Category Archives: Military History

ROCK OF THE MARNE – ULYSSES GRANT MCALEXANDER

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The Centenary of World War One has come and gone.  A few books published, but mostly, no special remembrances occurred that garnered much attention here in the U.S. compared to Europe.  Of course, the First World War affected Europe much harsher and for a much longer period than the United States.  The war dragged on for a little over four long years Over There with America only involved for a little more than the last year and a half. One American who did stand out was Ulysses G. McAlexander, nicknamed “Rock of the Marne” for his leadership in one of the earliest battles American forces did fight.

Ulysses Grant McAlexander late in WWI as a brigadier general.
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VANCOUVER BARRACKS NATIONAL CEMETERY REVEALING HISTORY OF THE FORT AND MORE

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The post cemetery for Vancouver Barracks became established in 1857.  The Army maintained the cemetery until recently. In 2020, the cemetery became part of the National Cemetery Administration – Department of Veterans Affairs – renamed the Vancouver Barracks National Cemetery.

Graves laid out – view from the south or the top of the “heart”.

Vancover Barracks National Cemetery.

Fort Vancouver was built in 1824 to serve as a central hub of business for the Hudson Bay Company in the Oregon Country. The company had its way in the region until the late 1830’s when American settlers began to arrive.  Attempts by the company to meet this influx with colonists of their own came to naught and the Oregon Treaty of 1846 set the border far to the north at the 49th parallel.  The fort, left deep in American territory though the company continued its operations.  However, those operations became more unprofitable and difficult as more and more settlers came into the picture.

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QUIET REPOSE ON THE EDGE OF THE FOREST – FORT STEVENS NATIONAL CEMETERY

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entry fort stevens cemetery
New entry into the Fort Stevens National Cemetery.

Fort Stevens National Cemetery is one of the smaller units under the jurisdiction of the Veterans Administration. One of the newest units, the cemetery transferred over from the Army in 2020. Although one of the smallest cemeteries within the National Cemetery system, there still are openings for new burials.

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RENEWAL OF FORTUNE ON CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT

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looking from Cape Disappointment Lighthouse over the mouth of the Columbia River
View from Cape Disappointment Lighthouse over the mouth of the Columbia River.

A short trail winds through the forest and down the hill from the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.  It connects to the road ascending from the Cape Disappointment Coast Guard Station on the Baker Bay (east) side of the headland on which the lighthouse sits.

Earlier posts included information about the lighthouse, the old artillery fort – Fort Canby – on which the Coast Guard station sits today, and a little about the evolution of the Coast Guard mission at the mouth of the Columbia River.

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LIFE-SAVING SERVICE TRANSFORMS TO THE COAST GUARD – OREGON COAST

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US COAST GUARD COMES TO OREGON

The Life-Saving Service had a long impact on the new Coast Guard in terms of drills and rescue organization for many years.  With even better equipment, helicopters, better boats, better training, the Coast Guard has continued to build on the service of their forebears in the Life-Saving Service serving the mariners of Oregon.

47-foot motor lifeboat going out over the Pacific surf.

Now, life saving, falling into the category of search and rescue today, is an important function of the Coast Guard, especially along the coast of Oregon. But it is only one of many jobs tackled by the Coasties – smuggling interdiction, law enforcement, navigation aids are all some of the other many jobs the Coast Guard is entrusted with.

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LAST PIECE TO THE RIVER’S MOUTH TRIAD – FORT COLUMBIA

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The Endicott Plan finally brought about the construction of a fort on Chinook Point. Fort Columbia was planned for at the time of the Civil War, but not built, the fort went up between 1896 and 1904. Off Chinook Point is where Captain Robert Grey anchored his ship Columbia Rediva after crossing the bar and gave the river its name. The nearby village of Chinook predates the Lewis & Clark visit of 1805 near where they established ‘Middle Camp”.

1937 aerial view of Fort Columbia.

Built on a hill rising off the north shore of the Columbia – Highway US 101 goes underneath the fort in a tunnel – gave the fort a great view out over the river and the mouth. The same hill caused for crowding. Building the batteries meant them placed closer to each other than normal.

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THE BAR IS CLOSED – FORT CANBY ON THE COLUMBIA

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Having written last of Fort Stevens on the south side of the mouth of the Columbia River, the lynchpin of the triad of forts arranged to guard the entrance from the sea from 1865 until 1947, it is time to turn our attention to the north side of the river. First, Fort Canby set up on the headland on the north side of the entrance to the mouth. Even today, a visit by car to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center – literally erected upon the aprons of one of Fort Canby’s former battery aprons – takes you winding along a narrow densely forested lane giving you just a taste of the primeval nature of the site.

Mouth of the Columbia River with the former defensive forts arrayed.

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FORT STEVENS – FRONT DOOR CLOSED ON THE COLUMBIA

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Replica of a 6-inch disappearing gun at Battery Pratt.

A visit to semi-restored Fort Stevens on the Point Adams along the southern mouth of the Columbia River transports one part way back in time. Here you see three or four distinct flavors of the month in terms of ideas on how to properly defend the nation.

Fort Stevens became the lynchpin of three forts developed in the latter half of the 19th century to defend the mouth of the Columbia River from would-be invaders, whether they be British, Confederate, German or Japanese. The other two forts forming the Columbiad triad forming on the north side of the river in Washington – Forts Canby and Columbia.

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LIVES LOST BEYOND THE MEDALS at MEUSE-ARGONNE ABMC CEMETERY

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View from the Visitor Center across the Large Pool and at the Chapel on the hill at Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery.

The mass of the graves at Meuse-Argonne ABMC Cemetery belong to men who did not win medals but still did their duty. They made up the main throng of the two million strong American Expeditionary Force in France during World War One. In two previous posts, I talked about the stories of the men honored with the Medal of Honor or some honored with the second highest Distinguished Service Cross. In this post, some of the other stories found among the graves at Meuse-Argonne come to light. The stories are mostly of officers for their lives were generally a little longer and better recorded than the greater numbers of young enlisted men just starting out in life.

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FORT WALLA WALLA CEMETERY – END OF THE FRONTIER

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Fort Walla Walla Cemetery holds the dead of some of the last Indian Wars, the close of the Frontier.

FORT WALLA WALLA CEMETERY

The cemetery was established soon after Lieutenant Edward Steptoe organized the first Fort Walla Walla, a few miles east of downtown, in 1856.  The fort moved two times in the immediate years following and the cemetery ended up presently just to the west of the last fort, the present-day Veterans Administration Medical Center.  The cemetery holds graves from the different eras of the fort’s existence, 1856-1910.  Civilian graves are separated from the soldiers by about thirty yards.  Three monuments reflect some of the major battles during the 1877-1878 Nez Perce War in which soldiers who spent some time in Fort Walla Walla lost their lives.

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