Missouri in the American Civil War In the Civil War , Missouri was a border state that sent men , armies , generals , and supplies to both opposing sides , had its star on both flags , had separate governments representing each side , and endured a neighbor - against - neighbor intrastate war within the larger national war . By the end of the Civil War Missouri had supplied nearly 110 , 000 troops to the Union and about 40 , 000 troops for the Confederate Army . There were battles and skirmishes in all areas of the state , from the Iowa and Illinois border in the northeast to the edge of the state in the southeast and southwest on the Arkansas border . Counting minor engagements , actions and skirmishes , Missouri saw over 1 , 200 distinct fights . Only Virginia and Tennessee exceeded Missouri in the number of clashes within the state boundaries . The first major Civil War battle west of the Mississippi River was on August 10 , 1861 at Wilson ' s Creek , Missouri , whereas the largest battle in the war west of the Mississippi River was the Battle of Westport at Kansas City in 1864 . Pre - war . Missouri Compromise . Missouri was initially settled by Southerners coming up the Mississippi River and Missouri River . Many brought along a few slaves . Missouri entered the Union in 1821 as a slave state following the Missouri Compromise of 1820 , in which Congress agreed that no state north of 36°30 ' ( Missouri ' s southern border with Arkansas ) could enter the Union as a slave state . Maine entered the Union as a free state in the compromise to balance Missouri . Bleeding Kansas . One of the biggest areas of concerns for Missouri slave - holders was a Federal law that decreed that if a slave physically entered a free state , he or she was free . The Underground Railroad , in which slaves gained their freedom by heading north , was already becoming established in the state . The slaveholders were particularly concerned about the prospects of the entire western border becoming a conduit for the Underground Railroad if those new states entered the U . S . as free states . In 1854 the Kansas - Nebraska Act nullified the Missouri Compromise and said the two states could decide on their own whether to enter as a free or slave state . The result was a " de facto " war between pro - slavery residents of Missouri ( called Border Ruffian s ) and Kansas free staters to influence how Kansas entered the Union . Most of these conflicts involved attacks and murders of individuals on both sides , with the Sacking of Lawrence by pro - slavery forces and the Pottawatomie Massacre by John Brown being the most notable . Kansas initially approved a pro - slavery constitution called the Lecompton Constitution , but , after the U . S . Congress rejected it , the state approved a free - state Wyandotte Constitution . " Dred Scott " Decision . Against the background of Bleeding Kansas , the case of Dred Scott , a slave who in 1846 sued in St . Louis , Missouri , for his freedom because he had been taken to a free state , reached the U . S . Supreme Court . The Court in 1857 ruled not only that slaves would not be free simply if they entered a free state , negating the earlier Federal law , but further ruled that no person of African descent was a US citizen and , therefore , could not have legal standing and could not initiate any legal action in any court regardless of the merit of that action . While the decision helped calm the skirmishes between Missouri and Kansas residents , it was to enrage abolitionists and ratchet up the vitriolic rhetoric that was to lead to the war . Pony Express . With war storm clouds brewing in 1860 , the government sought to communicate more quickly with San Francisco , California . In 1860 it took 25 days for a message to reach the coast from Missouri . The firm of Russell , Majors and Waddell proposed to do it in 10 days with a relay system of horses from what was then the furthest west terminus of a railroad at St . Joseph , Missouri . The resulting Pony Express began operations on April 3 , 1860 . Ulysses S . Grant ' s first commission in the Civil War was to protect the Hannibal and St . Joseph Railroad , which was delivering its mail . Armed neutrality . By 1860 , Missouri ' s initial southern settlers had been supplanted with a more diversified non - slave holding population , including many northerners , German and Irish immigrants . With war seeming inevitable , Missouri thought it could stay out of the conflict by remaining in the Union , but staying neutral — not giving men or supplies to either side and pledging to fight troops from either side who entered the state . The policy was first put forth in 1860 by outgoing Governor Robert Marcellus Stewart , who had Northern leanings . It was notionally reaffirmed by incoming Governor Claiborne Jackson , who had Southern leanings . Jackson however , stated in his inaugural address that in case of