Sikeston, Missouri: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:18, 15 October 2005

Revision as of 16:11, 15 October 2005

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== Military History ==

* Sikeston's ___location during The [[American Civil War|Civil War]] held some importance due to its railroad and road ___location. Sikeston was used as a transportion connection as Union Brigadier General [[John Pope (military officer)|Pope]] sent his artillery across the river to [[Commerce, Missouri|Commerce]] to be sent by rail to Sikeston for cart transportation to [[New Madrid, Missouri|New Madrid]] in preparation for the [[Battle of Island Number Ten]]. On February 28, 1862, [[John Pope (military officer)|Pope]] left [[Commerce, Missouri|Commerce]] with his army of 12,000, arriving in Sikeston on March 2, 1862. Colonel [[William Pitt Kellogg]], commanding the 7th Illinois cavalry, was the first to encounter the rebel sabotage of recently burned bridges and other obstructions. The federals were attacked just south of Sikeston by a small group of rebels led by Confederate General [[M. Jeff Thompson]] the Swamp Fox, a nickname previously belonging to [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] Brigadier General [[Francis Marion]]. Thompson commanded a detachment of 85 horsemen and 4 to 6 experimental canons that had been manufactured in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]]. Colonel James Morgan Illinois' troops were reinforced by Brigadier General Schuyler Hamilton's 2nd Division, hence [[M. Jeff Thompson|Thompson]] quickly fled. Entering the area from [[Bird's Point, Missouri|Bird's Point]], Brigadier General Eleazor Arthur Paine, commander of the 4th Division of [[Army of the Mississippi]], repairingrepaired the railroad and [[telegraphy|telegraph]] lines and used troops from [[Illinois]] to form a garrison for Sikeston, [[Bertrand, Missouri|Bertrand]], and [[Charleston, Missouri|Charleston]]. War records state that on March 31, 1862, there were 6 Union officers and 143 Union soldiers present in Sikeston.

* During [[World War I]], an infantry company was organized in Sikeston from 1917 until the end of the war.

* During [[World War II]] until 1944, the Sikeston Municipal Airport which was previously dedicated on July 3-4, 1934 was known as Harvey Parks Airport and included long, barrack-style buildings as a site of the Missouri Institute of Aeronautics, which was established after General [[Henry H. Arnold| Hap Arnold]] asked flight training operations to triple their enrollments. Also during [[World War II]] the local International Shoe factory started work on an army shoe order.