Bates County is a county located in the west central part of the U.S. state of Missouri, two counties south of the Missouri River and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,042. Its county seat is Butler. The county was organized in 1841 and named after Frederick Bates, the second Governor of Missouri.
The Battle of Wilson's Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was the first major battle of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. It was fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri.
The Battle of Marais des Cygnes took place on October 25, 1864, in Linn County, Kansas, during Price's Missouri Campaign during the American Civil War. It is also known as the Battle of Trading Post. In late 1864, Confederate Major-General Sterling Price invaded the state of Missouri with a cavalry force, attempting to draw Union troops away from the primary theaters of fighting further east. After several victories early in the campaign, Price's Confederate troops were defeated at the Battle of Westport on October 23 near Kansas City, Missouri. The Confederates then withdrew into Kansas, camping along the banks of the Marais des Cygnes River on the night of October 24. Union cavalry pursuers under Brigadier General John B. Sanborn skirmished with Price's rearguard that night, but disengaged without participating in heavy combat.
The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West", was fought on October 23, 1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General Sterling Price. This engagement was the turning point of Price's Missouri Expedition, forcing his army to retreat. The battle ended the last major Confederate offensive west of the Mississippi River, and for the remainder of the war the United States Army maintained solid control over most of Missouri. This battle was one of the largest to be fought west of the Mississippi River, with over 30,000 men engaged.
The Battle of Carthage, also known as the Engagement near Carthage, took place at the beginning of the American Civil War on July 5, 1861, near Carthage, Missouri. The experienced Colonel Franz Sigel commanded 1,100 Federal soldiers intent on keeping Missouri within the Union. The Missouri State Guard was commanded by Governor Claiborne F. Jackson himself and numbered over 4,000 soldiers led by a hero of Mexico, Sterling Price, along with 2,000 unarmed troops who did not participate in the battle.
The Battle of Mount Zion Church was fought on December 28, 1861, in Boone County, near Mount Zion Church, during the American Civil War. The resulting Union victory here and elsewhere in central Missouri ended Confederate recruiting activities in the region and pushed conventional Confederate forces out of the area until the desperate fall 1864 invasion by General Sterling Price and his Missouri State Guard.
The Battle of Byram's Ford was fought on October 22 and 23, 1864, in Missouri during Price's Raid, a campaign of the American Civil War. With the Confederate States of America collapsing, Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate States Army conducted an invasion of the state of Missouri in late 1864. Union forces led Price to abandon goals of capturing the cities of St. Louis and Jefferson City, and he turned west with his army towards Kansas City.
The First Battle of Newtonia was fought on September 30, 1862, between Confederate soldiers commanded by Colonel Douglas H. Cooper and a Union column commanded by Brigadier General Frederick Salomon near Newtonia, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Cooper's force had moved into southwestern Missouri, and encamped near the town of Newtonia. The Confederate column was composed mostly of cavalry led by Colonel Joseph O. Shelby and a brigade of Native Americans. A Union force commanded by Brigadier General James G. Blunt moved to intercept Cooper's force. Blunt's advance force, led by Salomon, reached the vicinity of Newtonia on September 29, and attacked Cooper's position on September 30. A Union probing force commanded by Colonel Edward Lynde was driven out of Newtonia by Cooper's forces on the morning of the 30th.
Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, located near Republic, Missouri, preserves the site of the Battle of Wilson's Creek. Fought on August 10, 1861, the battle was the first major American Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River. In the battle, a Confederate army commanded by Benjamin McCulloch and Sterling Price defeated a smaller Union army commanded by Nathaniel Lyon. However, the Confederates were unable to hold much of Missouri, and a Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge effectively solidified Union control of the state. Major features include a five-mile automobile tour loop, the restored 1852 Ray House, and "Bloody Hill", the site of the final stage of the battle. The site is located near Republic in southwestern Missouri just southwest of the city of Springfield. It has been a unit of the National Park Service since 1960, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
The militia of the United States, as defined by the U.S. Congress, has changed over time. During colonial America, all able-bodied men of a certain age range were members of the militia, depending on each colony's rule. Individual towns formed local independent militias for their own defense. The year before the U.S. Constitution was ratified, The Federalist Papers detailed the Founding Fathers' paramount vision of the militia in 1787. The new Constitution empowered Congress to "organize, arm, and discipline" this national military force, leaving significant control in the hands of each state government.
Fort Hill is a promontory overlooking downtown Frankfort, Kentucky. It is the site of two earthwork forts from the American Civil War. Fort Hill is on the National Register of Historic Places and is now a public park.
Shelby's Raid, also known as Shelby's Great Raid, was a Confederate cavalry incursion into Arkansas and Missouri during the American Civil War in 1863. Led by Colonel Joseph Orville Shelby, the raid took place from August 21, 1863, to November 3, 1863, covering over 800 miles across territories in west central and northwest Arkansas, as well as southwest and west central Missouri.
In the American Civil War the Home Guard or Home Guards were local militia raised from Union loyalists.
Odon Guitar was a general in the Union Missouri State Militia during the American Civil War. He was noted for his successful campaign against Joseph C. Porter and John A. Poindexter's recruiting commands in northern Missouri.
The Battle of Moore's Mill was an American Civil War battle that took place in Central Missouri on July 28, 1862 along Auxvasse Creek near modern-day Calwood. This engagement, the Battle of Kirksville a week later, and the Battle of Compton's Ferry would drive the main Southern recruiters from northern Missouri. The Moore's Mill Battlefield was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
Sycamore Dale is a 19th-century Greek Revival plantation house overlooking the South Branch Potomac River southwest of Romney, West Virginia. Sycamore Dale is one of several historic estates along South Branch River Road. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 2, 1980.
The Dorrance Inn, also known as the Samuel Dorrance House, is a historic former inn at 748 Plainfield Pike in Sterling, Connecticut built about 1722. It is notable as a place that hosted officers of the French Army in 1781 and 1782, as it was along the march route taken by French commander Rochambeau's troops on their march to meet the Continental Army under General George Washington. Dorrance's Inn is one of a few places mentioned by name in multiple accounts written by French officers. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and is a contributing building in the Sterling Hill Historic District.
The 16th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was an infantry formation in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Organized from volunteer companies from northwest Arkansas, the regiment participated in the Pea Ridge Campaign before crossing the Mississippi River and becoming involved in the Iuka-Corinth Campaign and the Siege of Port Hudson. After being surrendered with the garrison of Port Hudson the unit was reorganized in Arkansas and consolidated with the remnants of several other Arkansas Regiments to become the 1st Consolidated Arkansas Infantry.
The Boone–Murphy House is a historic house located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
The First Battle of Newtonia Historic District, near Newtonia, Missouri, is a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) site that preserves the location of the First Battle of Newtonia, an 1862 battle during the American Civil War. The battle saw Confederate troops under Colonels Douglas H. Cooper and Joseph O. Shelby defeat a Union force commanded by Brigadier General Frederick Salomon. The historic district contains some Civil War-period structures, as well as the Mathew H. Ritchey House, which is listed separately on the NRHP.
