Missouri's Civil War - Southwest

In Nevada, known as the “Bushwhacker Capital” during the war, learn about “bushwhackers,” Confederate guerrillas who played an important role in Missouri’s Civil War. Nevada, was burned to the ground by Federal troops on May 26, 1863. The city’s Bushwhacker Museum and Bushwhacker Jail offer permanent exhibits about the region’s Civil War history.

About 50 miles south is the Battle of Carthage State Historic Site. The battle was the first major land battle of the Civil War. The 7.4-acre tract is the site of the 12-hour battle’s final confrontation, which began nine miles north of town on the morning of July 5, 1861. Missouri Gov. Claiborne Fox Jackson commanded the 6,000 Southerners who forced Col. Franz Sigel and his 1,000 Union men to retreat down the stagecoach road to Sarcoxie. An interpretive shelter with displays explains the history of the battle, and the site remains just as it was when the victorious Southern troops camped there the evening after the battle.

The Civil War Museum in downtown Carthage presents artifacts and information about the Battle of Carthage and the Civil War in southwest Missouri. The focal point is a mural painted by Andy Thomas that features battle action on the courthouse square, as well as mini-displays on Belle Starr, African-American and American Indian contributions to the war.

Near Springfield is Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, perhaps the most important Civil War battle fought west of the Mississippi River. Fought Aug. 10, 1861, this battle was the first Confederate victory in the early stages of the war in Missouri, and the battle in which Gen. Nathaniel Lyon became the first Union general to be killed in the Civil War.

This National Park Service battlefield contains a state-of-the-art visitor center as well as a self-guided auto tour of the battlefield itself. The Hulston Civil War Library, located on the site, has one of the largest collections of bound volumes on the Civil War in the National Parks Service with approximately 5,500 volumes. Genealogical research, regimental histories and the Civil War Soldier’s Systems are available.

Not far from the entrance to the battlefield is General Sweeney’s Civil War Museum, where you can trace the Civil War west of the Mississippi River through 5,000 original artifacts.

In Springfield, visit the Springfield National Cemetery. Hundreds of Civil War soldiers are buried here including those killed during the Battle of Pea Ridge, Wilson’s Creek and the Battle of Springfield. In 1901, a monument in the form of a bronze figure was dedicated in honor of the state’s Confederate soldiers and their leader, Gen. Sterling Price.

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