Mound City's post

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Mound City's post
Mound City, Kansas
Coordinates 38°08′44″N94°48′55″W / 38.1455°N 94.8154°W / 38.1455; -94.8154 Coordinates: 38°08′44″N94°48′55″W / 38.1455°N 94.8154°W / 38.1455; -94.8154
Type U.S. Army Civil War post
Site information
Controlled byU.S. Army
Site history
Built1860
In use1860 to ca. June 1865
Materialswood, stone, brick
Garrison information
Past
commanders		Col. Charles R. Jennison, Lieut. Peter J. Mizerez, Col. Thomas Moonlight, Capt. Louis F. Green, Lieut. Col. S. A. Drake, Col. George H. Hoyt, Capt. Hobart M. Stocking, Maj. John M. Laing, Capt. Henry L. Barker
Garrisonsame

Mound City's post was established by 1860 in Mound City, Kansas, United States. In August 1861 U.S. Senator James H. Lane reported to the commander of Fort Leavenworth that the post was to be fortified. In fact, Mound City's post became one of the important posts guarding against Confederate guerrilla attacks along the Kansas-Missouri border. Through the War usually 200 to 300 troops at a time were stationed at the post. [1] [2]

Contents

Probably the most well known commander of this post was Charles Jennison, a notorious Jayhawker and Redleg, who commanded men who committed numerous depredations against Missourians who they assumed were all disloyal to the Union. Eventually Jennison's excesses caught up with him and he removed as the post's commander, arrested and finally was dishonorably discharged from the Army on June 23, 1865. [3]

First Battle

Nothing out of the routine happened at Mound City until fall 1864, when Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price was nearing the end of a large raid through Missouri. As happened with other eastern Kansas military posts, the Mound City post found itself in the way of Price's army as it retreated south along the Kansas-Missouri border. Various troops were moved into and out of Mound City. Just after daybreak on October 25, 1864, 600 Confederates attacked the town, but were easily driven off by men commanded by Col. Thomas Moonlight. Lieut. Col. S. A. Drake and 300 men arrived at 7 A.M. and Moonlight left at 10 A.M. with most of his men, leaving Drake with 550 men. [4] [5]

Meanwhile, about 5 miles (8.0 km) to the east, the last major battle with Price's men started before dawn and raged all day. This conflict, the Battle of Mine Creek, was the final Union victory driving Price from Kansas and Missouri.

Moonlight's departure was witnessed by some of Price's scouts. Shortly after Moonlight left Mound City, 150 Confederates, probably guerrillas, attacked Drake's men from a cornfield on the northeast edge of town. These Confederates were more persistent than those who attacked at dawn and it took Drake some effort to drive them off. There was at least one Union soldier killed and a number of men on both sides were wounded. It was said eighteen Confederates were captured in this battle. [6] [7]

The Wounded

Two hours before dawn the next day Maj. Samuel B. Davis and J. R. Brown, an agent of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, arrived on the Mine Creek battlefield to determine how many wounded were on the battlefield and how to tend to them. When dawn came, many of the wounded from both sides were loaded on ambulances and taken to Mound City, where a hospital was set up. The Union and Confederate wounded troops were put into separate buildings. It ended up that a number of buildings, including the post commissary, in town were used to house the wounded. Fifty-six Union and sixty-two Confederate wounded soldiers were taken to Mound City. Fort Leavenworth received 300 wounded from Mine Creek. [8] [9] [10]

As the wounded improved they were sent away. Sixteen of the Confederate and three of the Union wounded died. The last wounded were sent away in April 1865. The post in town remained even then, but was scaled down. Probably the post was discontinued in June 1865. [11] [12] [13]

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Of the brigades listed below, only Philips' and Benteen's brigades, and a small part of Sanborn's brigade from the Union Army of the Border fought in the Battle of Mine Creek of the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately. The entire organization of the Army of the Border is shown.

During the Civil War, Coldwater Grove existed 13½ miles east of Paola, Kansas, in Miami County. It straddled the Kansas-Missouri border, being partly in both states. About June 1863 a Union military post was established on the Kansas side of the community and the post was put under the command of Lt. Col. Charles S. Clark. Clark also commanded four nearby posts.

