Second Battle of Independence Facts

October 22, 1864

Key facts about the Second Battle of Independence, which was fought on October 22, 1864, during the Civil War.

Portrait of Alfred Pleasonton

On the morning of October 22, 1864, Major General Alfred Pleasonton’s (pictured here) Union provisional cavalry force engaged the rearguard of Confederate General Sterling Price’s Army of Missouri along the Little Blue River east of Independence. [Wikimedia Commons]

Date

  • October 22, 1864

Location

  •  Independence, Missouri

Campaign

Principal Union Commanders

Principal Confederate Commanders

  • Major General Sterling Price
  • Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby
  • 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 7,000

Number of Confederate Soldiers Engaged

  • Roughly 7,000

Union Casualties

  • Unreported

Confederate Casualties

  • Roughly 400 (killed, wounded, and captured or missing)

Result

  • Union victory

Significance

  • Pleasonton’s victory dashed Price’s hopes of defeating Curtis’ Army of the Border before being caught in the Union vise.