Kansas 9th Volunteer Cavalry (Union)

First Newtonia

This battle pitted Brig. Gen. James Blunt against Col. J.O. Shelby. Confederate forces numbered 4,000; Union forces numbered about 6,500. It was one of the very few Civil War encounters in which Native Americans fought on both sides. Southern forces had Choctaw, Cherokee, and Chickasaw soldiers, while other Cherokee soldiers fought with the North.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