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Battle Of Carthage Essay

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The Battle of Carthage or Dry Fork as it’s also known was a battle involving the United States of America federal soldiers and Missouri State Guard. This battle is known for being one of the first battles of the Civil War, taking place 5 July 1861 in Jasper County Missouri, a full 11 days prior to The Battle of Bull Run. The 1,100 federal Soldiers were under the command of Colonel Franz Sigel and the 6,000 Missouri state Guardsman under the command of Governor Claiborne F. Jackson. The Battle of Carthage did not matter at all for a strategic or tactical advantage that would play out as an advantage towards any other battle during the Civil War. What it did do was to decide Missouri’s side during the war and give pro south secessionists a moral …show more content…

The Missouri State Guard was comprised of approximately 4,000 infantry, cavalry and two batteries. It was led by the only Governor to ever be in command of an Army, Claiborne F. Jackson. (Civil War Index, 2011)
The Battle of Carthage began on the morning of 5 July 1861 and lasted for one day. Ten miles north of Carthage in Jasper County, Missouri is where the battle started. The then President of the United States Abraham Lincoln called on all the states to defeat Confederacy. When this happened the Union Commander Colonel Franz Sigel started pressuring the Missouri State Guard into retreat back to Carthage. The Battle of Carthage didn’t hold any strategic or operational advantage for the outcome of the Civil War as it was fought all by …show more content…

Technology during this period was some light artillery and shoulder fired musket firearms such as the 1861 Springfield rifle. The Confederates didn’t have near the firepower as the Federal Soldiers. The Federal Soldiers of this battle had been trained but weren’t able to complete the training that they really needed due to the bad weather. The Confederate Soldiers were an inexperienced group of basically untrained Soldiers. Logistics for the Federal Army had been hampered by weather and the distance of travel back to Sarcoxie. The Federal Soldiers moral was good up to the battle as they had already chased Governor Jackson and his Army out of the capital and back to Carthage. The Confederates moral was boosted after this

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