Portraits of Conflict: Missouri

About

“[Piston and Sweeney] bring to this work the eyes of a preeminent historian of the Trans-Mississippi and an expert in the photographic legacy of the war years. . . . [They] have tied photographs and stories to an overall narrative of the Civil War in Missouri. The goal [of the series] always has been to let readers grasp more fully the basic humanity of the Civil War experience. Ideally the reader will emerge from this work with an understanding that war involves more than grand strategy and tactics, that real men and women ultimately fought, sacrificed, and often gave their lives in this great national struggle.”
—From the foreword by Carl Moneyhon and Bobby Roberts, general editors of the Portraits of Conflict Series

A deeply divided border state, heir to the “Bleeding Kansas” era, Missouri became the third most fought-over state in the war, following Virginia and Tennessee. Rich in resources and manpower, critical politically to both the Union and the Confederacy, it was the scene of conventional battles, river warfare, and cavalry raids. It saw the first combat by organized units of Native Americans and African Americans. It was also marked by guerrilla warfare of unparalleled viciousness.

This volume, the ninth in the series, includes hundreds of photographs, many of them never before published. The authors provide text and commentary, organizing the photographs into chapters covering the origins of the war, its conventional and guerrilla phases, the war on the rivers, medicine (Sweeny’s medical knowledge adds a great deal to this chapter and expands our knowledge of its practice in the west), the experiences of Missourians who served out of state, and the process of reunion in the postwar years.

Editor

William Garrett Piston is professor of history at Missouri State University and the author of a number of books, including Lee’s Tarnished Lieutenant: James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History.

Thomas P. Sweeney is a retired physician and long-time Civil War historian. He and his wife opened the first museum at Missouri’s famous Wilson’s Creek battlefield site.

Series

Portraits of Conflict

“The series, from its beginning, had a specific purpose—an emphasis upon the individual’s experience of war. The first volume made its authors aware that behind the larger stories of war are the thousands of individuals who lived through or died as a result. The series makes no pretense at providing a comprehensive history of the war in each state covered, but we do hope that it brings home the human aspect of this conflict.”
—Carl Moneyhon and Bobby Roberts, in the preface to POC: Alabama