According to the 1860 U.S.
census, Missouri had a free population of 1,067,081 and an additional slave
population of 114,931.
The Border States--Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and West Virginia--comprised the Civil War's middle
ground, a region of moderation lying between the warring North and South. It was
the region in which no states supported Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential
election.
During the Civil War,
Missouri, a Border State of divided loyalties, supplied nearly 110,000 troops
(including Native Americans and colored) to the Union and as many as 90,000
troops to the Confederacy (many joined Confederate units in neighboring states
such as Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee). Missouri provided the Union with 64
regiments and 20 companies of infantry, 30 regiments and 26 companies of
cavalry, 6 batteries of artillery, and numerous independent and unattached
units. A remarkable testimony of Missouri's loyalty to the United States was the
fact that the state provided more cavalrymen to the Union than any other state.
By war’s end, Missouri men, who served the Union military, suffered nearly
14,000 in killed and thousands more in wounded. Casualties for the state’s loyal
men to the Confederacy are unknown.
Missouri was a keystone in
the Union cause. The nation's major western lines of communication and travel
were anchored in the state, including the Pony Express, and the California,
Oregon, and Santa Fe Trails. The three major waterways of the nation, the
Missouri, Mississippi, and Ohio rivers, either passed through or touched the
state. According to the 1860 census, Missouri ranked eighth in population,
making it an excellent manpower resource for the Union Army. The state was rich
in deposits of raw materials -- lead for bullets, iron for cannonballs. Its
agricultural production could feed an army. The state was also host to numerous
arsenals, including the St. Louis Arsenal.
In 1861, the U.S. arsenal at
St. Louis housed 60,000 stands of arms, a number of cannon and large stores of
munitions of war. Both Union and secessionists looked with longing eyes upon the
arsenal. Each realized that whichever side gained possession of the arsenal
would control St. Louis, and the side that controlled St. Louis would eventually
control the state. Then opposing sides, during a series of calculated
events, vied for control of said arsenal. The arsenal, however, was located in
the southern part of the city, which was occupied almost exclusively by a German
population, which was staunchly pro-Union. On February 6, 1861, Captain
Nathaniel Lyon marched unopposed into St. Louis at the head of his company from
Kansas and secured the St. Louis Arsenal by direction of President Lincoln. On
March 13, Lyon was placed in nominal command of the arsenal. With an increasing
Union presence daily and as a result of martial law that had been imposed
on April 30, the St. Louis Massacre erupted on May 10. Subsequently there was no
longer neutrality; citizens were either Union or Confederate. See also Missouri Civil War Timeline
of Events.
There were battles and
skirmishes in all areas of the state, from the Iowa and Illinois border in the
northeast to the edge of the state in the southeast and southwest on the
Arkansas border. Counting minor engagements, actions and skirmishes, Missouri
saw over 1,200 distinct fights. Only Virginia and Tennessee exceeded Missouri in
the number of clashes within the state boundaries.
In the Civil War, Missouri
was a Border State that sent men, armies, generals, and supplies to both Union
and Confederate sides, had its star on both flags, had separate governments
representing each side, and endured a neighbor-against-neighbor intrastate war
within the larger national war. The first major Civil War battle west of the
Mississippi River was on August 10, 1861 at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, whereas
the largest battle in the war west of the Mississippi River was the Battle of
Westport at Kansas City in 1864.
Conflicts and battles in
the war were divided into three phases, starting with the Union removal of
Governor Jackson and pursuit of Sterling Price and his Missouri State Guard in
1861; a period of neighbor-versus-neighbor bushwhacking guerrilla warfare from
1862 to 1864 (guerrilla warfare would continue after the war and until at least
1889); and finally Sterling Price's attempt to retake the state in 1864. See
also Missouri Civil War Battles: The Definitive
Timeline of Battles and Events.
Missouri had a population of nearly 1,000,000 citizens in 1860, and, although a
slaveholding Border State, it provided the Union Army with more cavalry units
than any other state, including the great states of New York (population nearly 4,000,000) and
Pennsylvania (approximately 3,000,000 citizens). The cavalry total for
Missouri does not include consolidated, reorganized, disbanded, independent,
unattached, state and militia units. See also Missouri Civil War Battles and Timeline of
Events and Missouri in the Civil War
(1861-1865).
Notable
Missourians
Numerous Missourians fought
valiantly during the Civil War and several were awarded the Medal of Honor. Most
Missourians who were awarded the medal served in the infantry, fought in the Battle of
Vicksburg, and were cited for "Gallantry in the charge of
the "'volunteer storming party.'" Perhaps the most recognized name in the list
of gallant soldiers is John M. Schofield. See also Missouri and Civil War Medal of Honor
Recipients.
John McAllister Schofield
(September 29, 1831 – March 4, 1906). When the Civil War commenced, Schofield
became a major in a Missouri volunteer regiment and served as chief of staff to
Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon until Lyon's death during the Battle of Wilson's Creek,
Missouri, in August 1861. Schofield acted with "conspicuous gallantry" during
the battle, and received the Medal of Honor in 1892 for that
action.
