Skirmish, Camden Point

Near Camden Point, Missouri, fighting broke out on July 13, 1864, in what became known as the Battle of Camden Point. This clash unfolded against the backdrop of the Paw Paw Rebellion, a mid-1864 uprising in the northwestern part of the state. Federal units had crossed the Missouri River during this unrest and moved into Platte County. Meanwhile, a Confederate cavalry contingent numbering somewhere between 200 and 300 men, led by Colonel J. C. Thornton, had been assembling in the vicinity of Camden Point.

On the day of the battle, Thornton's soldiers gathered for a picnic out in an open pasture close to town. Colonel Jim Ford of the Second Colorado commanded a Federal force made up of detachments from the 2nd Colorado Cavalry and the 15th Kansas Cavalry, backed by a single artillery piece, with troop strength ranging from 700 to 1,000. Ford's men fell upon the unsuspecting picnickers, scattering them in a rout that left two Confederates dead and roughly 25 wounded. Federal losses were far lighter: one man from the 2nd Colorado Cavalry was killed and another wounded, though three additional Federal soldiers who had been wounded eventually succumbed to their injuries. After the fighting ended, four Confederates who had been taken prisoner were put to death by their Federal captors. The victors also seized ammunition, firearms, and gunpowder before setting the town of Camden Point ablaze.

Among the spoils taken that day was the Confederate battle flag, which today can be found in the collection of the Colorado State Historical Society. Years later, in 1871, those Confederate soldiers who had died in the engagement were honored with a memorial erected at Pleasant Grove Cemetery near Camden Point, the site of their burial. This monument ranks as the third oldest Confederate memorial standing west of the Mississippi River. Only two such memorials predate it, both dating to 1870: one in Lone Jack, Missouri, and another at Cowen Cemetery in Wayne County, Missouri.