Talk:William Ward Duffield

Namesake?
Could he be the namesake for Fort Duffield? Bedford (talk) 17:20, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Colonel Duffield commanded the Ninth Michigan Infantry, which constructed Fort Duffield. I have looked thorough some of my files and have found nothing that called it fort anything during the war years. During November 1861, correspondents to the Jackson, MI, and Detroit, MI, newspapers referred to the Headquarters of the Ninth Infantry as “Camp George Duffield.” The Rev. George Duffield, of Detroit, was Colonel Duffield’s father. After the first of December 1861 the Headquarters was referred to as Camp Blair, possibly in anticipation of a visit by Michigan’s governor, Austin Blair. Correspondents continued to call it Camp Blair until March 1862, when the 9th Infantry left the fort.

Charles Bennett’s Historical Sketches of the Ninth Michigan Infantry discusses the construction of the fort and also calls it Fort Duffield. I seem to recall that it also said the fort was named for George Duffield. I have not looked at that book for a while, so I am relying on memory. I also have copies of letters sent from 9th Michigan soldiers that may refer to the fort by name, but I haven’t looked at them for a while either.

In the mid 1990s, after the town of West Point, KY, began historical preservation of the fort, Fort Duffield was rededicated, to the memory of Colonel William Duffield.--Pat Glesner (talk) 18:47, 26 February 2008 (UTC)