Keep the Flag to the Front

"Stories From the Front Lines. . ."

At our fireside sad and lonely
Often will the bosom swell
At remembrance of the story
How our noble Willie fell;
How he strove to bear our banner
Through the thickest of the fight,
And uphold our country's honor,
In the strength of manhood's might.
-"The Vacant Chair,"
words by Henry S. Washburn,
music by George F. Root, 1861

Missouri's loyalty to the Union was of concern to the federal government in early 1861. The state's location on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, as well as its manpower and resources, made it desirable to both North and South. Although Missouri allowed slavery, its population was split and preferred neutrality.

Forces clashed on August 10, 1861, along Wilson's Creek near Springfield, Missouri. The Confederacy won the battle, then marched north to the Missouri River at Lexington. But the Confederates had too small a force to maintain a military presence in Missouri, and eventually they withdrew into Arkansas. This first major battle west of the Mississippi included the First and Second Kansas Infantries.

For more information on the battle, view the National Park Service's Wilson's Creek web page.

The map above illustrates the battles and skirmishes of the Second Kansas Infantry.

With great hope that the war would be short, many regiments at the beginning of the Civil War signed up for just 90 days. This included the Second Kansas Infantry, which saw skirmishing along the Kansas-Missouri border before the Battle at Wilson's Creek.

Company H of the Second Kansas was recruited at Emporia. Before leaving for Lawrence to organize the full regiment, the company was presented with the flag pictured at left, made by several ladies in the town. Flag presentation ceremonies were scenes repeated in towns across the divided country. These flags were ties to communities and friends and families the soldiers were leaving behind.

Read about the presentation of the Second Kansas flag.

This flag (left) was carried by the Second Kansas at Wilson's Creek. Color bearer Corporal Thomas Miller was mortally wounded while carrying it. Both the flag and its staff have bullet damage from the battle. Afterwards, Brigadier General John C. Fremont ordered the battle honor "Springfield" to be placed on flags of units that fought along Wilson's Creek. A battle honor is the name of the battle where a unit fought, usually painted onto its flag.

The flag's return to Emporia inspired maker Anna Watson Randolph to record the following sentiments:

Sadly they marched up the aisle. Father Fairchild, who had prayed over them and sent them to battle such a short time ago, received them with tears rolling down his wrinkled cheeks. They placed the flag in his hands. He unfolded it. We saw it full of bullet holes, ragged and battle-stained. He pointed to the dark stains on the staff where the blood of our young soldier had trickled down, and told us how even in the struggle of death he had borne it up until a comrade could take its place. It was the target for the whole Rebel army. . . .We sobbed and cried aloud. It was our first experience of the horrors of war.

The first to answer the call for volunteers in Kansas, members of the First Kansas Infantry served throughout the war, including the Battle of Wilson's Creek. Their service took them as far from home as Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

In the museum collections is a flag associated with Company D of the First Kansas Infantry, local militia raised in Lawrence and known as both the Stubbs and Oread Guards. These militia units existed prior to the war and took part in some of the skirmishes during the territorial period.

The map above illustrates the battles and skirmishes of the First Kansas Infantry.

Before and during the Civil War there was activity across the Kansas-Missouri border that included the "liberation" of property from homes and individuals. If you were a Kansan involved in these activities, you were a jayhawker. If you were a Missourian, you were a bushwhacker.

One of the best known Kansas Jayhawkers was Charles R. "Doc" Jennison. He and his men are so well known for "liberating" horses from Missouri that the bloodline of Kansas horses was humorously described as "out of Missouri, by Jennison."

Jennison was quick to raise troops at the outbreak of the Civil War, and many of his followers joined the army with him. They formed a part of the Seventh Kansas Cavalry, which earned the nickname "Jennison's Jayhawkers."

The map above illustrates the battles and skirmishes of the Seventh Kansas Infantry. At right is a guidon of Company H, Seventh Kansas Cavalry.

Because the jayhawkers raided both Union and Confederate supporters, the Union Army decided early in the war that the jayhawkers should be kept out of Missouri. They spent much of the war in Mississippi.

By mid-1863 Jennison had resigned as colonel of the Seventh Kansas. But he was involved in raising another regiment, the Fifteenth, which was needed for service along the Kansas-Missouri border.

Jennison became the colonel of the new regiment, which saw action during the raid of Confederate General Sterling Price across Missouri in late 1864, including the October battles in the Kansas City area. The Fifteenth's regimental guidon is pictured at the top of this page. View a map of battles fought by the Fifteenth.

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