Federal " coercion " of southern states , Missouri should support and defend her " sister southern states " . A Constitutional Convention to discuss secession was convened with Sterling Price presiding . The delegates voted to stay in the Union and supported the neutrality position . In the United States presidential election , 1860 , Abraham Lincoln received only 10 percent of the state ' s votes , while 71 percent favored either John Bell or Stephen A . Douglas , both of whom wanted the " status quo " to remain ( Douglas was to narrowly win the Missouri vote over Bell — the only state Douglas carried besides New Jersey ) with the remaining 19 percent siding with Southern Democrat John C . Breckinridge . Missouri demographics in 1860 . According to the 1860 U . S . Census , Missouri ' s total population was 1 , 182 , 012 , of which 114 , 931 ( 9 . 7 % ) were slaves . Most of the slaves were in rural areas rather than cities . Of the 299 , 701 responses to " Occupation " , 124 , 989 listed " Farmers " and 39 , 396 listed " Farm Laborers . " The next highest categories were " laborers " ( 30 , 668 ) , " Blacksmith " ( 4 , 349 ) , and Merchants ( 4 , 245 ) . Less than half the state was listed as native born ( 475 , 246 , or 40 % ) . Those coming from other states listed : Kentucky ( 99 , 814 ) , Tennessee ( 73 , 504 ) , Virginia ( 53 , 937 ) , Ohio ( 35 , 380 ) , Indiana ( 30 , 463 ) , and Illinois ( 30 , 138 ) , with lesser amounts from other states . 906 , 540 ( 77 % ) were listed as being born in the United States . Of the 160 , 541 foreign born , residents came from the German states ( 88 , 487 ) , Ireland ( 43 , 481 ) , England ( 10 , 009 ) , France ( 5 , 283 ) , and Switzerland ( 4 , 585 ) , with lesser amounts from other countries . Civil War . Conflicts and battles in the war were divided into three phases , starting with the Union removal of Governor Jackson and pursuit of Sterling Price and his Missouri State Guard in 1861 ; a period of neighbor - versus - neighbor bushwhacking guerrilla warfare from 1862 to 1864 ( which actually continued long after the war had ended everywhere else , until at least 1889 ) ; and finally Sterling Price ' s attempt to retake the state in 1864 . During the war thousands of black refugees poured into St . Louis , where the Freedmen ' s Relief Society , the Ladies Union Aid Society , the Western Sanitary Commission , and the American Missionary Association ( AMA ) set up schools for their children . Missouri and the Election of 1860 . In the election of 1860 , Missouri ’ s newly elected governor was Claiborne " Fox " Jackson , a career politician and an ardent supporter of the South . Jackson campaigned as a Douglas Democrat , favoring a conciliatory program on issues that divided the country . After Jackson ’ s election , however , he immediately began working behind the scenes to promote Missouri ’ s secession . In addition to planning to seize the federal arsenal at St . Louis ( see below ) , Jackson conspired with senior Missouri bankers to illegally divert money from the banks to arm state troops , a measure that the Missouri General Assembly had so far refused to take . Eviction of Governor Jackson . Camp Jackson Affair . Missouri ' s nominal neutrality was tested in a conflict over the St . Louis Arsenal . The Federal Government reinforced the Arsenal ' s tiny garrison with several detachments , most notably a force from the 2nd Infantry under Captain Nathaniel Lyon . Concerned by widespread reports that Governor Jackson intended to use the Missouri Volunteer Militia to attack the Arsenal ( and capture its 39 , 000 small arms ) , Secretary of War Simon Cameron ordered Lyon ( by that time in acting command ) to evacuate the majority of the munitions to Illinois . 21 , 000 guns were secretly evacuated to Alton , IL on the evening of April 29 , 1861 . At the same time , Governor Jackson called up the Missouri State Militia under Brig . Gen . Daniel M . Frost for maneuvers in suburban St . Louis at Camp Jackson . These maneuvers were perceived by Lyon as an attempt to seize the arsenal . On May 10 , 1861 , Lyon attacked the militia and paraded them as captives through the streets of St . Louis and a riot erupted . Lyon ' s troops , mainly German immigrants , opened fire on the attacking crowd killing 28 and injuring 100 . The next day , the Missouri General Assembly authorized the formation of a Missouri State Guard with Sterling Price as its commander to resist invasions from either side ( but initially from the Union army ) . William S . Harney , Federal commander of the Department of the West , moved to quiet the situation by agreeing to the Missouri neutrality in the Price - Harney Truce . However Abraham Lincoln overruled the truce agreement and relieved Harney of command and replaced him with Lyon . On June 11 , 1861 , Lyon met with Governor Jackson and Missouri State Guard commander Major General Sterling Price