Fort Brown

this is a retraction of what was written early on Fort Brown.  We had looked long and hard for Fort Brown, there was a big sign on the road leading us to Fort Brown.  we could not find it..  we drove around the area at least 4 times looking for more signs and the fort.  when we did not find it we assumed (we are not good at assuming) that the brick fence with barb wire on the top right on the border was it and that it was still active.  Well... we were wrong!!  looking in books etc we found out that the fort was located on the university grounds and the golf course!  there were no signs for buildings or even placards..  so here is the truth (as found on the internet)...

Although small and relatively unknown, Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas was nonetheless important in the changing tides of history of two neighboring nations, the United States and Mexico.

The original Fort Brown, shaped from dirt on the banks of the Rio Grande River, was hotly contested in the earliest battles of the Mexican-American War, which began in 1846. Later rebuilt nearby, Fort Brown was the base for soldiers hunting an outlaw many Mexicans considered a folk hero.

When the Civil War erupted in the United States in 1861, Fort Brown again became a flash point of contention. Confederates seized control, then were ousted by the Union, only to have the Confederates recapture ownership. In fact, Confederates based at Fort Brown galloped into one of the very last, if not the final, land battles of the Civil War.

In following years, Fort Brown, rebuilt a third time in 1867, was the scene of deadly racial turmoil and medical experimentation leading to a cure for dreaded yellow fever.

Some of North America's most renown military leaders participated in Fort Brown's history, including two future United States presidents and two men destined to be president of Mexico. The famous African-American troops, the Buffalo Soldiers, were stationed at Fort Brown and the first military airplane ever fired on in battle took off from the post

Not much of the original fort remains. A national cemetery was once located on the island in the resaca; the cemetery is gone. Most of the remaining original structures are limited to the area around the Post Hospital (this is where the coordinates will put you), including its annex, a handful of officers’ quarters, the morgue, the commissary/guard house, and the cavalry building. With the old buildings inter-connected by wooden boardwalks and surrounded by lush landscaping, it’s a very pleasant area of campus to stroll around. Unfortunately, the Border Wall is designed to cut through the middle of the campus. The old breastworks of the fort are now grass covered mounds, located in the northern corner adjacent to the golf course. Here you can find an upended cannon that allegedly marks the spot where Major Brown died. Also near-by is a marker with a table indicating the location and dimensions of the original fort - earthworks with an 800-yard perimeter, 9½ feet high, six bastions, a 15-foot wide parapet wall, and a surrounding ditch, 8½-feet deep and 20 feet wide.

We never found the marker...  but we did not walk around the campus.  maybe next time we are in Brownsville..