This almanac outlines the political and military events in the editorial focus of WindingRiver.com -- western Missouri and eastern Kansas. In some cases entries have been made for events outside this geographic area when those events seemed to weigh heavily on issues and events related to our editorial focus.  Learn more about the objectives, sources and how your organization can participate in building this Almanac  -- Click Here.

The Civil War in Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas -- 1862
January     February     March     April     May     June     July    
August     September     October     November     December

Monthly installments to this Almanac will be made on the 20th of each month.
Read more about WindingRiver.com projects related to the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War.

January 1

• The 1st Kansas Cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel D. R. Anthony, occupies Dayton (Cass) at dawn to attack a supposed Confederate recruiting camp. Any recruits in the area had scattered at Anthony’s approach. Most of the residents of Dayton had also fled and there were only two male inhabitants left in town.  Of the 46 houses in town all but the one belonging to a Union man were burned.

January 2

• Rose Hill (Johnson) is occupied by the 1st Kansas Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel D. R. Anthony.

January 5

• The 1st Kansas Cavalry under the command of Major Herrick moved upon Holden (Johnson) from Camp Johnson at Morristown (Cass) in response to threats against Union men in the area by Confederates under the command of Colonel Elliott.

January 9 (approximately)

• Captain Merriman of the 1st Kansas Cavalry occupies Columbus (Johnson) where it is rumored Colonel Elliott had made his headquarters.  When Colonel Elliott was not found in Columbus, the 1st Kansas Cavalry retreated one-half mile out of town, where they were ambushed by the Confederates with a loss of five men killed. After reinforcements arrived Merriman burned the town of Columbus on the grounds that it was a rendezvous for rebels.  Approximately 60 Union families from the Johnson County area, abandoning their homes and seeking safety, traveled with Captain Merriman back to Camp Johnson at Morristown (Cass).  Also liberated by the 1st Kansas Cavalry were 60 horses, mules and young stock belonging to those considered sympathetic to Colonel Elliott.

January 11 (approximately)

• The 1st Kansas Cavalry burns over 40 houses of supposed southern sympathizers in the Rose Hill (Johnson) area.

January 15

• Indians, in support of the Union, are driven out of Indian Territory and into Kansas. They locate on Fall River in southern Kansas.

January 20-24

• Federal operations in and about Atchison (Atchison, KS) quell alleged jayhawking activities.  See the official report of Captain Irving W. Fuller, 1st Missouri Cavalry.

January 21

• The Kansas Supreme Court, with Chief Justice Thomas Ewing, Jr. presiding, declares the 1861 Kansas Governor election illegal. Thus, Governor Robinson was to retain his office much to the consternation of U.S. Senator James Lane.

January 22

• Skirmish at Knob Noster (Johnson)

January 23

• Opotheyoholo, Chief of the Creek Nation, meets with Federal authorities at Leavenworth (Leavenworth, KS) concerning conditions in Indian Territory.

January 27

• Senator James Lane arrives back in Leavenworth (Leavenworth, KS) believing he is to be a Major General in charge of a proposed invasion of the Southern states. The plan, which apparently had some support, was to invade Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico.  The raid would be referred to as, the “Expedition to the Gulf.”

January 29-Feb 3

• A portion of the 7th Missouri Volunteers, under the command of Captain William S. Oliver, moved from Camp Stephenson at Independence (Jackson) to attack the “notorious Quantrill and his gang of robbers” who had been robbing the mails and terrorizing Union sympathizers in the Blue Springs (Jackson) area.  At least six of Quantrill's men were killed and six or seven wagon loads of pork and tobacco, destined for the southern army, were captured. Oliver’s troops suffered one man killed and two wounded.

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February 3

• A call for 71,000 men from the State of Missouri for Confederate service is made by the War Department, CSA.

WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A.,      Richmond, Va., February 3, 1862. C. F. JACKSON, Governor of Missouri:      SIR: Congress has recently passed a law entitled “An act to authorize the President to call upon the several States for troops to serve for three years or during the war,” and, in accordance with its provisions, I have been instructed by the President to make a call on the several States for a number of men, to be enlisted for the war, sufficient to fill up a quota equal to 6 per cent. on the entire white population. Under these instructions the number of troops required from your State would be about 71,000 men, or eighty-nine regiments, of 800 men on an average. Under the peculiar circumstances in which Missouri is placed and the difficulties which embarrass her authorities I cannot hope that you will be able at present to meet the requisition, which it is, however, my duty to make.      I therefore respectfully call on Your Excellency to raise and have mustered into the Confederate service the above-named number of regiments, or so many thereof as it may be possible for you to obtain. These regiments will be called into camps of instruction, which you are invited to select. They will there be clothed, subsisted, and armed at the expense of the Confederate States. Each man will receive a bounty of $50 when mustered into service, as well as transportation from his home to the place of rendezvous.      It is earnestly hoped that Your Excellency will spare no effort to have your troops ready for the field by March 15, at which date it is confidently believed you will be joined by the forces of your sister States in such numbers as will enable us, by conjoint effort, to drive the invaders from the soil of Missouri.      I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, J. P. BENJAMIN,     Secretary of War. The War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies.  Government Printing Office, 1883. Series 1, Volume 8, pp 746-747 See Editors Notes for standards used in quoted works.

February 4

• The Kansas Legislature launches an investigation into State Bond negotiations conducted by Robert S. Stevens. It is alleged that the State of Kansas lost as much as $40,000 in the negotiation and sale of the bonds.

February 6

• Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, in response to complaints about outrages against Union men by Kansas forces under Jennison, writes, “I beg you to be assured that no effort on the part of the government will be spared to protect Union men and loyal citizens of Missouri from all illegal force and unlawful violence, come from what quarter it may.”

February 8

• Martial Law is declared in the State of Kansas because the civil authorities are unable to uphold the laws against armed depredations or jayhawking which have, “reached a height dangerous to the peace and prosperity of the whole state and seriously endangered the Union cause in the border counties of Missouri.”

February 9 (approximately)

• Guerrilla forces, mostly from eastern Jackson County, under William Clarke Quantrill, capture munitions and supplies from Federal forces at Independence (Jackson). Several guerrillas are wounded and as many as seven Federal soldiers are killed.

February 10

• President Abraham Lincoln writes to clarify the chain of command in Kansas. Major General Hunter is the senior officer and Brigadier General James H. Lane must obey the rules or decline the service. At issue, although not mentioned, is the proposed “Expedition to the Gulf” sometimes referred to as the "great jayhawking expedition."

February 11

• Major General George B. McClellan writes Secretary of State Edwin Stanton regarding continued depredations by the Kansas troops known as Lane’s Brigade.

February 13

• General H. W. Halleck writes that he knows nothing about the “the great jayhawker expedition” proposed by Lane except what he reads in the newspapers. Major General George B. McClellan replies that Lane has no authority to give any orders.

February 14

• The report of the Kansas House of Representatives committee on the negotiation of state bonds releases its report. The report concludes with an impeachment of Kansas Governor Robinson, Secretary of State J. W. Robinson and Auditor George S. Hillyer.

February 15

• At the request of the acting Governor of Missouri it is ordered that voters in any election, whether it is state, municipal, county or town office, shall be required to take an oath of allegiance.

February 18

• Skirmish at Independence (Jackson).

February 22

• Washington’s Birthday Raid on Independence -- The Confederate Guerrilla forces of Colonel Benjamin Franklin Parker, with men from the Sibley (Jackson) and Wellington (Lafayette) area -- and William Clarke Quantrill, with men mostly from the Blue Springs (Jackson) area approach the Independence (Jackson) Courthouse Square from the east at about 8 a.m.  A squad from the 2nd Ohio is obtaining bread from a bakery on the south side of the square. There is an exchange of gunfire and the 2nd Ohio is reinforced by more Ohio troops who had been eating their breakfast about one-half mile west of the square. The Guerrillas were then greatly outnumbered and they retreated east to the public spring where another skirmish ensued. There were several killed and wounded on both sides. Quantrill was wounded and/or injured when his horse was shot out from under him. Parker was reported as killed but that turned out to be a false rumor.

February 26

• Senator James H. Lane writes the Kansas legislature that he has been unable to make satisfactory arrangements with Kansas military authorities and that as a result he has resigned his Brigadiership and he will return to the United States Senate. Lane will not be leading the “Expedition to the Gulf.”

February 28

• A public meeting at Leavenworth (Leavenworth, KS) to mob the offices of The Daily Inquirer (allegedly a rebel organ) is addressed by M. W. Delahay and D. W. Wilder.  Delahay and Wilder, both of whom had lost newspapers themselves to opposition pro-slavery raiders, argued for free speech and the need to meet argument with argument and not violence.