Battle of Baxter Springs

Battle of Baxter Springs
Part of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War
Date October 6, 1863 (1863-10-06) Location Cherokee County, Kansas Result Confederate victory; Union holds fort[1]
Belligerents
Confederate States	United States
Commanders and leaders
William C. Quantrill William T. Anderson	James B. Pond James G. Blunt
Strength
400 mounted guerrillas.	96 infantry 200 cavalry 1 mountain howitzer[2]
Casualties and losses
2 killed, 2 wounded[3]	103 soldiers killed, 18 wounded, 10 civilians killed[4]

The Battle of Baxter Springs, more commonly known as the Baxter Springs Massacre, was a minor battle of the American Civil War fought on October 6, 1863, near the present-day town of Baxter Springs, Kansas.

In late 1863, Quantrill's Raiders, a large band of pro-Confederate bushwhackers led by William Quantrill, was traveling south through Kansas along the Texas Road to winter in Texas. Numbering about 400, this group captured and killed two Union teamsters who had come from a small Federal Army post called Fort Baxter (frequently referred to as Fort Blair).^[5] The bushwhackers assaulted the fort but were repulsed, eventually retreating to the prairie, where they attacked a separate Union column, leaving only a few survivors.