By eleven a.m. on Oct. 20, 1864, after the Little Blue crossing, Federal forces under James Blunt moved rapidly into position near the Independence-Lexington Road and formed a line about a mile long as both sides dismounted and prepared to fight. A cannonade opened the last movement of the Battle of the Little Blue, and Confederate troops under John S. Marmaduke and Joseph O. Shelby struck the Federal line in fierce fighting that ranged back and forth across the slopes, often hand to hand. After about an hour Blunt pushed the Confederates eastward about a half mile, but, fearing his flanks would be engulfed, withdrew to the heights. Samuel Curtis and his staff then brought forward artillery, which drove the Confederates back but left the Federal left flank exposed as Confederate pressure increased and Shelby sent Sidney Jackman forward. By about three p.m., after four hours of fighting, Curtis concluded he could not hold Sterling Price until help arrived from the east and returned to Independence with the ammunition wagons, while Thomas Moonlight, short of ammunition, kept his men in line and had them sing "Rally 'Round the Flag" to strengthen their courage. Jennison's troops and artillery continued to check Marmaduke in repeated charges and countercharges as Blunt recognized he had to retreat toward Independence or face surrender, falling back by successive lines and making stands at the Saunders and Massey farms before establishing a final line on the eastern edge of Independence. The fighting continued in Independence on Oct. 22, 1864, and then moved on to the Battle of the Big Blue. Nearby, the Lawson Moore House, built in 1856 by slave owner Lawson Moore and deserted after Mrs. Moore fled with her children in August 1863 following Order No. 11, served during the battle as Shelby's rallying point and hospital for his wounded; accounts also place a mass grave of eighteen Confederate soldiers and a separate burial place for six to eight officers on the property, and Shelby launched his final attack of the day from the draw behind it. In a later account, Captain Henry E. Palmer of Company A, 11th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry recalled how, during the retreat, Thomas Moonlight ordered his eighty-eight men to countermarch and charge in order to save the Second Colorado battery; after heavy fire brought down Palmer's horse and killed George W. Edwards and Major J. Nelson Smith fell leading support forward, Palmer's men seized a brick house and stone fence before withdrawing, and Palmer credited the costly diversion with saving the guns.
