Clarksville, TN – The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, July 16th, 2025 at Fort Defiance Interpretive Center, our new home, 120 Duncan Street, off New Providence Boulevard.
Turn onto Walker Street off New Providence Boulevard and then onto Duncan Street. There are site markers on New Providence Boulevard above and below the park.
The meeting begins at 7:00pm and is always open to the public.
This month’s program – “The Battle of Newtonia, Missouri”
The First Battle of Newtonia took place on September 30th, 1862, near Newtonia, Missouri, during the Civil War. The engagement involved Confederate forces under the command of Colonel Douglas H. Cooper and a Union column led by Brigadier General Frederick Salomon. Cooper’s troops had advanced into southwestern Missouri and established a camp near Newtonia.
The Confederate contingent consisted mainly of cavalry under Colonel Joseph O. Shelby and a brigade of Native Americans. In response, a Union force commanded by Brigadier General James G. Blunt mobilized to engage Cooper’s position, with Salomon leading the advance.
On September 29th, Salomon’s Union force approached Newtonia and initiated an attack against the Confederates on September 30th. A preliminary Union assault under Colonel Edward Lynde was repelled by Cooper’s forces in the morning. Both armies received additional reinforcements, resulting in protracted and dynamic fighting throughout the afternoon.
Near dusk, the Confederates launched a significant offensive that compelled Salomon to withdraw his forces from the battlefield. The retreat was covered by militia led by Colonel George Hall; however, artillery fire from the Confederate side disrupted the withdrawal, causing portions of the Union force to become disorganized.
Reported Union casualties range from 245 to more than 400, while Confederate casualties numbered 78. In early October, as Blunt’s full division advanced toward Newtonia, Cooper elected to withdraw his forces from Missouri.
Our speaker this month is Michael Manning who has spoken to us before about the war in the Indian Territory
Michael Manning is the retired Chief Park Ranger of Fort Donelson National Battlefield, Tennessee. He retired after a 32-year career with the National Park Service specializing in law enforcement and historic military interpretation. In addition, he has served as a Park Ranger at other NPS areas including Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, Alabama; Fort Larned National Historic Site, Kansas: and Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska.
He began his military historical interpretation career as a volunteer Historic Site Attendant at Fort Gibson State Historic Site, Oklahoma, while he was a student at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He also possesses a M.A. degree in Military Studies (Land Warfare) /w Honors, from the American Military University, Charles Town, West Virginia. Mike served as an enlisted petty officer in the U.S. Navy Seabees and later as a commissioned officer of the Military Police Corps of the U.S. Army Reserves.
He was also an honor graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. His research focus is the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi West with a specialization of the war in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Be sure to watch for his upcoming book, “They Fought Like Veterans:” The Military History of the Civil War in the Indian Territory,” upcoming within the next year.
We hope you will join us for this fine program on the war in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.
