1.
Confederate States of America
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The Confederate States, officially the Confederate States of America, commonly referred to as the Confederacy, was a breakaway country of 11 secessionist slave states existing from 1861 to 1865. It was never recognized as an Independent country, although it achieved belligerent status by Britain. A new Confederate government was established in February 1861 before Lincoln took office in March, after the Civil War began in April, four slave states of the Upper South – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina – also declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. The government of the United States rejected the claims of secession, the Civil War began with the April 12,1861, Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. In spring 1865, after four years of fighting which led to an estimated 620,000 military deaths, all the Confederate forces surrendered. Jefferson Davis later lamented that the Confederacy had disappeared in 1865, Missouri and Kentucky were represented by partisan factions from those states, while the legitimate governments of those two states retained formal adherence to the Union. Also fighting for the Confederacy were two of the Five Civilized Tribes located in Indian Territory and a new, but uncontrolled, Confederate Territory of Arizona. Efforts by certain factions in Maryland to secede were halted by federal imposition of law, while Delaware, though of divided loyalty. A Unionist government in parts of Virginia organized the new state of West Virginia. With the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,1863, the Union made abolition of slavery a war goal, as Union forces moved southward, large numbers of plantation slaves were freed. Many joined the Union lines, enrolling in service as soldiers, teamsters and laborers, the most notable advance was Shermans March to the Sea in late 1864. Much of the Confederacys infrastructure was destroyed, including telegraphs, railroads, plantations in the path of Shermans forces were severely damaged. Internal movement became increasingly difficult for Southerners, weakening the economy and these losses created an insurmountable disadvantage in men, materiel, and finance. Public support for Confederate President Jefferson Daviss administration eroded over time due to repeated military reverses, economic hardships, after four years of campaigning, Richmond was captured by Union forces in April 1865. Shortly afterward, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, President Davis was captured on May 10,1865, and jailed in preparation for a treason trial that was ultimately never held. The U. S. government began a process known as Reconstruction which attempted to resolve the political and constitutional issues of the Civil War. By 1877, the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction in the former Confederate states, Confederate veterans had been temporarily disenfranchised by Reconstruction policy. The prewar South had many areas, the war left the entire region economically devastated by military action, ruined infrastructure
2.
Arkansas
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Arkansas is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Its name is of Siouan derivation from the language of the Osage denoting their related kin, the states diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U. S. Interior Highlands, to the forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States, the capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, such as the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area, is a population, education, the largest city in the eastern part of the state is Jonesboro. The largest city in the part of the state is Pine Bluff. The Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15,1836, in 1861 Arkansas withdrew from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Upon returning to the Union in 1868, the state would continue to suffer due to its reliance on slavery. White rural interests continued to dominate the politics until the Civil Rights Movement. Arkansas began to diversify its economy following World War II and relies on its service industry, aircraft, poultry, steel, tourism, cotton, and rice. The culture of Arkansas is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, wright, and physicist William L. McMillan, who was a pioneer in superconductor research, have all lived in Arkansas. The name Arkansas derives from the root as the name for the state of Kansas. The Kansa tribe of Native Americans are closely associated with the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains, the word Arkansas itself is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw word, akakaze, meaning land of downriver people or the Sioux word akakaze meaning people of the south wind. In 2007, the legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring the possessive form of the states name to be Arkansass which has been followed increasingly by the state government. Arkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, as well as Tennessee, the United States Census Bureau classifies Arkansas as a southern state, sub-categorized among the West South Central States. The state line along the Mississippi River is indeterminate along much of the border with Mississippi due to these changes. Arkansas can generally be split into two halves, the highlands in the northwest half and the lowlands of the southeastern half, the highlands are part of the Southern Interior Highlands, including The Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains. The southern lowlands include the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Arkansas Delta and this dual split can yield to general regions named northwest, southwest, northeast, southeast, or central Arkansas
3.
Confederate States Army
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The Confederate States Army was the military ground force of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. S. Military Academy and colonel of a regiment during the Mexican War. In March 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a more permanent Confederate States Army, the better estimates of the number of individual Confederate soldiers are between 750,000 and 1,000,000 men. This does not include a number of slaves who were pressed into performing various tasks for the army, such as construction of fortifications. Since these figures include estimates of the number of individual soldiers who served at any time during the war. These numbers do not include men who served in Confederate naval forces, although most of the soldiers who fought in the American Civil War were volunteers, both sides by 1862 resorted to conscription, primarily as a means to force men to register and to volunteer. In the absence of records, estimates of the percentage of Confederate soldiers who were draftees are about double the 6 percent of Union soldiers who were conscripts. Confederate casualty figures also are incomplete and unreliable, one estimate of Confederate wounded, which is considered incomplete, is 194,026. These numbers do not include men who died from causes such as accidents. Other Confederate forces surrendered between April 16,1865 and June 28,1865, by the end of the war, more than 100,000 Confederate soldiers had deserted. The Confederacys government effectively dissolved when it fled Richmond in April, by the time Abraham Lincoln took office as President of the United States on March 4,1861, the seven seceding slave states had formed the Confederate States. The Confederacy seized federal property, including nearly all U. S. Army forts, Lincoln was determined to hold the forts remaining under U. S. control when he took office, especially Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Under orders from Confederate President Jefferson Davis, C. S. troops under the command of General P. G. T, Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12–13,1861, forcing its capitulation on April 14. The Northern states were outraged by the Confederacys attack and demanded war and it rallied behind Lincolns call on April 15, for all the states to send troops to recapture the forts from the secessionists, to put down the rebellion and to preserve the Union intact. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy. The Confederate Congress provided for a Confederate army patterned after the United States Army and it was to consist of a large provisional force to exist only in time of war and a small permanent regular army. Although the two forces were to exist concurrently, very little was done to organize the Confederate regular army, the Provisional Army of the Confederate States began organizing on April 27. Virtually all regular, volunteer, and conscripted men preferred to enter this organization since officers could achieve a rank in the Provisional Army than they could in the Regular Army
4.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
5.
Regiment
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A regiment is a military unit. Their role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, in Medieval Europe, the term regiment denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in one geographical area, by a leader who was often also the feudal lord of the soldiers. By the 17th century, a regiment was usually about a thousand personnel. In many armies, the first role has been assumed by independent battalions, battlegroups, task forces, brigades and other, similarly-sized operational units. By the beginning of the 18th century, regiments in most European continental armies had evolved into permanent units with distinctive titles and uniforms, when at full strength, an infantry regiment normally comprised two field battalions of about 800 men each or 8–10 companies. In some armies, an independent regiment with fewer companies was labelled a demi-regiment, a cavalry regiment numbered 600 to 900 troopers, making up a single entity. With the widespread adoption of conscription in European armies during the nineteenth century, the regimental system underwent modification. Prior to World War I, a regiment in the French, German, Russian. As far as possible, the battalions would be garrisoned in the same military district, so that the regiment could be mobilized. A cavalry regiment by contrast made up an entity of up to 1,000 troopers. Usually, the regiment is responsible for recruiting and administering all of a military career. Depending upon the country, regiments can be either combat units or administrative units or both and this is often contrasted to the continental system adopted by many armies. Generally, divisions are garrisoned together and share the same installations, thus, in divisional administration, soldiers and officers are transferred in and out of divisions as required. Some regiments recruited from specific areas, and usually incorporated the place name into the regimental name. In other cases, regiments would recruit from an age group within a nation. In other cases, new regiments were raised for new functions within an army, e. g. the Fusiliers, the Parachute Regiment, a key aspect of the regimental system is that the regiment or battalion is the fundamental tactical building block. This flows historically from the period, when battalions were widely dispersed and virtually autonomous. For example, a regiment might include different types of battalions of different origins, within the regimental system, soldiers, and usually officers, are always posted to a tactical unit of their own regiment whenever posted to field duty
6.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
7.
Battle of Shiloh
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The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7,1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union force known as the Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. T. Beauregard, launched an attack on Grants army from its base in Corinth. Johnston was killed in action during the fighting, Beauregard, who succeeded to command of the army. Overnight Grant was reinforced by one of his own divisions stationed further north and was joined by three divisions from another Union army under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell. This allowed them to launch a counterattack the next morning which completely reversed the Confederate gains of the previous day. On April 6, the first day of the battle, the Confederates struck with the intention of driving the Union defenders away from the river, Johnston hoped to defeat Grants army before the anticipated arrival of General Buells Army of the Ohio. The Confederate battle lines became confused during the fighting, and Grants men instead fell back to the northeast. A Union position on a sunken road, nicknamed the Hornets Nest. Benjamin Prentisss and William H. L. Wallaces divisions, provided critical time for the remainder of the Union line to stabilize under the protection of artillery batteries. Wallace was mortally wounded when the position collapsed, while several regiments from the two divisions were surrounded and surrendered. General Johnston was shot in the leg and bled to death while leading an attack. Beauregard, his second in command, acknowledged how tired the army was from the days exertions, Confederate forces were forced to retreat from the area, ending their hopes of blocking the Union advance into northern Mississippi. Smiths orders were to lead raids intended to capture or damage the railroads in southwestern Tennessee, Brig. Gen. William T. Shermans troops arrived from Paducah, Kentucky, to conduct a similar mission to break the railroads near Eastport, Mississippi. Halleck also ordered Grant to advance his Army of West Tennessee on an invasion up the Tennessee River, Grant left Fort Henry and headed upriver, arriving at Savannah, Tennessee, on March 14, and established his headquarters on the east bank of the river. Grants troops set up camp farther upriver, five divisions at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, meanwhile, Hallecks command was enlarged through consolidation of Grants and Buells armies and renamed the Department of the Mississippi. With Buells Army of the Ohio under his command, Halleck ordered Buell to concentrate with Grant at Savannah, Buell began a march with much of his army from Nashville, Tennessee, and headed southwest toward Savannah. The railroad was a supply line connecting the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee to Richmond. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant developed a reputation during the war for being concerned with his own plans than with those of the enemy
8.
