Battle of Westport

After the fall of Vicksburg, the Transmissippi, Confederate states west of the Mississippi, were cut off from the rest of the Confederacy. However, campaigns still continued there. Kirby Smith, Confederate commander of the theater, came up with a plan for an offensive campaign. He ordered Stirling Price to lead an army into Missouri, and capture St. Louis or Jefferson City, the capitol. He was then to move into Kansas and the Indian Territory, rounding up supplies that would be of use to the south. Price had 12,000 men in three divisions. They were mostly cavalry, but he hoped that Missourians would flock to join his army.

Price

Price began his expedition in September, 1864. Cavalry set out to pursue him, along with A. J. Smith's corps of infantry. He skirmished around St. Louis and Jefferson city, but determined that they were too heavily fortified for his men to capture. Instead he turned west, and headed for Kansas. Samuel Curtis, the Federal commander in Kansas, was hurrying to gather troops to meet him. The Federals were not not prepared to meet this attack, but Curtis was able to gather 22,000 men into his Army of the Border, most of whom were militia. By this time Price's forces numbered less than 9,000, depleted by the marching and fighting.

As Price advanced toward Westport, Missouri, modern day Kansas City, he knew he was in trouble. Curtis was making a stand at Westport, but Price was also being pursued by Union cavalry under Alfred Pleasonton. He would try to deal with the Union armies one at a time, first attacking Curtis at Westport. The battle was fought on October 23^rd, 150 years ago today.

Fighting at Brush Creek

The fighting began when Union skirmishers advanced across Brush Creek. The Confederate divisions of Joe Shelby and James Fagan attacked, and drove back the Federal brigades. Curtis arrived on the field, and sent reinforcements in to counterattack. They were driven back, so he looked for another way to strike Price's army. A local farmer named George Thoman pointed the Union troops to a gulch which led to Shelby's left flank. Curtis sent his escort and the 9^th Wisconsin Battery to move up this ravine to the Confederate flank. This gave the Yankees the edge they needed, and they began to make progress in their attacks, slowly pushing the Confederates back.

Byram's Ford. Source. 

Price's rear was also in danger. Pleasonton's pursuing Union cavalry drove the Confederate rearguard away from Byram's Ford. The Confederates soon realized their danger, and Price ordered a retreat to escape from the encircling Federal forces. Disengaging from Curtis' forces was difficult, and at several points Confederate brigades in the rear were broken. The retreat was hasty, and many rebels threw away gear which they could no longer carry. To cover the retreat, the Confederates set the prairie on fire, so they would be shielded by a smoke screen.

Confederate cemetery. Source. 

Price headed south, with the Union forces still in pursuit. He was able to reach Confederate territory after several skirmishes, but with about half the men he had set out with. The Battle of Westport was one of the most important in the Transmississippi Theater. It has been called the Gettysburg of the West, because it cemented Union control of Missouri and generally ended further Confederate campaigning.

Civilians Expelled from Northern Missouri

Ewing

After the massacre at Lawrence, Kansas on August 21th, it did not take the Federals long to respond. 150 years ago today General Thomas Ewing issued General Order No. 11, which said:

All persons living in Jackson, Cass, and Bates counties, Missouri ... are hereby ordered to remove from their present places of residence within fifteen days from the date hereof.

Those who within that time establish their loyalty to the satisfaction of the commanding officer of the military station near their present place of residence will receive from him a certificate stating the fact of their loyalty, and the names of the witnesses by whom it can be shown. All who receive such certificates will be permitted to remove to any military station in this district, or to any part of the State of Kansas, except the counties of the eastern border of the State. All others shall remove out of the district. Officers commanding companies and detachments serving in the counties named will see that this paragraph is promptly obeyed.

All grain and hay in the field or under shelter, in the district from which inhabitants are required to remove, within reach of military stations after the 9th day of September next, will be taken to such stations and turned over to the proper officers there …. All grain and hay found in such district after the 9th day of September next, not convenient to such stations, will be destroyed.

