The Battle of Red Buttes

In the fall of 1864, Confederate Major General Sterling Price led approximately 12,000 soldiers on a raid into Missouri. So how does this relate to the Battle of Red Buttes in the Wyoming Territory? Following the defeat of Price and his men, the Confederate threat to the border region of Arkansas, the Indian Territory, Kansas, and Missouri was much reduced; this allowed authorities to transfer soldiers further west to guard the vulnerable trails stretching across Kansas, the Nebraska Territory, and the Dakota Territory from Native Americans. One of the regiments transferred further west was the 11^th Kansas Cavalry whose soldiers were veterans of several actions in the border region.

Steven C. Haack’s article, Peace Be To Their Ashes: The 11^th Kansas Cavalry and The Battle of Red Buttes, chronicles the 26 July 1865 battle as well as the rediscovery of the battle’s location by several veterans in the twentieth century. This article was published in the Summer 2011 issue of Army History and may be read by clicking on the article’s link. I enjoyed learning about a battle that I knew little about—hopefully you will enjoy reading the article as well.