Battle of Baton Rouge (1862)
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The Battle of Baton Rouge was a ground and naval battle in the American Civil War fought in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, on August 5,1862. The Union victory halted Confederate attempts to recapture the city of Louisiana. All cotton in the area was set afire to prevent it falling into Union hands, on May 9, Navy Commander James S. Palmer of the federal gunboat USS Iroquois landed at the town wharf and took possession, without resistance, of the Pentagon Barracks and the arsenal. Two weeks later, a party of guerrillas attacked a rowboat carrying a naval officer, in retaliation, Farraguts flagship, the Hartford, bombarded the town, causing civilian casualties and damaging St. Josephs Church and other buildings. Brigadier General Thomas Williams arrived with six regiments of infantry, two batteries, and a troop of cavalry, and began the occupation of Baton Rouge. During the summer, Major General Earl Van Dorn, commander of Confederate forces east of the Mississippi, the Confederate ironclad ram Arkansas had come down the Yazoo River, inflicting damage on the unprepared Union fleet as she passed through, and was anchored in Vicksburg. Van Dorn desired to regain Baton Rouge,5,000 men entrained from Vicksburg for Camp Moore, led by Maj. Gen. John C. They were joined by an infantry division led by Brig. Gen. Daniel Ruggles at the camp. Simultaneously, the Arkansas was sailing down the Mississippi River, on her way to engage the Union ships near Baton Rouge, the men had a significant amount of equipment or supplies, and were well fed. General Williams reportedly had word of the departure from Camp Moore on July 28. On August 4, after information was received of the imminent arrival of the enemy. However the Union men at Baton Rouge were not experienced and were in training camp for two weeks before being sent to Baton Rouge. The troops had few supplies because most were in New Orleans, breckinridge moved to the Comite River,10 miles east of Baton Rouge, by August 4, and then marched the men closer at night. The Confederates lost the element of surprise when they were discovered by Union sentries, despite this, the attack was launched at daybreak on August 5. The Union troops were in the center of Baton Rouge, while the Confederates were lined up in two divisions, north of the city, the action occurred around Florida Street, and began with the Confederates pushing their opponents all the way across town. Bitter fighting took place, especially around Magnolia Cemetery, the Union commander, Brigadier General Thomas Williams, was killed in action. Colonel Thomas W. Cahill took over, the colonel led a retreat back to prepared defensive lines near the Penitentiary, under the protection of the Union warships. The Confederate troops began coming under fire from the gunboats, the Confederate ram Arkansas arrived not long after but her engines failed just four miles above the city
9.
Siege of Port Hudson
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The Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, was the final engagement in the Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi in the American Civil War. While Union General Ulysses Grant was besieging Vicksburg upriver, General Nathaniel Banks was ordered to capture the Confederate stronghold of Port Hudson, when his assault failed, Banks settled into a 48-day siege, the longest in US military history. A second attack failed, and it was only after the fall of Vicksburg that the Confederate commander. This left the Mississippi open to Union navigation from its source to the Gulf of Mexico, from the time the American Civil War started in April 1861, both the North and South made controlling the Mississippi River a major part of their strategy. The Confederacy wanted to keep using the river to transport needed supplies, particularly important to the South was the stretch of the Mississippi that included the mouth of the Red River. In the spring and early summer of 1862, the Union advanced their control of the Mississippi from both the north and the south, a second Union fleet commanded by Charles H. Davis occupied Memphis, Tennessee, after defeating Confederate riverine forces in Battle of Memphis. To make sure it could continue to use the section of the river. The initial idea of fortifying the heights of Port Hudson came from the master of fixed defenses, General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, Commander, Army of the Mississippi. ”In June 1862, Major General Earl Van Dorn wrote Jefferson Davis, “I want Baton Rouge and Port Hudson” A few days after the fall of Baton Rouge to the Union. Breckinridge with 4,000 men, carried out the wishes of General Van Dorn by occupying Port Hudson, soldiers of the 4th Louisiana Infantry arrived at the site on August 15,1862. According to historian John D. Winters, Port Hudson, unlike Baton Rouge, was one of the strongest points on the river and it was a position similar to that of Quebec City in the French and Indian War. The political momentum behind the Union actions against Port Hudson came from the elections of November 1862, the Republican base, centered in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, had been shaken by embarrassing Democratic victories. A dramatic letter from Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton to Lincoln claimed “The fate of the North-West is trembling in the balance. ”His implication was that unless the independent trade of Union states along the Ohio River was restored by Union control of the entire Mississippi, further breakup of the Union was possible. Morton believed the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were in danger of breaking away from the Northeast to join the Confederacy, the threatening political fractures galvanized the Lincoln administration into action. Major General Nathanial Banks was diverted from an expedition to Texas and given Benjamin Butler’s command of the Department of the Gulf. ”On December 4,1862, Banks. In May 1863, Union land and naval forces began a campaign they hoped would give control of the full length of the Mississippi River. Banks simultaneously attacked Port Hudson, which stood at the southern end, Port Hudson was sited on an 80 feet bluff on the east bank above a hairpin turn in the Mississippi River 25 miles upriver from Baton Rouge. The hills and ridges in the area of the town represented extremely rough terrain, a maze of deep, thickly forested ravines, swamps, the town was a port for shipping cotton and sugar downriver from the surrounding area. Despite its importance, the city consisted of a few buildings and 200 people by the start of the war, the river had shifted south and the docks had been moved about.5 miles south
10.
Price's Missouri Raid
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Led by Confederate Major General Sterling Price, the campaigns intention was to recapture Missouri and renew Confederate initiative in the larger war. Prices expedition proved to be the final significant Southern operation west of the Mississippi River, after three years of bloody and inconclusive fighting, Confederate authorities were becoming desperate as the U. S. presidential election approached in the fall of 1864. Although the fortunes of war had largely favored the South prior to 1863, such a crossing, by ferries or pontoon bridge, was deemed impossible because of Union gunboat patrols on the river, and Taylor was assigned to other duties. Inspired by preparations to divert Union attention from Taylors crossing, Smith came up with another plan and he would recapture Missouri for the Confederacy in the hope that it would help turn Northern opinion against Lincoln. He ordered Missouri-native Sterling Price to invade Missouri and advance on St. Louis, Price was to capture St. Louis and its military arsenals. If the city was too heavily defended, he would go west and capture Jefferson City and this would strike a psychological blow and provide justification for the inclusion in the Confederate flag of a star for Missouri. Price would then cross into Kansas and turn south through the Indian Territory, sweeping that country of its mules, horses, cattle, Price assembled a force he named the Army of Missouri, consisting of 12,000 men and fourteen artillery pieces. His army was divided into three divisions, under Maj. Gen. James F. Fagan, Maj. Gen. John S. Marmaduke, and Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Jo Shelby. However, the infantry units assigned to Price were ordered to the Western Theater. Prices men were a mixture of the best and the worst, hundreds of Prices men marched barefoot, and most lacked basic equipment such as canteens and cartridge boxes. Many carried jugs for water and kept their ammunition in shirt, nevertheless, Price hoped the people of Missouri would rally to his side. In this he proved to be mistaken, as most Missourians did not wish to become involved in the conflict, only bands of pro-Confederate guerrillas joined his army—perhaps as many as 6,000 altogether. Curtis commanded the divisions of Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt, Maj. Gen. George W. Dietzler, Pleasontons cavalry, Price departed on his horse, Bucephalus, from Camden, Arkansas, on August 28,1864. The following day he linked up with two divisions in Princeton, and then a third in Pocahontas on September 13 and his combined force entered Missouri on September 19. Though Missouri militia skirmished with the force almost daily, Prices first full battle did not come until September 27, at Pilot Knob. Prices raid included the battles, Battle of Fort Davidson Union Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing. After maneuvering elements of his army onto the surrounding the fort, Price launched repeated assaults in the late afternoon hours. During the night, the Federals quietly evacuated the structure and then blew up its magazine with a timed fuse
11.
Battle of Fort Davidson
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The Battle of Fort Davidson, also known as the Battle of Pilot Knob, was the opening engagement of Prices Missouri Raid during the American Civil War. This engagement occurred on September 27,1864, just outside Pilot Knob in Iron County, the attacking Rebels took possession of the fort the next day, but Prices profligate expenditure of men and ammunition ended his goal of seizing St. Louis for the Confederacy. In April 1864, the Confederacy found itself in a desperate military situation. The Democratic nominee, General George B, however, despite the many recent Union triumphs, just one significant military disaster in that shaky autumn of 1864 could still politically embarrass Lincoln and potentially doom his reelection. As the election approached, things began to look even bleaker for the South, General Ulysses S. Grant had pinned down Robert E. Lee in Virginia, while Gen. William Sherman was locked in combat with Gen. Joseph Johnston north of Atlanta. Gen. George Crooks army held the Shenandoah Valley, the only realm that seemed to offer possibilities for a Confederate army embarrassing the Union was in the West. Accordingly, Major General Sterling Price was chosen for this task and he raised a mixed force of 12,000 cavalry and mounted infantry plus fourteen cannon, which he named the Army of Missouri, and set out to liberate his home state. In September 1864, Price left Camden, Arkansas and marched north into Missouri and his initial objective was St. Louis, the states largest city. As they moved north toward Ironton, near the terminus of the Iron Mountain Railroad from St. Louis, Prices army came upon Fort Davidson with a garrison of 1,500 men and seven guns, a tempting target. Price had a total of 12,000 mounted infantry under his command,3,000 of whom were unarmed, capturing the fort and its garrison would certainly prove beneficial to Southern morale. As Price prepared to seize the garrison, he received word that Federal troops were moving south to intercept him and he was scouting the route Price might take towards St. Louis when he got word that the Ironton-St. Louis railroad behind him had cut by Confederate cavalry. Despite being outnumbered ten-to-one, he decided to stand and fight, the fort occupied a strong defensive position, with hexagonal walls nine feet high and ten feet thick, surrounded by a dry moat nine feet deep. Two long rifle pits ran out from the walls, while a reinforced board fence topped the earthworks, access could only be had through a drawbridge on the structures southeastern corner. A 300-yard cleared field of fire extended in every direction beyond the walls, the Battle of Fort Davidson began on September 26, when the leading elements of Prices army encountered Union pickets south of Ironton,3 miles south of Fort Davidson. The Federal troops were back into the town, and the two sides exchanged fire on the Iron County Courthouse lawn. That building still stands, and damage from bullets can still be seen in the structures bricks. As more Rebels arrived, the diminutive Union forces withdrew to the fort, on September 27, Ewing rejected several demands by Confederate leaders for the forts surrender
12.