Bloody Bill Anderson, Confederate bushwacker

Ewing believed Buskwackers such as Quantrill were able to raid like they did because of the support of the local population. With this order he sought to strike at the root of the problem by forcing the population of Missouri into military stations or out of the area. He was also trying to stop the Union Jayhawkers, lead by Senator James Lane, who wanted to retaliate for Lawrence by destroying a pro-slavery town. But in doing so the Federal troops uprooted families, both southern and northern, destroying their property and leaving the area where they had once lived into “The Burnt District.” The order was also not effective in preventing Confederate guerillas. In fact it made supplies more readily available, as now there was no one to stop them from taking food from the abandoned farms of the settlers. The tragic situation in Kansas and Missouri resulted in great hardships for both sides. A pro-Union artist who was in the area at the time wrote:

It is well-known that men were shot down in the very act of obeying the order, and their wagons and effects seized by their murderers. Large trains of wagons, extending over the prairies for miles in length, and moving Kansasward, were freighted with every description of household furniture and wearing apparel belonging to the exiled inhabitants. Dense columns of smoke arising in every direction marked the conflagrations of dwellings, many of the evidences of which are yet to be seen in the remains of seared and blackened chimneys, standing as melancholy monuments of a ruthless military despotism which spared neither age, sex, character, nor condition. There was neither aid nor protection afforded to the banished inhabitants by the heartless authority which expelled them from their rightful possessions. They crowded by hundreds upon the banks of the Missouri River, and were indebted to the charity of benevolent steamboat conductors for transportation to places of safety where friendly aid could be extended to them without danger to those who ventured to contribute it.

The artist painted this scene of the Burnt District

Battle of Belmont

Map of the Battle of Belmont

Along with the capture of Port Royal, another battle occurred 150 years ago today. In Southern Missouri, Ulysses S. Grant was ordered to make a demonstration against the Confederate forces in Columbus, KY. He decided to attack Belmont, just across the river. Grant had 3,000 men to attack around 5,000 men under General Pillow which had been placed to defend Belmont.

Grant landed his forces three miles north of Belmont, after being brought down by a small fleet from Cairo, Missouri. They were delayed in their march south because of obstructions that the Confederates had placed in the road. By the time they were in line of battle to attack, Pillow's entire division was in place from across the river. Both sides were green, and the fighting raged back and forth throughout the rest of the morning. By 2 pm the Confederates began to get the worst of the fight, and running low on ammunition, Pillow ordered a charge. It was poorly executed, and Grant drove them into a rout. The Federal cannon opened on the Confederates, and they abandoned their camp, colors and cannon to Grant's victorious troops. But the green Union army soon became just as disorganized by the Confederates in the rejoicing over their victory.

General Polk landed Confederate reinforcements from across the river North of Belmont, cutting of Grant's line of retreat. Grant later wrote:

The guns of the enemy and the report of being surrounded, brought officers and men completely under control. At first some of the officers seemed to think that to be surrounded was to be placed in a hopeless position, where there was nothing to do but surrender. But when I announced that we had cut our way in and could cut our way out just as well, it seemed a new revelation to officers and soldiers. They formed line rapidly and we started back to our boats, with the men deployed as skirmishers as they had been on entering camp. The enemy was soon encountered, but his resistance this time was feeble.1

There were not enough Confederates on hand to put up a line strong enough to resist the Union attacks, and Grant was successful in bringing his men back to the transports.

Both sides claimed victory, but the battle was actually inconclusive and proved nothing other than Grant was willing to fight. Both sides suffered similar casualties, around 100 killed, 400 wounded and 100 captured.

1. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant (New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885) p. 276

Seige of Lexington

Seige of Lexington

150 years ago today Stirling Price captured Lexington, Missouri after a 8 day seige. After their victory at Wilson's Creek the Missouri State Guard under General Stirling Price advanced into the northern portions of the state. John C. Fremont, commander of the Union Department of the West, decided to defend Lexington. It occupied an important position on the Missouri River, and it was in a very pro-Confederate area. The commander in the town was Col. James Mulligan. He put his 3,500 troops in motion to build entrenchments in preparation for a seige. More reinforcements were on the way, but they were ambushed by the arriving Confederates and forced to retire. The Confederates were aware of their position because they had tapped the telegraph line, allowing them to spy on the Union messages.

Cannon Ball in the Lexington Court House. Credit.

Price arrived in front of the town on September 11th and launched an attack two days later. They found the Federal works to strong to be taken with a direct assault, so they surrounded the town and began shelling the Federal positions with their artillery. On September 18th the Confederates attacked again, and drove the Union forces from their outlying works. By this time the Union forces in the town were in severe lack of water. The wells had gone dry, and Confederate sharpshooters shot anyone who tried to reach a spring between the lines. On September 19th the Missourian forces prepared for their final attack. They brought up hemp bales soaked in water to use as mobile breastworks. These were very effective, and allowed the Confederates to roll them forward, all the time sheltered from Union fire.

Hill up which the Confederate Forces advanced

The Confederate forces advanced to attack on the morning of the 20th of September. The rolled the bales forward, hidden from the rifles of the Union soldiers. The Union attempted to set the bales ablaze by using red-hot cannon balls heated in ovens, but the bales were so wet that they were immune to the tactic. At noon Mulligan, seeing that the Confederate troops had advanced to the point where they could easily take the trenches with a final charge, requested terms of surrender.

The casualties from the battle had been light. The Missouri State Guard had suffered only 25 killed and 72 wounded, while the Federal forces had 39 killed and 120 wounded, with their entire force being taken prisoners. The light casualties of the defenders resulted from the brilliant idea of using the soaked bales as movible defenses. Jefferson Davis later wrote, "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."

Much fighting took place over this house. Credit.

Lincoln Repeals Fremont's Proclamation

John C. Fremont

On August 30th, General John C. Fremont issued a proclamation for the forces under his command which involved the freeing of the Southern slaves and killing prisoners in retaliation. Lincoln was not ready at that time to free the slaves. So he sent this message to Fremont ordering him to modify his proclamation, telling him his reasons for doing so.

WASHINGTON, D. C., September 2, 1861. 

Major-General FRÉMONT:
MY DEAR SIR: Two points in your proclamation of August 30 give me some anxiety: First. Should you shoot a man, according to the proclamation, the Confederates would very certainly shoot our best men in their hands in retaliation; and so, man for man, indefinitely. It is, therefore, my order that you allow no man to be shot under the proclamation without first having my approbation or consent.

Second. I think there is great danger that the closing paragraph, in relation to the confiscation of property and the liberating slaves of traitorous owners, will alarm our Southern Union friends and turn them against us; perhaps ruin our rather fair prospect for Kentucky. Allow me, therefore, to ask that you will, as of your own motion, modify that paragraph so as to conform to the first and fourth sections of the act of Congress entitled “An act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes,” approved August 6, 1861, and a copy of which act I herewith send you.

This letter is written in a spirit of caution and not of censure. I send it by special messenger, in order that it may certainly and speedily reach you.

Yours, very truly,
A. LINCOLN.

Frémont Proclaims the South's Slaves Free

John C. Fremont

Today John C. Frémont issued a proclamation declaring the slaves in his military district free. Frémont was a famous explorer, and earned the name “The Pathfinder” for mapping a trail across the Rocky Mountains. Although he was from Georgia, he was the first presidential candidate of the Republican party. The Republican party was founded on the idea of opposing slavery. He lost the election, but four years later Lincoln won the election. Frémont was appointed a Major General, and appointed commander of the Department of the West, with his attention focused on the fighting in Missouri. Today Frémont issued a proclamation declaring martial law in Missouri. This was the most controversial part:

All persons who shall be taken with arms in their hands, within these lines, shall be tried by Court Martial, and, if found guilty, will be shot. The property, real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri, who shall take up arms against the United States, or who shall be directly proven to have taken active part with their enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use, and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free men.

