Ranger Sarah starts her learning of the Battle of Island Mound. Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site preserves the site of the Toothman Farm, which the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry used as its headquarters and renamed “Fort Africa.”
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah learns more about the First Kansas Colored Vol. Infantry. In August 1862, U.S. Senator and notorious Kansas jayhawker Jim Lane began recruiting Black soldiers to join his Kansas forces before other federal efforts.
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah continues learning about the Battle. In October 1862, 240 soldiers and 12 officers of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry marched into Bates County to clear out the pro-south guerrillas.
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah sets off down the Courage Trail. Using the Fort Scott Road, the troops traveled from their camp at Fort Lincoln, Kansas, and arrived in Bates County on Oct. 27, 1862. Upon arrival, they commandeered the home of local Southern sympathizers Enoch and Christiana Toothman as their headquarters.
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah starts hiking down the Courage Trail. On Oct. 29, a detachment of about 30 Black troops engaged the bushwhackers as a diversion while a foraging party searched for salt and cornmeal.
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah learns about Bates County in 1862. Once the troops returned to the camp, the rebels set fire to the tallgrass prairie, forcing the Kansas troops to set a backfire to prevent flames from reaching Fort Africa.
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah continues down the Courage Trail. A party of eight Black soldiers went to locate the rebel position. Venturing than ordered to a hill known as Island Mound. A party of about 20 men sent to locate the first squad joined them and moved farther away from camp. The rebels had successfully lured the Kansas troops into a trap.
— Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah learns how the prairie fire effected the battle. 130 rebel horsemen emerged from the woods bordering the Marias-des-Cygnes River, forcing the Black detachment to retreat toward Island Mound.
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah hikes into a nice shady spot. On the southern slope of Island Mound, with the prairie on fire all around them, the two groups engaged in hand-to-hand battle.
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah takes in the view of the prairie grasses. The rebel horsemen carried shotguns, pistols and sabers and outnumbered the Black troops 6 to 1. The Black soldiers fought back fiercely, using their bayonets and rifle butts.
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah found a Wild American Persimmons tree (Diospyros virginiana) along the trail. When reinforcements arrived from Fort Africa, the rebel horsemen retreated over the top of Island Mound.
— at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site.

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Ranger Sarah learns about the Toothman Farm and the notorious rebel family. Read the sign at https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=60584
- at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site

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Ranger Sarah hikes the last portion of the Courage Trail. t the end of the battle, the Kansas regiment had eight soldiers killed and 11 wounded. The rebels had pulled out, leaving supplies and livestock behind.
- at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site

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Ranger Sarah at the Battle of Island Mound Memorial. Read the Memorial at https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=60581
- at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site

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Ranger Sarah with a closer look at the Battle of Island Mound Memorial. You can read the Memorial, and other signs Ranger Sarah visited at https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=60581
- at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site

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