August 16, 1862

August 16, 1862: Alarmed at the advance of Kirby-Smith and Bragg into central Tennessee, Gen. Don Carlos Buell of the Army of the Ohio sends to Gen. Grant and Gen. Halleck urgent appeals for reinforcements. Buell is possessed by the idea of maintaining all of his re-built railroads and garrisons throughout Tennessee and northern Alabama and still being able to stop the Confederate invasion, if possible.

—Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri: Maj. Emory S. Foster of the 7^th Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), with 5 companies from his own regiment and others, and two rifled guns from an Indiana battery, are given orders to move to the southeast corner of Jackson County in western Missouri to break up a Rebel camp there at the village of Lone Jack, where the rebel Cols. Hunter, Hays, Cockrell, Tracy, Jackman, and Coffee waited for Jo Shelby to arrive with more cavalry. (These Rebel troops are both Confederate and Missouri State Guard, and there is little coordination and no clear chain of command.) Foster, with about 800 men, was to be aided by Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt, who commanded an additional 2,500 men from Kansas, and by Gen. Fitz Henry Warren, with 600 men from the 1^st Iowa Infantry–but this junction did not occur, and apparently Foster was unaware of the intent that he should be reinforced. As his troops rode into Lone Jack on the evening of the 15^th, skirmishing broke out with Rebel pickets south of town, and the Yankees wounded several of their own artillerymen in the confusion. Foster, believing he faces only about 800 Rebels, is not alarmed and deploys his men along main street in the town, not realizing that he is faced by as many as 3,000 Southern men. On the morning of the 16^th, Cockrell takes command of the Rebels and plans attacks from several directions at once. The attacks are uncoordinated and disjointed, and bog down into firefights. Armed mostly with shotguns, the Southerners were unable to do much damage unless they closed with the Yankees—but since some of them attacked on foot, this was difficult in the face of Federal rifle fire. The Federals take heavy casualties as the two cannon change hands several times in charge and countercharge. Both sides are running low on ammunition, and when Col. Coffee’s Rebels finally arrive on the battlefield, Capt. Brawner (the only Federal officer not dead or wounded) orders the guns spiked, and the Yankees retreat to Lexington. The Rebels claim a victory, although they sustained greater casualties. Late on the 17^th, Gen. Warren arrives with more Federals, followed by Blunt, and the Rebels abandon Lone Jack and begin retreating south. The battle is a classic example of battles in the frontier and Trans-Mississippi regions: fought poorly with small forces, uncoordianted movements, and high casualties.

Losses:    Killed     Wounded     Captured or Missing         Total
Union            43                 154                       75                                         272
Confederate 55                     ?                          ?                                     @110

　
—Fort Velasco, Texas: At the mouth of the Brazos River (modern-day Surfside Beach), artillerymen under a Col. Bates engage in a firefight with an unnamed Federal ship. No Confederates are harmed, and after some time the Federals move off.