Carthage, Missouri

Illustration of the Battle of Carthage, originally published in Harper's Weekly. Courtesy of the Internet Archive.

Notable Events:

  • Battle of Carthage / Dry Fork (July 5, 1861)

After being driven out of Jefferson City and Boonville, the deposed secessionist members of the Missouri state government (including Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson and the Missouri State Guard) retreated to the city of Carthage in southwestern Missouri. Union forces under command of Colonel Franz Sigel attacked, but Jackson and former Missouri Governor Sterling Price successfully defended Carthage and the secessionists maintained a toehold in Missouri. Following the war, Carthage continued to develop and eventually became a point along U.S. Route 66. Today, the battlefield is a State Historic Site.

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