Colonel Robert H. Hunt fought in the Civil War and later became Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri.

Hunt was born in County Kerry, Ireland, in 1839. His parents emigrated to America in 1847, taking their children with them. At the age of eight Robert began to work as a waterboy on the railroad. At seventeen he entered Canandaigua Academy, Canandaigua, New York

Canandaigua (city), New York

Canandaigua is a city in Ontario County, New York, USA, of which it is the county seat. The population was 11,264 at the 2000 census...

.

In 1859, Hunt headed west and ended up in Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

. Anti-slavery as he was, he lived on the Kansas side of the state line where he engaged in farming. That same year he married Miss Nellie Hoyne. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Hunt joined the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 as a private and served for four years and eight months moving up through the ranks and eventually ending his service as a Colonel.

During the war he was involved in many battles. Major Hunt directed the charge at the Battle of Mine Creek

Battle of Mine Creek

The Battle of Mine Creek, also known as the Battle of the Osage, was a battle that occurred on October 25, 1864 in Kansas as part of Price's Raid during the American Civil War...

 when Confederate General John S. Marmaduke

John S. Marmaduke

John Sappington Marmaduke was a career military man and a West Point graduate. He is known for his service as a Confederate Major general during the American Civil War...

 was captured and Confederate General Sterling Price

Sterling Price

Sterling Price was a lawyer, planter, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil...

 was defeated. Additionally, Major Hunt served as Chief of Artillery under General Samuel Curtis

Samuel Curtis

Samuel Ryan Curtis was an American military officer, and one of the first Republicans elected to Congress. He was most famous for his role as a Union Army general the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.-Biography:Born near Champlain, New York, Curtis graduated from the United...

 at the Battle of Westport

Battle of Westport

The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West," was fought on October 23, 1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General...

 and was wounded by "being hit in the head by a piece of an exploding Confederate shell." For his contributions during this battle, Major Hunt was breveted Lieutenant-Colonel.

In 1872, Colonel Hunt was elected the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, serving one year. From 1874 to 1878, Colonel Hunt served on the Kansas City School Board. He died in 1908.

Footnotes

1. United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men. Missouri Volume. New York, NY, USA: United States Biographical Publishing, 1878, pp 20-21.

2. Paul Burrill Jenkins: The Battle of Westport, 1906, p 58.

3. Carrie Westlake Whitney: Kansas City, Missouri, Its History and People, 1808-1908. Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1908, p 200.