Battle of Boonville
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The First Battle of Boonville was a minor skirmish of the American Civil War, occurring on June 17,1861, near Boonville in Cooper County, Missouri. Although casualties were light, the battles strategic impact was far greater than one might assume from its limited nature. The Union victory established what would become an unbroken Federal control of the Missouri River, four battles were fought at Boonville during the Civil War, the first battle forms the main subject of this article, while the others are described below under other battles at Boonville. Claiborne F. Jackson, the governor, wanted his state to secede. An elected State convention did not pass an ordinance, as Jackson had hoped it might. However, pro-secession elements did not let this setback dissuade them and they seized the small Federal armory in Liberty, Missouri, planning to subsequently confiscate a much more sizable stock of weapons located at the St. Louis Arsenal. This plot was thwarted by an energetic young officer, Captain Nathaniel Lyon. Lyon allied himself with Missouri Congressman Frank Blair and anti-slavery German immigrants in St. Louis to secure the arsenal for the Union, when Lyon unwisely attempted to march his prisoners through the streets of St. Louis, a deadly riot erupted. The new State Guard began organizing statewide in nine decentralized military districts, attempts were made to reconcile the two sides. A semi-formal truce was negotiated between General William S. Harney Commander of the Western Department of the U. S. Army and Missouri State Guard Major General Sterling Price. They agreed to order in the parts of the state under the control of their various forces, protect the persons and property of all persons. Harney unofficially agreed to restrict Federal forces to metropolitan St. Louis, Price ordered that the mustering of Missouri State Guard volunteers in Jefferson City be halted. At the same time, however, representatives from Governor Jackson and Missouris Lt Governor and they promised Confederate President Jefferson Davis that the Missouri State Guard would cooperate with the Confederate Army to drive Federal forces from Missouri and liberate the state. Missouri Unionists felt that Harneys confidence in Governor Jackson and General Price was dangerously misplaced, in a stream of letters and cables to the Lincoln government, they demanded Harneys removal, and eventually on May 30, General Harney was superseded by Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon. Lyon, Jackson, and Price met one last time, on June 11, Jackson demanded that Federal forces remain isolated in St. Louis and that pro-Unionist Home Guard companies of Missouri Unionists around the state be disbanded. Jackson made a variety of promises, but all his position came down to the following, Federal abandonment of the state, disarmament of all Missouri Unionists. Lyon concluded by turning to the Governor and stating This means war, in an hour one of my officers will call for you and conduct you out of my lines. Governor Jackson and General Price fled toward the capital at Jefferson City and they ordered the bridges on the main rail lines burned
13.
Battle of Glasgow, Missouri
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The Battle of Glasgow was fought on October 15,1864, in and near Glasgow, Missouri as part of Prices Missouri Expedition during the American Civil War. The battle of Glasgow was a part of Prices Missouri Expedition, Prices primary aims were to recruit men from pro-Confederate areas of northern Missouri, capture the Federal arsenal at St Louis, and seize animals and supplies for Confederate use. After sustaining heavy casualties during the Battle of Fort Davidson, Price turned away from St. Louis, and headed towards Jefferson City, nearing his objective, Price concluded that it was too heavily defended, and ordered his troops to move further west towards Lexington and Kansas City. At this point, Price detached troops from his army to capture the city of Glasgow, on the Missouri River, having been informed of a storehouse there containing weapons, a Union garrison of 800 men was located in Glasgow, under the command of Colonel Chester Harding. The size of the Confederate forces engaged against them was reported as being between 1,500 and 1,800 troops including infantry, cavalry, and artillery and these were commanded by Brigadier Generals John Bullock Clark, Jr. and Joe Shelby. When the Confederates reached Glasgow, they laid siege to the town, four pieces of Rebel artillery commenced shelling the city at 5 AM on October 15,1864, and continued firing until 1 PM. Additional cannon were deployed to support the assault, which began at 7 AM as Rebel soldiers advanced into Glasgow from multiple directions. Hereford Hill, a promontory which the Union soldiers had fortified, was also brought under attack. The ensuing explosion destroyed a half-block of downtown Glasgow, once atop the hill, the Union troops formed a line of defense. The Confederates occupied Glasgow for three days, taking 1,200 muskets,1,200 overcoats, and 150 horses before leaving to rejoin Prices command, a Federal steamboat captured at the Glasgow wharf was burned. Holloway, U. S. Adjutant General, testified to the uniform, kind and gentlemanly treatment the Federals received at the hands of Clark, the paroled Union troops were permitted to retain their personal property, and officers were allowed to keep their sidearms after the surrender. Clark equally permitted his defeated foes to proceed by any route they might select to Union lines at Boonville, the Confederate victory at Glasgow and the captured supplies proved a boost to the Confederates morale, especially after their failures to take St. Louis or Jefferson City. During the retreat, Prices men were attacked repeatedly by Union troops as they made their way through eastern Kansas, hence, Prices raid would ultimately be described as being barren of results. Although a bright spot in a rather dismal campaign, the Battle of Glasgow is considered to have been at best a token victory
14.
Sedalia, Missouri
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Sedalia, Missouri is a city located about 30 miles south of the Missouri River in Pettis County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 21,387. As the county seat of Pettis County, it is the city of the Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sedalia is also the location of the Missouri State Fair and the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, routes 50 and 65 intersect in the city. Indigenous peoples lived along the Missouri River and its tributaries for thousands of years before European contact, historians believe the entire area around Sedalia was long occupied by the Osage. When the land was first settled by European Americans, bands of Shawnee, the area that became the European-American city of Sedalia was founded by General George Rappeen Smith, who also founded nearby Smithton, Missouri. He filed plans for the record on November 30,1857. The original plat included the land from todays Missouri Pacific Railroad south to Third Street, Smith and Bouldin anticipated that the city would grow to the north, however, it grew in a southern direction. In the post-Civil War period, two railroads were constructed connecting it to locations and Sedalia grew at a rapid pace, with a rough energy of its travelers. From 1866–1874, it was a terminus for cattle drives. At the same time, the established schools, churches. In the late 19th century, Sedalia was well-known as a center of vice, especially prostitution, in 1877 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called Sedalia the Sodom and Gomorrah of the nineteenth century. Middle-class businessmen made money off illegal prostitution as building owners and lessees, others did business with people in the industry, reluctant to raise taxes, residents allowed money to run the city. Services were provided from the charged to prostitutes. These establishments also employed musicians, particularly piano players, contributing to a musical culture. It fostered the development of artists, including the renowned ragtime composer Scott Joplin. While the city attracted many travelers and railroad workers, its population of married couples and families also grew. By 1900 its population of more than 15,000 made it the fifth-largest city in the state, the entrepreneurial middle class created more formal separations between its residential areas and those of working class whites and African Americans
15.
Second Battle of Lexington
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The Second Battle of Lexington was a minor skirmish during the American Civil War, taking place on October 19,1864, in Lexington, the county seat of Lafayette County, Missouri. Its overall importance, however, was not nearly so marked as the first battle, in the fall of 1864, Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price was dispatched by his superior, Lt. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, to attempt to seize Missouri for the Confederacy. Unable to attack his primary objective, St. Louis, Price decided to execute Smiths backup plan for a raid through Missouri and into Kansas. Their ultimate goal was to destroy or capture Union supplies and outposts, after the victory at the Battle of Glasgow, Missouri, Price continued his march westward, in the direction of Kansas City and Fort Leavenworth, headquarters of the Federal Department of Kansas. But his progress was slow, giving the Union Army a chance to concentrate their forces, curtis was experiencing difficulty because many of his soldiers were Kansas militia, and they refused to enter Missouri. However, a force of about 2,000 men under the command of Maj. Gen. James G, blunt did set out for Lexington. On October 19, Prices army approached Lexington and collided with Union scouts and pickets about 2,00 p. m. driving them back and engaging Blunts main force. The Federals resisted at first, but Prices army eventually pushed them through the town to its western outskirts, deprived of Curtiss entire force, still encamped in and near Kansas City, the Union army never stood any real chance of stopping Prices force at Lexington. Blunt did, however, further retard the Confederates dilatory march, Blunts retreating troops halted on October 20, at the Little Blue River, taking up a strong defensive position on its western bank. On October 21, however, Prices army would continue its successful—if ultimately short-lived—drive in the battles of Little Blue River and Independence. These triumphs would all be undone by the Battle of Westport on October 23, which saw Prices defeat, Battle of Lexington State Historic Site Benjamin Ratcliff List of American Civil War battles CWSAC Report Update National Park Service battle description
16.
Battle of Little Blue River
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The Battle of Little Blue River was a minor battle of the American Civil War, occurring on October 21,1864 in Jackson County, Missouri during Prices Missouri Expedition of that year. It became the opening round of the Second Battle of Independence and this led in turn to the Battle of Westport on October 23, resulting in Prices defeat and the ending of major Confederate military operations in Missouri. In the fall of 1864, Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price was dispatched by his superior, Lt. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, to attempt to seize Missouri for the Confederacy. Unable to attack his primary objective, St. Louis, Price decided to execute Smiths backup plan for a raid through Missouri and into Kansas. Their ultimate goal was to destroy or capture Union supplies and outposts, after his victory at the Battle of Glasgow, Missouri, Price continued his march westward, in the direction of Kansas City and Fort Leavenworth, headquarters of the Federal Department of Kansas. But his progress was slow, giving the Union Army a chance to concentrate their forces, Curtis was experiencing difficulty because many of his soldiers were Kansas militia, and they refused to enter Missouri. However, a force of about 2,000 men under the command of Maj. Gen. James G, Blunt did set out for Lexington. He met the Confederate troops there on October 19 and slowed their progress, on the 20th, Blunt’s retreating column arrived on the Little Blue River, a minor stream five miles east of Independence. The Union force turned at the Little Blue to engage the Confederates again, Curtis, however, ordered Blunt back to Independence, leaving only a token force, under Col. Thomas Moonlight, on the river itself. The following day, however, Curtis ordered Blunt to take all of his volunteers, as Blunt neared the stream, he discovered that Moonlight’s small force had engaged Prices advance guard just after sunup, burning the bridge as previously ordered. Prices main force had arrived by this time and was fiercely engaging Moonlights brigade, Blunt quickly entered the fray, attempting to drive Price back beyond the defensive positions that he wished to reoccupy. A five-hour battle ensued, as Union troops forced the Confederates to fall back at first, although witnesses reported that the hopelessly-outnumbered Federals compelled their enemy to fight for every inch of ground, Confederate numerical superiority slowly took its toll. Gradually, the Northerners were forced to retreat, and the focus of the battle shifted to Independence itself. The following day, Union forces attacked the Confederates in Independence and initially routed them, although Price could claim victories at the Little Blue and Independence, both ultimately proved hollow. Once again, his army had been slowed, and more Union reinforcements were arriving, U. S. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary CWSAC Report Update
17.
