MISSOURI ACQUIRES ISLAND MOUND SITE

Updated at September 20, 2008 16:46

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has acquired 40 acres in Bates County, which will become the Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.  The site is southwest of Butler, Missouri, and about 50 miles south of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area.

The Battle of Island Mound was fought on October 29, 1862.  The combatants on the Union side were men of the First Kansas Colored Infantry, many of them excaped Missouri slaves who volunteered for service in this Kansas unit.  This was the first time in United States history that a unit composed of African American soldiers fought under the flag of the United States.  The Battle occurred before the First Kansas was enrolled in the federal service, and before any regiments of U. S. Colored Troops were formed.  This was also long before the combat experience of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry that was depicted in the movie "Glory". 

Plans call for the site to be fully operational in time for the Civil War Sesquicentennial, starting in 2011.

Email this Article