The Civil War in Missouri

1
The Civil War in Missouri

• Conventional and Unconventional War
• Prof. William Piston
• Department of History
• Missouri State University

2
Why was Missouri important?

• Population
• Resources
• Communications

3
How was the war in Missouri fought?

• Conventional warfare
• Battles raids
• Unconventional warfare
• Guerrillas and anti-guerrilla forces

4
Conventional War, 1861-62

• Campaigns and battles resembled those elsewhere
• Were fought to control communications and
  resources in Mo. Ark.
• Examples
• Carthage, July 25, 1861
• Wilsons Creek, Aug. 10, 1861
• Lexington, Sept. 20, 1861

5
What did the conventional war accomplish,
1861-1862?

• The Confederates lost control of Missouri by the
  spring of 1862
• The Union used Missouri as a base for operations
• Against Ky. Tenn.
• Against Ark.
• To open the Mississippi River

6
The Conventional War, 1863-1865

• The Confederacy attempted to weaken Union control
  of Missouri through a series of raids
• Examples
• Marmadukes Raid, Jan. 1863
• Shelbys Raid, Oct. 1863
• Prices Raid, Sept.-Dec. 1864

7
What did the conventional war accomplish,
1863-1865?

• The Confederate raids produced several battles
• Examples
• Springfield, Jan. 8, 1863
• Pilot Knob, Sept. 27-28, 1863
• Westport, Oct. 23, 1864
• But Union control of Missouri remained unshaken

8
Unconventional War

• Guerrilla war in Missouri, 1861-1865
• Spanish, meaning little war
• Was fought at the same time as conventional war
• Pitted Confederate guerrillas against Union
  anti-guerrilla forces
• Caused far more damage and suffering to the state
  and its people than conventional warfare

9
Who were the guerrillas?

• The most notorious were psychopathic killers
• Were not loyal to the Confederacy
• Used the war as an excuse to rob and plunder

10
Blood Bill Anderson William C. Quantrill
11
Frank Jesse James
12
But who was the average guerrilla?

• Males in their twenties
• Family connection with slavery likely
• Committed to defense of home
• Unwilling to accept discipline of regular service
• Often motivated by revenge

13
Who fought against the guerrillas?

• Anti-guerrilla forces mostly Missourians
• Volunteer units
• The Missouri State Militia
• The Enrolled Missouri Militia
• But Kansans as well
• Animosities carried over from before the war

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Why did Missouri civilians suffer?

• Civilians supporting the South assisted the
  guerrillas with food, shelter, and clothing
• Without civilian support the guerrillas could not
  conduct war

15
Why did Missouri civilians suffer?

• Guerrillas avoided large battles
• Used hit and run tactics
• Union soldiers could not catch them
• So Union soldiers punished the guerrillas
  civilian supporters instead

16
Order No. 11

• Issued by Union government on Aug. 23, 1863
• 20,000 civilians in four Mo. Counties forced to
  leave their homes
• Designed to deny civilian support to guerrillas
• Most lost all property to marauding Kansans

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Cycle of Violence

• Abused civilian expected guerillas to avenge them
• Guerrillas not strong enough to fight Union army
• So guerrillas attacked Union civilians
• Cycle of violence ensued

18
Overall impact of the Guerrilla War on Missouri

• Over a dozen entire towns burned
• Conditions in much of the state chaotic
• Roads unsafe to travel
• Bridges burned
• Telegraph lines destroyed
• Barns burned smokehouses looted livestock stolen

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Example from Jackson County

• In November 1862 Mrs. Margaret J. Hayes wrote her
  mother
• Times here are very hard robbing, murdering,
  burning and ever other kind of measure on every
  side. Every man has to join the Federal army or
  hide out in the country and have his property
  taken away from him. And if they are not shot on
  the spot they are banished from this country.

20
Example from Springfield

• In 1864 Charles Sheppard wrote to his brother
  Henry
• You are lucky to be awayI would advise you to
  stay away . . . Friday night old man Marlow, a
  Mr. Marlow and a brother of Jasper McDaniel were
  murdered at their homes by Union militiathe
  week before Jim Thompson was murdered between
  this place and his homeI dont know who is
  safe.

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Overall impact of the Guerrilla War on Missouri

• Civilian suffering worse in Missouri than in any
  other state
• Thousands died of war-related malnutrition or
  disease
• Over 300,000 civilians became refugees

22
Excerpts from letters from a Union soldier in
Forsyth, Feb.-March 1863

• A large number of families . . . have sought
  protection in our lines and as they are in a
  destitute condition . . . we furnish them with
  provisions.
• Refugees continue flocking to us and dare not
  return to their homes.
• We have here now some two dozen women and not
  less than a hundred childrenmore or lessvarying
  in age from two weeks to 15 years.

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Conclusion

• Missourians experienced both conventional and
  unconventional war
• But unconventional war caused far more suffering
• Only in Missouri was unconventional war the more
  prevalent form

24
Sources on guerrillas

• Richard Brownlee, Gray Ghosts Guerrilla Warfare
  in the West, 1861-1865.
• Albert Castel, William Clarke Quantrill His Life
  and Times.
• Albert Castel and Thomas Goodrich, Blood Bill
  Anderson The Short, Savage Life of a Civil War
  Guerrilla.
• William Connelley, Quantrill and the Border Wars.
• John N. Edwards, Noted Guerrillas.
• Michael Fellman, Inside War The Guerrilla War in
  Missouri During the American Civil War.
• Thomas Goodrich, Black Flag Guerrilla Warfare on
  the Western Border, 1861-1865.
• Thomas Goodrich, Bloody Dawn The Story of the
  Lawrence Massacre.
• Edward Leslie, The Devil Knows How to Ride The
  True Story of William Clarke Quantrill and His
  Confederate Raiders.
• Jay Monaghan, The Civil War on the Western
  Border.
• John McCorkle, Three Years with Quantrill.
• Bruce Nichols, Guerrilla Warfare in Missouri,
  1862.
• Duane Schultz, Quantrills War The Life and
  Times of William Clarke Quantrill.
• Larry Wood, The Civil War Story of Bloody Bill
  Anderson.