Battle of Mine Creek Facts

October 25, 1864

Key facts about the Battle of Mine Creek, the largest Civil War conflict fought in Kansas, and one of the larger cavalry engagements of the war.

Portrait of Alfred Pleasonton

On the morning of October 25, 1864, two brigades of Union General Alfred Pleasonton’s Provisional Cavalry Division defeated the rearguard of the retreating Confederate Army of Missouri at the Battle of Mine Creek. [Wikimedia Commons]

Date

  • October 25, 1864

Location

  •  Linn County, Kansas

Campaign

Principal Union Commanders

  • Major General Alfred Pleasonton
  • Lieutenant Colonel Frederick W. Benteen
  • Colonel John F. Philips

Principal Confederate Commanders

  • Major General Sterling Price
  • Major General James F. Fagan
  • Major General John S. Marmaduke

Union Forces Engaged

  • Pleasonton’s Provisional Cavalry Division

Confederate Forces Engaged

Number of Union Soldiers Engaged

  • Roughly 2,500

Number of Confederate Soldiers Engaged

  • Roughly 7,000

Union Casualties

  • Roughly 100 (94 wounded, 15 killed, and one captured)

Confederate Casualties

  • Roughly 1,100 (250 wounded, 300 killed, and 600 captured)

Result

  • Union victory

Significance

  • The Battle of Mine Creek was the largest Civil War conflict fought in Kansas, and one of the larger cavalry engagements of the war.
  • Pleasonton’s decisive victory decimated Price’s Army of Missouri.
  • The Federals also captured two Confederate generals John S. Marmaduke and William L. Cabell.