Missouri in 1861

Volume IV in the series “Unwritten Chapters of the Civil War West of the River” consists of 54 letters written in 1861 by newspaper correspondent Franc B. Wilkie. Part I, “The Iowa First: Letters From the War,” was originally published, under that same title, in 1861. The pamphlet, now exceptionally rare, brought together the reports Wilkie sent back to the Dubuque Herald as he accompanied the First Iowa Infantry from its training camp in Keokuk, Iowa, through to the Battles of Dug Springs and Wilson’s Creek, south of Springfield, Missouri (August 2 and 10, 1861). Part II of the book presents for the first time in book form Wilkie’s continued correspondence on affairs in Missouri, as it was originally published in the New York Times. While Part I bubbles with the excitement of camp life among the home town boys on their first military expedition, Part II takes a more sedentary and cynical look at military affairs in Missouri under the troubled command of Major General John C. Frémont, with occasional forays by Wilkie into the field (Lexington, Shelbina, Springfield, Milford). Series editor Michael E. Banasik again provides extensive annotations, a detailed roster of the First Iowa Infantry, casualty figures for the major military engagements that Wilkie covered, biographies of major participants, and other important background material.

424 pages, 6 x 9, paperback, maps, illustrations, appendices, notes, bibliography, index.
ISBN 1-929919-02-6. $19.95, plus $4.00 p/h.

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