. Although technically a battery, the entire complex was named Fort Sully after Brigadier General Alfred Sully, who had been stationed at Fort Leavenworth at the outbreak of the war. Two more gun positions were built just south and west of the main parade and post hospital, and all of these positions were abandoned at the end of the Civil War. The two M1819 24 Pounder Siege and Garrison gun tubes had been emplaced at Fort Sully after being stored at the Fort Leavenworth Arsenal since its opening in 1859. One was produced by McClurg, Wade & Co., Fort Pitt Foundry, Pittsburg, PA, in 1838, and the other was manufactured by the West Point Foundry in 1826.

Leavenworth, Kansas · United States