Fort Selden - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fort Selden was a United States Army post, occupying the area in what is now Radium Springs, New Mexico located in Doña Ana County, 12 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was established in 1865 at the Paraje de Robledo in an effort to bring peace among the varied inhabitants in the south central region of present-day New Mexico. It was named in honor of Col. Henry Raymond Selden who had served many years in New Mexico Territory before and during the American Civil War and had died of illness in Doña Ana County, and buried at Fort Union on February 2, 1865.
The primary intent of the fort was to protect settlers and travelers in the Mesilla Valley from attacks by desperados and Mescalero Apache Indians. Built near the banks of the Rio Grande, the adobe fort housed units of U.S. Army Infantry and Cavalry.
The first troops to occupy the fort were companies of the 125th US Colored Infantry Regiment, a group of African-American enlisted soldiers from Kentucky who had been mustered into the Union Army near the close of the American Civil War. Several of the units assigned later, including the 38th Infantry Regiment, 9th US Cavalry and 10th US Cavalry, all composed of black troopers, sometimes referred to as Buffalo Soldiers. As a testament to their bravery, nine Buffalo Soldiers received the Medal of Honor while serving in New Mexico Territory. [4]
The U. S. Army established Fort Selden in 1865 for the purpose of protecting westward settlers from Native American raids, the post fell into disrepair after the American Civil War. It was ultimately abandoned in 1891, due in large part to the decision to expand Fort Bliss and the lack of any expenditures for repair of the facility.
4. David Pike, Roadside New Mexico: A Guide to Historic Markers, Revised and Expanded Edition, UNM Press, Aug 1, 2015, 160. Fort Selden Cemetery
Other Sources:
Billington, Monroe Lee. New Mexico’s Buffalo Soldiers, 1866 – 1900. Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1991.
Dobak, William A. and Thomas D. Phillips. The Black Regulars 1866-1898. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001.
Schubert, Frank N., ed. Voices Of The Buffalo Soldier: Records, Reports, and Recollections of Military Life and Service in the West. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003.