at St . Louis ' Planter ' s House hotel . The meeting , theoretically to discuss the possibility of continuing the Price - Harney Truce between U . S . and state forces , quickly deadlocked over basic issues of sovereignty and governmental power . Jackson and Price , who were working to construct the new Missouri State Guard in nine military districts state - wide , wanted to contain the Federal toe - hold to the Unionist stronghold of St . Louis . Jackson demand that Federal forces be limited to the boundaries of St . Louis , and that pro - Unionist Missouri " Home Guards " in several Missouri town be disbanded . Lyon refused , and stated that if Jackson insisted on so limiting the power of the Federal Government " This means war " . After Jackson was escorted from the lines , Lyon began a pursuit of Jackson and Price and his elected state government through the Battle of Boonville and Battle of Carthage ( 1861 ) . Jackson and the pro - Confederate politicians fled to the southern part of the state . Jackson and a rump of the General Assembly eventually set up a government - in - exile in Neosho , Missouri and announced an Ordinance of Secession . This government was recognized by the Confederacy , despite that fact that the " Act " was not endorsed by a plebiscite ( as required by Missouri state law ) and that Jackson ' s government was all but powerless inside Missouri . Union provisional government . On July 22 , 1861 , following Lyon ' s capture of the Missouri capital at Jefferson City , the Missouri Constitutional Convention reconvened and declared the Missouri governor ' s office to be vacant . On July 28 , it appointed former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Hamilton Rowan Gamble as governor of the state and agreed to comply with Lincoln ' s demand for troops . Battle of Wilson ' s Creek , Battle of Lexington , and Rebel Ascendancy . The biggest battle in the campaign to evict Jackson was the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek near Springfield , Missouri , on August 10 , 1861 . The battle marked the first time that the Missouri State Guard fought alongside Confederate forces . A combined force of over 12 , 000 Confederate soldiers , Arkansas State Troops , and Missouri State Guardsmen under Confederate Brigadier Ben McCulloch fought approximately 5 , 400 Federals in a punishing six hour battle . Union forces suffered over 1 , 300 casualties , including Lyon , who was fatally shot . The Confederates lost 1 , 200 men . The exhausted Confederates did not closely pursue the retreating Federals . In the aftermath of the battle , the southern commanders disagreed as to the proper next step . Price argued for an invasion of Missouri . McCulloch , concerned about security of Arkansas and Indian Territory , and skeptical about the possibility of subsisting his army in central Missouri , refused . The Confederate and Arkansas troops fell back to the border , while Price lead his Guardsmen into northwestern Missouri to recapture the state . Price ' s emboldened Missouri State Guard marched on Lexington , besieging Col . Mulligan ' s garrison at the Battle of Lexington on September 18 – 20 . Deploying wet hemp bales as mobile breastworks , the rebel advance was shielded from heavy cannon fire . By early afternoon , the rolling fortification had advanced close enough for the Southerners to take the Union works in a final rush . By 2 : 00 p . m . , Mulligan had surrendered . Price was reportedly so impressed by Mulligan ' s demeanor and conduct during and after the battle that he offered him his own horse and buggy , and ordered him safely escorted to Union lines . Years later , in his book " The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government " , Southern president Jefferson Davis opined that " The expedient of the bales of hemp was a brilliant conception , not unlike that which made Tarik , the Saracen warrior , immortal , and gave his name to the northern pillar of Hercules . " The hopes of many Southern - leaning , mostly farming - dependent , families , including Jesse James and family in Liberty , Mo . , rose and fell based on news of Price ' s battles . " If Price succeeded , the entire state of Missouri might fall into the hands of the Confederacy . For all anyone knew , it would force Lincoln to accept the South ' s independence , in light of earlier rebel victories . After all , no one expected the war to last much longer . " The Battle of Lexington , also called the Battle of the Hemp Bales was a huge success for the rebels , and meant rebel ascendency , albeit temporarily , in Western and southwest Missouri . Combined with the loss of such a pivotal leader of the Federals ' Western campaign in Nathaniel Lyon , and the Union ' s stunning defeat in the war ' s first major land battle , First Battle of Bull Run , Missouri ' s secessionists were " jubilant . " Exaggerated stories and rumors of Confederate