Shawnee County Military
Battle of the Big Blue and the 2nd Regiment of the Kansas State Militia
"History of Shawnee County and Representative Citizens," James L. King, 1905
On the 22nd of October, 1864, only ten days after the 2nd Regiment, Kansas State Militia (see roster here) had been mustered in, it was
called upon to engage in battle with a brigade of Price's army, a part of
General Shelby's division, commanded by General Jackman. This was the
famous battle of the Big Blue. It was fought at the Mockabee farm, near a crossing of the Big Blue
River known as Byrom's Ford. Colonel Veale's command was outnumbered
six to one by the enemy, and the latter had the additional advantage of seasoned troops and modern equipment. Against fearful odds Colonel Veale's
men fought desperately for three quarters of an hour, but they were finally
overcome and driven from the field at great loss. The short engagement and
the loss inflicted on the enemy by the raw and untrained recruits from Kansas,
had the effect of checking General Price's advance, and he was ultimately
repulsed.
The dominant feature of the battle of the Blue, as it will live in song and
story, was the wonderful work of the little battery handled by Capt. Ross
Burns and the gunners. The battery was planted in a lane leading from the
Mockabee farm to the crossing of the stream. It withstood two charges from
a strong force of General Jackman's cavalry. The third charge was so powerful, the cavalry riding six abreast and closely massed, that the battery could
not resist it, although Captain Burns stood by his single field-piece until he
was taken prisoner and clubbed into insensibility. Eight of his men were
killed, four wounded, and 10 taken prisoners.
Colonel Veale's total losses were 24 killed, 20 wounded and 68 taken
prisoners. He also lost 100 horses and his only piece of artillery. In all the
official reports the fidelity and courage of the Second Regiment were highly
commended by the commanding officers. A record of the casualties follows:
Killed � J. B. Alverson, Samuel Allen, Nicholas Brown, Moses Banks, C.
H. Budd, Robert Bolls, H. C. Coville, Robert Campbell, Albert Chapman,
James Eagle, David Fultz, George Ginnold, Daniel Handley, Ben Hughes,
McClure Martin, Robert McNoun, Dennis Ray, David Rake, D. M. Race,
Elias Roberts, W. P. Roberts, Lear Selkin, William Mann and Harvey G.
Young.
Wounded � Lieut. -Col. H. M. Greene, Capt. Ross Burns, Capt. H. E.
Bush, Capt. S. B. Miles, Lieut. W. H. Delong, Isaac Bickel, Allen Blandon,
John S. Branner, Brock Crawford, Martin Dreck, Peter Flick, John P. Greer,
H. M. Howard, John Keiser, Dr. A. F. Neeley, James Norris, T. F. Prather,
John Thompson, William P. Thompson and John A. Ward.
Prisoners � James Anderson, Lieut.-Col. John W. Brown, Isaac Bickel,
Samuel Blandon, J. J. W. Clark, L. T. Cook, H. Cunningham, Frank Dawson, H. M. Deming, George Duncan, R. Fitzgerald, George Fix, Henry Fix,
William Flanders, Perry Fleshman, F. M. Fletcher, J. B. Follansbee, Lieut.
H. P. Gilland, Guilford G. Gage, J. T. Gage, J. H. Glenn, James R. Greer,
W. S. Hibbard, R. W. Hoback, J. Holman, C. G. Howard, James Huggins,
Dr. A. J. Huntoon, Baxter Ingrund, Ephraim Johnson, John Reiser, John
Kemp, Robert Kemp, Jacob Kline, Samuel Kosier. J. A. Link, Horace Linn, F.
K. Mackey, John P. Majors, J. S. Markham, William Marx, Oscar McConnell, G. B. McKee, A. G. Miller, Osburn Naylor, Willard S. Nichols, Edward
Pape, J. A. Policy, Alfred Quiett, S. J. Reader, John Reed, John Robinson,
James Russell, Simon Schaffer, Eli Snyder, Jerome Stahl, J. S. Stanfield.
David Stevens, J. B. Taylor, Wallace True, David Vaughn, Lieut. Hiram
Ward, James Warren, E. B. Williams, Levi Williams, Granger Wood, G.
H. Wood and Nelson Young.
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