Gallery: Actions in the fall of 1861 and early 1862
Sketch of Belmont
This report by Captain Charles W. Frazer includes a sketch of the battle lines at Belmont, Mississippi County, Missouri; the Battle of Belmont was fought on November 7, 1861, and the drawing is dated “Nov9/61.” Frazer describes the battle with notes in the center, e.g., “The enemy charged from line No. 2……”
The Battle of Belmont was General Ulysses S. Grant’s first battle. Grant crossed the Mississippi River from Illinois and overran the Confederate camp at Belmont, destroying it. The Confederates quickly re-organized and forced Grant to retreat.
The battle was a relatively minor one, but with little else happening at the time it received considerable press attention.
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 32505
