The Enlisted Men

The Enlisted Men. . , Many of the enlisted men in the 1870s were former Civil War soldiers, both black and white. Of the whites who enlisted, around half at any one time were foreign-born, mostly from Ireland, Germany and England. Black enlistees were both ex-slaves and free-born men., Equal Work , Although black and white soldiers were segregated into different regiments, units from these regiments worked side by side on all Army tasks when stationed together. Work assignments were based on rank, not race, meaning that all enlisted men performed the same jobs in the field and at the fort., An Army Travels on Its Stomach , Fort McKavett had one of the most successful gardens of any of the Texas frontier forts, due to its good weather, soil and water. Enlisted men tended the 30-acre gardens and produced tomatoes, squash, peppers, peas, sweet potatoes and pumpkins. Watercress leaves harvested from the river were high in vitamin C and prevented the scurvy that plagued other frontier forts. The fort garden was located straight ahead of you, between the fort and Scabtown., Hustlers and Gamblers , Scabtown, a civilian community that sprang up on the edge of Fort McKavett, provided welcome entertainment for the soldiers but was also a haven for bandits, hustlers, prostitutes and criminals on the run. Black soldiers mixed with white soldiers and civilians of all ethnic backgrounds at Scabtown's saloons and gambling houses. Fueled by alcohol, violence sometimes erupted., Captions , Enlisted men took turns cooking for the soldiers in their unit. This photo shows two field cooks for the 25th Infantry in 1890., Each unit had its own kitchen and mess hall near its barracks where soldiers like these helped the cook prepare dinner each day. You can see the ruins of a Fort McKavett mess hall behind the long barracks ruins to your left., Scabtown, was located straight ahead of you, way off in the distance, across the river. This photo shows the interior of an actual saloon in Fort McKavett's Scabtown.