Joseph Orville Shelby Shelby, Joseph Orville, 1830–97,
Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War, b.
Lexington, Ky. He made a considerable fortune in rope
manufacturing in Kentucky and Missouri. While in Missouri he
participated in the Kansas-Missouri border war on the proslavery
side. When the Civil War broke out he organized a cavalry
brigade in Missouri. He participated in numerous raids in the
Southwest, was wounded at Helena, Ark. (July, 1863), but joined
Sterling Price in his invasion of Missouri in 1864. Shelby and
his men had sworn never to surrender; after Appomattox his
forces crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico and offered their
services to the French puppet ruler, Emperor Maximilian. Shelby
ultimately returned to the United States. From 1893 to 1897 he
served as U.S. marshal for the Western District of Missouri. The
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