Battle of Carthage
 

On July 4th, 1861 led by Colonel Franz Sigel, approximately 1,000 Union troops and his German-American volunteers marched into Carthage. They camped in the vicinity of what is now the intersection of River and East Chestnut streets. At the same time, over 6,000 Missouri State Guardsmen led by a pro-southern leader, Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson were camped 18 miles north of Carthage. On the morning of July 5th, Jackson led his forces south as Sigel and his men advanced north. They met about 9 miles north of Carthage and a battle resulted, lasting through the day. This battle continued into Carthage and ended at Carter's Spring.

The Battle of Carthage may have been the first engagement in the Civil War where two opposing armies came from hundreds of miles marching and had contact with each other using traditional battle formations. When the Battle of Carthage was over, the Southern forces under Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson's command, had won an important victory. Colonel Franz Sigel, the Union commander, would receive national attention from the Battle of Carthage and become a hero to the German-American Unionists in the country.