Jackson County Military Records
Battle of Little Shoal
by Judy Johnson
Sunday, February 6, 2000
Second Part of Battle of Little Blue
October, 1864
This is the second article about the Battle of the Little Blue. Information about the subsequent owners of the 1856 Lawson Moore house and the property on which it was built will appear in a future issue of the Gazette Weekly.
When Dr. William Moore Bowring noted in his journal that Confederate Generals Price, Marmaduke, and Shelby's armies were riding south of Wellington, at that time he knew only that the soldiers were headed west. In her book, Jackson County Pioneers, Pearl Wilcox wrote "on October 20, Price's army encamped at Fire Prairie Creek" and the following narrative is also an excerpt from her book; Capt. H. E. Palmer of Company A, 11th Kansas regiment, rode all night to be ready for battle.
He stated: when we reached Little Blue we got a ration of shelled corn for our horses, some hardtack, and ammunition for the men and a short sleep. October 20, was spent by our command informing obstruction, falling trees to block the road. By this means hoping to delay the enemy as long as possible at the Little Blue. October 21, the enemy appeared. I had been awake but a few minutes and was trying to sew a rent in my trousers...I had to jump for my horse and see that my men were promptly in line for battle, and, having no time to put on trousers, threw them across the saddle and went into the fight. They kept up busy for an hour or two trying to prevent their crossing the stream. Under sharp fire we ran a wagonload of hay onto the bridge and set it on fire. But it had no particular effect as far as stopping the enemy, for the stream was not a bad one to cross, there being fords along and below and we soon felt the string of enemy bullets on our left and right flanks. (One of the two natural fords on this stretch of the Little Blue River is at what we know as Ripley and the other is further north.)
The stone fences on the Lawson Moore farm were used as breastworks by the Federal forces. Mrs. Wilcox continues with her research: William S. Shepherd, Union soldier, and a farm boy of sixteen were behind that fence. Shepherd said:
Two hundred yards east, stood a large 2-story brick house, surrounded by sheds, elms and apple trees. They were alive with Confederate soldiers, firing from doors, windows, roofs and from behind trees. We moved behind the stone fence, surrounding the place, and I piled some fence rails in front of me for a barricade. Then I pointed my long torn rifle across the toprail and began firing. A corporal came along and jerked me down, cursing me for carelessness. He showed me how to reload lying on my back, using my feet to hold the stock of the rifle. The brick house was struck near the roof by a shell and the Confederates came from the doors and windows like grasshoppers, running into the cornfield filled with Yankees. But their reinforcements came up and pressed back the Federals who were presently ordered to retire.
In the Mexican War, General Samuel R. Curtis had created a highly successful espionage system. During the Civil War he recruited spies in southwestern Missouri; one of them was Wild Bill Hickock. He was spying on the Confederates while riding with General Price's army during the time period of the Battle of the Little Blue. Although the Confederates eventually retreated, for most of the running battle they were winning.
General Blunt and his troops pursued Price's army from Westport. Across the Little Osage the road forked. The east branch went to Missouri; the west road led to Fort Scott, Kansas 20 miles away. Price's army formed for another stand. Blunt and his men came within one half mile of the Confederates. The Federals elected to go to Fort Scott. When ordered to fight, both
Generals Blunt and Pleasanton refused -- their men were exhausted. General Samuel R. Curtis followed General Sterling. Price's army to the Arkansas River where he called a halt. The Federals fired a parting salute of 24 shots at the great plains beyond and turned back north.
(References: Diary of a Town, Wellington, Missouri, Joanne Chiles Eakin; Jackson County Pioneers, Pearl Wilcox; and Civil War on the Western Border 1854-1865, Jay Monaghan)