Joseph Orville "J.O." Shelby (December 12, 1830 – February 13, 1897) was a senior

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

who commanded

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.

Early life and education

Joseph Orville Shelby was born in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, to one of the state's wealthiest and most influential families. He lost his father at age five and was raised by a stepfather, Benjamin Gratz, who was a member of wealthy Lexington elite. Shelby attended

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

and was a

rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly ...

manufacturer until 1852. He then moved to

Waverly, Missouri Waverly is a city in Lafayette County, Missouri, and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the United States. The population was 849 at the 2010 census. Waverly is the location of Baltimore Bend Winery, one of the many small wineries ...

, where he engaged in

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

ing on the Missouri River. He also ran a

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

, a ropeworks, and a sawmill. These business ventures made Shelby one of the wealthiest men in the state of Missouri.

Bleeding Kansas

When the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was passed, the

New England Emigrant Aid Company The New England Emigrant Aid Company (originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company) was a transportation company founded in Boston, Massachusetts by activist Eli Thayer in the wake of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed the population of ...

paid for Northern abolitionists to move to Kansas. As a response, the Blue Lodge, a quasi-Masonic organization, was formed by leading Missourians. This group was dedicated to making Kansas a slave state. JO Shelby was a leading member. Shelby's first direct involvement in Kansas was at

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

during the March 30, 1855 election of the Kansas territorial legislature. Many Missourians without residence in the territory voted illegally in the election. This was partially achieved through intimidation of election judges, who were prevented from administering residency oaths. Additionally, Shelby and other Missourians harassed several abolitionists attempting to vote, although they were generally not prevented from doing so. Shelby's leadership in the Missouri–Kansas border war damaged his business ventures and partnership with his stepbrother, Henry Howard Gratz. In December 1855, their new sawmill burned, and evidence suggested the use of an incendiary. The mill was uninsured and losses exceeded $9,000. Gratz returned to Lexington, Kentucky, and Shelby auctioned off the business in February 1860.

American Civil War

Following the Confederate attack on

Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battl ...

in April 1861, Missouri Governor

Claiborne Fox Jackson Claiborne Fox Jackson (April 4, 1806 – December 6, 1862) was an American politician of the Democratic Party in Missouri. He was elected as the 15th Governor of Missouri, serving from January 3, 1861, until July 31, 1861, when he was for ...

refused Lincoln's call for volunteers and maneuvered to take the state out of the Union. The resulting friction between State and Federal militias vying for control of the St. Louis Arsenal led to the Camp Jackson affair and the creation of the pro-secession

Missouri State Guard The Missouri State Guard (MSG) was a military force established by the Missouri General Assembly on May 11, 1861. While not a formation of the Confederate States Army, the Missouri State Guard fought alongside Confederate troops and, at various ...

."An Act to Provide for the Organization, Government, and Support of the Military Forces, State of Missouri." 21st General Assembly,

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...

, 1861 Shelby formed the Lafayette County Mounted Rifles for Missouri State Guard service and was elected the company's captain, leading it into battle at

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

, Wilson's Creek, and Pea Ridge. In 1862, he was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and authorized to recruit a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

cavalry regiment, returning to Lafayette County to do so. After successfully bringing the regiment safely back to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, he was given command of a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

of newly recruited regiments. In the fall of 1863, Shelby led his "

Iron Brigade The Iron Brigade, also known as The Black Hats, Black Hat Brigade, Iron Brigade of the West, and originally King's Wisconsin Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought enti ...

" of Missouri volunteers on what was at the time the longest cavalry

raid Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

of the war, Shelby's Raid. Between September 22 and November 3, 1863, Shelby's brigade traveled 1,500 miles through Missouri, inflicting over 1,000 casualties on

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

forces and capturing or destroying an estimated $2 million worth of federal supplies and property. He was promoted to brigadier-general on December 15, 1863, following the successful conclusion of his raid. Portrait of General Joseph O

In 1864, Union General

Frederick Steele Frederick Steele (January 14, 1819 – January 12, 1868) was a career military officer in the United States Army, serving as a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was most noted for retaking much of secessionist Arka ...

's failure in the

Camden Expedition The Camden Expedition (March 23 – May 3, 1864) was the final campaign conducted by the Union Army in Arkansas during the Civil War. The offensive was designed to cooperate with Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks' movement against Shrevepo ...

of March 23 – May 2, 1864 was largely due to Shelby's brilliant and determined harassment, in concert with other Confederate forces. Steele's men were forced to retreat to

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

by the destruction or capture of their supply trains at the

Battle of Marks' Mills The Battle of Marks' Mills (April 25, 1864), also known as the Action at Marks’ Mills, was fought in present-day Cleveland County, Arkansas, during the American Civil War. Confederate Brigadier-General James F. Fagan, having made a forced m ...

. Reassigned to

Clarendon, Arkansas Clarendon is a city in, and the county seat of, Monroe County, Arkansas, Monroe County, Arkansas, United States. Located in the Arkansas Delta, the city's position on the White River (Arkansas), White River at the mouth of the Cache River (Arkansas ...

, Shelby succeeded in capturing a Union tinclad (lightly armored) gunboat, the . The gunboat was burned to prevent her recapture. Shelby then commanded a division during

Price's Missouri Expedition Price's Missouri Expedition (August 29 – December 2, 1864), also known as Price's Raid or Price's Missouri Raid, was an unsuccessful Confederate cavalry raid through Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the Amer ...

