The Battle of Boonville was a minor battle of the American Civil War which was fought on 17 June 1861. While the battle involved very few casualties, it ensured that Missouri remained loyal to the Union and that the Missouri River remained in Union hands.
Background[]
At the start of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln called on all of the remaining Union states to raise a combined army of 75,000 volunteers to restore order to the rebellious Confederacy in the American South. Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson told Lincoln that his border state of Missouri would furnish no troops for the "unholy crusade" against the South, and he supported the passage of a secession ordinance. However, the state convention did not pass any ordinance, leading to secessionists seizing the Liberty Arsenal and planning to capture the St. Louis Arsenal. Young US Army officer Nathaniel Lyon thwarted the attempt, using US Army regulars and German immigrant abolitionist volunteers to capture the secessionist volunteers at Camp Jackson on 10 May 1861. When Lyon unwisely attmepted to parade his prisoners through the streets of St. Louis, the Missouri General Assembly passed a series of emergency bills that created the Missouri State Guard and granted Jackson near-dictatorial powers to repel the federal "invasion" and suppress the Unionist "insurrection". Large numbers of volunteers flooded into Jefferson City to join the State Guard and protect the state capital from attack. Western Department commander William S. Harney and State Guard commander Sterling Price negotiated a truce under which the Union troops would stay in St. Louis, the State Guard would halt recruitment, and the two sides would agree to remain loyal to the Union and repel any Confederate invasion. However, the Unionists believed that Harney was misplacing his trust in the Confederate sympathizers, so they successfully petitioned for Lyon to become the new commander. On 11 June 1861, Governor Jackson, Lyon, and Price met at a hotel in St. Louis, where Jackson demanded that the Union troops remain in St. Louis and that the Unionist militias be disbanded, effectively leaving Missouri's fate in the hands of the Confederate sympathizers Jackson and Price. Lyon responded that he would rather see every man, woman, and child in the state dead and buried than allow for Jackson to dictate to the federal government, and he told him that his actions meant war. He allowed for them to leave, and they fled to Jefferson City, arriving on 12 June. They had the bridges on the main rail lines burned, and Jackson and his State Guard abandoned Jefferson City and set up camp at Boonville the next day. Lyon took 1,700 troops and pursued them, intending on seizing the capital and dispersing the State Guard. Price sought to consolidate the State Guard units in Lexington and Boonville, although he planned to withdraw from Boonville if Lyon approached. Price joined the forces at Lexington as John S. Marmaduke assumed command of the troops in Boonville, waiting for the arrival of the Union troops.
Battle[]
Lyon's Union force clashed with State Guard pickets at the bluffs near Boonville, and Union artillery succeeded in driving Guard sharpshooters at the William Adams house. The Union then closed with the line of guardsmen and fired several volleys into them; the Union then prevented a counterattack by flanking the Guard's line and routing them. The "Boonville Races" left 5 dead on each side, while the Union lost 7 wounded and the Guard 10, and 80 Guardsmen were captured. While the battle itself was minor, it ejected the secessionist forces from central Missouri and secured the state for the Union. The Union forces consolidated their hold on the state, and Marmaduke resigned from the State Guard to join the Confederate States Army.