Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War
1861 CE to 1865 CE
The Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War consists of the major military operations west of the Mississippi River.
Activity in this theater in 1861 is dominated largely by the dispute over the status of the border state of Missouri.
The Missouri State Guard, allied with the Confederacy, wins important victories at the Battle of Wilson's Creek and the First Battle of Lexington.
However, they are driven back at the First Battle of Springfield.
A Union army under Samuel Ryan Curtis defeats the Confederate forces at the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas in March 1862, solidifying Union control over most of Missouri.
The areas of Missouri, Kansas, and the Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma) are marked by extensive guerrilla activity throughout the rest of the war, the most well-known incident being the infamous Lawrence massacre in the Unionist town of Lawrence, Kansas of August 1863.
In the spring of 1862, Confederate forces push north along the Rio Grande River from El Paso, Texas through the New Mexico Territory, but are stopped at the Battle of Glorieta Pass (March 26-28, 1862).
In 1863, General Edmund Kirby Smith takes command of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department, and unsuccessfully tries to relieve the Siege of Vicksburg by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on the opposite eastern banks of the Mississippi River in the state of Mississippi.
As a result of the long campaign / siege and surrender in July 1863 by Gen. John C. Pemberton, the Union gains control of the entire Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy.
This leaves the Trans-Mississippi Department almost completely isolated from the rest of the Confederate States to the east
It becomes nicknamed and known as "Kirby Smithdom", emphasizing the Confederate Government's lack of direct control over the region.
In the 1864 Red River Campaign, a U.S. force under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks tries to gain control over northwestern Louisiana, but is thwarted by Confederate troops commanded by Richard Taylor.
Price's Raid, an attempt led by Major General Sterling Price to recapture Missouri for the Confederacy, ends when Price's troops are defeated in the Battle of Westport that October.
On June 2, 1865, after all other major Confederate armies in the field to the east have surrendered, Kirby Smith officially surrenders his command in Galveston, Texas.
On June 23, Stand Watie, who commands Southern troops in the Indian Territory, becomes the last Confederate general to surrender.
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Territorial secession conventions called at Mesilla and Tucson on March 28, 1861, adopt an ordinance of secession of the southern part of New Mexico Territory, establish a provisional Arizona Territory with Owings as its governor, and petition the Confederate Congress for admission.
The focus early in the war is on two critical states: Missouri and Kentucky.
The loss of either will be a crippling blow to the Union cause.
Primarily because of the successes of Captain Nathaniel Lyon and his victory at Boonville in June, Missouri is held in the Union.
General Lyon has chased Governor Jackson and approximately four thousand State Militia from the State Capital at Jefferson City and from Boonville, where he remains, refitting and re-supplying his command until July 3, 1861.
Union Colonel Franz Sigel leads another force of about one thousand into southwest Missouri in search of Governor Jackson and his loyal troops.
Upon learning that Sigel has encamped at Carthage, Missouri on the night of July 4, Jackson takes command of the troops with him and formulates a plan to attack the much smaller Union force.
The next morning, Jackson closes up to Sigel, forms a battle line on a ridge ten miles north of Carthage, and induces Sigel to attack him.
Opening with artillery fire, Sigel closes to the attack.
Seeing a large Confederate force—actually unarmed recruits—moving into the woods on his left, he fears that they will turn his flank.
He withdraws and the Confederates pursue, but Sigel conducts a successful rearguard action.
By evening, Sigel is inside Carthage.
Under cover of darkness, he retreats to Sarcoxie.
The battle has little military significance, but the pro-Southern elements in Missouri, anxious for any good news, celebrate their first victory.
The first major battle west of the Mississippi River, the Battle of Wilson's Creek, is fought on August 10, 1861, with a Confederate victory.
Lyon, hearing of a large Rebel force moving against him, had moved on August 1 to intercept them.
His men had moved into position undetected on the night of August 9 and surprise the Confederates in the morning at Wilson's Creek, near Springfield.
Directing troops on foot leading his horse, Lyon is struck in the leg and his horse killed by a hail of bullets.
He is later struck again, grazed on the right side of his head.
Staggering to the rear with the aid of another officer, Lyon reforms for a second assault.
Taking a mount from an aide, he impetuously leads the charge of the 2nd Kansas and is killed by a bullet in the chest at close range; his Major Sturgis assumes command.
The Confederates under General Price launch a third unsuccessful assault upon ”Bloody Hill”; when they fall back to regroup, Sturgis orders a hasty retreat to Springfield, unpursued by the exhausted Confederates.
In six hours of fighting, the Federals have suffered 1,317 killed, wounded and missing.
The Confederate casualties are 1,230.
The Battle of Wilson's Creek, in which Lyon has earned the distinction of being the first general to die in the Civil War, is the second major land battle of the war.
Union Major General John Charles Frémont, in command of the newly created Western Department, proclaims on August 30 that slaves of Missourians fighting against the U. S. are free.
The Missouri legislature had taken up a bill for Missouri's secession from the Union on October 28; it passes two days later and is signed by Governor Jackson.
The Confederate Missouri State Guard, having consolidated forces in the northern and central part of the state, marches, under the command of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, on the unionist stronghold of Lexington, Missouri, where Col. James A. Mulligan commands the entrenched Union garrison of about thirty-five hundred men.
Price's men first encounter Union skirmishers on September 13 south of town and push them back into the fortifications.
Price, having bottled the Union troops up in Lexington, decides to await his ammunition wagons, other supplies, and reinforcements before assaulting the fortifications.
By the 18th, Price is ready and orders an assault.
The Missouri State Guard moves forward in the face of heavy Union artillery fire and pushes the enemy back into their inner works.
On the 19th, the Rebels consolidate their positions, keep the Yankees under heavy artillery fire and prepare for the final attack.
Early on the morning of the 20th, Price's men advance behind mobile breastworks, made of hemp, close enough to take the Union works at the Anderson House in a final rush.
Mulligan requests surrender terms after noon, and by 2:00 PM, his men have vacated their works and stacked their arms.
Union casualties are 1,774 to the Confederates' 100.
The capture of Lexington further bolsters Southern sentiment and consolidates Confederate control in the Missouri Valley west of Arrow Rock.
Four slave states—Delaware, ...
...Missouri, ...