• Formed: January 1841
• County Population 1860: 5,000
• Slave Population 1860: 136
• Civil War Engagements
  -Battle at Wet Auglaize Creek, October 13, 1861

Camden County, Missouri is located along many fresh water sources, including the Osage River, Linn Creek, and Pearson’s Creek. There is much natural timber, including oak, elm, ash, walnut, and cherry; along with natural lead, iron, coal, and zinc deposits. The soil is not ideal for agriculture, but can be used for grazing livestock.

Before white settlement, Camden County was the territory of the Osage and Delaware Native American tribes. The area was host to many French and Spanish explorers and traders. After the Louisiana Purchase, the first permanent white settlers were Reuben Berry and William Pogue, who came from Kentucky in 1827. Aaron Cain came from Virginia in 1833, George Carroll from Kentucky, and Green C. Thornton from Tennessee. The county was officially organized in January, 1841, and was originally named Kinderhook after President Van Buren’s home. Prominent resident Thomas M. Pollard offered his home for the first county courthouse, and townships were established at Osage, Adair, Russell, Jackson, Lick, and Glaize. Sidney R. Roberts and James N.B. Dodson—owners of the first general store—named the county seat Oregon. In December 1841, the county name was changed to Camden and the county seat changed from Oregon to Erie. The population continued to grow, and by 1850 the population was over 2,300 people; by 1860 it was almost 5,000 people, including 136 enslaved people.

In the spring of 1861, Governor Claiborne F. Jackson pledged Missouri’s neutrality in the Civil War while quietly supporting the Confederate cause. Secessionists in Camden County supported his plans by secretly storing gunpowder and other munitions that were shipped out of Jefferson City. At least 50 kegs of gunpowder were hidden on farms around Camden and Laclede counties. To avoid detection, these Rebels often traveled to Pulaski and Texas County to make their plans, but their plot was discovered by Union Home Guard companies.1

A number of Union companies were recruited in Camden County. The Osage Regiment of Home Guards was a state regiment commanded by Colonel Joseph W. McClurg. Six companies of this mounted unit were recruited in Camden County with the men equipped at their own expense. Its best known service was breaking up the secessionist plot in the spring of 1861.  Company K of the 6th Missouri Cavalry and three companies of the 8th Missouri State Militia Cavalry (M.S.M. Cav.) were also recruited within the county. Commanded by Captain Milton Burch, a battalion of the 8th M.S.M. Cav. saw heavy action against guerrillas in Missouri and Arkansas. The regiment also participated in the campaign against Sterling Price’s invasion of Missouri in the fall of 1864. The final Union force recruited in Camden County was the 47th Enrolled Missouri Militia. Company F of this local defense force was largely composed of men who had previously served in the Confederate army.2

One pro-Confederate company was recruited in Camden County, Company I of Colonel Robert McCullough’s Missouri State Guard regiment. In 1862, it was mustered into the Confederate army as part of Colonel John Q. Burbridge’s 4th Missouri Cavalry. Camden County provided about 100 soldiers to the Confederate army. That number might have been larger had the Home Guard not broken up the secessionists’ plans in early 1861. Also, some men likely joined Confederate forces in adjoining counties.3

Although no major battles took place in Camden County, two small skirmishes occurred in October 1861. On October 13, Major Clark Wright with two companies of Fremont’s Battalion of Cavalry clashed with about 500 Rebel troops at Wet Glaze, near Henrytown. Commanded by Major M. Johnson, the Rebels  retreated towards Lebanon after 66 of their men were killed. One Union soldier was killed in the brief engagement. The following day, Major Wright advanced on Linn Creek, where there had been reports of Rebels plundering citizens on both sides. A company of troops occupied the town, and Wright demanded its unconditional surrender. The Rebels tried to escape, and though only one man was wounded in the melee, Wright wrote: “the scene was a wide one. The activity of the cavalry in guarding in the avenues of the place, arresting the citizens, and the rebels running to and fro, the screams of the secesh wives, daughters, and children, the firing from both sides echoing back from the bluffs on either side, made the whole thing look somewhat frantic.”4

Overall, Camden came out of the war better off than its neighboring counties. Although several homes were burned and residents were killed, the area avoided widespread destruction. In approximately 1869, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad reached Stoutland. Later the Frisco Railroad reached the area. The line ran for only about 6 miles in the southeast corner of the county. Despite a small physical presence, the railroad was an important part of Camden County’s economy. By 1904, the county led the state in the production of railroad ties, and Stoutland had become an important shipping center.5

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1. Goodspeed Brothers, History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps And Dent Counties (Chicago:  The Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1889), 328-29; “Fight At Forsyth,” Daily Missouri Republican (St. Louis), August 1, 1861, 2.
2. Goodspeed Brothers, History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps And Dent Counties, 329-333.
3. Goodspeed Brothers, History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps And Dent Counties, 333-34.
4. United States War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1881), Series 1, Vol. 3, 242;  “From Jefferson City,” Daily Missouri Republican (St. Louis), September 26, 1861, 3; “Rebel Barbarities,” Daily Missouri Democrat (St. Louis), October 8, 1861, 2.
5. Walter Williams, The State of Missouri:  An Autobiography (Columbia:  Press of E.W. Stephens, 1904), 344-45; Arthur Paul Moser, A Directory of Towns, Villages and Hamlets Past and Present of Camden County, Missouri (No Publisher, 1972), 9, Springfield-Greene County Library District, https://digitalarchive.thelibrary.org/digital/collection/moser/id/374/rec/15