Battlefield Dispatches No. 317: 'Simultaneous campaigns' conducted

Friday, May 18, 2012

In the spring of 1862, the commanding officer of the Department of Kansas was planning to conduct two campaigns at the same time. One campaign was identified as the "Southern Expedition," the goal of which was to defend the southern border of Kansas by occupying the northeastern part of the Indian Territory or present-day Oklahoma. The other was travel to the southwest and occupy the New Mexico Territory. The rendezvous point for the New Mexico Expedition was Fort Riley on the Santa Fe Trail in central Kansas. Humboldt, Kan., on the Neosho River, was the point of embarkation for the Southern Expedition. Troops were ordered to Fort Riley before the Southern Expedition started, and the following descriptions of both expeditions are located in the May 17, 1862, edition of the Fort Scott Bulletin Newspaper.

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