Second Battle of Independence
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It was the most dramatic American Civil War action involving Jackson County, Missouri since the Unions devastating Order No.11 a year earlier. The battle should not be confused with the First Battle of Independence and that earlier battle resulted in a Confederate victory. The Second Battle of Independence was part of a series of battles and these battles include battles at Lexington, Little Blue, Independence, Westport, Marais des Cygnes, Mine Creek, and Marmiton River. Most of these battles were fought without adequate forage for horses, in the fall of 1864, Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price was dispatched by his superior, Lt. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, to attempt to seize Missouri for the Confederacy. Unable to attack his primary objective, St. Louis, Price decided to execute Smiths backup plan for a raid through Missouri and into Kansas. Their ultimate goal was to destroy or capture Union supplies and outposts, after victories at Glasgow and Lexington, Price continued his march westward, in the direction of Kansas City and Fort Leavenworth, headquarters of the Federal Department of Kansas. In addition, the newly activated Army of the Border under Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis would engage Prices force, following their defeat at Lexington, the small detachment of Union troops engaged in this battle under General Blunt retreated west toward Independence. They set up camp on October 20 behind strong defensive positions on the west bank of the Little Blue River, about five miles east of town, and awaited the main Confederate force. However Blunts superior, General Curtis, ordered him to abandon these positions save for a blocking force under Colonel Thomas Moonlight. It began on October 21, when General Blunt was ordered to return to the Little Blue, upon his arrival, he found that Colonel Moonlight had burnt the bridge over the river as previously instructed, after being attacked by Prices advance guard. About 7 AM, General Shelbys troops arrived on the scene, witnesses reported that the Federals entrenched themselves behind rock walls, and forced attacking Confederates to fight for nearly every inch of ground. At this time, General Blunts 1st Division, along with Colonel James Fords Fourth Brigade were brought in as reinforcements, the Fourth Brigade consisted of the 2nd Colorado and 16th Kansas cavalries, and the Colorado Battery, about 900 men with six guns. At 10 AM, the Union troops were compelled to give way, the 1st and 4th Brigades leaving the fight at Independence, joining the fight at the Big Blue, eight miles away. Union rearguard units attempted to impede Prices progress throughout the afternoon of the 21st, as fighting raged through the streets of the city. Prices troops halted their advance at a railroad cut on the western side of towns center. At some later point in time, General Blunt arrived, and had the form a new line of battle. At this time, the 11th, 15th and 16th Kansas, McLains Battery, the 2nd Colorado, the 3rd Wisconsin, the 11th Kansas ran out of ammunition during the battle, but remained on the field. Periodic gunfire continued throughout the night, as each side probed the other, Union infantry troops continued their withdrawal to the Big Blue River, west of Independence
18.
Battle of Byram's Ford
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The Battle of Byrams Ford was a minor engagement of the American Civil War, comprising two separate skirmishes on October 22–23,1864, in Jackson County, Missouri. It formed a part of the larger Battle of Westport, which resulted in a Union victory. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of the Big Blue River. Price had nearly 500 wagons with him, and required a good ford over the Blue River to facilitate passage of his supplies, Byrams Ford was the best crossing in the area, and would clearly be a point of great strategic significance during the impending Battle of Westport. On October 22, Maj. Gen. James G. Blunts division held a position on the west bank of the Big Blue River. Around 10 a. m. part of Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelbys Confederate division conducted an attack on Blunts men. This attack was a ruse, because the rest of Shelbys men flanked Blunts hasty defenses, Prices wagon train then crossed the Big Blue River at Byrams Ford and headed south to the village of Little Santa Fe and safety. The Battle of Westport began in earnest on the morning of the October 23, Pleasontons cavalry was hot on the tail of Prices army, having engaged his rear guard in nearby Independence the previous day. Pleasonton began his assault on Byrams Ford around 8 a. m, initially the Confederates held their own. One of the Union brigade commanders, Brig. Gen. Egbert B, brown, stalled his attack and was placed under arrest by Pleasonton for disobeying orders. Another of Pleasontons brigade commanders, Col. Edward F. Winslow, was wounded and succeeded by Lt. Col. Frederick Benteen, despite these setbacks, Federal troopers gained the west bank by 11 a. m. and Marmaduke retired. As Browns brigade forded the river, they came under fire from Confederate artillery. Once they had crossed, they charged Marmaduke across a field, during this charge, Union troops from Missouri. With Pleasonton now across the river he was now a threat to Price. Defeated by Curtis there and menaced by Pleasonton and an additional Federal brigade under John McNeil, Price had to abandon his Missouri campaign and retreat southward. This brought to a close the last major Confederate military operation west of the Mississippi River, and ended the last major Southern threat to any Northern state
19.
Battle of Westport
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The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the Gettysburg of the West, was fought on October 23,1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General Sterling Price and this engagement was the turning point of Prices Missouri Expedition, forcing his army to retreat. The battle ended the last major Confederate offensive west of the Mississippi River and this battle was one of the largest to be fought west of the Mississippi River, with over 30,000 men engaged. Westport had already established its place in history by the time Union, John Calvin McCoy, known as the Father of Kansas City, had laid out the town, and pioneers traveling along the Oregon, California and Santa Fe Trails all passed through it on their way West. Westport gradually replaced nearby Independence as the point for the Westward trails. During the Civil War, nearby Kansas City served as headquarters for the Federal District of the Border and was garrisoned by a contingent of Union troops. While its own municipal star was beginning to fade in favor of its northern neighbor, as it turned out, however, the decision to fight here would be the result of a chain of events that had little to do with any strategic importance attached to the town itself. Major General William S. Rosecrans, commanding the Federal Department of the Missouri, rosecranss cavalry under Major General Alfred Pleasonton set out in pursuit of Prices force, accompanied by a large detachment of infantry from the Army of the Tennessee under Andrew J. Smith. After his defeat at the Battle of Ft. Davidson, Price realized that St. Louis was far too heavily fortified for his small force. After light skirmishing there, Price again decided that this target was too heavily fortified and moved further west towards Fort Leavenworth. As he marched on, disease and desertion coupled with losses to whittle Prices force down to 8,500 men. Curtis accordingly assembled his troops into a force that he named the Army of the Border, Blunt was recalled from Indian campaigns to lead its 1st Division, composed mostly of volunteer regiments and some Kansas militia. Curtis was only able to muster about 4,000 volunteers. Governor Carney immediately suspected Curtis of attempting to draw the militia away from their voting districts, Carney was unconcerned with Prices force far away in Missouri, and felt it posed no threat to Kansas. However, once Price had turned west toward Jefferson City, Carney relented, since Kansas law stated that militia should be kept under the command of militia officers, Fishbeck disregarded Blunts order. Blunt had Fishbeck arrested and held until he was released by order of Maj. Gen. Curtis, upon release, Fishbeck resumed command of the Kansas Militia regiments, with orders to obey directives that came from Maj. Gen. Blunt. This rather cumbersome arrangement had Brig. Gen. Fishbeck in direct command of the units attached to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division. Howard N. Monnett describes the arrangement as a brigade within a brigade, Blair and Fishbeck led the militia into action at Westport, and then in the subsequent pursuit of Price until Maj. Gen. Curtis ordered the militia to return home
20.
Battle of Marais des Cygnes
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The Battle of Marais des Cygnes took place on October 25,1864, in Linn County, Kansas during Prices Missouri Raid in the American Civil War. It is also called the Battle of Osage, or the Battle of Trading Post, during this battle, two brigades of Pleasontons cavalry, one under Colonels John F. Philips and the other under Frederick Benteen, caught up with Prices rear guard at Trading Post, Kansas. Prices army covered the crossing of the Marais des Cygnes River with a Southern supply train, though unable to prevent the crossing or inflict serious damage on Confederate forces, Pleasontons troopers did manage to capture prisoners and artillery, forcing Price to continue his retreat. This led in turn to an engagement at Mine Creek later that morning. The three Union victories won on this day sealed the fate of Prices campaign, during the American Civil War, the Confederate authorities were looking for an edge in the upcoming U. S. presidential election of 1864. Due to this, they decided to attempt to take over the territory of Missouri to help persuade the people of the North to vote against current President, with Missouri as a Confederate territory, they were convinced it would give them the advantage in winning the war. With commands from Lt. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, Sterling Price assembled an army to take on this challenge, after this, he lost his infantry units to reassignment, and was forced to create a cavalry for the raid. Price then led an expedition into Missouri seeking to capture that state for the Confederacy, Price moved up through the state winning battles along the way, until he was halted by Union troops at the Battle of Westport, near modern-day Kansas City, Missouri. Price’s army was defeated by Union forces under the command of Major Generals Samuel R. Curtis, Price began to quickly withdraw south toward his base in Arkansas. Meanwhile, Pleasonton, commanding a Union cavalry division, pursued him into Kansas hoping to capture or destroy his army before he could reach Confederate territory and this led to the three battles on October 25 that destroyed Price’s cavalry, and led to his evacuation of Kansas. The three battles were the Battle of Marais des Cynges, the Battle of Mine Creek, on October 24, Price and his cavalry set up camp next the Marais des Cygnes River near Trading Post. The weather that night was terrible with rain and cold temperatures, Pleasonton’s cavalry was closing in on Price, and knew that he had set up camp in the area. Pleasonton sent out two brigades to overtake Price, the First Brigade, under the command of Colonel John Philips consisted of three regiments of Missouri State Militia and totaled 1,500 men. The Second Brigade under Lt. Colonel Frederick Benteen included regiments from Iowa, Missouri, during the next foggy morning, around 4am, Pleasonton’s army fired artillery, and after these were fired, Pleasonton’s men attacked the camp. This caused Price to order his troops to cross the river immediately, according to one account, the Confederates abandoned their camp so rapidly that attacking Union cavalrymen came upon campfires with meat still cooking on spits above them. Another account of the stated that the rifle fire from both sides was mostly ineffective because of the fog. Confederate fire was also effected by the height that they were shooting from, casualties are unknown, but it is known that there were not very many. Despite the fact the Union troops were not able to prevent Price from crossing the river and escaping momentarily, Union troops captured about 100 Confederate men, and two cannons
21.
Battle of Mine Creek
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The Battle of Mine Creek, also known as the Battle of the Osage, was a battle that occurred on October 25,1864, in Kansas as part of Prices Raid during the American Civil War. Although vastly outnumbered, Union forces won all three engagements, forcing Price out of Kansas and sealing the fate of his disastrous Missouri campaign, after a series of several battles across that state, Union forces under Maj. Gens. Samuel R. Curtis and Alfred Pleasonton finally defeated Price decisively at the Battle of Westport, in modern Kansas City, Prices army was hampered by the presence of a rather large supply train, containing upwards of 500 wagons filled with badly needed war supplies for the South. As he camped along the Marais des Cygnes River near the town of Trading Post in Linn County, Kansas, Prices force was attacked by two Union brigades from Pleasontons Provisional Cavalry Division. Although unable to prevent the escape of most of the Southern force, Pleasontons men were able to capture around 100 prisoners and two cannons, forcing Price to continue his withdrawal. Quickly renewing their pursuit, the Federal cavalry effected their own crossing of the river, which was delayed due to heavy rain. Six miles south of Trading Post, the brigades of Colonels Benteen and Phillips overtook Prices army once more, the heavily laden Confederate wagons were experiencing difficulty with the rain-swollen ford, and Price had accordingly anticipated making a stand at this location. He formed a line on the side of the stream, with Brig. Gen. James F. Fagans division on the left. Eight cannon were deployed in support of this force, brigadier General William L. Cabells brigade formed up on the south side of Mine Creek in reserve. General Price himself had gone on with the wagon train toward Ft. Scott, about twenty miles south, in the company of his third division. Price was hoping to capture that post, which held valuable military stores, in all, about 2,600 Federal troops faced around 7,000 Confederates. Although outnumbered by more than two-to-one, the Union cavalry immediately commenced an attack, faced with this sudden assault, Fagan and Marmaduke ordered their men to remain mounted, turning the ensuing combat into one of the largest mounted cavalry engagements of the Civil War. Pierce of the 4th Iowa Cavalry galloped ahead of his regiment toward the Southern lines, followed in turn by his own regiment and then the rest of Benteens brigade. Mass confusion reigned on the battlefield, as many of Prices men had donned captured Union uniforms, General Marmaduke was captured by an Iowa trooper named James Dunlavy, as he went to rally what he thought was a group of his own men. General Cabell similarly became a prisoner, as would nearly 1,000 of Prices army by the time the battle had ended, although the Confederates had numerical superiority, they were overwhelmed by the rapid attack and greater Union firepower, which included revolvers and breechloading carbines. The battle itself lasted barely 30 minutes, by the time General Price arrived on the scene, although many Southerners fought tenaciously, especially Prices artillery, most chose to flee. However, lacking support and having lost several of his immediate subordinates. Benteens brigade began its charge up the hill, supported by Union artillery, coming upon this scene, Price tried to rally his retreating men, to no avail
22.
