What is Union Army of the West?
[[File:Battle of Boonville.jpg|thumb|right|350px|{{Center|Battle of Boonville, first battle by the Army of the West}}]] The '''Union Army of the West''' was a [[Union Army]] in the [[Western Theater of the American Civil War|Western Theater]] of the [[American Civil War]].<ref name=brown36>Jerold E. Brown, ''Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Army (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001), pp. 36–37</ref> It was made up of only four [[brigade]]s and operated in [[Missouri]]. It was formed shortly after May 10, 1861 and was disbanded on August 19, 1861. The Army of the West was commanded by [[Brigadier general]] [[Nathaniel Lyon]] until his death at the [[Battle of Wilson's Creek]] on August 10, 1861.<ref name=brown36/> == Background == By the time the Civil War started, Missouri had already already been engaged in a [[border]] [[war]] between [[Free Soil Party|free-soilers]] and pro[[slavery]] forces over [[List of U.S. states|statehood]] for neighboring [[Kansas]].<ref name=mcwCWT>{{cite web|url=http://www.civilwartraveler.com/TRANS/MO/|title=Missouri Civil War|publisher=CivilWarTraveler|access-date=27 May 2016|archive-date=31 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531135730/http://www.civilwartraveler.com/TRANS/MO/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Both parties [[wikt:raid|raid]]ed both sides of the border.<ref name=mcwCWT/> There was a great deal of [[wikt:lawless|lawless]]ness and [[wikt:panic|panic]] in the [[region]].<ref name=mcwCWT/> When the Civil War started, the issue became whether Missouri would join the [[Confederacy]] or remain loyal to the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. The newly elected governor in 1860 was [[Claiborne Fox Jackson]].<ref name=Gerteis9>Louis S. Gerteis, ''The Civil War in Missouri: A Military History'' (Columbia, MO; London: University of Missouri Press, 2012), p. 9</ref> While he openly did not call for [[secession]] from the Union, he was making plans for Missouri to join the Confederacy. He knew the most important [[wikt:resource|resource]] in the state was the [[Federa