This book is a thorough study of all known guerrilla operations in Civil War Missouri from January through August 1864. It explores the various tactics each side used to try to gain advantage, with regional differences affected by the differing personalities of commanders. The author utilizes both well-known and obscure sources (military and government records, private accounts, county and other local histories, period and later newspapers, and secondary sources published after the war) to identify which Southern partisan leaders and groups operated in which areas of Missouri, and describe how they operated and how their kinds of warfare evolved.
This work presents the actions of Southern guerrilla forces and Confederate behind-Union-lines recruiters chronologically by region to reveal the relationship of seemingly isolated events to other events. The book also studies the counteractions of an array of different types of Union troops to show how differences in training, leadership and experience affected actions in the field.

Bruce Nichols is an analyst for the United States Government in the Department of Defense. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

Bruce Nichols
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 488
Bibliographic Info: 108 photos & illustrations, 14 maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3813-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0346-9
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Preface  1
Introduction  6
One
Winter 1864 in Southeast Missouri  9
Two
Winter 1864 in Southwest Missouri  29
Three
Winter 1864 in Northeast Missouri  36
Four
Winter 1864 in Northwest Missouri  41
Five
Missouri Guerrilla Warfare Changes During Early 1864  56
Six
Spring 1864 in Southeast Missouri  68
Seven
Spring 1864 in Southwest Missouri  90
Eight
Spring 1864 in Northeast Missouri  109
Nine
Spring 1864 in Northwest Missouri South of the Missouri River  123
Ten
Spring 1864 in Northwest Missouri North of the Missouri River  145
Eleven
Summer 1864 in Southeast Missouri  154
Twelve
Summer 1864 in the St. Louis Area  179
Thirteen
Summer 1864 in Southwest Missouri  190
Fourteen
June Through Mid-July 1864 in Northeast Missouri  212
Fifteen
Mid-July Through August 1864 in Northeast Missouri  229
Sixteen
Before the Insurgency Ignited: June Through Early July 1864
in Northwest Missouri North of the Missouri River  262
Seventeen
Before the Insurgency Ignited: June Through Early July 1864
in Northwest Missouri South of the Missouri River  281
Eighteen
The Premature Insurgency That Failed During July 1864 in
Northwest Missouri North of the Missouri River  304
Nineteen
Renewed Guerrilla Operations During August 1864 in
Northwest Missouri North of the Missouri River  333
Twenty
Supporting the Insurgency: Mid-July Through August 1864
in Northwest Missouri South of the Missouri River  350
Afterword  387
Notes  393
Bibliography  447
Index  456

“the amount of research that went into the project is astounding…overwhelmingly descriptive…highly recommended”—Civil War Books and Authors; “Nichols’ impressive four volumes will undoubtedly be the standard encyclopedia of guerilla activities in Missouri for years to come. No historian interested in Civil War guerrilla warfare should be without the entire set. Nichols is to be congratulated for his excellent work in documenting this dark but pivotal time in Missouri’s history…well researched…highly recommended”—Civil War News; “monumental…nothing remotely approaching the scale of this undertaking has been attempted before on this topic, and these meticulously researched tomes will almost certainly stand the test of time as essential reference tools”—The Civil War Monitor; “a detailed chronological account…meticulous assessment of a wide variety of sources…Nichols also shines a light on lesser-known figures and events”—Missouri Historical Review; Praise for previous volumes: “A detailed study…includes both guerrilla raids and recruitment efforts along with descriptions of the Union efforts to thwart their activities…richly illustrated with period photographs, sketches, and maps”—Civil War Book Review; “detailed, fast-paced…well-illustrated”—Military Heritage; “an exhaustive task…recommend[ed]”—The Civil War News.