Battle of Mine Creek
Historical Aliases: Mine Creek Cavalry Clash · Battle of Mine Creek (Kansas)
Date: 1864-10-25 · Location: Mine Creek Crossing, near Pleasanton, Linn County (Linn County, Kansas)
Federal (Union) Command
Benteen and Philips launched an aggressive mounted charge across open prairie, breaking Confederate lines and capturing two general officers.
Estimated Strength: ~2,600 troops
Estimated Casualties: ~100
Confederate Command
Marmaduke and Fagan formed a defensive line to protect the bogged wagon train, but were rapidly overwhelmed by repeating carbine fire and mounted cavalry.
Estimated Strength: ~7,000 troops
Estimated Casualties: ~1,200
Strategic Significance
Shattered Price’s Confederate rear guard and captured key general officers, turning the Confederate retreat into an irreversible rout.Tactical Engagement Summary
Fought on October 25, 1864, two days after Westport, the Battle of Mine Creek occurred in Linn County, Kansas, during Price’s southward retreat corridor. Stalled by an unwieldy wagon train bottlenecked at the steep, muddy banks of Mine Creek, Confederate divisions under Maj. Gen. John S. Marmaduke and Maj. Gen. James F. Fagan turned to make a defensive stand in open prairie. Two vanguard Federal cavalry brigades under Col. Frederick W. Benteen and Col. John F. Philips, numbering approximately 2,600 men armed with repeating carbines, charged directly into the Confederate line of nearly 7,000 men. The ferocity and speed of the mounted charge shattered the Confederate formation. In less than thirty minutes, Union cavalry captured Confederate generals Marmaduke and Cabell, hundreds of enlisted men, and eight artillery pieces.
Civilian & Community Context
Fought on open prairie along the Military Road in eastern Kansas; local homesteads witnessed the chaotic passage of retreating columns and pursuing cavalry.Archival Provenance & Sources2 cited
Repository: U.S. War Department / Government Printing Office|Locator: Series I, Vol. XLI, Part 1, Reports, pp. 307–335
"Official dispatches of Pleasonton, Curtis, Benteen, and Marmaduke detailing the cavalry engagement at Mine Creek on October 25, 1864."
Provenance: U.S. War Department compilation published 1893.
Repository: National Park Service, American Battlefield Protection Program|Locator: Battle Summary KS003
"CWSAC evaluation of the Mine Creek battlefield in Linn County, Kansas, documenting casualty counts and historic preservation boundaries."
Provenance: National Park Service battlefield classification survey.