Headquartered in Fort Scott, Union Major General James G. Blunt commanded the District of the Frontier and in 1863 moved south along the Old Military Road toward Fort Smith, Arkansas, to be closer to Confederate forces. His entourage reached Fort Blair as Quantrill's raiders headed north after their assault there. Realizing they had encountered Blunt's caravan, Quantrill concealed most of his men and sent forward a group dressed in Union uniforms. Union scouts recognized them as they approached Blunt, but too late. Blunt's men had little time to react, the caravan was quickly overrun, and many who tried to flee were ridden down and shot over several miles. Quantrill's men celebrated, believing they had killed Blunt, then scavenged the wagons, destroyed what remained, and continued south without attacking Fort Blair again. Blunt and about 15 others survived to reach the fort. The next day, a search patrol found bodies scattered over a wide area, and the few wounded survivors were taken to the fort hospital. More than 80 bodies were buried in a common grave north of the fort. Among the dead was writer and artist James O'Neill of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, believed to be the only correspondent killed in the Civil War, and he was buried in a separate grave with a marker. West of Baxter Springs, the Baxter Springs City Cemetery Soldiers' Lot was deeded as a National Plot in 1869 from land in the center of the city's cemetery, and unlike a national cemetery, only those killed in the local Civil War battle could be buried there. The dead from the Battle and Massacre of Baxter Springs were later reinterred in the lot, where a memorial added in 1886 included the names of 163 Union soldiers and consisted of a 20-foot granite monument topped by a soldier statue and surrounded by four 24-pound cannons from 1853. Fort Blair, one of the few Kansas forts attacked by the Confederates during the Civil War, was later decommissioned, and after the war the town of Baxter Springs grew near its site. Today, a replica of the fort and the Baxter Springs City Cemetery Soldiers' Lot remain reminders of the Battle and Massacre of Baxter Springs.
