This is a list of Missouri Confederate Civil War units, or military units from the state of Missouri which fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. A border state with both southern and northern influences, Missouri attempted to remain neutral when the war began.[citation needed] However, this was unacceptable to the Federal government, and Union military forces moved against the capital to arrest the legislature and the governor. Governor Claiborne Jackson called out the Missouri State Guard to resist.[citation needed] Union forces under Gen. Nathaniel Lyon seized the state capital, and a minority of pro-Union members of the legislature declared the governor removed from office.[citation needed] They appointed a pro-Union governor, and the Federal government recognized him even though he had not been elected.[citation needed] This resulted in a civil war within the state, as Missourians divided and joined both the Union and Confederate armies. Missouri sent representatives to the United States Congress and the Confederate States Congress, and was represented by a star on both flags.[citation needed]
Early in 1861, the Missouri State Guard was formed as a replacement to a state militia force that had previously been in existence.[citation needed]Sterling Price was selected by Governor Jackson to command the unit.[1] Volunteers for the Missouri State Guard were organized into companies of 50 to 100 men, which were then assigned to regiments. Each regiment was designed to contain between six and eight companies, so a Missouri State Guard regiment would contain 600 to 800 men at full strength.[2] At the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861, Missouri State Guard units fought alongside Confederate States Army troops; both the Missourians and the Confederate troops were under the command of Confederate Brigadier GeneralBenjamin McCulloch.[3] Beginning on November 25, 1861, the men of the Missouri State Guard were allowed to transfer from the Guard to official Confederate service.[4] At the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862, Price commanded a mixed force that contained both Confederate soldiers from Missouri and elements of the Missouri State Guard.[5] By July 1862, almost all of the Missouri State Guard had left the unit to join Confederate States Army units.[6]
Woodson's Company, Cavalry - This company of exchanged Missourians was formed in Virginia in 1863 by Charles Woodson and E.H. Scott to serve in Virginia and they were designated the 1st Missouri Cavalry, Co. A. They were attached to the 62nd Virginia Mounted Infantry and fought at the Battle of New Market in 1864 where they sustained heavy casualties.[11]
In addition to serving in Confederate units organized in Arkansas, many Arkansas soldiers would serve in Confederate units organized in Missouri.[citation needed] Because Missouri Confederate troops were effectively driven out of the geographic area of Missouri after the Pea Ridge Campaign, except during raids by Generals Marmaduke, Shelby and Price, many of the Missouri units recruited heavily in Arkansas.[citation needed] This practice led some Missouri units to be mislabeled as Arkansas units when Confederate service records were compiled by the United States War Department in the 1880s, and some Arkansas units being mislabeled as Missouri units.[citation needed] Troops living near the borders with other states often enlisted in the nearest unit, even if across the state line, resulting in Arkansas soldiers enlisting in units from Missouri, Louisiana and Tennessee. The following is a list of Missouri units that contained large numbers of Arkansas soldiers:
^Knight, Charles R., Valley Thunder, The Battle of New Market and the Opening of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, May 1864, Savas Beatie, NY, 2010, pgs. 157, 247 ISBN978-1932714-80-7
^The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. 128 volumes. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), Series I, Volume 3, p. 132, further references as ORA; Stanton, Donal J., Berquist, Goodwin F., and Bowers, Paul C., ed., The Civil War Reminiscences of General M. Jeff Thompson, (Dayton: Morningside Press, 1988), p. 76.
