 | Frank Bergquist graduated from Eddyville, IA, high school in 1958. After graduation, he entered the Army, serving 20 years in Missouri, Maryland, New Mexico, Germany, Iowa, Turkey, Kansas, S.E. Asia, and finally retiring in 1978 in Louisiana. Before retiring, Frank was assigned as an ROTC instructor at WSU and Kemper Military School until 1974. In 1978 he served as the Non-Commissioned officer in charge of operations at Fort Polk, LA. He has served as the Veterans Counselor (DVOP) with the Kansas Job Service Center National Service Office, with the Disabled American Veterans at the VA Regional Office in Wichita; Veterans Employment and Training Coordinator with the US Dept. of Labor at Ft. Riley, KS; Service Coordinator with Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation; Dept Adjutant-Treasurer and the Dept. Executive Director Dept. of Kansas Disabled American Veterans; and past President of the Wichita Civil War Round Table. Currently he is doing graduate work as an instructor in Genealogy and Military History at Wichita State and Kansas State Universities, and is the CEO for the Disabled American Veterans Thrift Stores in Wichita, KS. Bergquist has an AA from Kemper Military School and College from Boonville, MO. and a BGS from Wichita State University. He can be reached by telephone at 316-262-6501. He is located at 926 N. Mosley Wichita 67214. |
Veteran Affairs
2012-03-22 16:43:02
Civil War battle summaries by state - series
Q: I have enjoyed reading the many different article series you have written on the Civil War. Most of these are from a broad look at the country and how the country was affected. Would it be possible to list what happened in each of the states’ battles?
A: Sure. I found several sites from which to put this information together. One of the best is www.nps.gov. Last issue, we featured the battles in Oklahoma of Middle Boggy Depot, Old Fort Wayne and Round Mountain. This month we will feature battles in Missouri, of which there were many.
Belmont
Other Names: None
Location: Mississippi County
Campaign: Operations at the Ohio and Mississippi River Confluence (1861)
Date(s): November 7, 1861
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant [US]; Brig. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow [CS]
Forces Engaged: Division [US]; division [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 1,464 total (US 498; CS 966)
Description: On November 6, 1861, Brig. Gen. U.S. Grant left Cairo, Illinois, by steamers, in conjunction with two gunboats, to make a demonstration against Columbus, Kentucky. The next morning, Grant learned that Confederate troops had crossed the Mississippi River from Columbus to Belmont, Missouri, to intercept two detachments sent in pursuit of Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson and, possibly, to reinforce Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s force. He landed on the Missouri shore, out of the range of Confederate artillery at Columbus, and started marching the mile to Belmont. At 9:00 in the morning, an engagement began. The Federals routed the Confederates out of their Belmont cantonment and destroyed the Rebel supplies and equipment they found because they did not have the means to carry them off. The scattered Confederate forces reorganized and received reinforcements from Columbus. Counterattacked by the Confederates, the Union force withdrew, re-embarked, and returned to Cairo. Grant did not accomplish much in this operation, but, at a time when little Union action occurred anywhere, many were heartened by any activity.
Result(s): Union victory
Boonville
Other Names: First Battle of Boonville
Location: Cooper County
Campaign: Operations to Control Missouri (1861)
Date(s): June 17, 1861
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon [US]; Col. John S. Marmaduke [CS]
Forces Engaged: Combined force of Missouri troops and Regular U.S. Army (approx. 1,700) [US]; State Guard Troops [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 81 total (US 31; CS 50)
Description: Claiborne Jackson, the pro-Southern Governor of Missouri, wanted the state to secede and join the Confederacy. Union Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon set out to put down Jackson’s Missouri State Guard, commanded by Sterling Price. Reaching Jefferson City, the state capital, Lyon discovered that Jackson and Price had retreated towards Boonville. Lyon re-embarked on steamboats, transported his men to below Boonville, marched to the town, and engaged the enemy. In a short fight, Lyon dispersed the Confederates, commanded on the field by Col. John S. Marmaduke, and occupied Boonville. This early victory established Union control of the Missouri River and helped douse attempts to place Missouri in the Confederacy.
Result(s): Union victory
Byram’s Ford
Other Names: Big Blue River
Location: Jackson County
Campaign: Price’s Missouri Expedition (1864)
Date(s): October 22-23, 1864
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt and Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton [US]; Brig. Gen. Joseph Shelby and Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke [CS]
Forces Engaged: 1st Division, Army of the Border and provisional cavalry division [US]; Shelby and Marmaduke’s Divisions [CS]
Estimated Casualties: Unknown
Description: Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Army of Missouri was headed west towards Kansas City and Fort Leavenworth. Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis’s Army of the Border, in and around Westport, was blocking the Confederates’ way west and Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton’s provisional cavalry division was pressing Price’s army’s rear. Price had nearly 500 wagons with him and required a good ford over the Big Blue River to facilitate the passage of his supplies. Byram’s Ford was the best ford in the area and became a strategic point during the fighting around Westport. On October 22, Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt’s division held a defensive position on the Big Blue River’s west bank. Around 10:00 am on the 22nd, part of Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelby’s Confederate division conducted a frontal attack on Blunt’s men. This attack was a ruse because the rest of Shelby’s men flanked Blunt’s hasty defenses, forcing the Federals to retire to Westport. Price’s wagon train and about 5,000 head of cattle then crossed the Big Blue River at Byram’s Ford and headed southward toward Little Santa Fe and safety. Pleasonton’s cavalry was hot on the tail of Price’s army. Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke’s Rebel division held the west bank of the Big Blue at Byram’s Ford to prevent Pleasonton from attacking Price’s rear. Pleasonton assaulted Marmaduke at Byram’s Ford, around 8:00 am, on the 23rd. Three hours later, Marmaduke’s men had enough and fell back toward Westport. With Pleasonton across the river, he was now an additional threat to Price who was fighting Curtis’s Army of the Border at Westport. Price had to retreat south.
Result(s): Union victory
Cape Girardeau
Other Names: None
Location: Cape Girardeau City
Campaign: Marmaduke’s Second Expedition into Missouri (1863)
Date(s): April 26, 1863
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. John McNeil [US]; Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke [CS]
Forces Engaged: Garrison plus some reinforcements [US]; cavalry division [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 337 total (US 12; CS 325)
Description: Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke sought to strike Brig. Gen. John McNeil, with his combined force of about 2,000 men, at Bloomfield, Missouri. McNeil retreated and Marmaduke followed. Marmaduke received notification, on April 25, that McNeil was near Cape Girardeau. He sent troops to destroy or capture McNeil’s force, but then he learned that the Federals had placed themselves in the fortifications. Marmaduke ordered one of his brigades to make a demonstration to ascertain the Federals’ strength. Col. John S. Shelby’s brigade made the demonstration which escalated into an attack. Those Union forces not already in fortifications retreated into them. Realizing the Federals’ strength, Marmaduke withdrew his division to Jackson. After finding the force he had been chasing, Marmaduke was repulsed. Meant to relieve pressure on other Confederate troops and to disrupt Union operations, Marmaduke’s expedition did little to fulfill either objective.
Result(s): Union victory
