Missouri was filled with bitter sentiment over the Civil War. Governor Claiborne Jackson had a plan to seize the St. Louis Arsenal and arm a pro-secessionist force. Former governor and Mexican-American War hero Sterling Price commanded the Missouri State Guard charged to protect the state from Federal troops. The disagreements led to ten military actions, causing hundreds of casualties before First Bull Run in the East. The state guard garnered a series of victories before losing control to the Union in 1862. Guerrilla and bushwhacker bands roamed the state at will. Author Joseph W. McCoskrie Jr. details the fight for the Show Me State. Foreword The lessons of history may not always be heeded,but they are there to be heeded by those who will. --Herman Hattaway In the1840s, Harry S. Truman's parents and family members settled in western Missouriand managed to scratch out livings as farmers until the war started in 1861.Although Truman's father signed a loyalty oath, other Truman relatives did not.Regardless, everyone was caught in a four-year reign of terror between thepro-Union, Jayhawker, "Red Leg" bands of James Lane and thepro-Southern guerilla leaders and bushwhackers, like William Quantrill, along the Kansas-Missouri border. Harry Truman was born in 1884, at a time whenthe vivid memory of the Civil War still existed. Independence--the Truman homesince 1919--served as the backdrop to two Civil War battles and retains a strongpro-Confederate memory. Harry often recalled listening to the stories of thosewho had participated in the Civil War when he was growing up. Harry said that hiskeen interest in history was essential in overcoming the difficult obstacles ofhis early life. He also believed that this instilled a sense of civic duty thatencouraged him to join the Missouri National Guard, where he took command of anartillery battery on the western front during World War I. Ethan S. Rafuse, a visiting scholar at the U.S. Army Commandand General Staff College in historic Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, introduced his2009 study of Harry S. Truman's deep interest in the American Civil War withauthor and historian Herman Hattaway's quote that is cited above. Truman believedthat the lessons from that terrible conflict and aftermath would benefit hisjudgment as President and Commander in Chief as World War II came to a closeand the victors pursued policies for peace. Truman recalled how interference from theradical Republicans in Congress impeded President Lincoln's efforts to run the CivilWar, and this guided his conduct as chairman of the Special Committee toInvestigate the National Defense Program during World War II. Truman's committeefocused on matters of fraud and waste, and refrained from telling theadministration how to run the war. Former Army chief of staff, General GeorgeC. Marshall, acknowledged the importance of this approach during the war andsaid that Truman's efforts were equivalent to two army divisions. Truman'sbiographers drew further historical parallels between the Civil War and WorldWar II, including the challenges that came when headstrong military commandersmeddled in political affairs and Andrew Johnson's and Harry Truman's sudden thrustinto presidency after the deaths of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.Johnson's sensitivity toward a defeated enemy after a terrible conflict weighedheavily on President Truman's postwar policies. Truman's interest in Civil Warhistory did not end after his presidency. During his retirement, Harry was instrumentalin recognizing emerging Civil War scholars, such as Bruce Catton, Edwin Bearss,T. Harry Williams and James McPherson, with the Harry S. Truman Award. Thisaward was granted by the Civil War Roundtable of Kansas City, which Truman helpedfound. Joseph W. McCoskrie Jr. is a Midwest native who graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and subsequently served in the U.S. Army for twenty-eight years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. After more than twenty-five years as a Midwest banking executive, Whit was hired to become an instructor in leadership and American military history for the Army ROTC program at Illinois State University and the University of Missouri. Whit and his wife have two sons, Brian and Robert, and reside in Fulton, Missouri, where he currently spends some of his time as a volunteer tour guide at the National Churchill Museum.