The Confederate Official Reports of the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern

The Battle of Elkhorn tavern has been called the "Battle that saved Missouri for the Union," I prefer to know it as the "Battle that doomed Missouri to the Union." In these pages I have culled the reports made by the Confederate commanders that were collected by the U.S. War Department from the records captured after the fall of Richmond in 1865. These records were published in the massive 128 volume The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. These reports are excerpted from Series 1, Volume VIII, pages 281-330. A map and list of units composing General Van Dorn's Trans-Mississippi Army and enumeration of losses from Volume 1 of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War have also been attached. I have also added short biographical footnotes of some of the lesser known commanders, as well as photographs of many of the writers. These first hand accounts, most written within a few weeks of the Battle, offer a first hand look at not only the actions of the participants on the days of the Battle, but also at their after action thoughts on the Battle, and sometimes their own justifications and excuses for decisions made in the literal heat of combat.