We can argue who had the "right" to declare war. Its not worth the discussion. The entire Civil War was an undeclared war. Congress and Lincoln never formally declared war on an identity (the Confederacy) that it did not recognise in the first place. It was a defacto war and open combat began in Missouri following the June 11th unofficial declaration of war.
I try to disregard Lyon's poor use of wordage. He had no public affairs officer with him. Good thing there was no press release of his language. An Union account does not say "dead and buried", but "blood will flow". variations exists.

My posting was to highlight the importance of the pivotable date and how unique the situation was in Missouri. And I was seeking a figure of the total death toll within Missouri for the Civil War. Anyone know?