Battle of Marmiton River
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The Battle of Marmiton River occurred on October 25,1864, in Vernon County, Missouri during the American Civil War. Following the Battle of Mine Creek, Confederate Major General Sterling Price continued his cartage towards Fort Scott, in the late afternoon of October 25, Prices supply train had difficulty crossing the Marmiton River ford and, like at Mine Creek, Price had to make a stand. McNeil observed the sizable Confederate force, not knowing that many of them were unarmed, after about two hours of skirmishing, Price continued his retreat and McNeil could not mount an effective pursuit. Prices army was broken by this time, and it was simply a question of how many men he could successfully evacuate to friendly territory. The battle occurred at a crossing of the Marmaton river, where the water was only two deep, and about thirty feet wide, with steep banks approaching and leading from the crossing. The river at this point ran east and west, with the troops crossing going from the north to the south, General John McNeils brigade approached the Confederate troops about 4 oclock in the afternoon. Troops engaged for the Confederates included Jeff Thompsons brigade, Slaybacks battalion, the reserves consisted of Jackmans and Tylers brigades. At this point in time, Prices army had only the three left of Richard Collins battery. It is estimated that Price had about 8,000 men at this point in time, McNeils brigade halted about 800 yards from the Confederate line, and after a short delay, Pleasonton relayed orders to McNeil to attack. McNeils men were on foot at this time, having dismounted their horses, McNeil had four guns, two Rodmans and two mountain howitzers, which then fired at the attacking Confederates. Eleven were killed and 24 wounded, before Tylers men had made it 400 yards, Benteens brigade then arrived, forming on the right of McNeil, with his three regiments of the 10th Missouri, and the 3rd and 4th Iowa cavalry, still mounted. Benteen ordered a charge, which was halted due to the condition of the ground. The 4th Iowa then rode to the right, and charged the Confederate line, five of his men were wounded, with none killed, while the Confederates had four killed and ten wounded. The Union troops disengaged, and all marched to Fort Scott, with the exception of McNeils and Benteens. Prices troops then left the field, towards Arkansas, U. S. National Park Service Battle of Marmiton River Summary
23.
Second Battle of Newtonia
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The Second Battle of Newtonia was fought on October 28,1864, in Newton County, Missouri, as part of Major General Sterling Prices Missouri Expedition of the American Civil War. Prices Confederate cavalry force was in retreat following its expedition into Missouri. On October 28,1864, it stopped to rest about two miles south of Newtonia, Missouri, maj. Gen. James G. Blunts Union cavalrymen spotted the rear of Price’s supply train entering the woods south of town on the Cassville road. McLains Colorado Light Artillery, supported by the 15th Kansas Cavalry, blunt formed the 16th Kansas Cavalry and 2nd Colorado Cavalry in two lines and personally led a charge behind a screen of skirmishers toward the fleeing supply train. Most of the skirmishers were in no condition to resist. Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelbys mounted infantry division, including his Iron Brigade, rode to the front, dismounted, Shelbys men overlapped the flanks of the smaller Union force and forced it back into a large cornfield near the Matthew H. Ritchey estate. There, fighting raged until Federal cannon fire and reinforcements under Brig. Gen. John B, sanborn finally caused the Confederates to retreat at nightfall. However, Shelby had accomplished his mission in holding up the Union pursuers, by morning, Price had retreated across the desolate prairie towards the Indian Territory. Despite the duration and ferocity of the firefight, casualties were rather light, today, most of the battlefield is in private hands. Twenty acres, plus the Ritchey mansion, are owned by the Newtonia Battlefield Preservation Society, the Second Battle of Newtonia Site is a historic battlefield site listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The site consist of the site as a whole plus what has been designated as the cornfield site, the artillery ridge site. U. S. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Civil War Sites Advisory Committee Update and Resurvey Larry Wood, charleston, South Carolina, The History Press,2010. Part of the History Press Civil War Sesquicentennial Series
24.
9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment
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The 9th Arkansas Infantry was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. It served throughout the war in the theater, seeing action in the Vicksburg, Tennessee. Following its depletion in numbers the regiment was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, 9th Infantry Regiment was organized at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, July 20,1861, and was known as the Parsons Regiment because it contained forty-two ministers. Its companies were recruited in the counties, The unit contained four companies which were originally oganized as volunteer companies in the 24th Regiment. Company A, the Bradley Guards of Jefferson County, commanded by John M. Bradley and this unit was originally organized as a volunteer company in the 24th Regiment, Arkansas State Militia. The unit organized at Grapevine, Arkansas, on June 9,1861, due to losses incurred at the Battle of Shiloh, the company was disbanded on April 17,1862, and its members distributed among other companies of the regiment. Company B, the Confederate Grays, of Drew County, commanded by Captain Simon B, Company C, the Henry Hornets, of Jefferson County, commanded by Captain Philip G. Henry. The unit was organized at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on July 12,1861, Company D, of Bradley County, commanded by Captain William Y. The unit was organized at Warren, Arkansas, and mustered into Confederate service at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on July 25,1861, Company E, of Bradley County, commanded by Captain John W. Blankenship. The unit was organized at Lanark, Arkansas, and mustered into Confederate service at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on July 25,1861, Company F, the Dixie Guards, of Drew County, commanded by Captain William C. The unit was organized at Monticello, Arkansas, and mustered into Confederate service at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on July 25,1861, Company G, the Arkansas Travellers, of Jefferson County, commanded by Captain Robert M. Wallace. This unit was organized on June 24,1861 as a volunteer company in the 24th Regiment. Organized at New London, Arkansas, and mustered into Confederate service at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on July 27,1861, Company H, the Hardee Guards, of Jefferson County, commanded by Captain James T. Armstrong. This unit was organized as a volunteer company in the 24th Regiment. Organized at Plum Bayou, Arkansas, and mustered into Confederate service at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on July 27,1861, Company I, the McCulloch Guards, of Jefferson County, commanded by Captain George W. Bayne. This unit was organized on June 24,1861 as a volunteer company in the 24th Regiment. Company I, the Osceola Hornets, of Mississippi County, commanded by Captain Charles Bowen and this unit was organized at Osceola, Arkansas, mustered into Confederate service at Memphis, Tennessee, on August 10,1861, for twelve months’ service, and assigned as Co. The company was transferred to 9th Arkansas Infantry as Co, Company K, of Ashley County, commanded by Captain John F. Carr
25.
11th Arkansas Infantry Regiment
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The 11th Arkansas Infantry was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. Following the units surrender during the Battle of Island No,10, it was consolidated with Griffiths 17th Arkansas Infantry Regiment and mounted. Following the surrender of Port Hudson, some members returned to Arkansas and became part of Poes Arkansas Cavalry Battalion. The 11th Arkansas was organized in Saline County, Arkansas, in July 1861, the Mustering Officer for the regiment was George M. Holt, a Brigadier General of the Arkansas State Militia. The unit was composed of companies from the following counties, Company A – the Saline Tornadoes – Commanded by Captain M. Vance, Saline County. Captain Vance, and 1st Lieutenant M. A, Shepherd of this company had been commissioned as the company officers of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 18th Militia Regiment, Saline County on 10 May 1860. It is thought that they probably enrolled many of the men of this company in the Saline Tornados, Company B – the Rough and Ready Riflemen – Commanded by Captain J. Douglas, organized in Saline County, Arkansas. Company C – Commanded by Captain J. Sanders, organized in Saline County, Company D – the Fairplay Riflemen – Commanded by Captain Z. Philips, organized in Saline County, Arkansas. Company E – the Falcon Guards – Commanded by Captain J. Moss, organized in Columbia County and it is thought that he probably enrolled many of the men of this company in the Saline Avengers. Company G – the Camden Knights No.2 – Commanded by Captain J. Logan, organized in Ouachita County, Company H – Commanded by Captain J. Matthews, organized in Columbia County, Arkansas. Company I – Commanded by Captain Anderson Cunningham, organized in Saline County, Company K – Commanded by Captain J. G. Johnson, organized in Saline County, Arkansas. The unit was included in the list of regiments transferred to Confederate Service by the Arkansas State Military Board July 28,1861, a new election was ordered by the State Military Board and it was held on August 8,1861. The results were the same as the first election with the exception that Mark S. Miller was elected lieutenant colonel in the place of Hordley, the field grade officers received their commissions in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States on August 8,1861. The regiment was ordered to Little Rock on August 9,1861, and remained there until August 20, the unit boarded boats on August 27 for the five-day trip by river to Memphis Tennessee where the unit arrive on 1 September 1861. The unit remained in the Memphis area until September 26 when the unit was ordered to Fort Pillow, Island Number Ten was surrendered April 15,1862, after a terrific bombardment by the enemys mortar-boats and gunboats, aided by an overflow which nearly submerged the island. The Confederate defenses consisted of dissolving earthworks and twenty guns, maj. W. J. Hoadley, of Little Rock, spiked his battery of guns and made his escape with one section of the battalion. The others were included in the documents, and were transported to Camp Butler near Springfield, Ill. then to Camp Chase. Lieutenant Gibson, of Company H, was dead on Johnsons island by a Federal sentinel because he crossed the dead line
26.
