Page "Battle of Lone Jack" Paragraph 2

On August 15, 1862 Union Major Emory S. Foster, under orders from Totten, led a 740-man combined force from Lexington to Lone Jack.

Other forces were dispatched from Kansas under General James G. Blunt ( 2, 500 men ) and Missouri under General Fitz Henry Warren ( 600 men ), but they would not arrive in time for the engagement.

Upon reaching the Lone Jack area, Foster received intelligence that 1, 600 rebels under Col. Coffee and Lt. Col. Tracy were camped near town and prepared to attack them.

The estimate of the rebel command was revised down to only 800 and at about 11: 00 p. m., Foster and his men attacked the Confederate camp and dispersed the enemy.

The firing of his cannon during this brief skirmish proved to be Foster's undoing, for it alerted Colonel Vard Cockrell and other rebel commands in the area of Foster's position and intent to fight.

Foster's men returned to town to rest along the main street, having spent several days in the saddle.

Colonel Cockrell conferred with Upton Hays, Lt. Col. Sidney D. Jackman, and DeWitt C. Hunter and determined to give battle the next morning with the intent of overwhelming the much smaller Union force.