Editing David Rice Atchison (section)

==American Civil War==
Atchison and his law partner Doniphan fell out over politics in 1859–1861, disagreeing on how Missouri should proceed.  Atchison favored secession, while Doniphan was torn and would remain, for the most part, non-committal. Privately, Doniphan favored the Union, but found it difficult to oppose his friends and associates.<ref name=Muench-pp-7-8/>

During the secession crisis in Missouri at the beginning of the [[American Civil War]], Atchison sided with Missouri's pro-Confederate governor, [[Claiborne Jackson]].  He was appointed a major general in the [[Missouri State Guard]].  Atchison actively recruited State Guardsmen in northern Missouri and served with Guard commander General [[Sterling Price]] in the summer campaign of 1861.  In September 1861, Atchison led 3,500 State Guard recruits across the [[Missouri River]] to reinforce Price and defeated [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] troops that tried to block his force in the [[Action at Blue Mills Landing|Battle of Liberty]].

Atchison served in the State Guard through the end of 1861.  In March 1862, Union forces in the [[Trans-Mississippi]] theater [[Battle of Pea Ridge|won a decisive victory at Pea Ridge]] in [[Arkansas]] and secured Union control of Missouri. Atchison then resigned from the army over reported strategy arguments with Price and moved to Texas for the duration of the war.  After the war, he retired to his farm near [[Gower, Missouri|Gower]]. He denied many of his pro-slavery public statements made prior to the Civil War. Then, his retirement cottage outside of [[Plattsburg, Missouri]] burned to the ground before he died in 1886.  This entailed the complete loss of his library containing books, documents, and letters documenting his role in the Mormon War, Indian affairs, pro-slavery activities, Civil War activities, and other legislation covering his career as a lawyer, senator, and soldier.