Schofield was promoted to
brigadier general of volunteers on November 21, 1861, and to major general on
November 29, 1862. From 1861 to 1863, he held various commands in the
Trans-Mississippi Theater, mainly commanding the Army of the Frontier. He was
eventually relieved of duty in the West, at his own request, due to altercations
with his superior Samuel R. Curtis.
On April 17, 1863, he assumed
command of the 3rd Division in the XIV Corps of the Army of the Cumberland. He
returned to Missouri as commander of the Department of Missouri in 1863. His
command in Missouri was marred by controversy, with pro-Union Missourians
sending a delegation to Washington D.C. to plead with President Lincoln to
dismiss Schofield—for sympathizing with pro-Confederate Bushwhackers who were
attacking loyal Union citizens.
In 1864, as commander of the Army of the Ohio,
he took part in the Atlanta Campaign under Major General William T. Sherman.
Sherman, after the fall of Atlanta, took the majority of his forces on a
March to the Sea through Georgia. Schofield's Army of the Ohio was detached to
join Major General George H. Thomas in Tennessee. Confederate General John Bell
Hood invaded Tennessee, and, on November 30, Hood managed to attack Schofield's
Army of the Ohio in the Battle of Franklin. Schofield successfully repulsed Hood
and joined his forces with Thomas. December 15-16, Schofield took part in
Thomas's crowning victory at the Battle of Nashville. For his services at
Franklin he was awarded the rank of brigadier general in the regular army on
November 30, 1864, and the brevet rank of major general on March 13, 1865.
Ordered to operate with Sherman in North Carolina, Schofield moved his corps by
rail and sea to Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in 17 days, occupied Wilmington on
February 22, 1865, fought the action at Kinston on March 10, and on March 23,
joined Sherman at Goldsboro.
Following the Civil War,
Schofield served as 28th United States Secretary of War (June 1, 1868 – March
13, 1869); Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (1876 – 1881),
and; General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army (1888 – 1895). Schofield died on March 4,
1906, and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
Schofield stated in his
commencement address to the class of 1879 at West Point:
"The discipline which makes
the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh
or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to
destroy than to make an army. It is possible to impart instruction and give
commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice as to inspire in the soldier
no feeling, but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of
voice cannot fail to excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one
mode or other of dealing with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit
in the breast of the commander. He who feels the respect which is due to others
cannot fail to inspire in them respect for himself. While he who feels, and
hence manifests, disrespect towards others, especially his subordinates, cannot
fail to inspire hatred against himself."
Schofield's Medal of Honor
Citation
Rank and organization: Major, 1st Missouri
Infantry. Place and date: At Wilsons Creek, Mo., 10 August 1861. Entered service
at: St. Louis, Mo. Born: 29 September 1831, Gerry, N.Y. Date of issue: 2 July
1892. Citation: Was conspicuously gallant in leading a regiment in a successful
charge against the enemy.
Battle of Wilson's Creek, Battle of Lexington,
and Rebel Ascendancy
The largest battle in the campaign to evict
Jackson was the Battle of Wilson's Creek near Springfield, Missouri, on August
10, 1861. The battle marked the first time that the Missourians had sought
formal help from the Confederate States of America. A combined force of over
12,000 Confederate soldiers, Arkansas State Troops, and Missouri State Guardsmen
under Confederate Brigadier Ben McCulloch fought approximately 5,400 Federals in
a punishing six hour battle. Union forces suffered over 1,300 casualties,
including Lyon, who was fatally shot. The Confederates lost 1,200 men. The
exhausted Confederates did not closely pursue the retreating Federals. In the
aftermath of the battle, the Southern commanders disagreed as to the proper next
step. Price argued for an invasion of Missouri. McCulloch, concerned about
security of Arkansas and Indian Territory, and skeptical about the possibility
of subsisting his army in central Missouri, refused. The Confederate and
Arkansas troops fell back to the border, while Price lead his Guardsmen into
northwestern Missouri to recapture the state.
Price's emboldened Missouri State Guard marched
on Lexington, besieging Col. Mulligan's garrison at the Battle of Lexington on
September 20. Deploying wet hemp bales as mobile breastworks, the rebel advance
was shielded from heavy cannon fire. By early afternoon, the rolling
fortification had advanced close enough for the Southerners to take the Union
works in a final rush. By 2:00 p.m., Mulligan had surrendered. Price was
reportedly so impressed by Mulligan's demeanor and conduct during and after the
battle that he offered him his own horse and buggy, and ordered him safely
escorted to Union lines. Years later, in his book The Rise and Fall of the
Confederate Government, Southern president Jefferson Davis opined that "The
expedient of the bales of hemp was a brilliant conception, not unlike that which
made Tarik, the Saracen warrior, immortal, and gave his name to the northern
pillar of Hercules."
