First Battle of Independence

Battle of the American Civil War

Union forces, meanwhile, were bivouacked in Independence, the county seat of Jackson County. These were led by Lt. Col. James T. Buel. Like many towns in that part of Missouri, Independence had a number of sympathizers from both sides residing in it. Colonel Hughes intended to cross the Missouri River, to recruit around his hometown of Clinton County, Missouri. He and Gideon Thompson rode to Hays's camp with 75 men; 25 additional men with Quantrill soon arrived. The officers conferred. Desperate for ammunition, and needing a victory to stir their recruiting efforts, they determined to make a surprise attack against Buel before he could attack them. Cole Younger and another man conducted a successful reconnaissance of the town on the day prior to the Confederate attack. Lt. Col. Buel for his part had sent one of his officers, a Captain Breckenridge, scouting for eleven days, but Breckenridge found nothing. Buel became aware of Hays's camp, however, and prepared to attack it. On the evening of August 10, several citizens warned Buel of an impending assault on the city; many Union residents had already fled. Buel ignored these warnings, but another of his officers, a Captain Rodewald, did not. The Federals were positioned in three main concentrations: their camp near a rock wall, the bank serving as Buel's headquarters, and the county jail.

Lt. Col. James T. Buel
7th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry (cos. B & D) Capt. James Breckenridge, Lt. James M. Vance
2nd Battalion Missouri State Militia Cavalry (cos. B, D, & E) Capt. Jacob Axline, Capt. Franklin Cochran, Capt. Aaron Thomas
6th Regiment Missouri Enrolled Militia (1 company) W. H. Rodewald

Col. John T. Hughes's Confederate force, including the partisan leader William Quantrill, attacked Independence before dawn, in two columns using different roads. They drove through the town to the Union Army camp, delivering a deadly volley to the sleeping men. Captain Breckenridge suggested surrender, but Captain Jacob Axline formed the Federal troops behind a rock wall and a nearby ditch while the Confederates rifled through their camp, looking for ammunition. The Rebels made several attacks against Axline's wall, but never succeeded in taking it. Here Colonel Hughes was killed, while Thompson and Hays were wounded. Lt. Col. Buel attempted to hold out with part of his force in the bank building he used as his headquarters. He was forced to surrender after an adjacent building was set afire. Through a flag of truce, Buel arranged a meeting with the new Confederate commander, Col. Gideon W. Thompson, who had replaced Colonel Hughes, killed earlier. Buel surrendered, and about 150 of his men were paroled; the remainder had escaped, hidden, or been killed.

Realizing that they would be quickly overwhelmed, the Federal troops defending the jail fired a volley and fled. Confederate guerilla leader George Todd freed the prisoners at the jail, among them City Marshal James Knowles, jailed for the killing of a rowdy citizen. Todd also captured Captain Aaron Thomas of the 2nd Battalion Missouri State Militia Cavalry. Knowles had guided Thomas' force in a successful ambush of Todd's command in an earlier engagement, killing several of them. Todd and his men summarily executed Knowles and Thomas. Ironically, George Todd was later killed at the Second Battle of Independence, in 1864.

The First Battle of Independence resulted in approximately 344 known Union casualties; total losses for the Confederate side are unknown. Independence would later become the site of a second Civil War battle, in October 1864, as part of General Sterling Price's Missouri Campaign that culminated in his defeat at the Battle of Westport.