A (very) worthwhile read

If history doesn’t interest you, I understand. Just skip this column; no offense meant, none taken. But before you roll your eyes and turn the page, consider…
• The murder rate this year in Kansas City aside, the two most violent years in Missouri history were 1861-62. Over 400 battles, skirmishes, armed clashes and other military actions were fought on our soil over an 18-month period.
• Black lives mattered in Missouri when 19 colored Union infantry soldiers died while fighting off a force of 350 mounted Missouri State Guardsmen and guerrillas (killing 30-40) at the Battle of Island Mound near the Osage River on Oct. 29, 1862. The Black soldiers of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry were outnumbered 6-to-1 but stood firm, well aware that if captured they most certainly would be executed. The New York Times reported this as the first recorded battle of an organized colored troop unit — and it happened in Missouri. Today you can visit the Battle of Island Mound Historic State Park (est. 2012), located eight miles southwest of Butler in Bates County, south of Kansas City … about 135 miles from Gallatin.
Want more? Then read on.
Arcadia Publishing and The History Press graciously provided me with a paperback copy of a new book which would be welcomed into the library of anyone interested in the American Civil War. Obviously, this is a marketing strategy. But in this instance, any words of endorsement are earned because this book is an excellent read.
“The War for Missouri: 1861-62” is written by Joseph W. McCoskrie, who retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army after 28 years of service. Some people know him as a bank executive; others perhaps as a military history instructor for the ROTC programs at Illinois State University and the University of Missouri. You might bump into him at the National Churchill Museum at Fulton where he spends some of his time as a volunteer tour guide.
McCoskrie has obviously spent much of his time researching and writing this excellent account of Missouri during the crucial first two years of the Civil War.
The book is an easy read. The 128-page paperback includes photographs and maps and readily points to other resources for further reading as topics are presented.
I especially liked the glossaries at the end of the book. One concisely defines the very confusing Union military organizations which operated in Missouri (boy, I wish I’d stumbled into this summary years ago). This is followed by a “Who’s Who” wearing Union blue in Missouri during 1861-62.
Then, McCoskrie presents the same for the Confederates. What a great reference!
Throughout the book McCoskrie goes beyond the chronicle of battles by providing context in citing social and economic realities of those times. His introduction affirms the significance of Missouri’s plight during the Civil War and its strategic importance to both North and South. He consistently supports his broad overviews with specific details. For instance…
Missouri ranked third in the nation’s corn and pork production and had a reputation for raising horses and mules …it had rich resources of lead and iron and a transportation network of 800 miles of rail line and abundant riverboat transportation services … but most critically, the North and South leaders needed to realize Missouri, with 15% or 1/7-th of the South’s military-age population, was essential to control when waging war successfully.
This he supports by summarizing the 1860 Census, listing the white male population of military age (18-45) in Southern states as follows:
• Alabama 100,000
• Arkansas 65,000
• Florida 16,000
• Georgia 112,000
• Kentucky 181,000
• Louisiana 83,000
• Mississippi 70,000
• Missouri 233,000 (15% of the South’s total)
• North Carolina 115,000
• South Carolina 55,000
• Tennessee 159,000
• Texas 120,000
• Virginia 197,000
McCoskrie then explained why Missouri ranked so highly, providing insights about the developing westward movement and the reasons why Missouri became the Gateway to the West (especially via German immigration). There is compelling evidence that Missouri would have labeled itself more “West” than either North or South … but for politics. McCoskrie concisely weaves state and national political realities throughout this literary work.
This isn’t the first book published by Arcadia that has a treasured place in my personal library. Arcadia Publishing is among the nation’s leading publishers of local history books, connecting people with their past. The company publishes about 500 new books of local interest and local history each year. You can view more than 15,000 titles at www.arcadiapublishing.com or at www.historypress.net,
If you enjoy reading about the Civil War as I do, then consider “The War in Missouri: 1861-62” a must read. You don’t have to be from the Show-Me State to appreciate this ad