Fort Ringgold

Fort Ringgold, the southernmost installation of the western tier of forts constructed at the end of the Mexican War, stood guard for nearly a century over the Rio Grande and Rio Grande City. On October 26, 1848, Bvt. Maj. Joseph H. LaMotte led two companies of the First United States Infantry to Davis Landing, near the newly established Rio Grande City in Starr County. The army leased thirty-three acres from Henry Clay Davis, the town founder, whose heirs sold 350 acres to the government for $20,000 in 1878. Known initially as the Post at Davis Landing, the fort bore the names Camp Ringgold and Ringgold Barracks before being named Fort Ringgold in the year of the purchase. The name was in honor of Bvt. Maj. Samuel Ringgold, the first United States Army officer to die from wounds received in the battle of Palo Alto (May 8, 1846); he died on May 11. The military chose the site to protect the area from Indian and Mexican attacks.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.