The Battle of Lexington: Combatants
The Battle of Lexington was an engagement between the Missouri State Guard and the armed forces of the United States government.
The Missouri State Guard was a state militia whose formation was authorized by a Military Bill passed on May 11, 1861 by the Missouri State Legislature. Soon thereafter, Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson appointed Sterling Price as its field commander.The Missouri State Guard supported the southern cause.
The Union forces defending Lexington were a combination of volunteers form the states of Missouri and Illinois and a battalion of U.S. Reserve Corps Infantry. Colonel James A. Mulligan was the senior officer present and assumed command of all the Union forces.
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