Jo Shelby: reluctant guerrilla

Abstract

This biography examines the controversial life of Confederate General Joseph Orville Shelby. Included is a discussion of his privileged background among the plantation elite of Missouri. Differing from his family, he zealously defended slavery based on self-interest and participated in the Border Wars, learning the skills of the irregular raider. In 1861 he rejected a position in the U.S. Army and volunteered his services to the Confederacy. Shelby rose from a captain of volunteers to a general commanding a division of cavalry. In 1863 he won renown by traveling into Union controlled Missouri with 800 men. Using guerrilla tactics, the Confederates covered 1,500 miles in thirty-six days, all while eluding 50,000 Union soldiers and creating turmoil for the enemy. Following the war, he opted for exile in Mexico. After a series of hardships, he returned to Missouri and took an active part in the New South, serving as a U.S. marshal until his death in 1897.