I have given my reply some thought to your query if Union troops performed "civic actions" to assist civilians in the war zone.

My first reaction is to tell you that many of the pro-southern readers of this forum will quickly tell you that Union troops did not only NOT help civilians in the war zone, but that they preyed on them for their food, horses, wagons, and etc., instead. Unfortunately, this is very true, even in the general sense. Furthermore, many of the Kansas northern troops (there were no southern ones, with the exception of the guerrilla band that fell to the leadership of Bill Anderson by default in spring of 1863) preyed on ALL civilians living on the Kansas/Missouri border as retribution against Missouri incursions into Kansas during the "Bleeding Kansas" era of the 1850s. Further, during the evacuation of the dispossessed residents of the General Orders Number 11 three-and-one-counties of west-central Missouri during September 1863, the Union military considered all those evacuees as southerns and left them to their misery and did not help any of them fight off the predatory raids of Kansas Red Legs who swooped down on them on the roads during their departure. I just thought I would beat a few people to this, since this very true and well documented.

That being said, there were a few instances where northern troops assisted civilians, but generally this consisted of assistance of those proven to support the northern side. This help consisted of escorting civilians leaving "hot" guerrilla warfare areas, such as the extreme southwest tip of the state, to evacuate to nearby towns. This was done in SW MO during 1862 and in other places throughout the war. The removal of northern sympathizers from strongly southern areas left these regions, such as a large part of SW and SE Missouri, as sort of "free fire" zones, where Union troops took more license to attack the southern residents left in such areas--similar to such "free fire" zones in the Vietnam War. As a result, much of SW and SE MO were largely depopulated by late in the war. Union troops provided other services for northern civilians, but this was on the local level, and not necessarily as a matter of policy.

Now, were there specific instances in which Union military assisted civilians regardless of their loyalty.

First, on several occasions Union troops intercepted Kansas troops or paramilitary raiders on Missouri soil and turned them back to the Kansas side of the border. This is remarkable when you think about it, since both sides in these confrontations were Union soldiers supposedly on the same side. Union troops in Missouri also routinely chased Kansas raiders throughout the war back over the border to Kansas up and down the western boundary.

Secondly, Union troops across much of Missouri guarded polling places during the National Election on 8 November 1864, and I seem to recall from reading the "Official Records" that they performed this same service during other elections. I cannot deny that some of those Union soldliers guarding the polls took a close interest in the loyalty of those coming to vote, but in many instances they simply guarded the polls against violence of any kind (even their own).

Third, I found instances in southwest Missouri in the "Official Records" where the Union military issued food to starving civilians and where the Union military issued seed crops to farmers of that region in order to assist them to plant crops for self survival. Of course, the "O.R." does not state if loyalty was a prerequisite to this help, but it may well have been.

Fourth, and this one is controversial, Union troops were required to return escaping slaves to their masters throughout Missouri until slavery was abolished in this state in January 1865. Needless to say, Union troops, especially those from states like Iowa, Illinois, and the like found this particular duty very distasteful, but this was widely done. Escaping slaves in Missouri were forced to seek help from the Underground Railroad, and certain parties who came to Missouri to assist the escapes. Part of the reason for this Federal policy is that many of the slaveowners of Missouri remained loyal to the north, and demanded their property rights be honored. The Federal government complied.

You ask an interesting question. Now that I have stepped on many toes, others may have other instances of Union military help to civilians.

Bruce Nichols