Nichols's Missouri Cavalry Regiment served in the Confederate States Army during the late stages of the American Civil War.

During the raid, while under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Nichols, the regiment was part of an unsuccessful pursuit of Union troops who were retreating after the Battle of Fort Davidson in late September.

After a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Mine Creek on October 25, Nichols's regiment was part of the Confederate rear guard.

Before the war ended in 1865, the unit disbanded, probably while stationed in Texas; some of the men reported to Shreveport, Louisiana, in June to receive their paroles.

Militarily, the pro-secession forces won some early victories,[2] but the Union gained control of Missouri after the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862.

Later that same day, the men of the regiment were part of a Confederate column that attacked Jones's Hay Station, whose Union defenders quickly surrendered.

[8] In the 1864 United States presidential election, incumbent president Abraham Lincoln supported continuing the war, while former Union general George B. McClellan promoted ending it.

By the beginning of September 1864, military events in the eastern United States, especially the Confederate defeat in the Atlanta campaign, gave Lincoln an advantage in the election over McClellan.

[21] The Union soldiers engaged at Lexington fell back to Independence, leaving a small force to hold the crossing of the Little Blue River.

[25] The next day, some of Shelby's men broke through a Union line defending the Big Blue River in the opening stages of the Battle of Byram's Ford.

[27] That evening, Union cavalry commanded by Major General Alfred Pleasonton who had been following Price from the east, attacked and defeated his rear guard in the Second Battle of Independence.

[29] By the morning of October 23, Price's army was caught between Pleasonton's troopers, who had advanced to between Independence and the Big Blue River, and Blunt's men.

[30] That day, Pleasonton's men continued the Battle of Byram's Ford, driving Marmaduke's division back from the Big Blue River.

Meanwhile, Shelby's and Fagan's divisions fought against Blunt's men and elements of the Kansas State Militia in the Battle of Westport, the result being a Confederate defeat.

[33] After Mine Creek, the Confederates re-entered Missouri, where they stopped near the town of Newtonia on October 28, only for Blunt's troops to reestablish contact.

[34] During the Second Battle of Newtonia, Nichols's regiment was held to the rear of the right side of the Confederate line, supporting Collins's battery,[35] and did not see close combat.

[36] Price's army continued its retreat into Arkansas, where Nichols's regiment was furloughed on October 30, along with much of the rest of Jackman's brigade.

The furloughs were ostensibly for the men to perform recruiting activities and catch deserters, but were mostly due to a lack of food and the continuing disintegration of the structure and morale of Price's army.

[36] A Union cavalry officer reported clashing with Nichols's regiment near Crooked Creek in northern Arkansas on November 15, and stated that there were about 600 men with the unit.

[38] The unit disbanded in 1865 before the war ended,[8] probably while stationed in Texas, and few of the men from Nichols's regiment reported to Shreveport, Louisiana, in June to receive their combat-ending paroles.