Jackson County sees brutal warfare during the Civil War
Published on April 20, 2026
Jackson County is celebrating its rich history during its Bicentennial in 2026.
During the Civil War, the county was a fiercely contested region, characterized by brutal guerrilla warfare and major intense battles.
Conflict in the area began in the 1850s when the Kansas-Missouri Border War broke out between pro-slavery Missourians and anti-slavery settlers for the control of the Kansas Territory, a period also known as “Bleeding Kansas”.
By the time Confederate artillery attacked Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, the people along the Missouri-Kansas border had endured five years of partisan violence.
Missouri held a convention in early 1861 to address the question of secession and delegates voted overwhelmingly to stay with the Union. However, the growing frustration with the Union’s policies over time led many to shift their sympathies to the South.
In late September of 1861, William Quantrill, who had been fighting with General Sterling Price, went to Blue Springs to form his own partisan unit of men. That unit later became known as Quantrill’s Raiders.
Jackson County saw four major battles during the Civil War beginning with the First Battle of Independence on August 11, 1862. Union Forces had marched into Independence and taken three main positions, their camp near a rock wall, the bank building and the county jail.
Col. John T. Hughes’ Confederate force, aided by William Quantrill’s guerillas, attacked Independence before dawn. They drove through town to the Union Army Camp, delivering a deadly volley to the sleeping men.
Federal troops formed behind the rock wall and a nearby ditch. The Rebels made several attacks against the wall but never succeeded in taking it. Union Lt. Col. James T. Buel later surrendered. About 150 of his men were paroled while the remainder had escaped, hidden or been killed.
Days following the battle in Independence, on August 15, Union Major Emory Foster led a 740-man combined force from Lexington to Lone Jack. Upon reaching the Lone Jack area Foster prepared to attack the 800 rebels camped near town. At about 11 p.m., Foster and his men attacked the Confederate camp and dispersed the enemy.
The firing of cannons during the skirmish alerted Col. Vard Cockrell and other rebel commands in the area. Cockrell and the others met and decided to attack the next morning with the intent of overwhelming the smaller Union force.
After five hours of fighting, Union soldiers were forced to retreat and return to Lexington. Confederates secured the victory, but the approach of greater Union forces forced the Rebels to abandon Lone Jack on August 17.
Union losses were reported as 43 killed, 154 wounded and 75 missing or captured. A Rebel Colonel reported burying 119 Federals and 47 Rebels, but the true losses are unknown.
Confederate guerilla and later outlaw leader Cole Younger was notable for his actions at Lone Jack, riding along the front lines to supply the troops. When Younger was captured during the James-Younger Gang robbery of the Northfield, Minnesota First National Bank, Foster, who was then the editor of the St. Louis Evening Journal, argued for clemency for him.
The Union army believed that Confederate guerrillas were being supported by the rural population of four Missouri counties on the Kansas border. Following the August 21, 1863, Lawrence Massacre, Federal forces were determined to end such raiding by any means necessary.
Four days after the slaughter in Lawrence, General Thomas Ewing, Jr., issued General Order No. 11. Ewing’s decree ordered the expulsion of all residents in Jackson, Bates, Cass and the northern part of Vernon counties. The only exception for those living within one mile of the town limits of Independence, Hickman Mills, Pleasant Hill and Harrisonville. Also, the area of Kansas City north of Brush Creek and west of the Blue River was spared.
Those who could prove their loyalty to the Union were permitted to stay in the area but had to leave their farms. Those who could not do so had to vacate the area completely.
The order was intended to deprive Confederate guerrillas of material support, but its severity and the nature of its enforcement ultimately led to conditions in which guerrillas were given greater support and access to supplies than before.
The order did not end the guerrilla war but instead moved the bushwhackers out of the region and into central Missouri. It was repealed in January 1864, after a new general took command of Union forces in the region.
As the war turned against the Confederacy in September of 1864, Confederate Major General Sterling Price led his Army of Missouri into Missouri hoping to capture the state for the South and impede President Lincoln’s chances for reelection. The expedition experienced several victories but abandoned the target of St. Louis after finding it too heavily fortified. Price then turned his troops to the west to threaten Jefferson City, but once again found his target to be heavily fortified and turned further west toward Fort Leavenworth.
Price’s Army was being pursued by Union Major General Samuel Curtis’s Army to its west and Major General Alfred Pleasonton’s Provisional Cavalry Division to the east. Price was aware of the forces to his front and rear, which together outnumbered him nearly three-to-one, so he determined to deal with them one at a time. He decided to attack Curtis' army first, at Westport.
Price’s men contacted Curtis’ troops at the Little Blue River on October 21. After forcing the Union soldiers to retreat, the Confederates occupied the city of Independence. The next day began the Second Battle of Independence when two Union brigades forced the Confederates through Independence, capturing two cannons and 300 men.
The Rebels regrouped southwest of town and by the end of the day most had fallen back across the Big Blue River.
During that time, three Union brigades had taken up positions along Brush Creek with an artillery battery in support on an east-west line. Two regiments of cavalry filled the gaps.
Early on October 23, Confederate forces attacked from the south with the majority of the Army of Missouri. The Confederates gained an early advantage but the longer the fight went on, the more Kansas Militia joined the Union forces. The battle reached a stalemate as the federals could not push the rebels back and rebels were unable to break the federal line.
Curtis was able to find a weak point in the Rebel lines, and along with the 9th Wisconsin Battery, opened fire upon the Confederate flank and rear. The Confederates pulled back to their last line of defense along the road south of Forest Hill (present day Gregory Boulevard).
Curtis ordered a general advance of the entire Union line. When a cannon battery arrived in support Curtis’ men, the Confederates finally broke and fled. Price’s men set fire to prairie grass in the area to create a smoke screen covering their withdrawal.
The Battle of Westport was the largest battle of the Civil War west of the Mississippi River with more than 30,000 troops involved. Both sides suffered around 1,500 in killed, wounded and missing. Many historians have called the battle the “Gettysburg of the West”.
Price’s Army of Missouri was left in tatters following the battle leaving it incapable of any future significant operations. Most of the large guerrilla bands in Missouri followed Price into Arkansas, practically ending the bushwhacker and Confederate military activity in the state.