11. The Skirmish at Island Mound saw Black Kansas militia in action for the first time
During the summer of 1862, Union Captain James M. Williams resigned his commission in the cavalry and accepted a commission in the Kansas State Militia. By August, he had recruited a regiment of former slaves and some Black free men, mustering it as the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment. The Union army had not yet decided on whether to recruit African American units, and the 1st Kansas trained as militia at Fort Scott, Kansas through the rest of the summer. Kansas provided its new militia regiment with Prussian and Austrian-made muskets, equipped with bayonets, and trained the men in their use. In October 1862, the unit deployed against Missouri guerillas and State Militia, the first known use of African American combat troops during the Civil War.
The success of the 1st Kansas unit at the Skirmish at Island Mound, October 27-29, 1862, was widely noted, though the battle was a small affair and no regular troops of either side engaged. The Kansans suffered 19 casualties, with 8 killed and eleven wounded. The number of guerillas killed and wounded is unknown, though some estimate around 40 at the time. A correspondent for The New York Times accompanied the Kansas regiment into the battle, and widely praised the performance of the Black troops. Impressed with the reports of their performance, the Union decided to recruit Black regiments in 1863. In December 1864, the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers entered into the Union Army, redesignated as the 79th United States Colored Troops.