Battle of Kirksville

In June 1862 most of Missouri was erected into a military district called the District of Missouri, with the Northeast Division placed under Colonel McNeil of St. Louis. At the same time, Lieutenant-Colonel Porter was recruiting troops of southern sympathizers in Northeast Missouri. The federal government began monitoring closely this activity and to escape attack, Porter moved his troops across Missouri. McNeil’s forces stayed close behind. In considering how to distract the Union troops away from the Missouri River so that they might travel further south, Porter’s Confederate forces determined a battle in northern Missouri must take place.

Porter’s troops, some of whom were completely unarmed, traveled to Kirksville and arrived August 6th, which was then a very small village with a population of around 700. When they arrived, citizens were warned to flee the town. McNeil and his forces had arrived that morning and the attack began quickly, centered at the Kirksville square. The lines moved forward with shots firing, and while a large body of Porter’s men who had been in a cornfield were driven out, Union forces were able to take the court house.

The battle lasted about three hours before Porter’s troops began to flee to the west. Casualties for the Union troops numbered 5-6 killed (though as many as 28 had been reported) and 32 (upwards to 60) wounded, of about 500 total men in battle. Confederate troops also numbered around 500, with an estimated 35-150 killed (not included executions that followed) and 75-400 wounded. Additionally, 50-250 men may have been captured. The day after the battle, citizens buried the Confederate dead, but no exact count can be certain. The battle was viewed as an important victory for Union forces in Missouri, preventing Porter from recovering and helping to ensure that state did not succeed from the Union. (from Violette’s History of Adair County)