Black Jack battle lit a fuse to Civil War
As battles go, it wasn’t much of one. No one was killed, and only three people were severely wounded.
But what separates the Battle of Black Jack from others is it was the first armed skirmish between pro- and anti-slavery forces and lit the fuse on what would become the Civil War.
Much has been written over the years about the battle, which occurred June 2, 1856, about three miles east of what is now Baldwin. While accounts vary, there are certainties. The infamous John Brown led an anti-slavery force of around 40 men. A pro-slavery group of 75 was led by Henry Clay Pate.
Pate had come to Kansas from Missouri, looking for Brown. But, it was Pate who ended up surrendering to Brown after a daylong fight when a gamble by Brown’s son, Frederick, worked.
“The Battle of Black Jack was the first battle of the American Civil War,” said Brenda Day, archivist at Baker University’s Old Castle Museum and board member of the Friends of the Battle of Black Jack. “It was part of an epic story known as Bleeding Kansas.
“Amusing, insightful sayings, such as ‘I went to take Old Brown, but Old Brown took me,’ or my personal favorite by Henry Clay Pate, ‘He who runs away, lives to fight another day,’ make the participants human,” Day said. “Courageous acts such as Frederick riding out on the battlefield with bullets flying paint an image for the mind.”
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But what separates the Battle of Black Jack from others is it was the first armed skirmish between pro- and anti-slavery forces and lit the fuse on what would become the Civil War.
Much has been written over the years about the battle, which occurred June 2, 1856, about three miles east of what is now Baldwin. While accounts vary, there are certainties. The infamous John Brown led an anti-slavery force of around 40 men. A pro-slavery group of 75 was led by Henry Clay Pate.
Pate had come to Kansas from Missouri, looking for Brown. But, it was Pate who ended up surrendering to Brown after a daylong fight when a gamble by Brown’s son, Frederick, worked.
“The Battle of Black Jack was the first battle of the American Civil War,” said Brenda Day, archivist at Baker University’s Old Castle Museum and board member of the Friends of the Battle of Black Jack. “It was part of an epic story known as Bleeding Kansas.
“Amusing, insightful sayings, such as ‘I went to take Old Brown, but Old Brown took me,’ or my personal favorite by Henry Clay Pate, ‘He who runs away, lives to fight another day,’ make the participants human,” Day said. “Courageous acts such as Frederick riding out on the battlefield with bullets flying paint an image for the mind.”