JEFFERSON CITY -- A retired military officer has come back to Missouri to spearhead a campaign to rewrite a bit of Civil War history.

Raised near Hannibal and educated at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, retired U.S. Army General Donald Scott now promotes formal site recognition of the Battle of Island Mound in Bates County.

Fought in the fall of 1862, the battle involved a regiment of former slaves from Kansas against bushwhackers hiding in the swamps near Butler.

"The Africans who had just been freed knew they weren't free to participate in the American dream," said Scott. "So I say they were fighting to be included in the American dream."

What makes the Bates County episode historically significant is that it took place several months before Pres. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, allowing black slaves to join the Union Army.

It also predates the formation of the all-black Massachusetts 54th Regiment, the unit celebrated in the movie Glory.

Thus, the Battle of Island Mound could go into the history books as the first Civil War battle anywhere involving black soldiers.

The Missouri State Parks Foundation needs legislative approval and to raise about $3 million to enshrine the battle site.