The hopes of many
Southern-leaning, mostly farming-dependent, families, including Jesse James and
family in Liberty, MO., rose and fell based on news of Price's battles. "If
Price succeeded, the entire state of Missouri might fall into the hands of the
Confederacy. For all anyone knew, it would force Lincoln to accept the South's
independence, in light of earlier rebel victories. After all, no one expected
the war to last much longer." The Battle of Lexington, also called the Battle of
the Hemp Bales was a huge success for the rebels, and meant rebel ascendency,
albeit temporarily, in Western and southwest Missouri. Combined with the loss of
such a pivotal leader of the Federals' Western campaign in Nathaniel Lyon, and
the Union's stunning defeat in the war's first major land battle, First Battle
of Bull Run, Missouri's secessionists were "jubilant." Exaggerated stories and
rumors of Confederate successes spread easily in this era of slower, often
equine-based communication. St. Louis' (ironically named) Unionist-Democrat
Daily Missouri Republican reported some of the secessionist scuttlebutt a week
after the rebel victory at Lexington:
"A party with whom I have
conversed, says no one has any idea how much the secession cause has been
strengthened since PRICE'S march to Lexington, and particularly since its
surrender. The rebels are jubilant, and swear they will drive the Federalists
into the Missouri and Mississippi before two months are over. A party of rebels
recently stated that LINCOLN had been hanged by BEAUREGARD, and that for weeks
past the National Congress had been held in Philadelphia. Reports are rife in
Western Missouri that the Southern Confederacy has been recognized by England
and France, and that before the last of October the blockade will be broken by
the navies of both nations. The rebels prophesy that before ten years have
elapsed the Confederacy will be the greatest, most powerful, and prosperous,
nation on the globe, and that the United States will decay, and be forced to
seek the protection of England to prevent their being crushed by the
South."
Rebel ascendancy in
Missouri was short-lived, however, as General John C. Frémont quickly mounted a
campaign to retake Missouri. And "...without a single battle, the momentum
suddenly shifted." On September 26, "Frémont moved west from St. Louis with
thirty-eight thousand troops. Soon, he arrived at Sedalia, southeast of
Lexington, threatening to trap the rebels against the river." On September 29,
Price was forced to abandon Lexington, and he and his men moved into southwest
Missouri. "...their commanders do not wish to run any risk, their policy being
to make attacks only where they feel confident, through superiority of numbers,
of victory." Price and his generals stuck firmly to this cautious strategy, and
similar to General Joseph E. Johnston's infamous retreat toward Atlanta, Price's
Missouri State Guard fell back hundreds of miles in the face of a superior
force. They soon retreated from the state and headed for Arkansas and later
Mississippi.
Small remnants of the
Missouri Guard remained in the state and fought isolated battles throughout the
war. Price soon came under the command and control of the Confederates. In March
1862, any hopes for a new offensive in Missouri were dimmed in the Battle of Pea
Ridge just south of the border in Arkansas. The Missouri State Guard was to stay
largely intact as a unit through the war and was to suffer heavy casualties in
Mississippi in the Battle of Iuka and Second Battle of Corinth.
Ironclad Navy and Riverine
Campaigns
While various forces
battled inconclusively for southwest Missouri, a unique Army-Navy-civilian
cooperative effort built a war winning riverine navy. St. Louis River salvage
expert, and engineering genius, James Buchanan Eads won a contract to build a
fleet of shallow-draft ironclads for use on the western rivers. An unusually
cooperative relationship between Army officials (who would own the vessels) and
Navy officers (who would command them) helped speed the work. Drawing on his
reputation and personal credit (and that of St. Louis Unionists) Eads used
subcontractors throughout the midwest (and as far east as Pittsburg) to produce
nine ironclads in just over three months. Built at Eads' own Union Marine Works
(in the St. Louis suburb of Carondelet), and at a satellite yard at Cairo,
Illinois, the seven City-class ironclads, the Essex, and heavy ironclad Benton
were the first U.S. ironclads and the first to see combat.
St. Louis' Benton Barracks
became the mustering depot for western troops, and in February 1862, Department
of Missouri commander Major General Henry Halleck approved a joint invasion of
west Tennessee along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Army troops under
Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant and the newly built Western Gunboat Flotilla,
commanded by Navy Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote, captured Fort Henry and Fort
Donelson, unhinging the Confederate defensive perimeter in the west. After the
subsequent Battle of Shiloh, the Federal Army pushed into northern Mississippi,
while the Gunboat fleet moved down the Mississippi with cooperating Federal
troops, systematically capturing every Confederate position north of Vicksburg,
Mississippi.
The riverine strategy put
the Confederacy on the defensive in the west for the rest of the war, and
effectively ended meaningful Confederate efforts to recapture Missouri. The
defeat of a Confederate army in northern Arkansas, at the Battle of Pea Ridge,
further discouraged the Confederate leadership as to the wisdom, or possibility,
of occupying Missouri. Subsequent military Confederate military action in the
state would be limited to a small number of large raids (notably Shelby's Raid
of 1863 and Price's Raid of 1864), and partial endorsement of the activities of
Missouri guerrillas.
