 Pakutanga kweHondo yeVanhu muna 1861, Blunt akagadzwa kuva lieutenant colonel we3rd Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry, chikamu cheJames Lanes Kansas Brigade, chisina kurongeka chikwata chevarwi chisina kugamuchirwa muUnion Army kusvikira chagadziriswazve muna Kubvumbi 1862. Muna April 1862, Blunt akagadzwa kuva brigadier general wevazvipiri uye akapiwa simba reDhipatimendi neHondo yeKansas. Akarayira Colonel William Weer kuti atungamirire Indian Expedition muna 1861 iyo yakabudirira mukutora Fort Gibson uye kuunganidza mapoka matatu evanhu vokuAmerica. Mauto aBlunt akakundwa muHondo Yokutanga yeNewtonia, uye Hondo yeKansas yakabatanidzwa muHondo yeFrontier se1st Division. Blunt akatungamirira boka rake revaCherokee nevaKansas vanozvipira kukunda muhondo yeOld Fort Wayne. Muna December 1862, divi raBlunt rakabatanidzwa ne2nd Division pasi paFrancis J. Herron. Mauto akabatanidzwa akasangana neConfederates pasi paThomas C. Hindman paHondo yePrairie Grove. Kunyange zvazvo hondo yacho yakanga yakafanana, yakanga iri kukunda kweUnion. 