The Skirmish at Blackwater Creek, also known as the Skirmish at Milford, was an American Civil War skirmish that took place in central Missouri on December 19, 1861, near present-day Valley City. It was a victory for the North.
Following the Siege of Lexington, Missouri the secessionist Missouri State Guard withdrew to the southwest portion of Missouri. Some Southern recruiters such as Colonel Franklin S. Robertson remained, attempting to fill their regiments. Robertson, a store owner in Saline County, Missouri born in Kentucky had been granted his commission by Major General Sterling Price at Lexington.
Meanwhile, Union Brigadier General John Pope, in command of the District of Central Missouri, was determined to suppress Southern recruiting in the region. He headed Southwest from Sedalia before turning the main body north toward Warrensburg.
Robertson collected his recruits at Grand Pass where they elected officers. On December 16, 1861, the 750 men began their March south. The plan was to first link up with Colonel J.J. Clarkson's recruits near Warrensburg, Missouri before proceeding south to General Price. They were unable to merge with Clarkson but they were joined by Colonel Ebenezer Magoffin, who was on parole after being captured while attempting to recruit his own regiment. Magoffin is notable as the brother of Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin.
General Pope learned on the evening of December 18 that Robertson's force would be camped at Milford.
Early the next morning Pope's force marched toward Knob Noster, Missouri. Pope ordered Colonel Jefferson C. Davis's brigade to the Blackwater bridge where he was to force the bridge. Simultaneously a battalion of the 2nd Missouri Cavalry ("Merrill's Horse") moved northeast to complete the envelopment.
Realizing his guardsmen were in a precarious position, Robertson formed a firing line of approximately 250 men while Colonel Magoffin was detailed with several dozen men to take possession of the bridge before the Federals arrived.
It was insufficient. Colonel Davis ordered three companies of the 4th U.S. Cavalry forward under Lieutenant Charles Copley Amory, with the 1st Iowa Cavalry in support. Amory dismounted his men and gave two volleys to the bridge's defenders causing them to waver. Amory ordered a charge and the defenders fled. The now mounted force pursued, encountering some casualties as they made contact with the second line. They held their positions as the infantry came up and the envelopment was completed. Robertson's men recognized their predicament and requested a brief truce before surrendering.
Federal casualties were exceedingly light, two killed and eight wounded. General Pope claimed the capture of "1,300 men…three colonels (Robinson, Alexander, and Magoffin)…one lieutenant-colonel (Robinson), one major (Harris), and 51 commissioned company officers" and "About 500 horses and mules, 73 wagons heavily loaded with powder, lead, tents, subsistence stores, and supplies of various kinds…also 1,000 stand of arms." However, this appears to be overstated as records indicate "684 guardsmen and several civilians" eventually reached prison.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
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