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Battle of Marais des Cygnes 1864

Battle of Marais des Cygnes: Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge
Image: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date25 October 1864Wikidata
Year1864Wikidata P585 (point in time)
Era19th century (1800–1913)derived from year
LocationUnited StatesNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentNorth AmericaNatural Earth
War / conflictAmerican Civil WarWikidata P361
Coordinates38.2552, -94.6783Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of Marais des Cygnes () took place on October 25, 1864, in Linn County, Kansas, during Price's Missouri Campaign during the American Civil War. It is also known as the Battle of Trading Post. In late 1864, Confederate Major-General Sterling Price invaded the state of Missouri with a cavalry force, attempting to draw Union troops away from the primary theaters of fighting further east. After several victories early in the campaign, Price's Confederate troops were defeated at the Battle of Westport on October 23 near Kansas City, Missouri. The Confederates then withdrew into Kansas, camping along the banks of the Marais des Cygnes River on the night of October 24. Union cavalry pursuers under Brigadier General John B. Sanborn skirmished with Price's rearguard that night, but disengaged without participating in heavy combat.

Overnight, Sanborn's troops were reinforced by cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel Frederick W. Benteen, bringing the total Union strength to 3,500. The battle began early the next morning as Sanborn drove Major General John S. Marmaduke's Confederate rearguard from its position north of the river. Union troops captured cannons, prisoners, and wagons during this stage of the fighting.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Marais des Cygnes (revision 1370268982), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

38.2552, -94.6783 · United States

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Nearby battles

Other battles of the American Civil War

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Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles

Further reading