Overview:  Missouri's Importance During the War

Missouri's importance during the Civil war is often overlooked.  With over a thousand small battles and skirmishes, Missouri was the third most fought-over state.  She supplied more soldiers per capita than any other state. Ulysses S. Grant's first battle of the war was the Battle of Belmont, Missouri, Nov. 7, 1861, and he was commissioned as a brigadier general in 1861 at Ironton, Missouri. At the Battle of Wilson's Creek, August 10, 1861, Nathaniel Lyon became the first Union General to die in action.  This battle was the second major Confederate victory of the war. St. Louis contractor James B. Eads built the first ironclad ships for the Union Navy.  He was also the architect of Eads Bridge, which is still in use in St. Louis.  The Battle of Westport was the largest battle fought west of the Mississippi River. It was nicknamed the "Gettysburg of the West" and, like Gettysburg, was a failed Confederate attempt to sever Union supply lines. It was the last big battle in the state and ended the Civil War in Missouri. In December of 1865, Missouri abolished slavery within her borders before the 13th amendment of the Constitution abolished it everywhere in the United States. The National Cemetery in Springfield is the only cemetery where both Union and Confederate forces are buried side by side.

Ead's Bridge.  St. Louis, MO.