Springfield MO018

supportedunresolved Britton says Burch's courier reached Brown about three in the afternoon of the 7th, that Brown had had no intimation of the raid, and that Marmaduke had learned before Ozark that the town was held by a small force. Marmaduke says he learned on January 6 that Springfield was weakly garrisoned and could be taken if surprised, and that his courier to Porter did not reach him until January 10.

Attributed knowledge from a history and an interested report; no original messages inspected.

supportedunresolved NPS calls Springfield an important Federal communications center and supply depot. Britton says Brown mounted howitzers and a gun on wagon wheels in Fort No. 4 overnight and that Marmaduke had promised his troops Federal commissary stores. Marmaduke says his men were thinly clad, many without shoes or horses, without baggage wagons or cooking utensils, and that at least 200 abandoned their horses.

A summary, a history and an interested report; no depot, ordnance or remount return inspected.

supportedunresolved Marmaduke says Hindman ordered him to strike the enemy's rear or flank to draw Blunt's forces back from the Arkansas River into Missouri, and that he determined at least to threaten Springfield; Holmes's indorsement says the expedition was meant to divert the enemy from Van Buren and force them from the Arkansas valley. NPS says the Confederates wished to destroy the depot.

Stated aims from interested reports and a summary.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen result reads Union victory, although the raid ultimately failed, and the live result Union Victory. Marmaduke says that at dark he held the greater part of the town, a fort and a captured gun, and did not renew the attack next day. Britton says the Confederates were driven back into the college palisades at dark and Marmaduke declined another action on the 9th. NPS says the depot was successfully defended.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. The accounts differ on the ground held at dark.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads 403 total (US 163; CS 240), as does the live field. Britton gives the Federal loss as 14 killed, 146 wounded and 4 missing, Marmaduke's reported loss as 20 killed and 124 wounded, and Crabb's report of 60 to 80 Confederate wounded left on the field. Marmaduke's January 18 dispatch gives 20 killed and 80 wounded; his February 1 report gives 33 killed, 203 wounded and 29 missing for the whole expedition. The No. 9 return, whose heading reads 'January 2-11, 1862' (the expedition was in 1863), is garbled in OCR.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. The expedition total covers Springfield, Hartville and the skirmishes and is not assigned to this record.

supportedunresolved Britton says Brown directed the defence in person until he was shot while leading a charge, then turned the command over to Colonel Crabb, who met the last assault. Marmaduke credits Shelby with preparing the attack. NPS says Brown was wounded during the day. The frozen commanders are Brigadier Generals John S. Marmaduke and Egbert B. Brown; the live page lists Marmaduke without a rank.

Command roles from a history and an interested report; the listed commanders do not receive automatic sole credit.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. Imported numerical estimates remain unchanged; this pass does not validate them as simultaneous opening forces.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field reads Southwestern District of Missouri Troops (2,000) [US], and the frozen US bound is 2,000; the live field reads 2000 (US 2000; CS 0). Britton says Brown reported Marmaduke with five thousand men and a battery, that Burch's prisoners gave five or six thousand, that the garrison had been reduced to perhaps less than one thousand effective men, that about four hundred stragglers and convalescents were armed, and lists Brown's units with their numbers; nearly two hundred citizens also fought. Marmaduke's January 18 dispatch says he marched from Lewisburg on December 31, 1862 with 1,000 men under Shelby and 270 under MacDonald, and his February 1 report gives the same columns on leaving Lewisburg as about 1,000 effective men, some without horses, and about 270 effective men; he puts the Federal force at Springfield at 4,200.

Intelligence estimates, a garrison figure before reinforcement, unit counts from a history and an interested claim of enemy strength. The frozen 2,000 has no inspected basis, and Britton's unit counts are not summed here. Marmaduke's 1,000 and 270 are departure strengths at Lewisburg on December 31, not a count of the force engaged on January 8. None is adopted as a matched opening strength. The live CS zero is not measured absence.

disputedunresolved Britton says four forts were under construction but none was completed or fully armed, that an unfinished stockade surrounded the college building on three sides, that the country south of town was rolling prairie and farms, and that Brown burned houses south of the forts to clear the view. Marmaduke says Springfield was weakly garrisoned though strongly fortified. NPS says the Union had fortified the town.

Works and ground from a history, an interested report and a summary; the works predate the attack, but their extent is disputed.