Battle of Little Blue River
Battle of Little Blue River | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby was a key Confederate commander at Little Blue River | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Joseph O. Shelby M. Jeff Thompson Colton Greene | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
2,800 | 5,500 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
At least 20 | At least 34 |
The Battle of Little Blue River was fought on October 21, 1864, as part of
Meanwhile, Blunt had received permission from Major General
The next day Union soldiers commanded by Major General Alfred Pleasonton forced their way across the Little Blue River and retook Independence from the Confederates during the Second Battle of Independence. On October 23, the Confederates were defeated by Curtis and Pleasonton at the Battle of Westport, forcing Price's men to retreat from Missouri.
A study published by the American Battlefield Protection Program in 2011 determined that the Little Blue River battlefield was in fragmented condition and was threatened by highway development. It found that part of the site was potentially eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Background
At the start of the
By the beginning of September 1864, events in the eastern United States, especially the Confederate defeat in the
On September 19, Price's column, named the
Prelude
When the campaign began, Price's force was composed of about 13,000 cavalrymen, but several thousand of these men were poorly armed, and all 14 of the army's cannons were of light
Meanwhile, Union troops commanded by Major General
Dietzler's militia and Blunt's division were grouped under Curtis's command as a new formation known as the
Price halted at
On October 18, Blunt's advance guard, commanded by Moonlight, occupied the town of Lexington, hoping to cooperate with a force commanded by Brigadier General John B. Sanborn to catch and trap Price. However, Sanborn's force was too far south of Lexington to move in concert with Blunt. Additionally, Blunt learned that Price was only 20 miles (32 km) away at Waverly; he also received word from Curtis that the political authorities in Kansas would not allow the latter to send more militiamen to Blunt.[30][31] Blunt then made the decision to reinforce his outer positions and resist the anticipated Confederate advance.[32] Shelby's division attacked the Union line at Lexington on October 19, beginning the Second Battle of Lexington, but Blunt's troops held. The Union troops retreated once Price deployed men of Fagan's and Marmaduke's divisions into the fray.[30]
Battle
Moonlight's stand
After the battle at Lexington, Blunt's forces fell back to the west, Moonlight's brigade serving as the
The Confederates struck at about 07:00 on the morning of October 21, the advance being led by Company D of the
The Union troops holding the burning bridge also retreated, although the Confederates were able to put out the flames, rendering it still usable.[43]
The 11th Kansas Cavalry, with the exception of the isolated company to the south, retreated to a hilltop line marked by a stone wall.
Blunt arrives
Meanwhile, Blunt had been able to get permission from Curtis to fight at the Little Blue River. Blunt then began a return from Independence to the river, bringing his non-militia units and 900 men and six cannons under the command of Colonel
The increased Union numbers began to put substantial pressure on Greene's regiment.
Shelby took advantage of the weakened Union center by pressing the attack harder.[61] Thompson's men began pushing forward. Complicating matters for the Union soldiers was Curtis's decision to send the wagons containing more ammunition back to Independence. With ammunition running low, Nichols's men threatening one flank, and Thompson pressing the Union center, the Union troops began conducting a fighting withdrawal. Blunt placed Ford in charge of the rear guard, although in practice, Moonlight shared command responsibility with Ford, whose men conducted a rear guard maneuver in which the men deployed in two ranks. The front rank resisted the Confederate pursuit until falling back behind the second rank, after which the process was repeated.[63] During the retreat, McLain's Battery was caught in an exposed position, but was rescued by a counterattack made by elements of the 11th Kansas Cavalry.[61][64] Later, these elements of the 11th Kansas Cavalry were also stuck in an exposed position and had to be rescued by a charge from the 2nd Colorado Cavalry.[65] The 11th and 16th Kansas Cavalry and McLain's battery made a stand on a ridge 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Independence, the 16th even making a brief counterattack, but this position had become indefensible by around 15:00 and was abandoned. The Confederates had become disorganized and Blunt used a lull in the fighting to begin to form a line at Independence.[66] By 16:00 large-scale fighting had ended.[65] The retreat to Independence had been over 7 miles (11 km).[59] Later that afternoon, Blunt ordered a retreat to the Big Blue River, which was lightly pursued by the Confederates.[65] Some skirmishing occurred within Independence itself during the retreat.[56] A detail of Union soldiers destroyed some army supplies in the town, while civilians within the town took potshots at the retreating Union troopers. It is not known if the civilian gunmen were pro-Confederates, or were under the mistaken belief that the Union soldiers were guerrillas in captured uniforms, or if they were attempting to hamper the destruction of military supplies, hoping to take them themselves.[67] By nightfall, Curtis's men were on the west side of the Big Blue River, and Price's army was in the Independence area.[65]
