Small battle highlights Cape Girardeau's Civil War history

This year marks the sesquicentennial, or the 150th anniversary, of the beginning of the American Civil War. The southeast Missouri region witnessed its share of events during the Civil War. Cape Girardeau and nearby communities were mostly made up of southern sympathizers during the Civil War but were often occupied by Union soldiers.

The Cape Girardeau area saw a small battle in 1863. A small battalion of Confederate soldiers from Texas tried to attack the city with one small cannon, the director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University Dr. Frank Nickell said.

Exhaustion and a lack of preparation prevented them from succeeding. 



Nickell said that the battle began when the Confederates attempted to send messengers in to force the Union troops to surrender, but the Union army refused. The Union army told them if they wanted to attack they could. So for a few hours the Confederates and the Union troops shot at each other.

Nickell said that it was a small battle.

Fort D is at the intersection of Fort St. and S. Fort St. in Cape Girardeau. - Photo by Kelso Hope

"They lined up, shot at each other for about four hours and left," he said. 



According to Steven C. Pledger, director of the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center, the battle didn't just happen in Cape Girardeau. The soldiers then moved to the Jackson area for another night of fighting.

"Most of the local soldiers actually went east to fight, and soldiers from Iowa and places like that came here," Pledger said.

Drew Blattner, assistant director of the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center, said the soldiers were mostly farmers who trained a little bit each month, fought skirmishes and occasionally went off to battle and then came back to farm.



Nickell said that at that point in the 19th century all of the houses and stores faced the river in Cape Girardeau. The city was important because of its location on the river, and its hills were perfect for soldiers to keep watch. Still, Nickell said that the 1863 skirmish was the only real battle the small town saw. 



"The soldiers came here to wait," Nickell said. "It was a waiting game."


The Union army came to Cape Girardeau early in the war. It built four forts. Remnants can be seen around Cape Girardeau. Kent Library was built where Fort B used to be located. Fort D still stands.

"The shovel was as important as the rifle," Nickell said. 



Most of the skirmishes were between Bloomfield and Cape Girardeau, where residents in these areas endured a lot of abuse and attack. Apples, hams and horses were reported stolen and two Union soldiers were executed for killing a farmer they robbed.

"There were certainly tragic events," Nickell said. 



Cannons were used in the Civil War. A cannon located is on display at Fort D. - Photo by Kelso Hope

There were also heroic events. Nickell said that where Grace Methodist Church now stands at 521 Caruthers Ave., there was once a farmhouse. A cannonball went through the roof of the farmhouse and set fire to everything. A slave carried buckets of water and extinguished the fire. A depiction of the act can be seen on the wall of murals in downtown Cape Girardeau.

"That's depicted on the mural down at the riverfront," Nickell said.