successes spread easily in this era of slower , often equine - based communication . St . Louis ' ( ironically named ) Unionist - Democrat " Daily Missouri Republican " reported some of the secessionist scuttlebutt a week after the rebel victory at Lexington : " A party with whom I have conversed , says no one has any idea how much the secession cause has been strengthened since PRICE ' S march to Lexington , and particularly since its surrender . The rebels are jubilant , and swear they will drive the Federalists into the Missouri and Mississippi before two months are over . A party of rebels recently stated that LINCOLN had been hanged by BEAUREGARD , and that for weeks past the National Congress had been held in Philadelphia . Reports are rife in Western Missouri that the Southern Confederacy has been recognized by England and France , and that before the last of October the blockade will be broken by the navies of both nations . The rebels prophesy that before ten years have elapsed the Confederacy will be the greatest , most powerful , and prosperous , nation on the globe , and that the United States will decay , and be forced to seek the protection of England to prevent their being crushed by the South . " Rebel ascendancy in Missouri was short - lived , however , as General John C . Frémont quickly mounted a campaign to retake Missouri . And " . . . without a single battle , the momentum suddenly shifted . " On September 26 , " Frémont moved west from St . Louis with thirty - eight thousand troops . Soon , he arrived at Sedalia , southeast of Lexington , threatening to trap the rebels against the river . " On September 29 , Price was forced to abandon Lexington , and he and his men moved into southwest Missouri . " . . . their commanders do not wish to run any risk , their policy being to make attacks only where they feel confident , through superiority of numbers , of victory . " Price and his generals stuck firmly to this cautious strategy , and similar to General Joseph E . Johnston ' s infamous retreat toward Atlanta , Price ' s Missouri State Guard fell back hundreds of miles in the face of a superior force . They soon retreated from the state and headed for Arkansas and later Mississippi . Small remnants of the Missouri Guard remained in the state and fought isolated battles throughout the war . Price soon came under the command and control of the Confederates . In March 1862 , any hopes for a new offensive in Missouri were dimmed in the Battle of Pea Ridge just south of the border in Arkansas . The Missouri State Guard was to stay largely intact as a unit through the war and was to suffer heavy casualties in Mississippi in the Battle of Iuka and Second Battle of Corinth . Confederate Government of Missouri . In October 1861 , the remnants of the elected state government that favored the South ( including Jackson and Price ) met in Neosho , and voted to formally secede from the Union . The measure gave them votes in the Confederate Congress , but otherwise was symbolic since they did not control any part of the state . The capital was to eventually move to Marshall , Texas . When Jackson died in office in 1862 , his lieutenant governor , Thomas Caute Reynolds , succeeded him . Frémont Emancipation . John C . Frémont replaced Lyon as commander of the Department of the West . Following the Wilson ' s Creek battle , he imposed martial law on the state and issued an order freeing the slaves of Missourians who were in rebellion . " The property , real and personal , of all persons in the State of Missouri who shall take up arms against the United States , and who shall be directly proven to have taken active part with their enemies in the field , is declared to be confiscated to the public use ; and their slaves , if any they have , are hereby declared free . " This was not a general emancipation in the state as it did not extend to slaves owned by citizens who remained loyal . It did , however , exceed the Confiscation Act of 1861 which only allowed the United States to claim ownership of the slave if the slave was proven to " work or to be employed in or upon any fort , navy - yard , dock , armory , ship , entrenchment , or in any military or naval service whatsoever , against the Government and lawful authority of the United States . " Lincoln , fearing the emancipation would enrage neutral Missourians and slave states in Union control , granted Governor Gamble ' s request to rescind the emancipation and ease martial law . Ironclad Navy and Riverine Campaigns . While various forces battled inconclusively for southwest Missouri , a unique Army - Navy - civilian cooperative effort built a war winning riverine navy . St . Louis river salvage expert , and engineering genius , James Buchanan Eads won a contract to build a fleet of shallow - draft ironclads for use on the western rivers . An unusually cooperative relationship between Army officials ( who