Battle of Little Blue River
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| Price's Missouri Expedition |
|---|
| Fort Davidson – Glasgow – 2nd Lexington – Little Blue River – 2nd Independence – Byram's Ford – Westport – Marais des Cygnes – Mine Creek – Marmiton River – 2nd Newtonia |
The Battle of Little Blue River was a battle of the American Civil War, occurring on October 21, 1864 in Jackson County, Missouri during Price's Raid.
Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s march along the Missouri River was slow, providing the Union Army a chance to concentrate. Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, commanding the Department of the Missouri, proposed a pincer movement to trap Price and his army, but he was unable to communicate with Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Department of Kansas, to formalize the plan. Curtis was having problems because many of his troops were Kansas militia (under George Dietzler) and they refused to enter Missouri, but a force of about 2,000 men under the command of Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt did set out for Lexington. He met the Confederate troops at Lexington on October 19 and slowed their progress, but was defeated and retreated. The next day, Blunt’s troops arrived on the Little Blue River, eight miles east of Independence.
The Union force prepared to engage the Confederates again in a strong defensive position on the west bank. Curtis, however, ordered Blunt into Independence while leaving a small force, under Col. Thomas Moonlight, on the Little Blue. The next day, Curtis ordered Blunt to take all of the volunteers and return to the Little Blue. As he neared the stream, he discovered that Moonlight’s small force had burned the bridge as ordered, engaged the enemy, and retreated away from the strong defensive position occupied the day before, crossing the river. Blunt entered the fray and attempted to drive the enemy back beyond the defensive position that he wished to reoccupy. The Union troops forced the Confederates to fall back, at first, but their numerical superiority took its toll in the five-hour battle. The Federals retreated to Independence and went into camp there after dark. Once again, the Confederates had been slowed and more Union reinforcements were arriving.