. He distinguished himself at the battles of Little Blue River and Westport, and briefly captured many towns from their Union garrisons, including Potosi, Boonville, Waverly, Stockton, Lexington, and

California, Missouri California is a city in and the county seat of Moniteau County, Missouri, United States. The 2010 census has the population at 4,278. California is the third largest city in the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as ...

. After Robert E. Lee's army surrendered in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in April 1865, General

Edmund Kirby Smith General Edmund Kirby Smith (May 16, 1824March 28, 1893) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department (comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Louisiana, Arizona Territory and the Indi ...

appointed Shelby a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

on May 10. The promotion was never formalized, however, due to the collapse of the Confederate government. Shelby's adjutant at the time was

John Newman Edwards Major John Newman Edwards (January 4, 1839 – May 4, 1889) was famed General Joseph O. Shelby's adjutant during the American Civil War, an author, a pro- Confederate journalist and the founder of the Kansas City Times. He is perhaps best ...

, who years later (as editor of the ''

Kansas City Times The ''Kansas City Times'' was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, published from 1867 to 1990. The morning ''Kansas City Times'', under ownership of the afternoon ''Kansas City Star'', won two Pulitzer Prizes and was bigger than its par ...

'') was largely responsible for creating the legend of

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the " Little Dixie" area of Western Missouri, James and his family maintained stro ...

and his fellow Confederate guerrillas.

Later years

In June 1865, rather than surrender, Shelby and approximately 1,000 of his remaining troops rode south into

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Reportedly, Shelby sank his battle flag in the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

near present-day

Eagle Pass, Texas Eagle Pass is a city in and the county seat of Maverick County in the U.S. state of Texas. Its population was 28,130 as of the 2020 census. Eagle Pass borders the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, which is to the southwest and across th ...

, on the way to Mexico rather than risk the flag falling into the hands of the Federals. The event is depicted in a painting displayed at the Eagle Pass City Hall. For their determination not to surrender, Shelby's men were immortalized as "the undefeated". A later verse appended to the post-war Confederate anthem "The Unreconstructed Rebel" commemorates the defiance of Shelby and his men: The plan was to offer their services to Emperor Maximilian as a "foreign legion". Maximilian declined to accept the ex-Confederates into his armed forces, but he did grant them land for the

New Virginia Colony The New Virginia Colony was a colonization plan in central Mexico, to resettle ex- Confederates after the American Civil War. The largest settlement was Carlota, approximately midway between Mexico City and Veracruz, although other settlements wer ...

, an American settlement in Mexico near

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. The grant was revoked two years later following the collapse of the empire and Maximilan's execution. The memory of Shelby and his men as "The Undefeated" is used as a basis for the 1969

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

–

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...

film by the same name. Shelby returned to Missouri in 1867 and resumed farming. In 1883, Shelby was a critical witness for fellow ex-Confederate

Frank James Alexander Franklin James (January 10, 1843 – February 18, 1915) was a Confederate soldier and guerrilla; in the post-Civil War period, he was an outlaw. The older brother of outlaw Jesse James, Frank was also part of the James–Younger ...

at James' trial. Shelby was appointed the

U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

for the Western District of Missouri in 1893, and retained this position until his death. He appointed an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to office, which led to "bitter feeling among some of his neighbors." Shelby defended his actions. Shelby died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

at his farm near Adrian, Missouri in 1897.February 14, 1897
General J.O. Shelby
''

New-York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'', p. 7 col. 5 He is buried in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

in Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City. A Union General who had fought against Shelby,

Alfred Pleasonton Alfred Pleasonton (June 7, 1824 – February 17, 1897) was a United States Army officer and major general of volunteers in the Union cavalry during the American Civil War. He commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Gett ...

, remarked, “Shelby was the best cavalry general of the South. Under other conditions, he would have been one of the best in the world.”

Personal life

On July 22, 1857, Shelby married Elizabeth Nancy Shelby (daughter of his first cousin), in a grand steamboat wedding and honeymoon trip to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. Known as Betty (or Betsy), she was much younger than he.O'Flaherty, pp 28, 47–50

Notes

References

* Davis, Edwin Adams ''Fallen Guidon: The Saga of Confederate General Jo Shelby's March to Mexico''. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1995. * Eicher, John H., and

David J. Eicher David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. * McLachlan, Sean. ''Ride Around Missouri: Shelby's Great Raid 1863.'' Osprey Publishing: Oxford, Eng., 2011. * O'Flaherty, Daniel C. "General Jo Shelby:Undefeated Rebel," (University of North Carolina Press) 1954; ; republished, 2000 * Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. * Silkenat, David. ''Raising the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the American Civil War''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019. .
Biography
from History of U.S. Marshals * Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. * Wellman, Paul I. ''A Dynasty of Western Outlaws'' Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1961.

External links

Joseph O. Shelby
at ''

Encyclopedia of Arkansas The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas'' is a web-based encyclopedia of the U.S. state of Arkansas, described by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as "a free, authoritative source of information ab ...

'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelby, Joseph O. 1830 births 1897 deaths American expatriates in Mexico American planters Bleeding Kansas Burials in Missouri Cavalry commanders Confederate expatriates Confederate States Army brigadier generals Farmers from Missouri Deaths from pneumonia in Missouri Military personnel from Lexington, Kentucky People from Bates County, Missouri People from Lafayette County, Missouri People of Missouri in the American Civil War Refugees in Mexico Shelby's Iron Brigade Stateless people Transylvania University alumni United States Marshals