Battle of Boonville
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| Operations to Control Missouri |
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| Boonville – Carthage – Wilson's Creek – Dry Wood Creek – 1st Lexington – Liberty – Fredericktown – 1st Springfield |
sketched by Orlando C. Richardson
The Battle of Boonville was a battle of the American Civil War, occurring on June 17, 1861, in Cooper County, Missouri. This early victory established Union control of the Missouri River and helped douse attempts to place Missouri in the Confederacy.
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[edit] Background
Claiborne F. Jackson, the pro-Southern Governor of Missouri, wanted the state to secede and join the Confederacy, but the state's sentiment was initially neutral. The state convention failed to pass a secession ordinance.
Meanwhile, secessionist elements seized the small arsenal in Liberty, Missouri and schemed to seize tens of thousands more arms at the St. Louis Arsenal. They were thwarted by an energetic young officer, Capt. Nathaniel Lyon. Lyon allied with local politician Frank Blair and anti-slavery German immigrants in St. Louis to secure the arsenal from Southern hands. In the process he used the German militia to capture the Missouri State Guard and their artillery drilling nearby at Camp Jackson on May 10, 1861. When he unwisely attempted to march the prisoners through the streets to the arsenal a deadly riot erupted. This inflamed pro-Southern and anti-Federal passions in the state. As a result the legislature promptly passed the governor's militia bill and called up the Missouri State Guard--but it did not secede.
Some attempts were made at reconciling the differences as Missouri had not seceded. The initial call up of the MSG was halted. In the interim Nathaniel Lyon was apponted brigadier general. On June 11, 1861 the negotiations collapsed as neither side trusted the other. Gov. Jackson and Sterling Price fled toward the capital at Jefferson City, arriving on the 12th. They quickly concluded that the capital could not be held and left for Boonville on the 13th.
Union Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon promptly set out from St. Louis by steamboat with two Federal volunteer regiments, a company of U.S. regulars and a battery of artillery--about 2,000 men in all. His target was to secure the capital and disperse Jackson’s Missouri State Guard commanded by Sterling Price. Reaching Jefferson City, the state capital, on June 15 Lyon discovered that Jackson and Price had retreated towards Boonville.
MSG Maj. Gen. Price recognized that Jefferson City could not be defended and had hoped to gain time to gather the various commands in Lexington and Boonville. He planned to withdraw from Boonville if Lyon approached. MSG Col. John S. Marmaduke's gathering command began organizing at Boonville, while MSG Brig. Gen. Mosby M. Parsons was instructed to take up a position 20 miles to the south in Tipton.
Price left the command due to illness and to join the other forces collecting at Lexington. This had unfortunate repercussions as it left a politician, the governor, in command. Gov. Jackson determined to make a stand because he feared the political fallout of another hasty retreat. Many of the men were eager to face the Federal volunteers, but they lacked sufficient militarily preparedness to do so effectively. Marmaduke opposed the action and reluctantly took command of the waiting forces.
Lyon left 300 Federals to secure Jefferson City and reembarked the remainder of his command on steamboats on June 16. They landed approximately 8 miles below Boonville on the morning of June 17. Aware of the movement, Jackson attempted to call up Parsons' command at Tipton, but it could not arrive in time.
[edit] The Battle
The battle itself was little more than a skirmish, but at the time this was one of the first significant land actions of the war and it would have grave consequences for Confederate hopes in Missouri.
After disembarking the Federal forces marched along the Rocheport Road toward Boonville. They encountered pickets as they approached the bluffs, but deployed skirmishers and pushed forward rapidly.
On a ridge behind the bluff waited a few semi-organized and ill equipped companies of the Missouri State Guard totalling about 500 men. They did not have field artillery since the guns they possessed were with Parsons at Tipton. (Two old iron 6 pdr guns were deployed elsewhere facing the river, but were apparently unmanned or unserviceable.) Inexplicably, Gov. Jackson held his only reasonably disciplined and organized command (Capt. Kelly's) in reserve and they took no part in the battle. Jackson observed a mile or more from the field.
Lyon deployed his men and artillery and advanced. The artillery soon displaced MSG sharpshooters stationed in the William M. Adams house. The Union infantry closed with the line of guardsmen and fired a few vollies sending it into retreat. This main portion of the fighting lasted only 20 minutes. Some attempts were made by individuals to rally and resist the Federal progress, but these rapidly collapsed as a flanking Union company seized the camp behind the original line, and a boat mounted siege howitzer shelled some MSG positions.
As feared the retreat rapidly turned into a rout. The guardsmen fled back through Camp Bacon and the town. Some even fled for home while others joined the Governor in retreat to the southwest corner of the state. The short fight and precipitate retreat earned the nickname "The Boonville Races."
Lyon took possession of the town at 11 AM.
[edit] Casualties and Impact
Federal casualties were light with five men killed outright or mortally wounded and about seven with survivable wounds. There was no reliable accounting of casualties for the Missouri State Guard. Only a handful of MSG soldiers were known to have been killed and perhaps a dozen wounded. (However, newspaper reporters who were present and even some Confederate sources suggested the secessionist toll was substantially higher.) Perhaps 80 guardsmen were captured. Lyon also took possession of some of the MSG's scant supplies and equipment at their armoury at the fairgrounds--including the two iron 6 pdr cannon, 500 dilapidated flintlock muskets, 1200 pair of shoes, some tents, and some food.
The real impact was strategic and was far out of proportion to the minimal loss of life. This small skirmish had effectively ejected the secessionist forces from the central portion of the state and secured it for the Union. Price realized he could not hold Lexington either and joined in the retreat to the southwest. Secessionist communications with the strongly pro-Southern Missouri River valley were effectively cut. Recruits from the slave owning regions north of the Missouri River found it very difficult to join their Southern brethren. Provisions and supplies could no longer be obtained from this portion of the state.
The other impact was demoralization. While the MSG would live to fight and win on other days, they were badly dispirited by this defeat. It gave the Union forces time to consolidate their hold on the state. Marmaduke's disappointment led him to resign his MSG command and seek a Confederate commission.
[edit] References
- National Park Service battle description
- Rorvig, Paul; The Significant Skirmish: The Battle of Boonville, June 17, 1861., Missouri Historical Review, Jan. 1992.