would own the vessels ) and Navy officers ( who would command them ) helped speed the work . Drawing on his reputation and personal credit ( and that of St . Louis Unionists ) Eads used subcontractors throughout the midwest ( and as far east as Pittsburg ) to produce nine ironclads in just over three months . Built at Eads ' own Union Marine Works ( in the St . Louis suburb of Carondelet ) , and at a satellite yard at Cairo , Illinois , the seven s , the " Essex " , and heavy ironclad " Benton " were the first U . S . ironclads and the first to see combat . St . Louis ' Benton Barracks became the mustering depot for western troops , and in February 1862 , Department of Missouri commander Major General Henry Halleck approved a joint invasion of west Tennessee along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers . Army troops under Brigadier General Ulysses S . Grant and the newly built Western Gunboat Flotilla , commanded by Navy Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote , captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson , unhinging the Confederate defensive perimeter in the west . After the subsequent Battle of Shiloh , the Federal Army pushed into northern Mississippi , while the Gunboat fleet moved down the Mississippi with cooperating Federal troops , systematically capturing every Confederate position north of Vicksburg , Mississippi . The riverine strategy put the Confederacy on the defensive in the west for the rest of the war , and effectively ended meaningful Confederate efforts to recapture Missouri . The defeat of a Confederate army in northern Arkansas , at the Battle of Pea Ridge , further discouraged the Confederate leadership as to the wisdom , or possibility , of occupying Missouri . Subsequent military Confederate military action in the state would be limited to a small number of large raids ( notably Shelby ' s Raid of 1863 and Price ' s Raid of 1864 ) , and partial endorsement of the activities of Missouri guerrillas . Western Sanitary Commission . The Western Sanitary Commission was a private agency based in St . Louis that was a rival of the larger U . S . Sanitary Commission . It operated during the war to help the U . S . Army deal with sick and wounded soldiers . It was led by abolitionists and especially after the war focused more on the needs of Freedmen . It was founded in August 1861 , under the leadership of Reverend William Greenleaf Eliot ( d . 1886 ) , to care for the wounded soldiers after the opening battles . It was supported by private fundraising in the city of St . Louis , as well as from donors in California and New England . Parrish explains it selected nurses , provided hospital supplies , set up several hospitals , and outfitted several hospital ships . It also provided clothing and places to stay for freedmen and refugees , and set up schools for black children . It continued to finance various philanthropic projects until 1886 . Guerrilla warfare . The Battle of Wilson ' s Creek was the last large scale engagement in the state until Price returned in 1864 in a last - ditch attempt to capture the state . Between 1862 and 1864 the state endured guerrilla warfare in which southern partisan rangers and Bushwhackers battled the Kansas irregulars known as Jayhawkers and Redlegs or " Redleggers " ( from the red gaiters they wore around their lower legs ) and the allied Union forces . Jayhawker raids against perceived civilian " Confederate sympathizers " alienated Missourians and made maintaining the peace even harder for the Unionist provisional government . As Major General Henry Halleck wrote General John C . Frémont in September 1861 , [ Jayhawker raider ] Jim Hale had to be removed from the Kansas border as " A few more such raids " would render Missouri " as unanimous against us as is Eastern Virginia . " While Jayhawker violence alienated communities who would have otherwise been loyal supporters of the Union , marauding bands of pro - secession bushwhackers sustained guerrilla war and outright banditry , especially in Missouri ' s northern counties . Major General John Pope , who oversaw northern Missouri , blamed local citizens for not doing enough to put down bushwhacker guerrillas and ordered locals to raise militias to counter them . " Refusal to do so would bring an occupying force of federal soldiers into their counties . " Pope , Ewing and Frémont ' s heavy - handed approach alienated even those civilians who were suffering at the hands of the bushwhackers . Although guerrilla warfare occurred throughout much of the state , most of the incidents occurred in northern Missouri and were characterized by ambushes of individuals or families in rural areas . These incidents were particularly nefarious because their vigilante nature was outside the command and control of either side and often pitted neighbor against neighbor . Civilians on all sides faced looting , violence and other depredations . Among the more notorious incidents of guerrilla warfare were the Sacking of Osceola , burning of Platte City and the Centralia Massacre . Among the famous bushwhackers were Quantrill ' s Raiders and Bloody Bill Anderson . General Order No . 