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39-591: In Missouri at the beginning of the Civil War, volunteer Unionist Home Guard regiments were formed with the blessing of Federal authorities to oppose neutralist Governor Claiborne Jackson 's state militia and his intention to discourage Missouri enlistments into Federal service. Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon was given authority by the War Department to organize the Home Guard on June 11, 1861. By late 1861 most of

78-617: A major general on May 10. The promotion was never formalized, however, due to the collapse of the Confederate government. Shelby's adjutant at the time was John Newman Edwards , who years later (as editor of the Kansas City Times ) was largely responsible for creating the legend of Jesse James and his fellow Confederate guerrillas. In June 1865, rather than surrender, Shelby and approximately 1,000 of his remaining troops rode south into Mexico . Reportedly, Shelby sank his battle flag in

117-882: A compulsory militia enrollment was declared on July 22, 1862, the Enrolled Missouri Militia. Schofield issued General Orders No. 19 requiring loyal men to enroll in the militia, required registration of all who had previously taken up arms against the United States, and for them to surrender their weapons. The disloyal and Confederate sympathizers would not be required to enroll in the militia, but would have to declare their sympathies, which many were unwilling to do and instead enrolled. The new Enrolled Missouri Militia could be called up in time of emergency to garrison key points in their locale or even to disrupt guerrilla encampments nearby. Many were not provided with uniforms and soon after their formation would wear white hatbands as

156-610: A form of identification. While these orders did raise a militia force for garrison duty and local policing that freed the Missouri State Militia for active pursuit of guerrillas and recruiters, the policies also forced those of Southern loyalties to choose sides. Thousands chose the brush, guerrilla bands, or to seek out recruiters to join the Southern army. Confederate recruiters such as John A. Poindexter and Joseph C. Porter in northeast Missouri would immediately benefit from

195-558: A response, the Blue Lodge, a quasi-Masonic organization, was formed by leading Missourians. This group was dedicated to making Kansas a slave state. JO Shelby was a leading member. Shelby's first direct involvement in Kansas was at Lawrence during the March 30, 1855 election of the Kansas territorial legislature. Many Missourians without residence in the territory voted illegally in the election. This

234-692: Is buried in Kansas City in Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City. A Union General who had fought against Shelby, Alfred Pleasonton , remarked, “Shelby was the best cavalry general of the South. Under other conditions, he would have been one of the best in the world.” Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas was named after him, which historian Jeremi Suri described as ironic because it militarizes

273-841: The Battle of Marks' Mills . Reassigned to Clarendon, Arkansas , Shelby succeeded in capturing a Union tinclad (lightly armored) gunboat, the USS ; Queen City . The gunboat was burned to prevent her recapture. Shelby then commanded a division during Price's Missouri Expedition . He distinguished himself at the battles of Little Blue River and Westport , and briefly captured many towns from their Union garrisons, including Potosi , Boonville , Waverly , Stockton , Lexington , and California, Missouri . After Robert E. Lee 's army surrendered in Virginia in April 1865, General Edmund Kirby Smith appointed Shelby

312-778: The Confederacy , many of the tribal members did not. Jo Shelby Joseph Orville " J.O. " Shelby (December 12, 1830 – February 13, 1897) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War . After the Confederacy surrendered, Shelby tried to swear fealty to Emperor Maximilian I during the French invasion of Mexico . With

351-578: The First Battle of Independence Hays, Hughes, and Quantrill succeeded in capturing Independence and its garrison (a battalion of the 7th Missouri Cavalry.) Hays, Cockrell, and Coffee then defeated another force at the Battle of Lone Jack . The newly recruited Confederate regiments were able to withdraw intact to Arkansas. With the departure of the recruiters, the major crisis in Missouri had passed. Guerrilla warfare and raids would continue but would never reach

390-595: The Missouri Secession Crisis , later being converted into three-year regiments.) Once actual hostilities began in the state in June 1861, Union loyalists as Home Guard units in areas outside of St. Louis were organized and mobilized by Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon to oppose Sterling Price's Missouri State Guard, which was forming at the same time. One of these units, the Benton County Home Guards,

429-510: The New Virginia Colony , an American settlement in Mexico near Córdoba, Veracruz . The grant was revoked two years later following the collapse of the empire and Maximilan's execution. The memory of Shelby and his men as "The Undefeated" is used as a basis for the 1969 John Wayne – Rock Hudson film by the same name . Shelby returned to Missouri in 1867 and resumed farming. In 1883, Shelby

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468-575: The Rio Grande near present-day Eagle Pass, Texas , on the way to Mexico rather than risk the flag falling into the hands of the Federals. The event is depicted in a painting displayed at the Eagle Pass City Hall. For their determination not to surrender, Shelby's men were immortalized as "the undefeated". A later verse appended to the post-war Confederate anthem "The Unreconstructed Rebel" commemorates

507-656: The St. Louis Arsenal led to the Camp Jackson affair and the creation of the pro-secession Missouri State Guard . Shelby formed the Lafayette County Mounted Rifles for Missouri State Guard service and was elected the company's captain, leading it into battle at Carthage , Wilson's Creek , and Pea Ridge . In 1862, he was promoted to colonel and authorized to recruit a Confederate cavalry regiment, returning to Lafayette County to do so. After successfully bringing

