Battle of Boonville - The Battle

The Battle

The battle itself was actually little more than a skirmish, but it was one of the first significant land actions of the war, and had grave consequences for Confederate hopes in Missouri.

After disembarking, Lyon's troops marched along the Rocheport Road toward Boonville at around 7 AM. Part of Marmaduke's eager but ill-equipped State Guard force waited on a ridge behind the bluff, totalling about 500 men. They had no artillery support, since it was all with Parsons at Tipton. Inexplicably, Governor Jackson, observing from a mile or so away, held his only reasonably-disciplined and organized command the long established (St. Louis) Washington Blues militia company (usually known as "Captain Kelly's Company") in reserve; it would take no part in the battle.

Lyon's command encountered State Guard pickets as they approached the bluffs, but Lyon deployed skirmishers and continued to push his men forward rapidly. The Union artillery (Captain Totten's battery, Company F, 2nd U.S. Lt Artillery) quickly displaced sharpshooters stationed in the William Adams house, while Union infantry closed with the line of guardsmen and fired several volleys into them, causing them to retreat. This portion of the fighting lasted barely 20 minutes. Some attempts were made to rally and resist the Federal advance, but these collapsed when a Union company flanked the Guard's line, supported cannon fire from a light howitzer on the river steamer Augustus McDowell. As Marmaduke feared, the Guard's retreat rapidly turned into a rout. The guardsmen fled back through Camp Bacon and the town of Boonville; some continued on to their homes, while the rest retreated with the Governor to the southwest corner of Missouri. Lyon took possession of Boonville at 11 AM.

The short fight at Boonville and the State Guard's precipitate retreat earned the battle the nickname of "The Boonville Races."