Lone Jack, Missouri was the site of a ferocious confrontation between Union and Confederate forces August 15th and 16th, 1862.

Late in the evening of August 15th , U.S. Major Emory S. Foster led approximately 800 Federal forces in an attack of Confederate troops around Lone Jack under Col. J.T. Coffee. The action scattered the Confederate troops but early the next morning Foster was informed that a large Confederate force was advancing on their position.

Early that morning Confederate forces closed in on Union troops camped near “New Town” square. The Confederate advance, however, was announced by an inadvertent gunshot from within their ranks.

The battle that followed raged fiercely for five hours with each side attacking and retreating. Foster was killed along with many from both sides in a bloody, hot and horrible confrontation. Federal forces finally retreated to nearby Lexington but the Confederate victory would soon face further challenges. Casualty estimates in the battle vary from 250 – 300.

Today, battlefield preservation efforts are ongoing by supporters as they struggle valiantly to re-claim surrounding acres of battlefield.

Museum and cemetery are present on a small tract of the battlefield.

Battle of Lone Jack interpretive sign

Cemetery

In memory of the Confederates who fell in the Lone Jack Battle, August 16, 1862