Joseph O. Shelby
Encyclopedia
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
general in the Trans-Mississippi Theater
Trans-Mississippi Department
The Trans-Mississippi Department was an administrative subdivision of the Confederate States of America west of the Mississippi, consisting of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Indian Territories recognized by the CSA, and parts of Western Louisiana...
of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Early life and education
Shelby was born in Lexington, KentuckyLexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, to one of the state's wealthiest and most influential families. He lost his father at age 5, and was raised by a stepfather. Shelby attended Transylvania University
Transylvania University
Transylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...
and was a rope
Rope
A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
manufacturer until 1852. He then moved to Waverly, Missouri
Waverly, Missouri
Waverly is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 806 at the 2000 census.It is the location of Baltimore Bend Winery, one of the many excellent small wineries established in the state since the 1960s...
, where he engaged in steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
ing on the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
and in running a hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
. He was one of the largest slaveholders in the state. During the "Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
" struggle, he led a company on the pro-slavery side.
The war years
In 1861, Shelby formed a cavalry company and was elected its captain, leading it into battle at Wilson's CreekBattle of Wilson's Creek
The Battle of Wilson's Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri, between Union forces and the Missouri State Guard, early in the American Civil War. It was the first major battle of the war west of the Mississippi River and is sometimes...
. Promoted to colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
, he commanded a brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
at Prairie Grove
Battle of Prairie Grove
The Battle of Prairie Grove was a battle of the American Civil War fought on 7 December 1862, that resulted in a tactical stalemate but essentially secured northwest Arkansas for the Union.-Strategic situation: Union:...
. Shelby led his "Iron Brigade
Shelby's Iron Brigade
Shelby's "Iron Brigade" was a Confederate cavalry brigade in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.The brigade originally formed under orders from Major General Thomas C. Hindman following a successful recruiting expedition into Missouri by Joseph O. Shelby, John T. Coffee, and...
" of Missouri volunteers on what was to be the longest cavalry raid of the war at that time, Shelby's Great Raid
Shelby's Raid (1863)
Shelby's Great Raid was an 1863 Confederate cavalry raid through the Trans-Mississippi Theater in the American Civil War. Colonel Joseph Shelby fought numerous skirmishes and caused great disruption in Missouri before withdrawing back to Arkansas...
. Between September 22 and November 3, 1863, Shelby's brigade travelled 1,500 miles through Missouri, inflicting over 1,000 casualties on Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
forces, and capturing or destroying an estimated $2 million worth of Federal supplies and property. He was promoted to brigadier general on December 15, 1863, at the successful conclusion of his raid.
In 1864, Union General Steele's failure in the Camden Expedition
Camden Expedition
The Camden Expedition was a military campaign in southern and central Arkansas during the American Civil War. It involved Union forces stationed at Little Rock and Fort Smith under the command of Major General Frederick Steele...
(March 23–May 2, 1864,) can in no small part be laid to Shelby's brilliant and determined harassment, though in concert with other Confederate forces. Ultimately that Federal force was forced back to Little Rock upon the final destruction or capture of its supply trains at Mark's Mill. Reassigned to the Clarendon, Arkansas
Clarendon, Arkansas
Clarendon is a city in Monroe County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,960 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Monroe County.-Geography:Clarendon is located at ....
area, Shelby accomplished the rare feat of capturing a Union tinclad USS Queen City, which was immediately destroyed to avoid recapture. As summer was ending Shelby then commanded a division during Sterling Price
Sterling Price
Sterling Price was a lawyer, planter, and politician from the U.S. state of Missouri, who served as the 11th Governor of the state from 1853 to 1857. He also served as a United States Army brigadier general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate Army major general in the American Civil...
's Missouri raid
Price's Raid
Price's Missouri Expedition, also known as Price's Raid, was an 1864 Confederate cavalry raid through the states of Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War. While Confederate Major General Sterling Price enjoyed some successes during this campaign, he was decisively beaten at the Battle...
. He distinguished himself at the battles of Little Blue River
Battle of Little Blue River
The Battle of Little Blue River was a minor battle of the American Civil War, occurring on October 21, 1864 in Jackson County, Missouri during Price's Missouri Expedition of that year. It became the opening round of the Second Battle of Independence, which began on this same day and was...
and Westport
Battle of Westport
The Battle of Westport, sometimes referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West," was fought on October 23, 1864, in modern Kansas City, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General...
