If you take Broadway Avenue from downtown San Antonio, a right turn on Cunningham Avenue will take you to a sign that simply reads: “Fort Sam Houston 1876.”
Most sources claim that this refers to Fort Sam Houston's founding date. But a close reading of history reveals that this isn't necessarily the case. In fact, the U.S. Army's presence in San Antonio dates back a few additional decades.
So when did the U.S. Army arrive?
You might be tempted to guess that the U.S. Army settled in San Antonio in 1836. That was the year in which William Travis and Jim Bowie led a small but determined band at the Battle of the Alamo.
But while America is certainly proud of the heroes of the Alamo, we can't officially consider them part of the U.S. Army. Rather, they were Texians fighting to establish an independent Republic of Texas, a goal which came approximately six weeks later when Texian troops under the command of Sam Houston, defeated General Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto.
Unfortunately, the short-lived Republic of Texas found it difficult to defend itself; San Antonio was occupied by Mexican troops twice in the span of a few years. So to better provide for the common defense, the Texians eventually joined the Union; shortly thereafter, on Oct. 28, 1845, the Soldiers of Company G of the 2nd Regiment of U.S. Dragoons entered the city.
The Army had officially found its home in San Antonio. It was housed in rented accommodations downtown, referring to its facilities as simply “The Post at San Antonio.” It is a name that would last for 45 years.
The Post at San Antonio became an important logistical base for expeditions into Mexico as well as for campaigns on the frontier.
But the Army's presence in the city wasn't exactly continuous. Two months before the attack on Fort Sumter, 1,000 Confederate soldiers seized the small Union garrison at San Antonio and sent many of the Union troops away to prisoner of war camps.
Following the Civil War, the U.S. Army once again returned to the Post at San Antonio, later building and moving into the famous Quadrangle on Government Hill in 1876 at what we now call Fort Sam Houston.
Although many consider this the birth of Fort Sam Houston, the base wouldn't be called that until 1890 when General Order 99 renamed the base in honor of “Sam Houston, the first president of that republic and the first governor of the State of Texas.”
The problem with this declaration is that although Sam Houston is certainly the most famous person to hold both of those offices, he was actually the second president and the sixth governor of Texas. More than 100 years later, in 1993, the Army chief of staff published an amendment to Order 99, thus officially naming the base Fort Sam Houston.
So as you can see, it's difficult to say when Fort Sam Houston was actually “founded,” but it is suffice to say that the U.S. Army has been an important part of San Antonio for more than 150 years, and that the Army team at Fort Sam Houston is proud to have such a great home here in Military City, USA.
Correction: This story has been changed to correc the names of the leaders at the Battle of the Alamo.