Missouri State Guard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Missouri State Guard (MSG) was a state militia unit organized in the state of Missouri during the early days of the American Civil War. While not a formal part of the Confederate States Army, the state guard fought alongside Confederate troops and, at times, under regular Confederate officers.
The Missouri State Legislature passed the "Military Bill" on May 11, 1861, in direct response to the Camp Jackson Massacre in St. Louis the previous day. The law authorized the Governor of Missouri, Claiborne Fox Jackson, to disband the old informal Missouri State Militia and reform it as the Missouri State Guard to resist a threatened invasion by the Union Army. The act divided the state into nine Military Districts, which were supposed to each raise a full division of armed soldiers. The first commander was Sterling "Pap" Price, the former popular governor and one of the most influential men in Missouri.
Governor Jackson called for 50,000 volunteers to defend Missouri from the Federal army; thousands of men answered the proclamation and enlisted in the divisions. The Missouri State Guard suffered an initial setback in a small skirmish at Boonville on June 17, 1861, and retreated to extreme southwestern Missouri, pursued by Federals. However, two days later the Guard decisively defeated their pursuers at Cole Camp. Another victory on July 5 at the Battle of Carthage bought time for Price to properly train and organize his raw recruits, many who had reported for military duty carrying only farm implements or antiquated hunting weapons.
Price, along with Confederate regulars and members of the Arkansas State Guard, then defeated a Union force under Nathaniel Lyon at Wilson's Creek on August 10, killing Lyon and driving back his army. Price, with 10,000 men, defeated Kansas Senator James Lane and his "Jayhawkers"" at Big Dry Wood Creek on September 1–2, and then captured 3,600 Federal troops in the Battle of the Hemp Bales in mid-month.
While in winter camp, Price began enrolling many of his men into the regular Confederate service. On March 17, 1862, he merged the Missouri State Guard in the Army of the West. MSG troops were to make up the core of Price's Army of Missouri which attempted Price's Raid offensive in 1864 to recapture the state. A small number of MSG units remained independent until the end of the war in 1865, seeing action at Elkhorn Tavern and other engagements in the Trans-Mississippi Theater under generals Mosby M. Parsons and James S. Rains.
