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The Civil War in Missouri
By Norman E. Hill, with photos of Missouri Civil War display taken at the Walters
Boone County Historical Museum &
Visitors Center in Columbia, MO
Any Missouri tour that covers historical angles must include a study of the Civil
War. Although Missouri never joined the Confederacy, its population included many
Southern and pro-
Missouri was a slave state, but its economy did not lend itself to large plantations
normally associated with slavery. The institution became part of the state’s constitution
due to a Congressional compromise that allowed Maine to break from Massachusetts
and become a separate non-
Later, when abolitionists, primarily in the Eastern U.S., raised vocal demands for the immediate end of slavery, it reportedly shocked and alienated many Missouri citizens. Across the river in Illinois, attorney Abraham Lincoln, while morally opposed to slavery, was also quite turned off by such radicalism.
The official aim of the 1854 Kansas-
Based on the 1860 election, the state governor was pro slavery. Although an 1861
convention voted against joining the Confederacy, the governor refused Lincoln’s
call for troops to quell the Confederate rebellion. Instead, he called for the state
militia to fight against Union troops called to Missouri under General Lyon. As a
result, there were two governors in the state, a new official who was pro-
Missouri, along with Kentucky and Maryland, were considered critical Border States, and President Lincoln was determined to keep them all in the Union.
One key engagement in the state occurred in August, 1861, at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Union forces were defeated and General Lyon was killed. But Confederates could not follow up with this victory and were soon driven south into Arkansas. Right across the state line, in March, 1862, the bloody Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, saw a decisive Confederate defeat and ended any chance of Missouri’s joining the Confederacy.
After these two battles, numerous other engagements in the state were fought, lasting throughout the Civil War. Many Missouri citizens still strongly sympathized with the Confederacy. Some became guerillas, fighting rear guard actions against Union forces. Later famous outlaws, like Jesse and Frank James, started as Civil War guerillas.
Since Missouri was not officially in rebellion against the U.S., the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 did not end slavery in the state. It took the 13th amendment to the Constitution to free all slaves.
In Columbia, Missouri, an historical Museum provides many interesting details about the Civil War in the state. In Jefferson City, the state capital, there is a more extensive display of battle information. Since 2011 represents the 150th year of the start of the Civil War, tours to both these central Missouri destinations can be very informative.
Although not as well known as Vicksburg, Chickamauga, or Gettysburg, this history and battles of the Civil War in Missouri are well worth studying and give a broader appreciation of the nationwide struggle.
Norman E. Hill -