After their victory at Wilson's Creek on Aug. 10, 1861, Gen. Sterling Price's 12,000 Missouri State Guards marched north and camped near Nevada on the evening of Aug. 31. The next day, 800 men probed the 1800 Federals at Ft. Scott, Kan., led by Jayhawkers James Lane and James Montgomery. Fearing invasion, Lane prepared to retreat and ordered Montgomery to hold Ft. Scott as long as possible and then burn it. On Sept. 2, Montgomery crossed into Missouri to test Price's force. The two sides skirmished over Big Drywood Creek around Hogan's Ford, two miles south of Deerfield. Price then brought up his whole army, and after a daylong artillery duel the Kansans retreated. Casualties on both sides were light. The Missourians camped on the field and then resumed their march north to their victory at Lexington on Sept. 18-20.
