Second Battle of Springfield The Second Battle of Springfield was a battle in the American Civil War fought January 8 , 1863 , in Springfield , Missouri . It is sometimes known as The Battle of Springfield . ( The First Battle of Springfield was fought on October 25 , 1861 , and there was also the better - known Battle of Wilson ' s Creek , fought nearby on August 10 , 1861 . ) Fighting was urban and house - to - house , which was rare in the war . Prelude . On December 31 , 1862 , three columns of cavalry under the command of Confederate Brigadier General John S . Marmaduke left Pocahontas , Arkansas and Lewisburg , Arkansas , and trotted north on separate roads toward Missouri and the Union supply line . Marmaduke ’ s immediate objective was the destruction of the Union Army of the Frontier ’ s wagon trains and supply line between Rolla and Springfield . If successful , Marmaduke would cause elements of the Army of the Frontier to withdrawal from Arkansas and pursue Marmaduke ' s Division . Marmaduke ' s main column proceeded north through Forsyth , Missouri , where Marmaduke learned from scouts that the Union army ' s major supply depot at Springfield was weakly defended . To clear the way for his Confederates , Marmaduke marched on Ozark , Missouri . The Union garrison stationed at Ozark withdrew and the Confederates burned its abandoned fort . A second column , commanded by Colonel Emmett MacDonald , destroyed the Union fort ( " Fort Lawrence " ) at Lawrence Mill on Beaver Creek , about ten miles ( 16 km ) southwest of Ava . A dispatch to the third column under Colonel Joseph C . Porter directed Porter to join Marmaduke at Springfield rather than at Hartville . If everything went as planned , all three commands would converge on Springfield in an attempt to capture the city ' s lightly defended warehouses of military supplies . Preparation . Late in the afternoon of January 7 , 1863 , Federals from the Ozark garrison reached Springfield and informed the local commander , Brigadier General Egbert Brown , that a Confederate cavalry force , with an estimated strength somewhere between 4 , 000 and 6 , 000 men , was headed for Springfield . Having only 1343 veteran soldiers , Brown mulled over two options . He could destroy all of the Union Army of the Frontier ' s winter supplies at Springfield and retreat , or he could defend the town . General Grant on December 23 , 1862 had published a major censure of the Union commander and forces stationed at Holly Springs , Mississippi , which had participated in the disgraceful surrender of Grant ' s Holly Springs supply depot . No doubt , Brown recalling this censure , had a strong reason to favor the defense of Springfield . Brown ' s subordinates favored the defense of the city also . The Fourth Military District ' s commanding general , Colley B . Holland , immediately sent dispatches to the surrounding communities , calling the Enrolled Missouri Militia to active duty with orders to hurry to Springfield . Brown also ordered the removal of 50 , 000 rations from Springfield into Fort Number 1 and prepared for the burning of the armory in the event of defeat . Meanwhile , at Dr . Samuel Melcher ' s suggestion , Captain Byron Carr mounted three cannon onto wagon wheels . During the following morning , the Federals issued arms and ammunition to soldiers and civilians alike . Although Springfield was lightly garrisoned , it had one distinct advantage . It was surrounded by a network of four nearly completed earthen forts and a stockaded college building . Each of the five points commanded the high ground . Battle . As the morning of January 8 , 1863 dawned , two of the Confederate columns under Marmaduke approached Springfield from the south . Since Porter ' s and MacDonald ' s columns had yet to arrive , Marmaduke occupied the early morning with foraging and capturing some of the Enrolled Missouri Militia about five miles ( 8 km ) from Springfield . With MacDonald finally present by 10 : 00 a . m . , the Confederates dismounted two regiments about three miles ( 5 km ) from Springfield and advanced to feel out the Union lines and develop their strength . After the Confederates had pushed two Union Missouri State Militia Cavalry Regiments two miles ( 3 km ) north , the smoking ruins of burning homes on the outskirts of Springfield came into view . To provide an unobstructed view for his artillery inside Fort No . 4 ( located on the east side of South Avenue between Elm and Cherry Streets ) , Brown at the last minute ordered ten homes burned along South Avenue . Colonel Joseph Orville Shelby took command of the tactical operations , launching piecemeal assaults upon the Union center and west flank . The Confederates advanced over open ground against Fort Number 4 , seeking such shelter as they could get from tree stumps , piles of rock , and the charred remains of the homes burned by the Union forces . Despite repeated efforts , the assault on the fort failed . Shelby then resolved to take Springfield by an oblique attack from the west . The Confederates were drawn by the cover offered by a ravine that led uphill toward town from what is now the intersection of Grand Avenue and Grant Street . At the head of this draw stood a two - story brick academy surrounded by a stockade . Used by the Federals as a prison , it stood near the northwest corner of what is now the intersection of Campbell Avenue and State Street . The Union forces failed to garrison the college stockade , so the Confederates were able to seize the building easily and use it as their own fortress to return the fire from Fort No . 4 . However , heavy fighting soon erupted around the stockade as the Union forces attempted to retake the college and stockade . The Confederates found a local advantage in numbers and pressed their own attack . This phase of the assault saw the most severe casualties , hand - to - hand fighting , and the capture of a cannon by the Confederates . Union troops on the west flank also were pushed back to College Street from their original position along the Old Wire Road and State Street . But Union reinforcements halted the Confederate drive and even pushed back the Confederates to the vicinity of State Street . With the sun sinking , Marmaduke launched a final assault against Fort No . 4 . The Union forces again repelled the attack . As night fell , the Confederates withdrew down the Ozark Road to the Phelps farm ( now Phelps Grove Park ) . The Battle of Springfield had ended , and the Union supply depot was safe . Aftermath . Of the approximately 2 , 099 Union troops engaged , 19 were killed or missing and 146 were wounded for a total loss of 165 men ( 7 . 9 Percent ) . Two months later the total killed would reach 30 , the missing in action would stand at 6 , and 195 had been wounded . Of the approximately 1 , 870 Confederate troops present , at least 45 were killed or missing and 105 were wounded for a total loss of at least 150 men ( 8 . 0 percent ) . Marmaduke admitted that the Confederate returns were incomplete . Author Frederick Goman uses several period reports to arrive at an estimate of 70 - 80 killed , 12 captured , and 200 wounded . The absence of Porter ' s column greatly impacted Marmaduke ' s chance for success at Springfield . Within four days , the Confederate raiders retreated to Arkansas . Springfield continued to remain an important supply and medical center for the Union army in the West . A series of twelve interpretive markers have recently been placed throughout downtown Springfield at the important sites of the battle . They are intended to be visited in sequence on a walking tour . The first marker is located at Park Central Square , where it was removed from its original location at Street and Water Street . Among the Confederate dead was Spencer McCoy , son of Kansas City , Missouri founder John C . McCoy . The elder McCoy was allowed to come to Springfield to claim his son who is buried with him in Union Cemetery in Kansas City .