, and captured many Union held towns, including Potosi
Potosi, Missouri
Potosi is a city in Washington County, Missouri, United States. Potosi is about 10 miles north of Belgrade. The estimated population in July 2008 was 2,698. It was 2,662 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Washington County...
, Boonville
Boonville, Missouri
This page is about the city in Missouri. For other communities of the same name, see Boonville Boonville is a city in Cooper County, Missouri, USA. The population was 8,202 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cooper County. The city was the site of a skirmish early in the American Civil...
, Waverly
Waverly, Missouri
Waverly is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 806 at the 2000 census.It is the location of Baltimore Bend Winery, one of the many excellent small wineries established in the state since the 1960s...
, Stockton
Stockton, Missouri
Stockton is a city in Cedar County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,960 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cedar County.-Geography:Stockton is located at ....
, Lexington
Lexington, Missouri
Lexington is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,453 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lafayette County. Located in western Missouri, Lexington lies about 40 miles east of Kansas City and is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
, and California, Missouri
California, Missouri
California is a city in Moniteau County, Missouri, United States. The 2010 census has the population at 4,278. It is the county seat of Moniteau County. It is the third largest city in the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
.
Shelby's adjutant was John Newman Edwards
John Newman Edwards
Major John Newman Edwards, CSA, was famed General Joseph O. Shelby’s adjutant during the American Civil War, an author, a journalist and the founder of the Kansas City Times. He is perhaps best known for contributing to the folk hero status of outlaw Jesse James.-Early life:John N. Edwards was...
, who later as editor of the Kansas City Times
Kansas City Times
The Kansas City Times was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, that was published from 1867 to 1990.The morning Kansas City Times, under ownership of afternoon The Kansas City Star, won two Pulitzer Prizes and was actually bigger than its parent when its name was changed to the...
was to almost single handedly create the anti-hero legend of Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...
.
After Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's army surrendered in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, General Edmund Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith was a career United States Army officer and educator. He served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, notable for his command of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy after the fall of Vicksburg.After the conflict ended Smith...
appointed Shelby a major general on May 10, 1865. However, the promotion was never formally submitted, due to the collapse of the Confederate government.
Post war
In June 1865, rather than surrender, Shelby and approximately 1,000 of his remaining troops rode south into MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. For their determination not to surrender, they were immortalized as "the undefeated". A later verse appended to the angry post-war Confederate anthem, "The Unreconstructed Rebel" commemorates the defiance of Shelby and his men:
- "I won't be reconstructed, I'm better now than then.
- And for a Carpetbagger I do not give a damn.
- So it's forward to the frontier, soon as I can go.
- I'll fix me up a weapon and start for Mexico."
Their plan was to offer their services to Emperor Maximilian
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...
as a 'foreign legion.' Maximilian declined to accept the ex-Confederates into his armed forces, but he did grant them land for an American colony in Mexico near Veracruz
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
. The grant would be revoked two years later following the collapse of the empire and Maximilan's execution. Reportedly, Shelby sank his battle flag in the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
near present-day Eagle Pass (TX) on the way to Mexico rather than risk the flag falling into the hands of the Federals. The event is depicted in a painting displayed at the Eagle Pass City Hall. The memory of Shelby and his men as "The Undefeated" is used as a distant basis for the 1969 John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
-Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
film by the same name
The Undefeated (1969 film)
The Undefeated is a 1969 American Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and John Wayne and starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson. The film portrays events surrounding the French Intervention in Mexico and is also loosely based on General J. O...
.
Shelby returned to Missouri in 1867 and resumed farming. He was appointed the U.S. Marshal
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
for the Western District of Missouri in 1893, was a critical witness for the defense of Frank James
Frank James
Alexander Franklin "Frank" James was a famous American outlaw. He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.-Childhood:...
at his trial, and retained the position until his death in 1897. He died in Adrian, Missouri
Adrian, Missouri
Adrian is a city in Bates County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,780 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Adrian is located at ....
, and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals