Fort Sheridan Historical Society

Note:  The following history and pictures document a portion of one soldier's experience at Fort Sheridan around the year 1900.  The history and pictures were provided by R. Ellis concerning his great-grandfather, and are provided here as a possible example of part of what a soldier at Fort Sheridan may have experienced in 1900.  The clothing purchase pages in the pictures are from Henry Weeks' Soldier's Handbook.

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Any opinions expressed in any documents are those of the contributing author and not necessarily the Society.  Although no specific copyright is claimed in the book for the pages shared below, these excerpts are published here under Fair Use provisions.

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Henry Albert Weeks (Smith)

Documented History:  Henry, my great-grandfather, enlisted into the U.S. Army 11 Apr 1899.  He was initially assigned to the 5th Artillery Regiment, Light Battery “D”, stationed at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois.  He was given an Honorable discharge on 10 Apr 1902, from the newly formed 21st Battery, 9th Field Artillery Corps. He enlisted under his mother’s maiden name (Weeks) instead of his given surname of Smith. No reason was ever given for this, and the family only speculated.  The above information was taken from the original discharge paper and photographs I possess. 

Family Oral History:  His primary duty was to take care of a horse, which stepped on his foot during a presidential inspection.  He also fell off of the horse and had an inoperable hernia. It is unknown if his horse helped pulled limber or caisson, and my grandmother falsely believed that he was in the cavalry because of the horse.  His duty to “horse care” is supported by artifacts he retained from the Army such as a horse brush and blanket.

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Artifacts:  In addition to the original pictures, one picture below shows his original discharge papers, horse brush, blanket, Soldier’s Hand Book, cap piece, pins, campaign ribbons, and empty rifle casings from rifle qualification.