Significance
The first chronological major battle after Lincoln invoked "the war power" in lieu of a Declaration of War in his Message to Congress on July 4, 1861, the Battle of Carthage was strategically and tactically significant.
The battle marks the only time a sitting U.S. State governor has led troops in the field, and then, against the Union to which his state belonged.
Serving at the vanguard of Governor Jackson's army a band of 150 independent partisan rangers (Missourian's fighting for self-determination) under the command of Capt. Jo Shelby, a Missouri farmer. From tactical battlefield maneuvers under fire by Sigel's batteries to pressing his retreat to Sarcoxie, Shelby's rangers "snatched the victory at Carthage from Sigel's grasp" and pro-Southern elements in Missouri celebrated their first victory.
The depopulation of mineral-rich Jasper County and the destruction of Carthage by sustained hostilities throughout the war paved the way for Victorian era resettlement and, with it, environmentally destructive lead and zinc mining.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Carthage (1861)
Famous quotes containing the word significance:
“The hysterical find too much significance in things. The depressed find too little.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“For a parent, it’s hard to recognize the significance of your work when you’re immersed in the mundane details. Few of us, as we run the bath water or spread the peanut butter on the bread, proclaim proudly, “I’m making my contribution to the future of the planet.” But with the exception of global hunger, few jobs in the world of paychecks and promotions compare in significance to the job of parent.”
—Joyce Maynard (20th century)
“Of what significance the light of day, if it is not the reflection of an inward dawn?—to what purpose is the veil of night withdrawn, if the morning reveals nothing to the soul? It is merely garish and glaring.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)