On August 4, 1862, Senator James Lane issued orders that would raise the one of the first black regiments in the Union, placing them under the command of Captain James M. Williams. It would be months later before they would be organized at Fort Scott, Kansas, as the Kansas 1st Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The story of the battle of Cabin Creek often gets lost in the retelling of American history, but it is an interesting and pretty powerful moment of the cause at hand.
The 1st battle of Cabin Creek marked a first for the US military. It would be the first time that black men fought alongside white soldiers in order to defeat the rebels. It would also change the way in which the north could operate for the rest of the war.
The south, noticing that union soldiers were free to use Native American lands, had hoped to attack in a way that made this impossible, which they believed would be key to providing them protection on their western front.
Colonel James M. Williams had learned of the Confederate plans by capturing some of their troops and had worked to lead a counter attack to stop it. The counter attack, by his regiment and the Indian Home Guard, Native Americans who had sided with the union, were turned back and because of it, future battles were effectively supplied for the Union.
We think a lot about the men & women who died for their service today on Memorial Day. We remember the recent losses and mourn the families they have left behind.
No Kansas regiment in the Civil War lost more men than the Kansas 1st. Their victories and valor defined in part what it meant to be part of Free Kansas.
That slogan sticks today, when people refer to their communities as “Free Kansas”. That memory is linked directly to the lives lost in battle, and the sacrifices made by the men who fought for the Union out of Fort Scott.