Musings

Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield State Historic Site, Kansas Historical Society, 20485 Kansas Highway 52, Pleasanton, Kansas; Allison Hamilton and Jim Dick, Co-Site Administrators; www.kshs.org/mine_creek

Throughout Missouri one finds tributes to Major General Sterling Price, of the Confederate States Army – a plaque in Jefferson City, a monument in Keytesville, and a memorial at the Springfield National Cemetery.  At Loose Park in Kansas City, bronze plaques tell the story of the Battle of Westport – the largest battle of the Civil War west of the Mississippi.  Westport is where Price and his 10,000 soldiers were turned back from Kansas City, but his forces remained largely intact, and he headed south through eastern Kansas to continue raiding and accumulating supplies and recruits.  Price’s campaign was the “last gasp” for the South as that cause was becoming increasingly hopeless by the fall of 1864.  A successful march through Missouri and Kansas might change the course of the war and rally support for the Confederacy.  On October 25, 1864, those hopes were dashed on a mostly forgotten Kansas prairie far from any cities and absent any reporters to publicize the event. 

The Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield State Historical Site tells of Price’s final defeat and the largest cavalry engagement of the Civil War.  Through film, exhibits, artifacts, and a walking trail on the site of the battle, the story unfolds on a landscape largely unchanged since that fateful day almost 160 years ago.  While Missouri celebrates the Confederacy by honoring Price and his memory, this grass field contains the history of how a man’s ambition came to a bloody, decisive end in the free state of Kansas.

The site consists of a modern brick building that opens to large windows overlooking the battlefield.  The immediate impression is that you are among one of the Union cavalry brigades staring at the 7,000 confederates trapped between you and Mine Creek a few hundred yards directly south.  Beyond the creek the vanguard of Sterling’s army had already traveled across and were safely beyond reach of the closing Union forces.  Upon advice from the on-site staff the best introduction to what you are about to learn is in the nearby film room, the History Channel’s film, “Mine Creek: The Lost Battle of the Civil War” (2004).  The 30-minute film provides the context for the battle within the overall arc of the Civil War.  It describes Sterling Price’s mostly unsuccessful campaign from Arkansas to St. Louis, Jefferson City, Kansas City (Westport) and then how it died at this difficult creek crossing on his way to attack Fort Scott.  Display panels throughout the main gallery guide the visitor through the timeline of the battle on that day.  The scripts include a balanced perspective from soldiers and leaders from both the Confederate and Union armies’ perspectives. 

The stories of how local citizens cared for the dead and wounded after the battle are included in the narratives.  Especially powerful are the quotes from area women that witnessed the battle and nursed the injured.   The final panels explain how the losses in this obscure location caused Price to give up on any more attacks in Kansas. He then abandoned several hundred wagons of supplies scavenged during the campaign and made his way back to safety in Arkansas. On the retreat recent volunteers and regular soldiers deserted him in droves.

Well-marked walking trails take you to the forested area of Mine Creek.  In the trees one can almost feel what it was like to be fleeing the Union Army with bullets and cannon shot whizzing by as you tried to get horses, wagons and wounded across the steep creek banks.  As there are no buildings, roads, or fences nearby…the feeling is eerily authentic and open to imagination.  Especially poignant is a small memorial to the hundreds of dead Confederates that were buried in shallow mass graves or left to rot where they fell.  Fittingly, this marker makes no mention of their leaders’ mistakes or the virtues of their cause…it merely remarks that these were men that died fighting for their beliefs without further comment.

The museum and the battlefield are an appropriate public memory of this relatively obscure but significant battle.  It provides a visceral experience and thoroughly explains the differences in strategy, resources, and technology that enabled a smaller force of Union cavalry to rout a larger host of Confederates. The understated building and muted surroundings provide a quiet, reverent setting to tell this story and honor the sacrifices made on both sides.

     James Meeks, Student, University of Missouri-Kansas City