Abraham Lincoln

The most debated part was saying the Confederates' slaves would be freed. As we will see, Lincoln was not ready for this. Although he would release a similar Emancipation Proclamation less than a year and a half later, at the time he wrote:

You speak of [Fremont's proclamation] as being the only means of saving the government. On the contrary it is itself the surrender of the government. Can it be pretended that it is any longer the government of the U.S.—any government of Constitution and laws,—wherein a General, or a President, may make permanent rules of property by proclamation?

I do not say Congress might not with propriety pass a law, on the point, just such as General Fremont proclaimed ...What I object to, is, that I as President, shall expressly or impliedly seize and exercise the permanent legislative functions of the government.

Battle of Wilson's Creek

Battle of Wilson's Creek

The Battle of Wilson's Creek began at 5:30 a.m. when Lyon launched a surprise attack on the Confederate camp. The Confederates were at first surprised, but under the cover of their artillery they were able to form on a ridge known as Bloody Hill. General Price, the Confederate commander, is able to resist a Union attack.

The other Union column, under Sigel’s command was delayed, and they did not attack until after Lyon. They were successful at first as well, but the Confederates rallied, and advanced to repel the attack. Sigel's men, seeing the 3rd Louisiana Infantry advancing toward them, thought they were the 3rd Iowa Infantry, which wore gray as well. At a close distance they fired a volley and charged, destroying Sigel's men and throwing them into rout. They fled, losing four cannon.

General Lyon

However, since the Union forces were separated by some distance, Lyon was not aware of this defeat. Price launched three attacks against the Union line, but he was unable to break it, once coming within 20 steps of the Northern troops. Lyon was shot as he was bringing up reinforcements. As Price was preparing for a fourth attack, news was brought to the Northern commander of Sigel's defeat. Knowing they were greatly outnumbered and the assault was already a failure, a retreat was ordered, which was conducted in an orderly fashion. The Confederates, tired from their attacks and losses, did not pursue.

The losses were similar on both sides, 1,200 or 1,300. After the battle Price wished to continue his advance with the Missouri troops, but his allies from the neighboring states refused. So he continued North without them, while they left the state.

Confederate Advanced into Missouri

Gen. Sterling Price

After the Missouri State guard and Gov. Claiborne Jackson were forced into exile, the governor's office was declared vacant and a new, pro-Northern governor was selected. But the pro-Confederates would not give up that easily. After being re-enforced, Gen. Sterling Price, commander of the Missouri militia had advanced forward into Missouri. Even though his troops were of bad quality, Price determined to press forward to capture Springfield, where the Union troops were encamped.

Lyon, being outnumbered by over two to one, decided to attack the Confederate camp in order to allow him to make his retreat. He planned to attack in two columns, one on the flank and the other in front, and strike early on the morning of August 10th. So he started out on the rainy night of August 9th, 150 years ago today.

Battle of Carthage

Today the battle of Cartage was fought in Missouri. While the governor of Missouri and the militia were pro-South, there was a large force of U.S. Troops in the area. The militia under the governor was driven South after the small Battle of Boonsville. They were pursued by 1,100 men under General Franz Sigel. But they railed and joining with another group they were able to muster 6,000 men to attempt to attack Sigel's force. Unfortunately, only 4,000 of these could be armed. The two armies met near the Missourian's camp near the town of Carthage.

