Missouri's war : the Civil War in documents
edited by Silvana R. Siddali.
Athens : Ohio University Press, c2009.
Civil War Missouri stood at the crossroads of America. As the most Southern-leaning state in the Middle West, Missouri faced a unique dilemma. The state formed the gateway between east and west, as well as one of the borders between the two contending armies. Moreover, because Missouri was the only slave state in the Great Interior, the conflicts that were tearing the nation apart were also starkly evident within the state. Deep divisions between Southern and Union supporters, as well as guerrilla violence on the western border, created a terrible situation for civilians who lived through the attacks of bushwhackers and Jayhawkers. The documents collected in Missouri's War reveal what factors motivated Missourians to remain loyal to the Union or to fight for the Confederacy, how they coped with their internal divisions and conflicts, and how they experienced the end of slavery in the state. Private letters, diary entries, song lyrics, official Union and Confederate army reports, newspaper editorials, and sermons illuminate the war within and across Missouri's borders. Missouri's War also highlights the experience of free and enslaved African Americans before the war, as enlisted Union soldiers, and in their effort to gain rights after the end of the war. Although the collection focuses primarily on the war years, several documents highlight both the national sectional conflict that led to the outbreak of violence and the effort to reunite the conflicting forces in Missouri after the war.
General Sterling Price and the Confederacy
by Thomas C. Reynolds ; edited by Robert G. Schultz.
St. Louis : Missouri History Museum : Distributed by University of Missouri Press, c2009.
Sterling Price served as a Confederate major general, leading by example and sharing hardships with his men. However, Reynolds, who traveled with the men, was furious that Prices raid failed to bring Missouri into the Confederacy. Reynolds began writing his version of events, and for the first time, the entire, although unfinished, manuscript is available, showcasing Reynoldss views of the inner workings of the Confederate government. This gold mine of information is especially important because Prices personal papers were lost in a fire in the 1880s.
The flags of Civil War Missouri
by Glenn Dedmondt.
Gretna, La. : Pelican Pub., c2009.
Flags stir the most noble emotions within the human heart. This fascinating book features color illustrations of Missouri Civil War-ear flags, along with brief text about the history of each unit and its flags.
The making of a southerner : William Barclay Napton's private Civil War
Christopher Phillips.
Columbia : University of Missouri Press, c2008.
Christopher Phillips has brought to life a man, a story, and a voice lost in the din of competing post-Civil War narratives that each claim a timeless divide between North and South. William Barclay Napton (1808-1883) was an editor, lawyer, and state supreme court justice who lived in Missouri during the tumultuous American nineteenth century. He was a keen observer of the nation's sectional politics just as he was a participant in those of his border state, the most divided of any in the nation, in the decades surrounding the Civil War. This book tells the story of one man's civil war, lived and waged within the broader conflict, and the long shadows both cast.
Guide to Missouri Confederate units, 1861-1865
James E. McGhee.
Fayetteville : University of Arkansas Press, 2008.
"Tracing the origins and history of Missouri Confederate units that served during the Civil War is nearly as difficult as comprehending the diverse politics that produced them. Deeply torn by the issues that caused the conflict, some Missourians chose sides enthusiastically, others reluctantly, while a number had to choose out of sheer necessity, for fence straddling held no sway in the state after the fighting began. The several thousand that sided with the Confederacy formed a variety of military organizations, some earning reputations for hard fighting exceeded by few other states, North or South. Unfortunately, the records of Missouri's Confederate units have not been adequately preserved - officially or otherwise - until now." "James E. McGhee presents accounts of the sixty-nine artillery, cavalry, and infantry units in the state, as well as their precedent units, and those that failed to complete their organization. Relying heavily on primary sources, such as rosters, official reports, order books, letters, diaries, and memoirs, he weaves diverse materials into concise narratives of each of Missouri's Confederate organizations. He lists the field-grade officers for battalions and regiments, companies and company commanders, and places of origin for each company when known."--BOOK JACKET.
Guerrilla warfare in Civil War Missouri.$ N Vol.II, 1863
Bruce Nichols.
Jefferson, NC. : McFarland & Co., Inc., Publishers, c2007.
This book is a thorough study of all known guerrilla operations in Civil War Missouri in 1863. The author utilizes both well-known and obscure sources to identify which Southern partisan leaders and groups operated in which areas of Missouri, and to describe how they operated and how their kinds of warfare evolved.