Potosi's post, in eastern Linn County, Kansas, was established at the small town of Potosi, Kansas, founded in 1857 by those loyal to the southern cause in Kansas. The other side, the free-staters, soon gained control of the town and it was loyal to the Union when the Civil War broke out in 1861. Potosi was located along the north bank of Mine Creek and it was along the military road running from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Gibson. At its height the town had thirty residents, a store and a post office.

Paola's post, sometimes called Post Paola, in Miami County, Kansas, was located on the west side of Bull Creek, just west of Paola, Kansas. It was probably established in December 1861, as that was the first time it was mentioned. This post became one of the more important posts along the Kansas-Missouri border during the Civil War. It became a district headquarters in 1863. Later, in September 1864, it was designated a subdistrict headquarters, when the district headquarters was moved to Lawrence, Kansas. The military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Gibson ran through Paola, thus ensuring the post always had some importance.

In 1842 a large log fort was built at Trading Post by the United States Army, upon the order of Gen. Winfield Scott. This fort was on the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Gibson Military Road. The completed fort was fairly elaborate. It included space to house a company of dragoons and their horses. Also, it contained a hospital and store houses. Gaps along the outside walls of buildings were filled in with stockade walls. The buildings were built around a large interior open area.

Harris's Missouri Battery was an artillery battery that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery was organized in early 1864 when the 13th Missouri Light Battery was reorganized in a process that may not have been officially approved; Captain Samuel Stanhope Harris commanded the new unit. The battery fought in the Camden Expedition in early 1864, seeing action in the Battle of Prairie D'Ane and the Battle of Poison Spring in April. In June, the battery was present at the Battle of Ditch Bayou. Harris's Battery accompanied Sterling Price during his raid into Missouri in late 1864, during which it fought at the battles of Pilot Knob, Glasgow, Little Blue River, Big Blue River, and Mine Creek, as well as several smaller skirmishes. At Mine Creek, the battery's cannons were captured. On May 26, 1865, the battery surrendered; the men of the battery were paroled.

Slayback's Missouri Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Originally formed as Slayback's Missouri Cavalry Battalion, the unit consisted of men recruited in Missouri by Lieutenant Colonel Alonzo W. Slayback during Price's Raid in 1864. The battalion's first action was at the Battle of Pilot Knob on September 27; it later participated in actions at Sedalia, Lexington, and the Little Blue River. In October, the unit was used to find an alternate river crossing during the Battle of the Big Blue River. Later that month, Slayback's unit saw action at the battles of Westport, Marmiton River, and Second Newtonia. The battalion was briefly furloughed in Arkansas before rejoining Major General Sterling Price in Texas in December. Probably around February 1865, the battalion reached official regimental strength after more recruits joined.

References

  1. ↑ A Little History about Mound City, Kansas, and Our Neighbors (N.p.: n.d.), pp. 2, 6, 23.
  2. ↑ William C. Pollard, Jr., "Forts and Military Posts in Kansas: 1854-1865" (Ph.D. dissertation, Faith Baptist College and Seminary, 1997), p. 140.
  3. ↑ A Little History about Mound City, pp. 44-5.
  4. ↑ A Little History about Mound City, p. 23.
  5. ↑ Fred K, Schultz, "Marais des Cygnes River, Mo., eng. at," in Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War, first ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1986), p. 474.
  6. ↑ A Little History about Mound City, p. 23.
  7. ↑ Lumer F. Buresh, October 25th and the Battle of Mine Creek (Kansas City: Lowell Press, 1977), pp. 160-1.
  8. ↑ Maj. Samuel B. Davis, report, War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893), Series I, Vol. XLI, Part I, pp. 552-4.
  9. ↑ A Little History about Mound City, pp. 23, 44.
  10. ↑ Laura L. Lowe, "The Old School House," Mound City Progress, June 1, 1905, p. 2.
  11. ↑ A Little History about Mound City, pp. 44-5.
  12. ↑ Buresh, pp. 153-4.
  13. ↑ Kansas Asst. Adjutant-General Capt. John Pratt, report to Col. U. B. Pearsall, War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896), Series I, Vol. XLVIII, Part II, p. 787.
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