Fifth Military District facts for kids
The 5th Military District of the U.S. Army was a temporary administrative unit of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconstruction period following the American Civil War. It included Texas, from Brazos Santiago Harbor, (previously Port Matamoros), at the Mexican border, north to Louisiana. General Philip Sheridan served as its first military governor, until removed by U.S. President Andrew Johnson because of a charge of excessive harshness in Sheridan's treatment of former Confederate soldiers. He was replaced by Charles Griffin, then by Joseph J. Reynolds.
Several incidents were committed against black federal soldiers at Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas, and elsewhere by Jayhawkers, wild Indians, desperados, etc. Most incident reports fail to identify the perpetrators.
Units
Among the United States Army forces stationed in Texas were the U.S. 1st Artillery, the 4th, 6th and 9th Cavalry Regiments, and the 15th, 17th, 20th, 25th and 41st Infantry Regiments.
The "U.S. Military Post Returns 1809-1916", archived by NARA,shows monthly post reports were filed for the U.S. 35th Infantry Regiment stationed in San Antonio, TX from about Dec. 1866 to mid-1870. It was commanded most of the time by Brigadier General (Brevet) John S. Mason.
