Battle of Mine Creek

Description: About six miles south of Trading Post, where the Marais de Cygnes engagement had occurred, the brigades of Col. Frederick W. Benteen and Col. John F. Phillips, of Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton’s Provisional Cavalry Division, overtook the Confederates as they were crossing Mine Creek. These Rebels, stalled by their wagons crossing the ford, had formed a line on the north side of Mine Creek. The Federals, although outnumbered, commenced the attack as additional troops from Pleasonton’s command arrived during the fight. They soon surrounded the Rebels, resulting in the capture of about 600 men and two generals, Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke and Brig. Gen. William L. Cabell. Having lost this many men, Price’s army was doomed. Retreat to friendly territory was the only recourse.

The Battle of Mine Creek, also known as the Battle of the Osage, was a battle that occurred in Kansas as part of Price's Raid during the American Civil War. In one of the largest cavalry engagements of the war, two divisions of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Army of Missouri were routed by two Federal brigades under the command of Colonels Frederick Benteen and John Phillips. This battle was the second of three fought between Price and the Federals on this day; the first had been earlier that morning at Marais des Cygnes a few miles away, while the third would be fought a few hours later at the nearby Marmiton River. Although vastly outnumbered, Union forces won all three engagements, forcing Price out of Kansas and sealing the fate of his disastrous Missouri campaign.

Background

In the fall of 1864, Sterling Price led an expedition into Missouri hoping to capture that state for the Confederacy, or at least to negatively affect Abraham Lincoln's chances for reelection in November. After a series of several battles across that state, Union forces under Maj. Gens. Samuel R. Curtis and Alfred Pleasonton finally defeated Price decisively at the Battle of Westport, in modern Kansas City, Missouri. Price withdrew south toward his base in Arkansas while Pleasonton, commanding a Union cavalry division, pursued him into Kansas hoping to capture or destroy his army before he could reach Confederate territory.

Price's army was hampered by the presence of a rather large supply train, containing upwards of 500 wagons filled with badly-needed war supplies for the South. As he camped along the Marais des Cygnes River near the town of Trading Post in Linn County, Kansas, Price's force was attacked by two Union brigades from Pleasonton's Provisional Cavalry Division. Although unable to prevent the escape of most of the Southern force, Pleasonton's men were able to capture around 100 prisoners and two cannon, forcing Price to continue his withdrawal. Quickly renewing their pu...