Although the conflict in Virginia has commanded the lion’s share of attention and scholarship, Missouri and Kansas witnessed a tremendous amount of fighting during the American Civil War. Only two states, Virginia and Tennessee, had more actions fought on their soil during the Civil War than Missouri. Missouri was a strategically vital state for President Abraham Lincoln and the federal government’s war effort, and a case can be made that the Civil War started on the Missouri-Kansas border in the 1850s, during “Bleeding Kansas.” Missouri was split in its sentiments, and many Missourians fought on both sides of the war. By contrast, Kansans overwhelmingly fought for the Union.
Henry Wager Halleck was one of the most prominent Union generals in the American Civil War. Though primarily remembered for his bureaucratic leadership, poor handling of troops in the field, and often prickly relationships with subordinate army commanders, Halleck had a first-class mind that affected the course of the Civil War based on his first experience of large-scale command in Missouri.
During his retreat from the loss to Confederate Major General Sterling Price at Lexington, Major General James Gillpatrick Blunt stops on October 20 and 21 to make a stand on the west banks of the Little Blue River.
Seeking to clear secessionist forces out of Missouri, Union General Samuel R. Curtis pursued General Sterling Price into northwest Arkansas, only to be attacked by the combined Confederate forces of Price and General Ben McCulloch.
Samuel Ryan Curtis was the most successful federal general west of the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. He is primarily remembered as the victor at the battles of Pea Ridge and Westport. But Curtis was far more than just a general; he played a key role in the opening and exploitation of the American West as an engineer, politician, railroad advocate, and soldier.
As the war turned against the Confederacy in late 1864, Confederate Major General Sterling Price led his cavalry forces on an epic raid into Missouri, hoping to install secessionist Thomas Reynolds as state governor in Jefferson City and to establish the Confederate state government’s legitimacy. Presumably, the loss of a border state would impede President Lincoln’s chances for reelection the following month and give the Confederacy an opportunity to negotiate a peaceful settlement. At the Battle of Westport, however, Price’s Raid (or Price’s “Missouri Expedition”) came to an inglorious climax.
