In December 1861, the town of Potosi, Kansas, along the Kansas-Missouri border, was attacked by Confederate guerrillas.
Camp Defiance was located on the south side of Mine Creek and just barely inside the Kansas border.
[1] Mine Creek provided a natural defense on the camp's north side, as neither man nor horse could have negotiated the water and steep bank.
Discipline was a major problem at Camp Defiance, as men from the Lane Brigade were in trouble with civilians wherever they went.
[3] Many of the men in camp were ill and some of the troops were short of tents, clothing, arms and other supplies.