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Formation of the Missouri State Guard

The Missouri State Guard (MSG) was a state militia organized in the state of Missouri during the early days of the American Civil War. While not initially 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 Affair in St. Louis the previous day. The final version of the act approved on May 14 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 feared invasion by the Union Army.   The act divided the state into nine Military Districts based on the Federal Congressional Districts and made men ages 18 to 45 years of age eligible for MSG service unless exempted due to occupation, office or other reasons. While the act termed each district a "division", they were organized along brigade lines. The actual forces of a district consisted of all the regiments, not of brigades of these regiments. Each district's division was to be commanded by a brigadier general who was a resident of the district, and elected by the commissioned officers of the district. An act was passed on May 15 for the appointment of a major general to act as field commander; the first appointed was Maj. Gen. Sterling "Pap" Price, the popular former governor and one of the most influential men in Missouri.  Recruits for the Missouri State Guard began to quickly assemble in Jefferson City in mid-May 1861. However, after an agreement, the Price-Harney Truce on May 20 between Price and the Federal department commander William S. Harney, the call up was halted. On May 30, Harney was relieved and Nathaniel Lyon took command of the department. On June 11, a meeting to resolve some disagreements resulted in the collapse of the truce. Price and Jackson fled St. Louis for Jefferson City. The next day Governor Jackson called for 50,000 volunteers to defend Missouri from the Union army; thousands of men answered the proclamation and enlisted in their respective districts/divisions forming the Missouri State Guard.

Early War / Missouri State Guard

The Missouri State Guard suffered a serious initial setback in a skirmish at Boonville on June 17, 1861 and began a retreat toward southwestern Missouri. Two days later the Guard's path was cleared when a local MSG infantry and cavalry battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Walter S. O'Kane decisively defeated and captured the Benton County Home Guard at Cole Camp, MO. Another victory on July 5 at the Battle of Carthage bought time for Price to begin training and organizing 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 Militia, defeated an advancing Union force under Nathaniel Lyon at Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861 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 First Battle of Lexington (Battle of the Hemp Bales) in mid-month. As Frémont's Union army finally advanced toward Springfield, the Guard withdrew. A bold dash by Major Charles Zagonyi's mounted vanguard routed local MSG troops waiting in ambush on October 25, 1861, at the Battle of Springfield 1, but it was a minor affair.  Shortly after, a session of the exiled Missouri legislature convened and voted to secede on October 30, with the governor signing on October 31, 1861. While in winter camp, Price began enrolling many of his men into the regular Confederate service. Two brigades of the MSG participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern) March 6-8, 1862.  On March 17, 1862, Price merged the Missouri State Guard into the Army of the West under Genearl Earl Van Dorn.

Mid War / Missouri Brigade Van Dorn's Army of the West