On this rolling prairie and across Mine Creek occurred the largest Civil War battle in Kansas and one of the largest cavalry battles of the Civil War. Nearly 8,000 Confederate soldiers clashed with 2,500 Union troops in a battle that lasted less than one hour. Many Confederates were captured and more than 600 were killed or wounded, while Union casualties numbered approximately 120. This decisive Union victory contributed to the defeat of the 1864 Confederate invasion of Missouri and Kansas. Americans remember the sacrifices of the soldiers of the Blue and Gray who fought and died in the Battle of Mine Creek on October 25, 1864.