Lone Jack, Missouri

An 1877 plat of Lone Jack, Missouri. Courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri - Columbia.

Notable Events:

The town of Lone Jack is best known as the site of the Battle of Lone Jack on August 15, 1862. Only four days after the defeat of federal forces in the Battle of Independence, Union Major Emory Foster led 800 soldiers on an attack against bushwhackers and Confederate regulars at Lone Jack. Foster's impetuous maneuvers left behind an additional 500 soldiers under command of General Fitz Henry Warren, and Foster's men suffered nearly 50% casualties in a catastrophic defeat. Although the Confederates achieved a victory in the battle, their heavy losses actually reduced the Southern military strength in northwestern Missouri relative to the Union forces. Lone Jack itself was nearly destroyed in the battle, the area was further depopulated after General Thomas Ewing's General Order No. 11, and today it still only has 1,000 residents. 

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