The Missouri State Guard Homepage  Company B, 11th Missouri (MSG)

This Suggested Reading covers Histories of the famed Missouri Confederate Brigade, the Guerrilla War & Border Troubles, the War in the Ozarks, Major Missouri Battles, Biographies, Miscellaneous Missouri CW Sources, and Other Books about/by Missouri Confederates.

List and comments compiled by founding member Bill Wayne.
 

Books about the 1st & 2nd Missouri Confederate Brigades,

or its/their component units, who served east of the Mississippi after the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge) in March 1862. After Vicksburg, there was one Missouri Brigade.

Best Source: Gottschalk, Phil, In Deadly Earnest, The Missouri Brigade (1991). A well-written and well-researched history by a respected Missouri journalist. Describes leadership & actions of the Brigades) from Boonville to Ft. Blakeley & places them in the perspective of campaigns & the war as a whole.

Anderson, Ephraim McD., Memoirs, Historical and Personal; including the Campaigns of the First Missouri Confederate Brigade (1867). Excellent 1st person history of the Missouri Brigade from Carthage to Vicksburg, secondary source to Ft. Blakeley.

Bevier, R.S., History of the First and Second Missouri Confederate Brigades (1879). Another fine first person source, written by the Lt. Col. of the 5th Missouri Infantry. Again, a primary source only through Vicksburg, secondary thereafter.

Tucker, Phillip Thomas, The South's Finest, the First Missouri Brigade from Pea Ridge to Vicksburg (1993). A very well researched book with lots of anecdotes about Brigade members, but writing style is overblown & detracts from the Tucker's serious scholarship.

Tucker, Phillip Thomas, Westerners In Gray: The Men & Missions of the Elite Fifth Missouri Infantry Regiment (1995). In the same style as his Brigade history, covering part of the same time frame (fall '62 to Vicksburg). Good source for info on specific individuals and events for first person character work.

Tucker, Phillip Thomas, The Confederacy's Fighting Chaplain, Father John B. O'Bannon. Father O'Bannon was chaplain of the Fifth Mo Infantry. I haven't read this work, but it has been criticized for being more about the 5th than Father O'Bannon, which might make it of more value to a unit researcher.

Books about the guerrilla war in Missouri and the border:

Best Source: Brownlee, Richard S., Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy (1958). Excellent coverage of the war years, but not much coverage of pre-war actions.

Monaghan, Jay, Civil War on the Western Border, 1854-1865 (1955). The original history of the border & guerrilla wars, done in sensationalist style. Not always accurate.

Fellman, Michael, Inside War, the Guerrilla Conflict in Missouri During the American Civil War (1988). A scholarly study of causes and effects if the guerrilla war. Won't pinpoint skirmishes but will show attitudes.

Goodrich, Thomas, Black Flag, Guerrilla Warfare on the Western Border, 1861-1865 (1995). I have this in my library but haven't gotten around to reading it.

Goodrich, Thomas, Bloody Dawn, The Story of the Lawrence Massacre (1991). A highly readable account of Quantrill's raid. One Kansan told me after reading it, "you know, they (the partisans) were provoked."

Nichols, Alice, Bleeding Kansas (1954). A good source for the border troubles from 1854 to 1861.

Books about war in the Ozarks:

Ingenthron, Elmo, Borderland Rebellion (1980). Covers the war on the Missouri-Arkansas border.

Steele, Phillip W. & Steve Cottrell, Civil War in the Ozarks (1993). A concise history.

White, Katherine Miles, Bitter Ground, the Civil War in the Golden Valley (1971). Anecdotes and history about the war in Benton, Henry & St. Clair counties.

Missouri Area Battle & Campaign Histories

Wilson Creek (Oak Hills to us rebs)

Bearss, Edwin C. The Battle of Wilson's Creek (1988). Account of a key Missouri battle written by the dean of CW historians.

Brooksher, William R., Bloody Hill, the Civil War Battle of Wilson's Creek (1995). Covers the whole campaign including detailed accounts of battles at Boonville, Cole Camp, Carthage & Dug Springs.

Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern)

Shea, William L. & Earl J. Hess, Pea Ridge, Civil War Campaign in the West (1992). Detailed account of the complete campaign.

Price's 1864 Raid

Peterson, Cyrus A. & Joseph M. Hanson, Pilot Knob, Thermopylae of the West (1914). The only detailed account I've found of this phase of Price's 1864 Raid.

Monnett, Howard N., Action Before Westport, 1864 (1964). Culminating battle, called by some the largest battle of the Trans-Mississippi

Buresh, Lumir, The Battle of Mine Creek (1977). Good detailed account of the end of Price's attempt to recapture Missouri.

Biographies

Castel, Albert, General Sterling Price and the Civil War in the American West (1968). A military biography of Gen. Price by a leading historian of the area.

Shalhope, Robert, Sterling Price, Portrait of a Southerner (1971). Better on his full life & background, not as thorough on the war.

Rea, Ralph R., Sterling Price, the Lee of the West (1959). Rea's grandfather served under & idolized Price - it affects this biography.

Miscellaneous Books

Hurt, R. Douglas, Agriculture & Slavery in Missouri's Little Dixie (1992). An excellent source for the 1st person fanatic who really wants to understand his background as a farmer/planter.

Bartels, Carolyn, The Civil War in Missouri Day by Day, 1861-1865 (1992). A massive extraction from O.R. of what went on every day of the war in Missouri. Also has a location index.

Other Notable Books by Missouri Veterans

Edwards, John Newman, Shelby and His Men (1867). Edwards was a newspaperman & Shelby's Adjutant, so the account is both florid & partisan. Recently reprinted.

Edwards, John Newman, Noted Guerrillas (1877)

Mudd, Joseph A., With Porter in North Missouri (1909). Covers author's experiences in summer of 1862.

Other Authors & Subjects:

This bibliography does not cover Federal subjects, including Wiley Britton's books describing the war in the area from a Union viewpoint, biographies of Lyon, Leslie Ander's regimentals on the 18th & 21st MO (US), or any Kansas or Iowa regimentals.