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Second Battle of Newtonia 1864

Second Battle of Newtonia: Beanfield south of Newtonia MO
Image: Hog Farm, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date28 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
Coordinates36.8739, -94.1903Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Second Battle of Newtonia was fought on October 28, 1864, near Newtonia, Missouri, between cavalry commanded by Major General James G. Blunt of the Union Army and Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby's rear guard of the Confederate Army of Missouri. In September 1864, Confederate Major General Sterling Price had entered the state of Missouri with hopes of creating a popular uprising against Union control of the state. A defeat at the Battle of Pilot Knob in late September and the strength of Union positions at Jefferson City led Price to abandon the main objectives of the campaign; instead he moved his force west towards Kansas City, where it was badly defeated at the Battle of Westport by Major General Samuel R. Curtis on October 23. Following a set of three defeats on October 25, Price's army halted to rest near Newtonia on October 28.

On the afternoon of the 28th, Union pursuers commanded by Blunt caught up with Price and drove back his skirmishers. Price ordered the withdrawal of his main army, and tasked Shelby with holding a rear guard. Shelby initially had a numerical advantage, and used it to outflank Blunt's shorter line.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Second Battle of Newtonia (revision 1375654433), 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

36.8739, -94.1903 · United States

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Nearby battles

Other battles of the American Civil War

All 498 battles of the American Civil War →

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

Further reading