Battle of Fayette
A three- and a-half-foot-wide by three-foot-tall marker was placed on
the CMU campus by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources on
October 14, 2007. The marker details the Battle of Fayette, which
occurred Sept. 24, 1864, when two bands of guerrillas (Southern
sympathizers) assaulted a fortified Union Garrison in Fayette. The
battle moved from the courthouse square to the backside of the campus in
the vicinity of the current Puckett Field House and Davis Athletic
Field.
The attacking force of approximately 250 partisans was led by two of
Missouri's most notorious guerrilla chieftains, William ("Bloody Bill")
Anderson, and George Todd. The recently deposed guerrilla leader,
William Quantrill, was also present but did not participate in the
attack. Defending Fayette were some 30 to 50 members of the Ninth
Cavalry, Missouri State Militia. Sheltered in log fortifications, the
militiamen held off three charges by the guerrillas and inflicted heavy
casualties. The ill-advised attack turned into one of the worst defeats
suffered by the guerrillas up to that time.
The Fayette Attack Planned
The attack on Fayette took place in the context of guerrilla activities
in Central Missouri. The raid seems to have been mainly Anderson's idea,
supposedly in retaliation for the death of five of his men captured by
the Ninth Missouri Cavalry earlier in the summer.
The Missouri State Militia force stationed in Fayette at the time of the
attack consisted of four companies of the Ninth Cavalry, Missouri State
Militia under the command of Maj. Reeves Leonard. About Sept. 25, all
but about 30 (some reports say 50) of these men, along with Maj.
Leonard, left Fayette to join other companies of the ninth Cavalry at
Rocheport in hunting down guerrillas. This move left Fayette nearly
undefended. The men left in Fayette were mainly hospital patients,
convalescents and others under the command of Lieutenants Joseph M.
Street of Company A and Thomas A.H. Smith of Company H.
On the day of the battle, Sept. 24, Anderson's company of guerrillas
(which included Frank and Jesse James) rendezvoused with other guerrilla
bands led by George Todd and William Clarke Quantrill south of Fayette
and the leaders discussed the prospect of attacking Fayette. After some
spirited arguments over the advisability of making the raid, Todd
reluctantly agreed to join forces with Anderson to make the assault.
Quantrill was opposed to the proposition of men armed only with pistols
attacking an enemy who was well fortified. Anderson prevailed, however,
and gave the order to proceed. The combined guerrilla commands began
their movement toward Fayette.
The "Fayette Fight"
About 10:30 a.m. the guerrillas reached Fayette and rode quietly toward
the courthouse square. They apparently were not detected as guerrillas
since the men of the advance guard were dressed in Federal uniforms
stripped from slain enemy soldiers. When they came to the courthouse
square, part of the command (about 50 men) turned west to Church Street
and then north toward what is now the Central Methodist University
campus a short distance north of the courthouse. The main body of the
guerrillas continued west on Morrison Street to Water [present Linn]
Street before turning north. The command reunited at a ravine that
existed on the north side of the present Central Methodist University
campus.
To the east was their objective, a row of barracks or "blockhouses"
constructed of logs (Frank James says they were railroad ties), which
had been erected by the Federal soldiers for winter quarters. These well
fortified quarters were located on the ridge north and east of the
present Puckett Field House. Here, the 20 to 50 Federal soldiers capable
of bearing arms were barricaded.
Only about 75 of the 250 guerrillas in the raiding party participated in
the three suicidal charges made on the Federal stronghold. According to
Hamp Watts, "Not one of the enemy could be seen, but the muzzles of
muskets protruded from every porthole, belching fire and lead at the
charging guerrillas. Horses went down as grain before the reaper…." In
later years, Frank James said that the Fayette fight made him "the worst
scared I ever was during the war." In his brief description of the
fight, he said, "We charged up to a blockhouse made of railroad ties
filled with portholes and then charged back again. The blockhouse was
filled with Federal troops and it was like charging a stone wall, only
this stone wall belched forth lead."
The guerrillas were usually masters of never engaging their enemy in a
disadvantageous situation, but on this occasion, Anderson and Todd made
a serious error in judgment. Watts complained: "Leading men, armed only
with revolvers, charging an invisible enemy in blockhouses, to simply
imbed bullets in logs, with no possible
chance to either kill or inflict injury on the foe, was both stupid and
reckless." Each charge was repulsed by the defenders, who fought with
the desperation of men who knew that their attackers would show no mercy
or take no prisoners. When the futile attack was finally abandoned, 13
guerrillas were dead and some 30 wounded. Only one Federal soldier died
(some accounts say three), and about five were wounded. Quantrill
refused to order any of his men to take part in the assaults.
Aftermath
Anderson's and Todd's men finally broke off the engagement and left town
headed north on the Glasgow Road (present Highway 5). Quantrill and his
men retired to their encampment in the Howard County hills near
Boonesboro. Three days later, Anderson and Todd were encamped near
Centralia. Anderson's men halted a train at Centralia and, at their
captain's order, executed the 24 unarmed Union soldiers aboard. Later
that day, the combined force of guerrillas annihilated a unit of mounted
Union infantry and left 116 dead on the field. On Oct. 11, Anderson,
Todd and Quantrill met Gen. Sterling Price and his army of invasion at
Boonville, and the general hailed them as "distinguished partisan
leaders." Ten days later, Todd was killed near Independence by a Union
sniper. Five days after that, Anderson was gunned down in Ray County in
a guerrilla-style ambush laid by Missouri state militiamen.
The Department of Natural Resources Civil War Marker Program has been in
operation since the early 1990s. “It was established to extend our
interpretation of the Civil War in Missouri beyond what could be
achieved by owning and operating a few battlefield parks,” DNR Historian
James (Jim) Denny said.
Denny noted that Missouri ranks third behind Virginia and Tennessee in
total number of Civil War actions mentioned in the Official Records of
the War of the Rebellion. Yet there were few large-scale battles in this
state and none on the scale of such destiny shaping conflicts as Shiloh,
Antietam, Gettysburg, or Vicksburg.
“But in Missouri there was fighting aplenty,” Denny added. “We figured
we could put out 50 Civil War markers all over the state for what it
would cost to acquire, develop and operate one battlefield park. All of
the sites of large battles in Missouri (Wilson's Creek, Lexington, Pilot
Knob, Westport) are already under some form of public ownership, or are
being interpreted by driving tours, as at Westport.
Denny said that the Civil War Marker Program allows the DNR to greatly
extend the telling of Missouri's Civil War story to many locations at a
relatively modest cost to the taxpayers. The DNR markers also contribute
to heritage tourism, often providing the only outdoor interpretation at
Civil War tourist destinations across the state.
“We are presently working off of a list of nearly 50 Civil War sites,”
he added. “We have 16 markers installed, two more being fabricated, and
three more, including Fayette, planned for completion this year.”
Well-known folklorist, folk musician and historian Robert (Bob) Dyer of
Boonville researched and wrote the text for the Battle of Fayette
Historical Marker, information that was used for this news article.
