A few years ago I wrote about a Civil War skirmish that took place in Neosho on May 31, 1862, resulting in a clear Union defeat.
About a month before that fight, however, there was another skirmish at Neosho involving at least a couple of the same players, and the result wasn’t so cut and dried, as both sides claimed victory.
According to after-action reports, on April 25, 1862, a force from a detached battalion of the First Missouri Cavalry (US), commanded by Major J.M. Hubbard, advanced on the community of Elk Mills, which was located on the south bank of Elk River, west of today’s modern Highway 43 bridge in McDonald County.
Then-colonel Stand Watie, commanding the Confederate Second Cherokee Mounted Rifles, camped about a mile south of there and sent a 40-man scout to investigate.