Sigel moved forward on July 5^th, and his skirmish line drove in the enemy's pickets. He came upon the Missourians formed in a long line of battle on the high ground. Sigel detirmined to attack them, and opened fire with his artillery and advanced with his men in line of battle. But then he saw a large body of Confederate cavalry moving in on both his flanks. His troops were discouraged and believed they were about to be surrounded by the enemy's superior numbers, so Sigel ordered a retreat. They were able to make their retreat without breaking into a rout. The North reported 13 men killed and 31 wounded, and the South 12 killed and 64 wounded. Although it was celebrated as a victory, the Battle of Carthage did not have a very significasnt effect.  

Battle of Boonville

Another small battle happened today in Missouri as well. General Lloyn, commander of the federal troops there, had set out for Jefferson Sity, the capital, with 1,500 men. The General Sterling Price, commander of the Missouri militia, retreated along with the governor. General Lyon moved up the river with his troops in steamers, to drive them out of Boonville, where they had taken up camp. They advanced on June 17th toward the camp, with skirmishers ready to guard against any attack. Coming upon the Confederate line, he deployed his artillery, and the shells quickly drove them back. The militia conducted an orderly retreat, skirmishing with the Federals as they went. They abandoned their camp, and moved into the Southern part of the state. Lyon captured 60 prissoners, two cannons, and supplies of rifles and equipment.

Camp Jackson Riots

A few months back, before the attack on Fort Sumter, a convention in Missouri voted to remain in the Union 98-1, but there was much pro-Confederate feeling in the state. During this time both factions began raising military forces. The governor was pro-secession and the Missouri Volunteer Militia, organized with the state's approval, was Southern in sentiment. Federal Captain Nathaniel Lyon was sent by the U.S. War Department to raise Federal troops in the area. Many of the state militia were natives, but Lyon's forces were primarily German immigrants from St. Louis.

On April 23rd Governor Jackson received a secret shipment of artillery that he had requested from Jefferson Davis. He called out the state troops in early May for their annual drill. Lyon believed that this force had been called out to attempt to capture the Federal arsenal, and made plans to capture the force. This may or may not have been their intention. Many Missourians wished to have armed neutrality in the conflict, and some believe this group was a majority of the militia.

Troops Drilling at Camp Jackson

Lyon moved out to attack the camp on May 10th, 150 years ago today. After surrounding the camp, he sent a message to the commander saying,

General D. M. Frost, Commanding Camp Jackson.

Sir: Your command is regarded as evidently hostile toward the Government of the United States.  It is for the most part made up of those Secessionists who have openly avowed their hostility to the General Government, and have been plotting the seizure of its property and the overthrow of its authority. ... These extraordinary preparations plainly indicate none other than the well-known purpose of the Governor of the State, under whose order your are acting, and whose purpose recently communicated to the Legislature, has just been responded to by that body, in the most unparalleled legislation, having in direct view hostilities to the General Government and co-operation with its enemies.
     ...I do hereby demand of you, an immediate surrender of your command, with no other conditions than that all persons surrendering under this demand shall be humanely and kindly treated.
Believing myself prepared to enforce this demand, one-half hour's time before doing so, will be allowed for your compliance therewith.
                                              Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

N. LYON,

Captain Second Infantry, Commanding Troops.¹

Frost, the militia commander, responded saying, "I never for a moment conceived the idea that so illegal and unconstitutional demand, as I have just received from you, would be made by an officer of the United States Army. I am wholly unprepared to defend my command from this unwarranted attack, and shall, therefore, be forced to comply with your demand."²

Gen. Lyon

Even though the militia all surrendered, as the troops marched back through the city with their prisoners large crowds began to form. Scattered shots broke out, and after one soldier was killed and another wounded, the soldiers began to fire volleys by company. About 30 civilians were killed and 100 were wounded. Riots continued through out the next few days.

In the aftermath of this conflict while there was no immediate attack on the Federal arsenal, but many of the militia were hardened in their resistance to the Federal invasion of Missouri.

1. The Union Cause in St. Louis in 1861 by Robert J. Rombauer (St. Louis: St. Louis Municipal Centennial Year, 1909) p. 231-232
2. Ibid, p. 232