Mounted infantry
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Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching, but, as infantry does in general, fought on foot. In contrast, cavalry fought on horseback, the original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Mounted rifles are half cavalry, today, with motor vehicles having replaced horses for military transport, the motorized infantry are in some respects successors to mounted infantry. The origins of mounted infantry go back to at least the beginnings of organised warfare, with the weight of ancient bronze armour national champions would travel to battle on chariots before dismounting to fight. With the evolution of warfare, some hoplites would travel to battle on horseback. Early pre-Marian Roman military had units consisting of mounted infantry with units clinging to the saddles of the cavalry to take them to battle and then dismounting to fight. Gallic and Germanic warbands were reported to use double-riders, with a second warrior joining a horseman only for a distance before dismounting to fight on foot. The Han Dynasty also extensively used mounted infantry in their campaigns against the Xiongnu confederation, during many of the Han campaigns, the vast majority of the army rode on horseback, either as mounted cavalry or mounted infantry who fought dismounted. Dragoons originally were mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills, however, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel. Dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the late 17th century, the name is possibly derived from a type of firearm carried by dragoons of the French Army. There is no distinction between the dragon and dragoon in French. The title has been retained in modern times by a number of armoured or ceremonial mounted regiments, with the invention of accurate and quick firing repeating rifles in the middle of the 19th century, cavalry started to become increasingly vulnerable. Many armies started to use troops which could fight on horseback or on foot as circumstances dictated. The first mounted infantry units to be named as such were raised during the Mexican–American War and others followed, terms such as mounted rifles were often used. The French Foreign Legion used mule-mounted companies from the 1880s, each mule was shared by two legionnaires, who took turns riding it. This arrangement allowed faster and more prolonged marches that could cover 60 miles in one day, in the British Army, infantry units in some parts of the British Empire had a mounted platoon for scouting and skirmishing. In addition, many locally raised units such as the Ceylon Mounted Rifles, Cape Mounted Rifles, Natal Carbineers, in the Second Boer War, the British copied the Boers and raised large forces of their own mounted infantry. Among various ad hoc formations, the Imperial Yeomanry was raised from volunteers in Britain in 1900 and 1901, as part of the lessons learned from that war, British regular cavalry regiments were armed with the same rifle as the infantry and became well-trained in dismounted tactics
27.
Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal
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The Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal, also known as the Main Building of the U. S. Arsenal at Little Rock, or Headquarters Building of the Little Rock Barracks, is the home of the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History and it is also a part of the MacArthur Park Historic District, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Built between 1840 and 1841, it was part of Little Rocks first U. S. military installation, since decommissioning, the building has housed two local museums. It was home to the Arkansas Museum of Natural History and Antiquities from 1942 to 1997 and it has also housed the Little Rock Æsthetic Club since 1894. The building receives its name from its distinct octagonal tower and it was also the starting place of the Camden Expedition during the American Civil War. The building and the park were used for many public purposes throughout the early 20th century. The Tower Building served as headquarters for the United Confederate Veterans Reunion, later the building served as an armory for the Arkansas National Guard. In 1912, the floor of the Tower Building became Little Rocks first public library. In 1917, Little Rock built a station in the park. A band shell named for H. H. Foster also was built in the park during this time, in 1936, Works Progress Administration built the Museum of Fine Arts, now called the Arkansas Arts Center, just south of the Tower Building. The arsenal was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, due to its association with the Camden Expedition of 1864, the arsenal may be included in the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark designated in 1994. In 1942, the Tower Building was renovated due to the efforts of the Æsthetic Club, Little Rock philanthropist Frederick W. Allsop, and it became the new home of the Arkansas Museum of Natural History and Antiquities, which had been located in Little Rock City Hall. The museum remained in the building for approximately fifty-five years. The area surrounding the Tower Building had been known as Arsenal Park when the first decommissioned, due to the efforts of Bernie Babcock, however, the city finally named it MacArthur Park in 1942 in honor of Douglas MacArthur. In 1997, the Museum of Science and Natural History merged with the Little Rock Childrens Museum, the new museum was relocated to a historic building in the Little Rock River Market District. The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History opened on May 19,2001 in the Tower Building, thirty-six acres were appropriated on the outskirts of Little Rock by Major Robert B. Lee of the U. S. Army. The land had previously used as a racetrack by the local jockey club. John Wormley Walker, a builder for the Federal Government, supervised the construction, originally $14,000 was allocated for the construction of the arsenal, but proved inadequate
28.
Arkansas Militia in the Civil War
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Like most of the United States, Arkansas had an organized militia system before the American Civil War. State law required military service of most male inhabitants of a certain age, following the War with Mexico the Arkansas militia experienced a decline, but as sectional frictions between the north and south began to build in the late 1850s the militia experienced a revival. By 1860 the states militia consisted of 62 regiments divided into eight brigades, which comprised an eastern division, new regiments were added as the militia organization developed. Additionally, many counties and cities raised uniformed volunteer companies, which drilled more often and were better equipped than the un-uniformed militia and these volunteer companies were instrumental in the seizure of federal installations at Little Rock and Fort Smith, beginning in February 1861. These new regiments comprised the Provisional Army of Arkansas, in July 1861 and agreement was reached to transfer the existing state forces into the Confederate army. Following the battle of Wilsons Creek, the First Division voted to disband rather than enter Confederate Service, in November 1861, Colonel Solon S. The State Military Board authorized the activation of Eighth Brigade of Militia, and one company from the regiments of Prairie, Monroe, Poinsett, Saint Francis. The units that responded to call were formed into three regiments of 30 Day Volunteers. Some of these companies later enrolled in regular Confederate service, in the spring of 1862 a Union invasion of Northwest Arkansas necessitated an activation of parts of the state militia. In February 1862, General McCulloch issued a proclamation from Fayetteville requesting that every man out and form companies. Burrow, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Arkansas State Militia reacted by activating his entire brigade consisting of six regiments for three weeks. This recruiting method succeeded in supplying several new mounted companies which participated in resisting Union General Steeles Camden Expedition in the spring of 1864, sporadic recruiting of new volunteer companies from the Militia continued until March 1865. The Arkansas Secession Convention directed each county to organize a Home Guard organization, the Home Guard were later commissioned to begin guerrilla operations against occupying Union forces. Two famous Arkansas veterans of the War with Mexico would find themselves involved in the first use of the Arkansas Militia following the War with Mexico. Allen Wood, who had raised a company in Arkansas which became part of the 12th United States Infantry Regiment during the war with Mexico, was appointed as Adjutant General in 1849. Two warring families and their supporters vied for control of all county offices in what was known as the Tutt-Everett War, the Tutts, of the Whig Party and the Everetts, of the Democratic Party had a long running feud which erupted into bloodshed in June 1849. It was said that every man in the county had taken sides in the affair. General Wood raised two companies in Carroll County, one commanded by Captain William C
29.
Union City, Tennessee
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Union City is a city located in Obion County, Tennessee, United States. The 2010 census reported the population of the town as 10,895, Union City is the principal city of the surrounding micropolitan area, which includes Obion County and Fulton County, Kentucky. The Discovery Park of America serves as an attraction in the state of Tennessee and is located within city limits. It was founded by Robert Kirkland and opened its doors in 2013, Union City is approximately 30–45 minutes from Reelfoot Lake. This well-known lake was formed from the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes and is a recreational boating and fishing location in the state. Union City is also approximately 15–20 minutes from the University of Tennessee at Martin, the city name was derived from its location at the junction of two railroads, with one running roughly east-west and the other roughly north-south. Union City is located at 36°25′28″N 89°3′3″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.7 square miles, all land. The current mayor is Terry Hailey, as of the census of 2000, there were 13 people,4 households, and 2 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,020.1 people per square mile, there were 5,013 housing units at an average density of 470.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 75. 44% White,21. 29% African American,0. 22% Native American,0. 29% Asian,0. 13% Pacific Islander,1. 59% from other races, and 1. 04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3. 41% of the population,32. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15. 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the family size was 2.89. In the city, the population was out with 23. 6% under the age of 18,9. 6% from 18 to 24,26. 8% from 25 to 44,22. 6% from 45 to 64. The median age was 38 years, for every hundred females there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.4 males, the median income for a household in the city was $29,399, and the median income for a family was $40,737. Males had an income of $35,801 versus $19,694 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,787, about 12. 5% of families and 16. 8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26. 4% of those under age 18 and 14. 6% of those age 65 or over. Over the years many companies have located manufacturing or processing plants there, currently, the city has several vital companies that operate plants in Union City
30.
Tennessee
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Tennessee is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 17th most populous of the 50 United States, Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, Tennessees capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 654,610. Memphis is the states largest city, with a population of 655,770, the state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1,1796. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, occupied by Union forces from 1862, it was the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war. Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state besides Virginia and this sharply reduced competition in politics in the state until after passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-20th century. This city was established to house the Manhattan Projects uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build the worlds first atomic bomb, Tennessees major industries include agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. Poultry, soybeans, and cattle are the primary agricultural products, and major manufacturing exports include chemicals, transportation equipment. In the early 18th century, British traders encountered a Cherokee town named Tanasi in present-day Monroe County, the town was located on a river of the same name, and appears on maps as early as 1725. The meaning and origin of the word are uncertain, some accounts suggest it is a Cherokee modification of an earlier Yuchi word. It has been said to mean meeting place, winding river, according to ethnographer James Mooney, the name can not be analyzed and its meaning is lost. The modern spelling, Tennessee, is attributed to James Glen, the governor of South Carolina, the spelling was popularized by the publication of Henry Timberlakes Draught of the Cherokee Country in 1765. In 1788, North Carolina created Tennessee County, the county to be established in what is now Middle Tennessee. When a constitutional convention met in 1796 to organize a new out of the Southwest Territory. Other sources differ on the origin of the nickname, according to the Columbia Encyclopedia. Tennessee ties Missouri as the state bordering the most other states, the state is trisected by the Tennessee River. The highest point in the state is Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome, which lies on Tennessees eastern border, is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail, and is the third highest peak in the United States east of the Mississippi River
31.
Army of Central Kentucky
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The Army of Central Kentucky was a military organization within Department No.2. Originally called the Army Corps of Central Kentucky, it was created in the fall of 1861 as a subsection of Department No. 2, and continued in existence until the end of March 1862 when it was absorbed and merged into the Army of Mississippi, which was then re-organized as the Army of Tennessee on November 20,1862. Brig. Gen. Buckner assumed command of all forces in central Kentucky during September 1861 after having first served as a major general, the forces were organized into two divisions with a reserve force. Later a third division under Brig. Gen. John B, after Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston took command, Buckner continued to command a division of the Army of Central Kentucky at Bowling Green and Fort Donelson, where he surrendered. After being exchanged in August 1862, Buckner was promoted to major general, Gen. Johnston was in command of the Army of Central Kentucky from October 28,1861, until March 29,1862, with the exception of a two-week temporary command by Hardee in December. The area of operation for this army was designated as the part of Tennessee north of the Cumberland River, on December 26,1861, part of the Army of the Kanawha was added. On March 29,1862, the army at about 23,000 men strong was merged into the Army of the Mississippi in preparation for the Battle of Shiloh, maj. Gen. Hardee took temporary command of the army from December 4 to December 18,1861. New York, McKay,1959, revised 1988, Eicher, John H. and Eicher, David J. Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press,2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3
32.
