Dripping Springs and the Federal Raid on Van Buren

Dripping Springs and the Federal Raid on Van Buren. . , On December 27, 1862, Union columns totaling 8,000 troops and thirty pieces of artillery under the command of Generals James G. Blunt and F.J. Herron marched south from Cane Hill and Prairie Grove to conduct a raid on Rebel-held Van Buren. At dawn on the 28th at Dripping Springs, Kansas and Wisconsin cavalry, including a company of Kaw Indians, routed two regiments of Confederate Texas mounted troops guarding the Telegraph Road under Lt. Col. R.P. Crump. A Union cavalry charge supported by artillery fire swept the camp, interrupting the Rebels’ breakfast. The Confederates retreated toward Van Buren. Union forces captured forty wagons as well as several prisoners. , From Dripping Springs, the Federal cavalry chased the Rebels all the way through the hamlet of Logtown and into Van Buren. Albert Greene, a trooper in the 9th Kansas recalled, “The citizens came out of their houses as we passed by, some to cheer, some to curse, and all the women to cry.” Col. William Cloud of the 2nd Kansas said, “I never saw bullets fly as thick as at Logtown.” Blunt and Herron’s troops forced the Confederate evacuation of Van Buren. Additionally, the forces sank six steamboats and the ferry and destroyed 20,000 bushels of corn. Approximately 1,000 slaves were freed and followed the victorious column north.