Missouri State Guard
Missouri State Guard | |
---|---|
Active | 1861–1865 |
Disbanded | May 11, 1865[a] |
Country | Confederate States |
Allegiance | Missouri |
Type | State Guard |
Size | 23,000–28,000 (1861) |
Engagements | American Civil War
|
Commanders | |
Commander in Chief | 1861–1862 Claiborne F. Jackson 1862–1865 Thomas C. Reynolds |
Major-General | Maj. Gen. Sterling Price |
Adjutant-General | Brig. Gen. Warwick Hough |
The Missouri State Guard (MSG) was a military force established by the Missouri General Assembly on May 11, 1861. While not a formation of the Confederate States Army, the Missouri State Guard fought alongside Confederate troops and, at various times, served under Confederate officers.[1]
Background
The Missouri General Assembly passed the "Military Bill" on May 11, 1861, in direct response to the
History
Recruits for the Missouri State Guard began to quickly assemble in
The embryonic Missouri State Guard suffered a serious initial setback in a skirmish at
Price, along with Confederate regulars and members of the Arkansas State Troops, defeated a smaller Union force under Nathaniel Lyon at
Shortly afterwards, a session of exiled elements of the Missouri legislature convened in the southwest Missouri town of Neosho and claimed to have passed an Ordinance of Secession on October 30, with the Governor-in-Exile Jackson signing on October 31, 1861. While the vote was not endorsed by a statewide plebiscite, the Confederate Congress officially admitted Missouri at the 12th Confederate State on November 28, 1861.
While in winter camp, Price began enrolling many of his men into the regular Confederate service. Two brigades of the MSG participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), where Brig. Gen. William Y. Slack, the former commander of the 4th Division, was mortally wounded.
On March 17, 1862, Price merged the Missouri State Guard into the Confederate
Strength
In 2007, the foremost authorities on the Missouri State Guard estimated that at least 34,000 and probably close to 40,000 Missourians served in the Guard at one point or another. The Guard's strength peaked at about 23,000 to 28,000 in September 1861 with about 5,000 in Southeast Missouri in M. Jeff Thompson's First Division operating independently of the main body surrounding Price near Lexington.[5]
Divisions
The Guard's divisions were based on congressional districts and composed of the following counties:[2] (Commanders are listed in parentheses)
- First District/First Division: St Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Madison, Iron, Wayne, Stoddard, Scott, Mississippi, New Madrid, Butler, Dunklin, and Pemiscot. (Nathaniel W. Watkins, M. Jeff Thompson)
- Second District/Second Division: Scotland, Clark, Knox, Lewis, Shelby, Marion, Monroe, Ralls, Pike, Audrain, Callaway, Montgomery, Lincoln, Warren, and St. Charles. (Thomas A. Harris, Martin E. Green)
- Third District/Third Division: Putnam, Schuyler, Sullivan, Adair, Linn, Macon, Chariton, Randolph, Howard, and Boone. (John B. Clark, Sr.)
- Fourth District/Fourth Division: Gentry, Harrison, Mercer, Grundy, De Kalb, Daviess, Livingston, Clinton, Caldwell, Ray, Carroll, and Worth. (William Y. Slack)
- Fifth District/Fifth Division: Atchison, Nodaway, Holt, Andrew, Buchanan, Platte, and Clay. (Alexander E. Steen, Col. James P. Saunders)
- Sixth District/Sixth Division: Saline, Pettis, Cooper, Moniteau, Cole, Osage, Gasconade, Maries, Miller, Morgan, Camden, Pulaski, and Phelps. (Mosby Parsons)
- Seventh District/Seventh Division: Dallas, Laclede, Texas, Dent, Reynolds, Shannon, Wright, Webster, Greene, Christian, Stone, Taney, Douglas, Ozark, Howell, Oregon, Carter, and Ripley. (James H. McBride)
- Eighth District/Eighth Division: Jackson, Lafayette, Cass, Johnson, Bates, Henry, Benton, Hickory, Polk, St. Clair, Vernon, Cedar, Dade, Barton, Jasper, Lawrence, Newton, McDonald, and Barry. (James S. Rains)
- Ninth District/Ninth Division: St. Louis, Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and Crawford. (Never formally organized following the Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr., Daniel M. Frost)
State flag
Missouri did not have an official flag until Major-General Sterling Price, commander of the Missouri State Guard, ordered on June 5, 1861:
Each
Missouri coat-of-arms in gold gilt on each side. Each mounted company will have a guidon, the flag of which will be of white merino, 3 by 2 1/2 feet, with the letters M. S. G. in gilt on each side. The length of the pike for colors and guidons will be nine feet long, including spear and ferule. Each company of infantry will have one drum and one fife. Each company of mounted men will have two bugles or trumpets. If the colors, guidons, drums, fifes, and bugles cannot be procured in the district requisitions will be made on the quartermaster-general of the State.[6]
See also
Notes
- ^ On this date, Missouri Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson surrendered the State Guard’s forces in Arkansas to Lieut. Col. Charles W. Davis, assistant provost marshal general for Maj. Gen. Grenville M. Dodge.
References
- OL 2715333M.
- ^ Jefferson City, 1861
- ^ Chief of Record and Pension Office of the War Department (1902). Missouri Troops in Service During the Civil War. Washington: Government Printing Office. pp. 255–6.
- ^ Snead, Thomas Lowndes (1886). The Fight for Missouri: From the Election of Lincoln to the Death of Lyon. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. (preface) v.
- ISBN 978-1-929311-26-2.
- ^ War Department; Davis, Maj. George W.; Perry, Leslie J.; Kirkley, Joseph William (1898). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. LIII. Washington: Government Printing Office. pp. 694–695 – via Internet Archive.
Further reading
- McGhee, James E. (2008). Guide to Missouri Confederate Units, 1861–1865. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press. pp. 177–262. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1ffjmtv.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - Parrish, William Earl; Foley, William E.; McCandless, Perry (October 1, 1973). Parrish, William Earl (ed.). A History of Missouri: Volume III, 1860 to 1875. Columbia, Missouri: ISBN 978-0-8262-0148-5.
External links
- Media related to Missouri State Guard at Wikimedia Commons