John C. Breckinridge
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John Cabell Breckinridge was a lawyer, politician, and soldier from the U. S. state of Kentucky. He represented the state in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever Vice President of the United States and he served in the U. S. Senate during the outbreak of the American Civil War, but was expelled after joining the Confederate Army. He remains the only Senator of the United States convicted of treason against the United States of America by the Senate and he was appointed Confederate Secretary of War late in the war. Elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1851, after reapportionment in 1854 made his re-election unlikely, he declined to run for another term. The Democrats won the election, but Breckinridge had little influence with Buchanan and, as presiding officer of the Senate, in 1859, he was elected to succeed U. S. Senator John J. Crittenden at the end of Crittendens term in 1861, as vice president, Breckinridge joined with Buchanan in supporting the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution for Kansas, which led to a split in the Democratic Party. The Southern wing was led by Breckinridge, doughfaced Northerner Buchanan, and the northern wing, a third party, the Constitutional Union Party, nominated John Bell. Taking his seat in the Senate, he urged compromise to preserve the Union although seven states had already seceded, Unionists took control of the state legislature when Kentuckys neutrality was breached. After this occurred, Breckinridge fled behind Confederate battle lines where he was commissioned a brigadier general, following the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, he was promoted to major general, and in October he was assigned to the Army of Mississippi under General Braxton Bragg. After participating in Jubal Earlys 1864 campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley, Breckinridge was charged with defending Confederate supplies in Tennessee, in February 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed him Secretary of War. Concluding that the war was hopeless, he urged Davis to arrange a national surrender, after the fall of the Confederate capital at Richmond, he ensured the preservation of Confederate military and governmental records. He traveled south from Richmond and managed to capture by Federal forces. He then fled to Cuba, Great Britain, and finally, in exile, he toured Europe from August 1866 to June 1868. When President Andrew Johnson extended amnesty to all former Confederates in late 1868, he returned to Kentucky, War injuries sapped his health, and after two operations, he died on May 17,1875. John Cabell Breckinridge was born at Thorn Hill, his familys estate near Lexington, Kentucky, the fourth of six children born to Joseph Cabell and Mary Clay Breckinridge, he was their only son. His mother was the daughter of Samuel Stanhope Smith, who founded Hampden–Sydney College in 1775, and granddaughter of John Witherspoon, having previously served as Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, his father had been appointed Kentuckys Secretary of State just prior to his sons birth. In February, the family moved with Governor John Adair to the Governors Mansion in Frankfort, in August 1823, an illness referred to as the prevailing fever struck Frankfort, and Cabell Breckinridge took his children to stay with his mother in Lexington. On his return, both he and his wife fell ill, he died, but she survived and his assets were not enough to pay his debts, and his wife joined the children in Lexington, supported by her mother-in-law
33.
Mississippi River
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The Mississippi River is the chief river of the largest drainage system on the North American continent. Flowing entirely in the United States, it rises in northern Minnesota, with its many tributaries, the Mississippis watershed drains all or parts of 31 U. S. states and 2 Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth longest and fifteenth largest river in the world by discharge, the river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Native Americans long lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, most were hunter-gatherers, but some, such as the Mound Builders, formed prolific agricultural societies. The arrival of Europeans in the 16th century changed the way of life as first explorers, then settlers. The river served first as a barrier, forming borders for New Spain, New France, and the early United States, and then as a vital transportation artery and communications link. Formed from thick layers of the silt deposits, the Mississippi embayment is one of the most fertile agricultural regions of the country. In recent years, the river has shown a shift towards the Atchafalaya River channel in the Delta. The word itself comes from Messipi, the French rendering of the Anishinaabe name for the river, see below in the History section for additional information. In addition to historical traditions shown by names, there are at least two measures of a rivers identity, one being the largest branch, and the other being the longest branch. Using the largest-branch criterion, the Ohio would be the branch of the Lower Mississippi. Using the longest-branch criterion, the Middle Mississippi-Missouri-Jefferson-Beaverhead-Red Rock-Hellroaring Creek River would be the main branch and its length of at least 3,745 mi is exceeded only by the Nile, the Amazon, and perhaps the Yangtze River among the longest rivers in the world. The source of this waterway is at Browers Spring,8,800 feet above sea level in southwestern Montana and this is exemplified by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the phrase Trans-Mississippi as used in the name of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. It is common to qualify a regionally superlative landmark in relation to it, the New Madrid Seismic Zone along the river is also noteworthy. These various basic geographical aspects of the river in turn underlie its human history and present uses of the waterway, the Upper Mississippi runs from its headwaters to its confluence with the Missouri River at St. Louis, Missouri. The source of the Upper Mississippi branch is traditionally accepted as Lake Itasca,1,475 feet above sea level in Itasca State Park in Clearwater County, however, the lake is in turn fed by a number of smaller streams. From its origin at Lake Itasca to St. Louis, Missouri, fourteen of these dams are located above Minneapolis in the headwaters region and serve multiple purposes, including power generation and recreation. The remaining 29 dams, beginning in downtown Minneapolis, all locks and were constructed to improve commercial navigation of the upper river
34.
Linn County, Kansas
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Linn County is a county located in east-central Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 9,656 and its county seat is Mound City, and its most populous city is Pleasanton. The county was named for Lewis F. Linn, a U. S, for many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of parts of North America. In 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly ceded New France to Spain, in 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles. In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U. S. state, in 1867, Linn County was established. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 606 square miles. As of the U. S. Census in 2000, there were 9,570 people,3,807 households, the population density was 16 people per square mile. There were 4,720 housing units at a density of 8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 97. 50% White,0. 63% Black or African American,0. 48% Native American,0. 14% Asian,0. 04% Pacific Islander,0. 16% from other races, and 1. 06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0. 91% of the population,24. 00% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the family size was 2.94. In the county, the population was out with 25. 00% under the age of 18,6. 70% from 18 to 24,24. 30% from 25 to 44,25. 70% from 45 to 64. The median age was 41 years, for every 100 females there were 100.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.60 males, the median income for a household in the county was $35,906, and the median income for a family was $42,571. Males had an income of $31,720 versus $22,287 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,009, about 7. 80% of families and 11. 00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14. 20% of those under age 18 and 9. 60% of those age 65 or over
35.
M. Jeff Thompson
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Meriwether Jeff Thompson was a brigadier general in the Missouri State Guard during the American Civil War. He served the Confederate Army as a commander, and had the unusual distinction of having a ship in the Confederate Navy named for him. Father, Meriwether Thompson b. circa 1790 Mother, Martha Slaughter Broaddus b. circa 1800 Wife, Emma Catherine Hays b. circa 1830, New Orleans, children, Emma Catherine Thompson b.1850 Source, D. A. R. Vol.59, pg.272 Meriwether Jeff Thompson was born at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, Thompson received basic training in military tactics in Charleston, South Carolina, but was not appointed to a military academy. Following his education, he found employment as a clerk in a few Virginia and Pennsylvania towns. He moved to Liberty, Missouri in 1847 and St. Joseph the following year and he later supervised the construction of the western branch of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. He married Emma Hayes in 1848, Thompson served as St. Joseph mayor from 1857–1860. He presided over the ceremony inaugurating the first ride of the Pony Express on April 3,1860, Thompson was a colonel in the Missouri state militia at the outbreak of the Civil War. In late July 1861, he was appointed general of the First Division. He commanded the First Military District of Missouri, which covered the southeastern quarter of the state from St. Louis to the Mississippi River. Thompsons battalion soon became known as the Swamp Rats for their exploits and he gained renown as the Swamp Fox of the Confederacy. Although Thompson frequently petitioned for the Confederate rank of brigadier general it was never granted and his brigadier rank came from his Missouri State Guard service. On October 15,1861, Thompson led an attack on the Iron Mountain Railroad bridge over the Big River near Blackwell in Jefferson County. After successfully burning the bridge, Thompson retreated to join his infantry in Fredericktown, soon afterwards, he was defeated at the Battle of Fredericktown and withdrew, leaving southeastern Missouri in Union control. After briefly commanding rams in the Confederate riverine fleet in 1862, there, he engaged in a number of battles before returning to Arkansas in 1863 to accompany Gen. John S. Marmaduke on his raid into Missouri. Later that year, Thompson participated in Major General Sterling Prices Missouri expedition and he served competently in this role. In March 1865, Thompson was appointed commander of the Northern Sub-District of Arkansas, Thompsons command was widely dispersed throughout northeast Arkansas, more for reasons of available forage than anything else. About a third of his men refused to surrender, Shelbys Missouri Brigade, along with elements of Greens and Jackmans Missouri Brigades, lit out for Mexico
36.
Jacksonport, Arkansas
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Jacksonport is a town in Jackson County, Arkansas, United States, along the White River at its confluence with the Black River. The population was 212 at the 2010 census, jacksonport was once an important steamboat stop on the White River. During the Civil War the town served as a hub for Confederate forces. Jacksonport is located at 35°38′28″N 91°18′32″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.35 square miles, all land. As of the census of 2000, there were 235 people,104 households, there were 114 housing units at an average density of 122. 3/km². The racial makeup of the town was 94. 47% White,2. 98% Black or African American,0. 43% Native American, and 2. 13% from two or more races. 29. 8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.83. In the town, the population was out with 20. 0% under the age of 18,10. 6% from 18 to 24,27. 2% from 25 to 44,28. 9% from 45 to 64. The median age was 41 years, for every 100 females there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males, the median income for a household in the town was $26,563, and the median income for a family was $28,333. Males had an income of $26,083 versus $18,750 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,150. About 21. 9% of families and 22. 9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25. 5% of those under the age of eighteen and 17. 9% of those sixty five or over
37.
Arkansas in the American Civil War
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Arkansas had initially voted to remain in the Union. Arkansas raised 48 infantry regiments for the Confederacy, mostly serving in the Western theatre, Major General Patrick Cleburne was the states most notable military leader. The state also raised some Union regiments, though these were used for local anti-guerrilla patrols. The Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862 ensured Union control of Northern Arkansas, programs such as the draft, high taxes, and martial law led to a decline in enthusiasm for the Confederate cause. The state was readmitted to the Union in 1868, the slave state of Arkansas was a part of the Confederate States during the American Civil War, and provided a source of troops, supplies, and military and political leaders. Arkansas had become the 25th state of the United States, on June 15,1836, antebellum Arkansas was still a wilderness in most areas, rural and sparsely populated. As a result, it did not have military significance when states began declaring secession from the Union. State Militia forces seized the Federal Arsenal in Little Rock before Arkansas actually voted to secede, the small Federal garrison was forced to evacuate after a demand by Arkansas Governor Rector that the arsenal be turned over to state authority. At the beginning of 1861, the population of Arkansas, like states of the Upper South, was not keen to secede on average. This was shown by the results of state referendum in February 1861. The referendum passed, but the majority of the elected were conditional unionist in sympathy. This changed after the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, the move toward open war shifted public opinion into the secessionist camp. Arkansas declared its secession from the Union on May 6,1861, at the Arkansas secession convention in March 1861, Henry M. They stated that hostility to the institution of African slavery from the states was the primary reason why the state was declaring that it had seceded from the United States. It also stated that the states support for equality with negroes. Arkansas formed some 48 infantry regiments for the Confederate Army in addition to numerous cavalry and artillery units to serve as part of the Confederate Army. The 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles, and the 1st, 4th, one infantry regiment, the 3rd Arkansas, served in the East for the duration of the war, thus making it the states most celebrated Confederate military unit. Though it was with the Confederacy that Arkansas sided as a state, none of those saw any heavy combat actions, and few took part in any major battles
38.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
39.
