I would argue some Union officers did although the Union army has a whole had some difficulties in subduing the CSA irregulars. Col. Harrison of the 1st Ark USV seemed to be way ahead of his time in that he orgainzed in early 1865 what today we would call socialist communes in Northern AR that could resist attacks from Mo CSA irregulars and thus force them to stay in the woods where the 1st Ark could easily hunt them down and then the MO CSA irregulars would have to go back to MO which in early 1865 was crawling with Union forces. Col Harrison seems well ahead of his time in that he understood that if guerrillas are deprived of a friendly population and replaced by a hostile population then they will lose in the long term.

Col Ford of the 2nd Colo USV understood that well motivated troops who are well disciplined and well motivated can kill guerrillas and not create so many new ones if they dont anger the overall population. Gen Rosecrans understood the value of inteligence in that his scouts manged to uncover Gen Prices plans for his Sept 1864 raid into MO but he wasnt able to moblize enough troops quickly enough since many were in Ten and VA but in one month his forces did beat Price.

Did the Union make many mistakes and experience failures in Mo? Absolutly using undiscplined Kan troops in the early phase of the CW failed miserably has Gen Halleck acknowledged by creating new recruits for the CSA due to the crimes commited by the 7th Kan and the jayhawkers. Union milita forces were often poorly led, trained and disciplined and often had CSA infiltrators. The Union Army overall did ok in MO in that if one charts there activites from 1862 to 1865 the Union forces did gain the upper hand .

Did the CSA understand what it would take to win in terms of bringing in MO to the CSA? I would argue in a tactical sense yes in that CSA guerrillas were able to tie down and at times even defeat Union forces. Gen Hindman seemed to grasp the military and political situation but he couldnt effectivly communicate and unify all the MO CSA irregulars . That is not to imply it was Gen Hindmans fault since due to the communication technology of that time that was a very tall order plus not all irregulars would accept a centralized command.

Did conscription help the CSA in Mo ? Yes and no . Yes it motivated many rural Missourians to join the CSA has conventional troops or irregulars however CSA concription motivated many yong men from Ark to join the Union army and fight in MO and Northern Ark against CSA forces.

If the goal of an irregular force is to convert the majority of in this case Missourians to the CSA cause then thy failed.

I welcome any critiques of the above.

Leonard