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Since Kansas was part of the Union during the Civil War, federal troops were not stationed in Kansas as they were in the former Confederacy during Reconstruction. The perceived radical politics of the state led to many emancipated African Americans to migrate from the south to Kansas.
Nearly 10,000 soldiers were engaged at Mine Creek alone, the largest battle fought on Kansas soil. This Union victory ended any threat of a Southern invasion of the state. The Kansas Grand Army of the Republic claimed 19,000 members in 478 posts by the end of the 1880s.
Kansas was the first Northern state to recruit, train, and send black soldiers into combat during the Civil War. Fort Scott served as the home base and training grounds for both the 1 st and 2 nd Kansas Colored Infantry, with the 1 st Kansas Colored Infantry mustered in as a Battalion on January 13, 1863, on the Fort Scott Parade Ground.
This database currently contains over 28,000 names of Union veterans of the Civil War who lived in Kansas after 1865. The names are from rosters or reunion proceedings at the KSHS Library. Many of the rosters were based on the 1889 census of veterans that was authorized by the state legislature.
The Kansas soldiers did duty on many battlefields and conducted themselves to bring much credit to their State. During the war, Kansas was exposed to three lines of danger: invasions by the regular Confederate army, attacks by the unorganized border troops, and Indian raids on the frontier.
Kansas committed regiments and soldiers to the Union cause. The Civil War touched the state in many ways including Quantrill's raid on Lawrence in 1863 and the Battle of Mine Creek in 1864. Background. Kansas entered the Union as the 34th state on January 29, 1861.
Approximately 13,400 militia responded to a call from the governor when Gen. Price’s rebel forces were driving toward Kansas. The militia units together with U.S. Volunteers were successful in protecting Kansas against the invasion and defeated rebel forces.