11 . In 1863 following the Lawrence Massacre in Kansas , Union General Thomas Ewing , Jr . accused farmers in rural Missouri of either instigating the attack or supporting it . He issued General Order No . 11 which forced the evacuation of all residents of rural areas of the four counties ( Jackson , Cass , Bates and Vernon ) south of the Missouri River on the Kansas border to leave their property , which was then burned . The order applied to farmers regardless of loyalty , although those who could prove their loyalty to the Union could stay in designated towns and those who could not were exiled entirely . Among those forced to leave were Kansas City founder John Calvin McCoy and its first mayor , William S . Gregory . Price ' s Raid . With the Confederacy clearly losing the war in 1864 , Sterling Price reassembled his Missouri Guard and launched a last gasp offensive to take Missouri . However , Price was unable to repeat his 1861 victorious campaigns in the state . Striking in the southeastern portion of the state , Price moved north , and attempted to capture Fort Davidson but failed . Next , Price sought to attack St . Louis but found it too heavily fortified and thus broke west in a parallel course with the Missouri River . This took him through the ( relatively ) friendly country of the " Boonslick " , which had provided a large percentage of the Missouri volunteers who had joined the CSA . Ironically , although Price had issued orders against pillage , many of the pro - Confederate civilians in this area ( which would be known as " Little Dixie " after the war ) suffered from looting and depredations at the hands of Price ' s men . The Federals attempted to retard Price ' s advance through both minor and substantial skirmishing such as at Glasgow and Lexington . Price made his way to the extreme western portion of the state , taking part in a series of bitter battles at the Little Blue , Independence , and Byram ' s Ford . His Missouri campaign culminated in the battle of Westport in which over 30 , 000 troops fought , leading to the defeat of the Southern army . The Missourians retreated through Kansas and Indian Territory into Arkansas , where they stayed for the remainder of the war . Reconstruction . Since Missouri had remained in the Union , it did not suffer outside military occupation or other extreme aspects of Reconstruction . The immediate post - war state government was controlled by Republicans , who attempted to execute an " internal reconstruction " , banning politically powerful former secessionists from the political process and empowering the state ' s newly emancipated African - American population . This led to major dissatisfaction among many politically important groups , and provided opportunities for reactionary elements in the state . The Democrats were to return to being the dominant power in the state by 1873 through an alliance with returned ex - Confederates ( almost all of whom had been part of the pro - slavery Anti - Benton wing of the Missouri Democratic Party prior to the Civil War ) . The reunified Democratic Party exploited themes of : racial prejudice ; a ( largely fictional ) version of a Missouri " Lost Cause " which purported Missourians as victims of Federal tyranny and outrages ; and depiction of Missouri Unionists and Republicans as traitors ( to the state ) and criminals . This capture of the historical narrative was largely successful , and secured control of the state for the Democratic Party through the 1950s . The ex - Confederate / Democratic resurgence also defeated efforts to empower Missouri ' s African - American population , and ushered in the state ' s version of Jim Crow legislation . ( This was motivated both by widespread racial prejudice and concerns that former slaves were likely to be reliable Republican voters . ) Many newspapers in the 1870s Missouri were vehement in their opposition to national Radical Republican policies , for political , economic , and racial reasons . The outlaws James - Younger gang was to capitalize on this and become folk heroes as they robbed banks and trains while getting sympathetic press from the state ' s newspapers — most notably the " Kansas City Times " . Jesse James , who killed with bushwacker Bloody Bill Anderson at Centralia , was to excuse his murder of a resident of Gallatin , during a bank robbery , saying he thought he was killing Samuel P . Cox , who had hunted down Anderson after Centralia . In addition , the vigilante activities of the ' Bald Knobbers ' in south - central Missouri during the 1880s have been interpreted by some as a further continuation of Civil War related guerrilla warfare .