Springfield, Missouri

===Civil War===
By 1861, Springfield's population had grown to approximately 2,000, and it had become an important commercial hub. In the late 1850s, telegraph lines, previously connected only as far as St. Louis, reached Springfield. News from points further west was brought to Springfield overland. It was sent by telegraph to what was then called the New York Associated Press.

At the start of the [[American Civil War]], Springfield was divided in its loyalty. It had been settled by people from both the North and South, including slaveholders. It also attracted many [[German Americans in the American Civil War|German immigrants]] in the mid-19th century, who tended to support the Union.

The Union and Confederate armies both recognized the city's strategic importance and sought to control it. They fought the [[Battle of Wilson's Creek]] on August 10, 1861, a few miles southwest of town.<ref name=":0" /> The battle was a Confederate victory, and [[Nathaniel Lyon]] was killed here, the first Union General to die in the Civil War. Union troops retreated to the nearby town of [[Lebanon, Missouri|Lebanon]] to regroup. When they returned, they found that most of the Confederate army had withdrawn.<ref name=":2" />

On October 25, 1861, Union Major [[Charles Zagonyi]] led an attack against the remaining Confederates in the area, in a battle known as the [[Battle of Springfield I|First Battle of Springfield]], or Zagonyi's Charge. Zagonyi's men removed the Confederate flag from Springfield's public square and returned to camp. It was the only Union victory in southwestern Missouri in 1861.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thelibrary.org/lochist/historicalsites/17.cfm|title=Zagonyi's Charge|website=thelibrary.org|access-date=September 6, 2017}}</ref> The increased military activity in the area set the stage for the [[Battle of Pea Ridge]] in northern Arkansas in March 1862.<ref name=":2" />

On January 8, 1863, Confederate forces under General [[John S. Marmaduke]] advanced to take control of Springfield and an urban fight ensued. But that evening, the Confederates withdrew. This became known as the [[Battle of Springfield II|Second Battle of Springfield]]. Marmaduke sent a message to the Union forces asking that Confederate casualties have a proper burial. The city remained under Union control for the remainder of the war.<ref name=":2" /> The US army used Springfield as a supply base and central point of operation for military activities in the area.<ref name=":0" />

Promptly after the Civil War ended on July 21, 1865, [[Wild Bill Hickok]] shot and killed [[Davis Tutt]] in a [[Wild Bill Hickok – Davis Tutt shootout|shootout]] over a disagreement about a debt Tutt claimed Hickok owed him. During a poker game at the former Lyon House Hotel, in response to the disagreement over the amount, Tutt had taken Hickok's watch, which Hickok immediately demanded be returned. Hickok warned that Tutt had better not be seen wearing that watch, then spotted him wearing it in Park Central Square, prompting the gunfight.

On January 25, 1866, Hickok was still in Springfield when he witnessed a Springfield police officer, John Orr, shoot and kill James Coleman after Coleman interfered with the arrest of Coleman's friend Bingham, who was drunk and disorderly. Hickok provided testimony in the case. Orr was arrested, released on bail, and immediately fled the country. He was never brought to trial or heard from again.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thelibrary.org/lochist/history/holcombe/grch30pt1.html|title = History of Greene County, Missouri}}</ref>