Battle of Athens (1861)
| Battle of Athens | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States
|
 Missouri (Confederate)
|
||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Col. David Moore | Col. Martin E. Green | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1st Northeast Missouri Home Guard (333-500) | II Division Missouri State Guard (~2,000 men plus 3 cannon) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3 killed 20 wounded |
31 killed & wounded | ||||||
The Battle of Athens was an American Civil War skirmish that took place in northeast Missouri in 1861 near present Revere and southeast Iowa along the Des Moines River across from Croton (3 miles southeast of Farmington). The Union victory has the distinction of being the most northerly of Civil War Battles fought west of the Mississippi, and also of being the only such battle fought along the Iowa border.
As Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon pursued the secessionist Missouri State Guard to the southwest portion of the state, loyal Home Guard companies were forming throughout the state, while at the same time stranded secessionists were still attempting to organize. At Kahoka, Missouri Mexican-American War veteran David Moore was elected colonel of the 1st Northeast Missouri Home Guard Regiment.
Colonel Martin E. Green called up the 2nd Division of the Missouri State Guard to a training camp on the Horseshoe Bend of the Fabius River. There he formed the 1st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Division, Missouri State Guard. The lieutenant colonel was Joseph C. Porter and the major was Benjamin W. Shacklett.
Moore was faced by a growing secessionist force and by dissension in his own command. He determined to strike local secessionists, then fall back to Athens, Missouri (pronounced "Aythens") where he would be close to the Croton, Iowa supply depot and Iowa militia support. On July 21, with the help of a company of Illinois militia and a company of Iowa Home Guards he attacked the village of Etna in Scotland County, Missouri and drove off Shacklett's MSG cavalry. He then fell back to Athens.
...
Wikipedia