546-546: The Confederate forces. Pro-southern guerrillas aided the recruiters and often fought alongside them. Guerrilla warfare plagued Missouri from the start of the conflict in Missouri, but intensified in early 1862 as the weather warmed. To combat the growing guerrilla menace, General Henry W. Halleck issued General Order Number 2 on March 13: Evidence has been received at these headquarters that Maj. Gen. Sterling Price has issued commissions or licenses to certain bandits in this State, authorizing them to raise "guerrilla forces," for

585-657: The Emperor's permission, Shelby formed a colony of Confederate exiles in Mexico until the defeat of the French, then abandoned the operation. Joseph Orville Shelby was born on December 12, 1830, in Lexington, Kentucky , to one of the state's wealthiest and most influential families. He lost his father at age five and was raised by a stepfather, Benjamin Gratz, who was a member of wealthy Lexington elite. Shelby attended Transylvania University and

624-472: The Home Guard regiments had been disbanded. They were replaced by a smaller Six-month Militia under state rather than Federal control. This too was disbanded in January 1862, to be replaced by the Missouri State Militia (almost entirely cavalry.) Following the Battle of Pea Ridge and the resulting Confederate withdrawal from northern Arkansas, recruiters were dispatched throughout Missouri in an attempt to rebuild

663-513: The Home Guard regiments in the St. Louis area were raised from pre-existing Wide Awakes , a Republican Party organization established during the 1860 election, and from members of the German Turnverein cultural organization . St. Louis Unionists were mustered into Federal service in April 1861. Five regiments were designated the 1st–5th Missouri Volunteers and five additional regiments were created as

702-420: The Missouri State Militia which read in part: When caught in arms, engaged in their unlawful warfare, they will be shot down upon the spot. As guerrilla warfare and recruiting increased, and as the state had been stripped of nearly all but the volunteer Missouri State Militia Cavalry regiments, General Schofield took a more drastic measure. With the aid of Missouri's provisional Governor Hamilton Rowan Gamble ,

741-622: The Missouri border during the Civil War. During the Battle of Athens, Missouri , Iowa Home Guard companies on the other side of the Des Moines River protected the supply depots. The Kentucky Home Guard participated in the Battle of Barbourville , Kentucky in September 1861 as well as the Battle of Camp Wildcat and many other skirmishes such as the Battle of Augusta (1862) . Union supporting Home Guards in Pendleton County, Virginia (in

780-669: The United States Reserve Corps. The second group were commonly referred to as the (St. Louis) Home Guard, and their creation was criticized as these regiments exceeded the requirement for Missouri volunteers under the Militia Act of 1792 . During the Price–Harney Truce , Governor Claiborne Jackson and Missouri State Guard commander Major General Sterling Price demanded that the 1st–5th U.S.R.C. be disbanded as illegal organizations. (These regiments continued to serve though

819-546: The assertion of power like the original treason in the Confederacy. The pass is known as the "grave of the Confederacy". Shelby and his men buried their Battle Flags on the North bank of the Rio Grande before entering Mexico according to the famous Texas Ranger and Cavalry Officer Colonel Alexander Watkins Terrell who was present at the crossing. On July 22, 1857, Shelby married Elizabeth Nancy Shelby (daughter of his first cousin), in

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858-447: The barbarity of their general. Confederate President Jefferson Davis responded on April 21, 1862 and attempted to regulate guerrilla warfare by authorizing commissions for those forming bands of "partisan rangers," who would follow the rules of war and eventually join the Confederate forces. However, this was not recognized by the United States authorities. On May 29 Brigadier General John Schofield responded with General Order No. 18 to

897-428: The defiance of Shelby and his men: I won't be reconstructed, I'm better now than then. And for a Carpetbagger I do not give a damn. So it's forward to the frontier, soon as I can go. I'll fix me up a weapon and start for Mexico. The plan was to offer their services to Emperor Maximilian as a "foreign legion". Maximilian declined to accept the ex-Confederates into his armed forces, but he did grant them land for

936-666: The mountains of what is now the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia ) attacked Confederate works and small detachments with indifferent success during the war. The best known of these irregulars called themselves the "Swamp Dragons". Union volunteer infantry regiments known as the Indian Home Guard were recruited from the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory . Although the tribal leadership had supported

975-539: The order as their numbers were soon swelled by disaffected Southerners. For a time the Enrolled Militia enrollment appeared counterproductive, but within a month both Confederate forces had been beaten and scattered after defeats at Moore's Mill , the Battle of Kirksville , and at Compton's Ferry . The new Enrolled Militia regiments increased the Union presence throughout the state while the Missouri State Militia drove out

1014-587: The peak that occurred in the Summer of 1862. Since the enrolled militia were called up locally as needed and uniforms were not provided, they did not create an unmanageable financial burden. The formation of the Enrolled Missouri Militia was an arrangement between Schofield and Gamble that had not received the full consent of the Federal authorities. As a result, only a few would later be eligible for Federal pensions. There were also problems of reliability and loyalty. Some of