Federal government of the United States
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The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms
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Origins of the American Civil War
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While most historians agree that conflicts over slavery caused the war, they disagree sharply regarding which kinds of conflict—ideological, economic, political, or social—were most important. Another explanation for secession, and the subsequent formation of the Confederacy, was white Southern nationalism, the primary reason for the North to reject secession was to preserve the Union, a cause based on American nationalism. Most of the debate is about the first question, as to why some southern states decided to secede, Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election without being on the ballot in ten of the Southern states. His victory triggered declarations of secession by seven states of the Deep South. They formed the Confederate States of America after Lincoln was elected, nationalists refused to recognize the declarations of secession. No foreign countrys government ever recognized the Confederacy, the U. S. government under President James Buchanan refused to relinquish its forts that were in territory claimed by the Confederacy. The war itself began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces bombarded Fort Sumter, as a panel of historians emphasized in 2011, while slavery and its various and multifaceted discontents were the primary cause of disunion, it was disunion itself that sparked the war. Thus they were committed to values that could not logically be reconciled, other important factors were partisan politics, abolitionism, Southern nationalism, Northern nationalism, expansionism, economics and modernization in the Antebellum period. The United States had become a nation of two distinct regions and their growth was fed by a high birth rate and large numbers of European immigrants, especially British, Irish and Germans. The heavily rural South had few cities of any size, Slave owners controlled politics and the economy, although about 75% of white Southern families owned no slaves and usually were engaged in subsistence agriculture. Overall, the Northern population was growing more quickly than the Southern population. By the time the 1860 election occurred, the heavily agricultural southern states as a group had fewer Electoral College votes than the rapidly industrializing northern states, Abraham Lincoln was able to win the 1860 Presidential election without even being on the ballot in ten Southern states. Southerners felt a loss of federal concern for Southern pro-slavery political demands, after the Mexican–American War of 1846 to 1848, the issue of slavery in the new territories led to the Compromise of 1850. While the compromise averted an immediate crisis, it did not permanently resolve the issue of the Slave Power. Part of the Compromise of 1850 was the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, requiring that Northerners assist Southerners in reclaiming fugitive slaves, which many Northerners found to be extremely offensive. The compromise that was reached outraged many Northerners, and led to the formation of the Republican Party, the industrializing North and agrarian Midwest became committed to the economic ethos of free-labor industrial capitalism. Arguments that slavery was undesirable for the nation had long existed, after 1840, abolitionists denounced slavery as not only a social evil but a moral wrong. Activists in the new Republican Party, usually Northerners, had another view, Southern defenders of slavery, for their part, increasingly came to contend that black people benefited from slavery
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Issues of the American Civil War
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Issues of the American Civil War include questions about the name of the war, the tariff, states rights and the nature of Abraham Lincolns war goals. For more on naming, see Naming the American Civil War, the question of how important the tariff was in causing the war stems from the Nullification Crisis, which was South Carolinas attempt to nullify a tariff and lasted from 1828 to 1832. The tariff was low after 1846, and the issue faded into the background by 1860 when secession began. States rights was the justification for nullification and later secession, the most controversial right claimed by Southern states was the alleged right of Southerners to spread slavery into territories owned by the United States. Historians generally agree that economic conflicts were not a cause of the war. When numerous groups tried at the last minute in 1860–61 to find a compromise to avert war, aside from the economic institution of slavery, no other economic issues brought about the Civil War. The South, Midwest and Northeast had quite different word structures and they traded with each other and each became more prosperous by staying in the Union, a point many businessmen made in 1860–61. Beard in the 1920s made a highly influential argument to the effect that these caused the war. He saw the industrial Northeast forming a coalition with the agrarian Midwest against the Plantation South, critics pointed out that his image of a unified Northeast was incorrect because the region was highly diverse with many different competing economic interests. In 1860–61, most business interests in the Northeast opposed war, after 1950, only a few mainstream historians accepted the Beard interpretation, though it was accepted by libertarian economists. As Historian Kenneth Stamp—who abandoned Beardism after 1950, sums up the scholarly consensus, the Southerners in Congress set the federal tariffs on imported goods, especially the low tariff rates in 1857, this led to resentment by Northern industrialists. Controversy over whether slavery was at the root of the issue dates back at least as far as the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. During the debate at Alton, Lincoln said that slavery was the cause of the Nullification crisis over a tariff. John C. Calhoun was an owner who helped develop the positive good theory of slavery. Also, Calhoun said that slavery was the cause of the Nullification Crisis, while most leaders of Southern secession in 1860 mentioned slavery as the cause, Robert Rhett was a free trade extremist who opposed the tariff. However, Rhett was also a slavery extremist who wanted the Constitution of the Confederacy to legalize the African Slave Trade, Republicans also saw support for a Homestead Act, a higher tariff and a transcontinental railroad as a flank attack on the slave power. There were enough Southern Senators in the U. S. Senate to keep the tariff low after 1846, even when the tariff was higher three decades before the war, only South Carolina revolted, and the issue was nullification, not secession. The tariff was much lower by 1861, when the Confederacy was formed it set a very high 15% tariff on all imports, including imports from the United States
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Bleeding Kansas
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The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 called for popular sovereignty—that is, the decision about slavery was to be made by the settlers. It would be decided by votes—or more exactly which side had more votes counted by officials, at the heart of the conflict was the question of whether Kansas would allow or outlaw slavery, and thus enter the Union as a slave state or a free state. Pro-slavery forces said every settler had the right to bring his own property, including slaves, anti-slavery free soil forces said the rich slaveholders would buy up all the good farmland and work it with black slaves, leaving little or no opportunity for non-slaveholders. As such, Bleeding Kansas was a conflict between forces in the North and pro-slavery forces from the South over the issue of slavery in the United States. The term Bleeding Kansas was coined by Republican Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, its indicated that compromise was unlikely. Through the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Congress kept a balance of political power between North and South. Immigrants supporting both sides of the arrived in Kansas to establish residency and gain the right to vote. They captured territorial elections, sometimes by fraud and intimidation, in response, Northern abolitionist elements flooded Kansas with free-soilers. Anti-slavery Kansas residents wrote the first Kansas Constitution and elected the Free State legislature in Topeka, the two Territorial governments increased as well as symbolized the strife of Bleeding Kansas. Among the first immigrants to Kansas Territory were citizens of states, notably neighboring Missouri. Pro-slavery forces settled towns including Leavenworth and Atchison, at the same time, citizens of the North, many aided by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, moved to Kansas to make it a free state and settled towns including Lawrence, Topeka and Manhattan. It was rumored in the South that thousands of Northerners were arriving in Kansas, the following year a Congressional committee investigating the election reported that 1729 fraudulent votes were cast compared to 1114 legal votes. In one location only 20 of the 604 voters were residents of the Kansas Territory, in another 35 were residents and 226 non-residents. On March 30,1855, Kansas Territory held the election for its first Territorial Legislature, crucially, this legislature would decide whether Kansas Territory would allow slavery. Due to questions about electoral fraud, Territorial Governor Andrew Reeder invalidated the results in five voting districts, eight of the eleven delegates elected in the special election were Free-State, but this still left the proslavery camp with an overwhelming 29–10 advantage. To help countermand the voting fraud, by the summer of 1855 around 1,200 New England Yankees had emigrated to Kansas Territory. The abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher armed many of them with Sharps rifles, in response to the disputed votes and rising tension, Congress sent a special committee to Kansas Territory in 1856. The committee report concluded that if the election on March 30,1855, had limited to actual settlers it would have elected a Free-State legislature
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Border states (American Civil War)
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In the context of the American Civil War, the border states were slave states that did not declare a secession from the Union and did not join the Confederacy. To their north they bordered free states of the Union and to their south they bordered Confederate slave states, of the 34 U. S. states in 1861, nineteen were free states and fifteen were slave states. Four slave states never declared a secession, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, also included as a border state during the war is West Virginia, which was formed from 50 counties of Virginia and became a new state in the Union in 1863. In the border states there was concern with military coercion of the Confederacy. Many if not a majority were definitely opposed to it, when Abraham Lincoln called for troops to march south to recapture Fort Sumter and other national possessions, southern Unionists were dismayed. Secessionists in Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia were successful in getting those states to declare their secession from the U. S. in Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri, there were both pro-Confederate and pro-Union governments. West Virginia was formed in 1862–63 after unionists from the counties of Virginia then occupied by the Union Army had set up a loyalist state government of Virginia. Lincoln recognized this government and allowed them to divide the state, though every slave state except South Carolina contributed white battalions to both the Union and Confederate armies, the split was most severe in these border states. Sometimes men from the family fought on opposite sides. About 170,000 border state men fought in the Union Army and 86,000 in the Confederate Army, besides formal combat between regular armies, the border region saw large-scale guerrilla warfare and numerous violent raids, feuds, and assassinations. Violence was especially severe in eastern Kentucky and western Missouri, the single bloodiest episode was the 1863 Lawrence Massacre in Kansas, in which at least 150 civilian men and boys were killed. It was launched in retaliation for an earlier, smaller raid into Missouri by Union men from Kansas, with geographic, social, political, and economic connections to both the North and the South, the border states were critical to the outcome of the war. They are considered still to delineate the border that separates the North from the South. Reconstruction, as directed by Congress, did not apply to the states because they never seceded from the Union. They did undergo their own process of readjustment and political realignment after passage of amendments abolishing slavery and granting citizenship, after 1880 most of these jurisdictions were dominated by white Democrats, who passed laws to impose the Jim Crow system of legal segregation and second-class citizenship for blacks. Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to the border states, of the states that were exempted from the Proclamation, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, and West Virginia abolished slavery before the war ended. However, Delaware and Kentucky did not abolish slavery until December 1865, in the border states, slavery was already dying out in urban areas and the regions without cotton, especially in cities that were rapidly industrializing, such as Baltimore, Louisville, and St. Louis. By 1860, more than half of the African Americans in Delaware were free, some slaveholders made a profit by selling surplus slaves to traders for transport to the markets of the Deep South, where the demand was still high for field hands on cotton plantations
Confederate States of America
Arkansas
Confederate States Army
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, National Park Service".