Missouri General John S. Phelps CS 4 5/8” X 2 3/8” "John S. Phelps Springfield, Mo.”
Phelps was a
U.S. Congressman from Missouri. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861,
Phelps returned to Springfield and enlisted as a private in Captain Coleman's
Company of Missouri Infantry (Union). He was promoted to lieutenant
colonel on October 2, 1861 and to colonel December 19, 1861.
Following the Union defeat at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Mary Phelps
cared for the body of General Nathaniel Lyon, killed during the battle, while
her husband retreated with the Union army to Rolla. By special arrangement with
President Abraham Lincoln, Phelps organized an infantry regiment which
bore his name, Phelps’s Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry. Phelps led his
regiment in the fierce fighting at Peas Ridge in Arkansas. He was mustered
out May 13, 1862. In July 1862, he was appointed by President Lincoln as
Military Governor of Arkansas, but he resigned the position due to ill health.
Post war he became the 23rd Governor of Missouri.