1053-482: The presence of bushwhackers in the surrounding areas of pro-Confederate Boone County , 90 men assembled a militia named the Fighting Tigers of Columbia. The brigade stockpiled weapons, kept watch, set up a warning bell for the town, and dug a moat around the city courthouse. The University of Missouri's athletic programs are named in honor of the militia. Iowa Home Guard companies provided border defense along

1092-434: The purpose of plunder and marauding. General Price ought to know that such a course is contrary to the rules of civilized warfare, and that every man who enlists in such an organization forfeits his life and becomes an outlaw. All persons are hereby warned that if they join any guerrilla band they will not, if captured, be treated as ordinary prisoners of war, but will be hung as robbers and murderers. Their lives shall atone for

1131-635: The recruiters and their regiments. Despite this, approximately 5,000 Southerners did succeed in making their way from northern Missouri to join the Confederate army in Arkansas. It was more difficult for the Union to reassert control in western Missouri south of the Missouri River. Upton Hays, John Hughes, Jerry Coffee, Jeremiah "Vard" Cockrell, and Jo Shelby were all busy recruiting Confederate regiments during this same period. They were aided by William Quantrill 's guerrillas, who made common cause with them. At

1170-538: The regiment safely back to Arkansas , he was given command of a brigade of newly recruited regiments. In the fall of 1863, Shelby led his " Iron Brigade " of Missouri volunteers on what was at the time the longest cavalry raid of the war, Shelby's Raid . Between September 22 and November 3, 1863, Shelby's brigade traveled 1,500 miles through Missouri, inflicting over 1,000 casualties on Union forces and capturing or destroying an estimated $ 2 million (~$ 38.9 million in 2023) worth of federal supplies and property. He

1209-436: The start of the Civil War there were several competing organizations attempting to either take the state out of the Union or keep the state within it. Home Guard companies and regiments were raised by Union supporters, particularly German-Americans, to oppose the secessionist paramilitary Minutemen , secessionist elements in the official Missouri Volunteer Militia and eventually the secessionist Missouri State Guard . Many of

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1248-603: The units were composed primarily of pro-Southern men and officers. This resulted in some companies being disbanded. Eventually another organization, the Provisional Enrolled Missouri Militia , would be formed from the more reliable militia. Home Guard (Unionist) In the American Civil War the Home Guard or Home Guards were local militia raised from Union loyalists. In Missouri after

1287-503: The use of an incendiary. The mill was uninsured and losses exceeded $ 9,000. Gratz returned to Lexington, Kentucky, and Shelby auctioned off the business in February 1860. Following the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson refused Lincoln's call for volunteers and maneuvered to take the state out of the Union. The resulting friction between State and Federal militias vying for control of

1326-625: Was a rope manufacturer until 1852. He then moved to Waverly, Missouri , where he engaged in steamboating on the Missouri River . He also ran a hemp plantation , a ropeworks, and a sawmill. These business ventures made Shelby one of the wealthiest men in the state of Missouri. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was passed, the New England Emigrant Aid Company paid for Northern abolitionists to move to Kansas. As

1365-484: Was a critical witness for fellow ex-Confederate Frank James at James' trial. Shelby was appointed the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Missouri in 1893, and retained this position until his death. He appointed an African American to office, which led to "bitter feeling among some of his neighbors". Shelby defended his actions. Shelby died of pneumonia at his farm near Adrian, Missouri , in 1897. He

1404-460: Was defeated by a battalion of Missouri State Guards at the Battle of Cole Camp . In late 1861 and early 1862 the three-month-service Home Guard were replaced by Unionist militia regiments, including the new Missouri State Militia , as well as the compulsory Enrolled Missouri Militia in July 1862, and the Provisional Enrolled Missouri Militia , formed later. One particularly famous Home Guard militia

1443-540: Was partially achieved through intimidation of election judges, who were prevented from administering residency oaths. Additionally, Shelby and other Missourians harassed several abolitionists attempting to vote, although they were generally not prevented from doing so. Shelby's leadership in the Missouri–Kansas border war damaged his business ventures and partnership with his stepbrother, Henry Howard Gratz. In December 1855, their new sawmill burned, and evidence suggested

1482-487: Was promoted to brigadier-general on December 15, 1863, following the successful conclusion of his raid. In 1864, Union General Frederick Steele 's failure in the Camden Expedition of March 23 – May 2, 1864 was largely due to Shelby's brilliant and determined harassment, in concert with other Confederate forces. Steele's men were forced to retreat to Little Rock by the destruction or capture of their supply trains at

1521-499: Was that of Columbia, Missouri . In 1864, it was rumored that Price, by then a Confederate general, was planning on turning his march through Missouri towards the staunchly pro-Union town. Columbia had value not only as a stronghold of pro-Union thought, but served as home to a garrison of Union troops and prison located in the library and main academic building at the University of Missouri . Worried about Price's raid and concerned about

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