Aftermath and preservation
Official casualty numbers are only known for a few units on each side. The 11th and 15th Kansas Cavalries and the 2nd Colorado Cavalry combined had 20 men killed. On the Confederate side, the 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment suffered 31 killed and wounded, while a total of three men were killed between Davies's battalion and the 10th Missouri Cavalry Regiment. Among the Union dead was Major Nelson Smith of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry, while Confederate guerrilla leader George Todd was also killed.[68] Todd had led a group of guerrillas during the battle; he was shot in the throat during the final stages of the action.[69] Confederate surgeon William McPheeters reported that 10 wounded Union soldiers were left in Independence, and that civilians reported about 100 more had been taken with the Union troops during the retreat. McPheeters also noted seeing the bodies of dead Union soldiers strewn along the road from the river to Independence.[70] Historian Mark Lause estimates that the Union may have lost up to about 300 men, and the Confederates more.[71] Shelby later described the fight as the beginning of significant difficulties for his division during the campaign.[72]
The day after the battle, Price sent Shelby south of Curtis's main line along the Big Blue River. In the initial stages of the Battle of Byram's Ford, Shelby's men forced their way across the Big Blue River, causing Curtis to order a withdrawal to Brush Creek. Meanwhile, Union cavalry commanded by Major General Alfred Pleasonton attacked Price's rear guard from the east in the Second Battle of Independence. After pushing across the Little Blue River, Pleasonton's men struck Cabell's Confederate brigade, capturing both men and two cannons, as well as taking the town of Independence.[73] On October 23, Price's men fought the Battle of Westport, where they were defeated by Curtis's and Pleasonton's commands. The Confederates began retreating through Kansas, before reentering Missouri on October 25. Price's survivors eventually reached Texas via Arkansas and the Indian Territory, suffering several defeats along the way. Price lost over two thirds of his men during the campaign.[74]
A study published by the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) in 2011 determined that the Little Blue River battlefield was fragmented,[b] but that there was still potential for future preservation. The study also noted that the site was threatened by highway construction.[76] The battlefield is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but the ABPP found that 2,493.72 acres (1,009.17 ha) are potentially eligible for listing. At the site, 6.50 acres (2.63 ha) are currently under some form of permanent protection. There is public interpretation at the site but no visitor's center.[77] A driving tour, with interpretative markers, has been established for the battlefields of Little Blue and Second Independence together.[78] The site is part of Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area and the Civil War Roundtable of Western Missouri acts as a battlefield friends group.[79]
Notes
References
- ^ a b c Kennedy 1998, p. 382.
- ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 19–20.
- ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 20–25.
- ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 34–37.
- ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 377–379.
- ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 343.
- ^ Parrish 2001, p. 49.
- ^ "Claiborne Fox Jackson, 1861". sos.mo.gov. Missouri State Archives. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
- ^ Collins 2016, pp. 27–28.
- ^ Collins 2016, p. 37.
- ^ a b Collins 2016, p. 39.
- ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 380.
- ^ Collins 2016, pp. 193–195.
- ^ Collins 2016, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 380–382.
- ^ Collins 2016, p. 53.
- ^ Collins 2016, p. 54.
- ^ Collins 2016, p. 65.
- ^ Collins 2016, pp. 60–61.
- ^ a b Sinisi 2020, pp. 160–161.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 157, 160.
- ^ Collins 2016, p. 202.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 161–162.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 160–161, 164.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, p. 160.
- ^ a b Collins 2016, p. 66.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, p. 162.
- ^ Collins 2016, p. 201.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 157, 161.
- ^ a b Collins 2016, p. 67.
- ^ Langsdorf 1964, pp. 288–289.
- ^ Langsdorf 1964, p. 288.
- ^ a b Collins 2016, pp. 70–71.
- ^ Kirkman 2011, p. 83.
- ^ a b Collins 2016, p. 72.
