More than 1,150 documented skirmishes took place in Missouri during the Civil War – a number exceeded in only Virginia and Tennessee.
Texas County hosted its share of gunfights and cannon fire during the War Between the States, including documented clashes at Licking (May 4, 1862) and Houston (Sept. 12 and Nov. 22, 1863).
A crucial train line from St. Louis ended at Rolla and supplies went from there by horse and wagon to places like Springfield, Neosho and, of course, Texas County. To protect the strategic railhead, the Union Army maintained a large fort in the Phelps County town.
About 60 miles to the south, the Union had another camp in Houston that acted as a buffer against advances by Confederate forces from Arkansas. At its peak in 1862 to 1863, the camp – called the “Houston Union District Headquarters” – was home to some 4,000 to 5,000 Union soldiers and almost an equal number of horses and mules.
Houston resident Bill Nichols grew up on and formerly owned land the camp once occupied and has spent countless hours researching it, even producing a map of its tent rows, medical and eating areas, livery and other facilities. Over the years, Nichols used metal detectors to compile and extensive collection of objects Civil War artifacts from the camp’s grounds, located from what is now the area in northern Houston adjacent to Oak Hill Drive to across Brushy Creek near where Emmett Kelly Park now lies.
“I’ve always been extremely interested in history and had a natural gift for absorbing and retaining it,” Nichols said. “From my metal detecting and where I’ve found different artifacts, I know where the tents were, where the artillery was, where the cavalry was and where they shoed the horses. My map is based on where certain artifacts were located.”
A lifelong Houston resident, Nichols is a retired state department of social services senior investigator for the 25th Judicial Circuit who twice held a seat Houston City Council. He is a descendant of generations of the Haney family.
“I grew up on Haney Hill, which is what the Oak Hill area used to be called,” Nichols said. “My mother was a Haney and my grandfather was Lee Roy Haney, who was a justice of the peace here. I’ve seen many articles that refer to how the camp was on Haney Hill.”
The collection of artifacts Nichols has amassed includes a fascinating cross section of items a solider or group of soldiers might have, including everything from .72 caliber rifle bullets, to eating utensils, buttons, buckles and even homemade recreational objects, like checkers and poker chips formed out of flattened lead bullets. Nichols said his favorite artifact is an 1846 small oval U.S. waist belt buckle. He said his wife, Thelma, likes a small lead domino with three dots on each end.
“Soldiers didn’t fight all the time – they had a lot of down time,” Nichols said. “They made a lot of things, and the items I’ve found that I find most interesting are things soldiers made. They would often use whatever was at hand to come up with ways to entertain themselves. One thing they had plenty of was lead.”
The 1860 census listed the population of Texas County at 6,011 and Houston at about 600.
“The camp added a lot to the area,” Nichols said.
Missouri’s societal makeup was unique during Civil War times. Residents’ loyalty was largely divided between the Union and the Confederacy, and both sides even laid claim to the state while two opposing state governments staged an unprecedented tussle for control.
From when the war began in April 1861 to its conclusion in April 1865, close to 150,000 troops hailing from Missouri had fought – about 110,000 with the Union Army and about 40,000 with the Confederate Army. Nichols said most Texas County residents favored the Confederacy, but weren’t sold out to all of what it stood for.
“They didn’t favor secession,” he said, “and that, of course, was a problem.”
Nichols is a member of the Texas County Genealogical and Historical Society and has often shared his knowledge of the Civil War by speaking in front of groups at schools, churches and organizations. He has a large library of books about the Civil War that have often helped verify the identity or nature of his artifacts.
Nichols said he normally doesn’t keep the valuable collection in his home, but under lock-and-key in safe deposit boxes. Many pieces he has dug up are worthy of being in museums – and some are.
The Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield near Springfield protects the space where the first major Civil War battle west of the Mississippi River took place Aug. 10, 1861 (it was also the second major battle of the entire war, following the Battle of Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April of the same year). Nichols said representatives of the park were impressed when made aware of his collection.
“I took some stuff there once, because I wanted the staff to see it and say it was good, no big deal, or whatever,” he said. “When they saw what I had, they said ‘let us call the superintendent and the park ranger.’ Before I left, they said this was the best dug collection they had seen outside a museum.
“I donated some bullets they knew existed but didn’t have examples of.”
Nichols said he can’t confirm it, but he has reason to believe a telegraph line ran through Houston, another reason the Union kept up a camp here. Soldiers stationed here hailed from several states in the region and were deployed from St. Louis equipped with the best weaponry, uniforms and other gear available.
Near the end of the war in 1864, Houston’s courthouse was burned to the ground, but records were saved and brought back when a replacement was built. Nichols said the town took a hard hit from the war.
“There was nothing left when it was over,” he said, “except the David Lynch house, which is now called the Tweed house. I have a copy of letter from a soldier back to a newspaper in Iowa that says, ‘the town is absolutely vacated.’”
I have a copy of letter from a soldier back to a newspaper in Iowa that says, ‘the town is absolutely vacated.’”