Kansas 2nd Volunteer Cavalry (Union)

Perryville

On October 7, 1862, Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio, in pursuit of Gen Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi, approached the crossroads town of Perryville, Kentucky. Union forces skirmished with Confederates on the Springfield Pike before heavy fighting began on Peters Hill. The next day, fighting continued as a Union division advanced up the pike. After noon, a Confederate division struck the Union left flank and forced it to fall back. When more Confederates joined the fray, the Union line ma…READ MORE

Prairie Grove

Nine months after their victory at Pea Ridge, the Union Army of the Frontier in the area was geographically divided. One division under Brig. Gen. James Blunt remained in the northwestern part of Arkansas, and the second under Brig. Gen. Francis Herron was stationed around the Missouri capital of Springfield. The Confederates, hoping to use Arkansas as a base for operations into the border state of Missouri, looked to defeat the Union armies in the area. Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman gathered a Confederate f…READ MORE

Devil's Backbone

Confident that they had cleared Confederates from the Indian Territory of modern-day Oklahoma, Federal commander Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt turned his attention to the Rebel presence around nearby Fort Smith, Arkansas. Capturing the fort without incident the morning of September 1st, 1863, shortly after the Confederates evacuated it, Blunt ordered a pursuit of the fleeing Rebels. Col. William Cloud organized a 1,500-man column of two cavalry regiments and an artillery battery and headed south. Fifteen miles…READ MORE

Poison Spring

Poison Spring State Park is a day use park complete with picnic furnishings, a trail and a diorama summarizing the Battle of Poison Spring. This site is dedicated to the battle fought there April 18, 1864, during the Camden expedition of the Red River Campaign. Confederate troops attacked Union soldiers returning from taking supplies from Camden, Arkansas.READ MORE