First Battle of Springfield 1861
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 25 October 1861 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1861 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Trans-Mississippi theater of the American Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 37.2035, -93.3205 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The First Battle of Springfield was a battle of the American Civil War that took place on October 25, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri. Following the Battle of Wilson's Creek, the Missouri State Guard, a pro-Confederate militia organization, drove north and defeated Union forces in the Siege of Lexington. Following the fighting at Lexington, Union Major General John C. Frémont began a campaign that drove into southern Missouri. The main body of the Missouri State Guard fell back to Neosho, but a body of roughly 1,000 or 1,500 new recruits commanded by Colonel Julian Frazier was at Springfield. On October 24, Frémont sent a force raised as his bodyguard commanded by Major Charles Zagonyi on a scouting mission towards Springfield. After joining a cavalry force known as the Prairie Scouts at Bolivar, Zagonyi moved on towards Springfield on October 25.
Having lost the element of surprise in a clash with a small group of Missouri State Guardsmen, Zagonyi detoured his men to the west. At around 4:00 p.m., Zagonyi's men encountered Frazier's command. The Missouri State Guardsmen had taken up a defensive position on a partially wooded ridge.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article First Battle of Springfield (revision 1370618970), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Second Battle of Springfield 1863 · 2 km
- Battle of Wilson's Creek 1861 · 14 km
- Battle of Hartville 1863 · 72 km
- Battle of Clark's Mill 1862 · 80 km
- First Battle of Newtonia 1862 · 85 km
- Second Battle of Newtonia 1864 · 85 km
Other battles of the Trans-Mississippi theater of the American Civil War
- Action at Blue Mills Landing 1861
- Battle of Belmont 1861
- Battle of Carthage, Missouri 1861
- Battle of Wilson's Creek 1861
- Engagement at Fredericktown 1861
- First Battle of Lexington 1861
- Battle of Cane Hill 1862
- Battle of Moore's Mill 1862
- Battle of St. Charles 1862
- First Battle of Newtonia 1862
All 16 battles of the Trans-Mississippi theater of the American Civil War →
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles