Over one thousand Civil War engagements were fought in Missouri, and the conflict could not be quarantined from civilian life. In the countryside, the wives and mothers of absent soldiers had to cope with marauders from both sides. Slavery crumbled and created new opportunities for black men to serve in the Union army but left their families vulnerable to retaliation at home. The turbulence and bitterness of guerrilla war was everywhere.
Our speaker, Jim Erwin graduated from Missouri State University with a B.A. in mathematics. After service in the United States Army, he obtained an M.A. in history from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a J.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia Law School. Mr. Erwin practiced law in St. Louis for 38 years. He is the author of four books from The History Press: Guerrillas in Civil War Missouri (2012), Guerrilla Hunters in Civil War Missouri (2013), The Homefront in Civil War Missouri (2014), and St. Charles, Missouri: A Brief History (2017). Jim and his wife Vicki are co-authors of Steamboat Disasters on the Lower Missouri River, to be published in 2020 by History Press. Jim is the President of the Civil War Roundtable of St. Louis for 2019-2020.