- ^ a b Collins 2016, p. 73.
- ^ a b c Sinisi 2020, pp. 181–182.
- ^ a b Kirkman 2011, p. 86.
- ^ Lause 2016, p. 75.
- ^ Monaghan 1984, pp. 325–326.
- ^ Monnett 1995, pp. 56–57.
- ^ a b Sinisi 2020, p. 183.
- ^ a b c d Lause 2016, p. 76.
- ^ a b Sinisi 2020, pp. 183–184.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, p. 184.
- ^ Monnett 1995, pp. 59–60.
- ^ Kirkman 2011, pp. 84–85.
- ^ a b Collins 2016, p. 77.
- ^ a b Sinisi 2020, p. 185.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, p. 151.
- ^ "McLain's Independent Battery, Colorado Light Artillery". National Park Service. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ a b Lause 2016, p. 77.
- ^ a b c Collins 2016, pp. 74–75.
- ^ O'Flaherty 2000, p. 221.
- ^ a b Sinisi 2020, p. 186.
- ^ a b Gerteis 2012, p. 196.
- ^ Lause 2016, p. 78.
- ^ Monnett 1995, pp. 60–61.
- ^ a b Lause 2016, p. 79.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 186–187.
- ^ a b c d Collins 2016, p. 79.
- ^ Collins 2016, p. 78.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 187–188.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, p. 188.
- ^ a b c d Sinisi 2020, pp. 188–189.
- ^ Lause 2016, p. 81.
- ^ Lause 2016, pp. 81–82.
- ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 188–190.
- ^ Lause 2016, pp. 79, 82.
- ^ Pitcock & Gurley 2002, p. 234.
- ^ Lause 2016, p. 83.
- ^ Castel 1993, p. 229.
- ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 383.
- ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 383–386.
- ^ American Battlefield Protection Program 2011, p. 6.
- ^ American Battlefield Protection Program 2011, p. 9.
- ^ American Battlefield Protection Program 2011, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Weeks 2009, p. 40.
- ^ American Battlefield Protection Program 2011, pp. 26–28.
Sources
- ISBN 0-8071-1854-0.
- Collins, Charles D. Jr. (2016). Battlefield Atlas of Price's Missouri Expedition of 1864 (PDF). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: ISBN 978-1-940804-27-9.
- Gerteis, Louis S. (2012). The Civil War in Missouri. Columbia, Missouri: ISBN 978-0-8262-1972-5.
- Kennedy, Frances H., ed. (1998). The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.). Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-74012-5.
- Kirkman, Paul (2011). The Battle of Westport: Missouri's Great Confederate Raid. Charleston, South Carolina: ISBN 978-1-60949-006-5.
- Langsdorf, Edgar (1964). "Price's Raid and the Battle of Mine Creek" (PDF). ISSN 0022-8621. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- Lause, Mark A. (2016). The Collapse of Price's Raid: The Beginning of the End in Civil War Missouri. Columbia, Missouri: ISBN 978-0-826-22025-7.
- Monaghan, Jay (1984) [1955]. Civil War on the Western Border 1854–1865. Lincoln, Nebraska: ISBN 0-8032-8126-9.
- Monnett, Howard N. (1995) [1964]. Action Before Westport 1864 (Revised ed.). Boulder, Colorado: ISBN 978-0-87081-413-6.
- O'Flaherty, Daniel O. (2000) [1954]. General Jo Shelby: Undefeated Rebel (reprint ed.). Chapel Hill, North Carolina: ISBN 0-8078-4878-6.
- Parrish, William Earl (2001) [1973]. A History of Missouri: 1860–1875. Columbia, Missouri: ISBN 978-0-8262-1376-1.
- Pitcock, Cynthia DeHaven; Gurley, Bill J., eds. (2002). I Acted From Principal: The Civil War Diary of Dr. William M. McPheeters, Confederate Surgeon in the Trans-Mississippi. Fayetteville, Arkansas: ISBN 1-55728-795-3.
- Sinisi, Kyle S. (2020) [2015]. ISBN 978-1-5381-4151-9.
- "Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields: State of Missouri" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: American Battlefield Protection Program. March 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
- Weeks, Michael (2009). The Complete Civil War Road Trip Guide. Woodstock, Vermont: ISBN 978-0-88150-860-4.