The 11th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

that served in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Service

The 11th Kansas Cavalry was organized at

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in late April 1863 from the 11th Kansas Infantry, which ceased to exist. It mustered in for three years under the command of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Thomas Ewing Jr. The regiment was attached to District of the Border and District of Kansas,

Department of the Missouri The Department of the Missouri was a command echelon of the United States Army in the 19th century and a sub division of the Military Division of the Missouri that functioned through the Indian Wars. History Background Following the successful ...

, until February 1865. District of Upper Arkansas to March 1865. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division,

VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to: * VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * VII ...

Department of Arkansas The Department of the Arkansas was a territorial department of the United States Army during the American Civil War. History The Department of the Arkansas was created on January 6, 1864, to consist of Union occupied Arkansas, except Fort Smith. ...

, to April 1865. District of the Plains, Department of Missouri, to September 1865. The 11th Kansas Cavalry mustered out of service at

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

on July 17, 1865.

Detailed service

Assigned to duty on eastern border of Kansas until October 1864. Expedition from Salem to Mulberry Creek, Kansas, August 8–11, 1863 (detachment). Scout on Republican River, Kansas, August 19–24, 1863 (detachment). Operations against Quantrill on his raid into Kansas August 20–28. Independence, Missouri, August 25. (Companies C and F duty on southern border of Kansas December 1863 to August 1864.) Company L stationed at Fort Riley; Company G at Fort Leavenworth as body guard to General

Samuel Curtis Samuel Curtis (born in Walworth, Surrey on 29 August 1779-died at La Chaire, Rozel Bay, Jersey, on 6 January 1860

. Action at Scott's Ford, Missouri, October 14, 1863. Deep Water Creek, Missouri, October 15. Expedition into Missouri June 16–20, 1864. Scout from Salem to Mulberry Creek August 8–11 (detachment). Operations against Indians in Nebraska August 11-November 28 (1 company). Operations against Price in Missouri and Kansas. Lexington October 19. Little Blue October 21. Independence, Big Blue, and State Line October 22. Westport October 23. Cold Water Grove October 24. Mine Creek, Little Osage River, October 25. Regiment ordered to Fort Riley December 1864. Companies C and E to Fort Larned February 1865. Regiment moved to Fort Kearney, Nebraska, February 20-March 4, then moved to Fort Laramie March 6-April 9, and to Platte Bridge. Duty guarding telegraph lines and operating against Indians until June. Sage Creek, Dakota Territory, April 21. Deer Creek May 21. Platte Bridge, Dakota Territory, June 3. Companies A, B, E, F, L, and M moved to Fort Halleck June 11–24. Protect stage route from Camp Collins, Colorado, to Green River until August 13. White River, Dakota Territory, June 17. Rock Creek July 1. Fort Halleck July 4 and 26. Moved to Fort Leavenworth.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 173 men during service; 61 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 2 officers and 110 enlisted men died of disease.Smith, Ronald D. ''Thomas Ewing Jr.: Frontier Lawyer and Civil War General'' (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press), 2008.

Commanders

* Colonel Thomas Ewing Jr. * Colonel Thomas Moonlight

Notable members

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Grenville Lew Gove, Company G - died of disease November 7, 1864;

Gove County, Kansas Gove County is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Gove City, and its most populous city is Quinter. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,718. The county was named for Granville Gove, a captain of Compa ...

is named in his honor * Lieutenant Colonel

Preston B. Plumb Preston B. Plumb (October 12, 1837December 20, 1891) was a United States senator from Kansas, as well as an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Biography Born in Delaware County, Ohio, at 9 his family removed to Marysvill ...

- U.S. Senator from Kansas (1877–1891) * Private John C. Rooks, Company I - killed at the battle of Prairie Grove;

Rooks County, Kansas Rooks County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Stockton, and its largest city is Plainville. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 4,919. The county was named for John Rooks, a private in Compa ...

is named in his honor *

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Edmund G. Ross - printer and newspaperman, later a Republican U.S. Senator from Kansas who is most noted for his "no" vote against the 1868 impeachment of Andrew Johnson.

Notes

References

;Attribution *

External links

History of the 11th Kansas Cavalry by the Museum of the Kansas National Guard

{{Kansas in the Civil War Military units and formations established in 1862 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865 Units and formations of the Union army from Kansas 1862 establishments in Kansas 1865 disestablishments in the United States