In Springfield, Monument Honors Major Zagonyi’s Civil War Charge

KSMU | By Josh Conaway

Published October 23, 2019 at 4:46 PM CDT

This old rendering of the scene of Zagonyi's Charge identifies Springfield, Missouri as the site of the skirmish.

The Springfield-Greene County Park Board will dedicate a memorial to a Civil War Union officer Friday in a ceremony open to the public.

Listen to the audio for the story here.

The dedication is to remember Zagonyi’s Charge, an offensive against Confederate forces at Springfield in October, 1861.Greg Wolk coordinates history programs for the Missouri Humanities Council.

He says it was the first cavalry charge of the Civil War, led by a Hungarian-born Union major, Charles Zagonyi. He says Zagonyi was part of a larger force to capture Springfield, which was in Confederate hands after the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in August, 1861. Zagonyi’s cavalry rode ahead to attack secessionist forces.

“He sent several troops of cavalry actually, to Springfield, and they found the people guarding the town and they attacked them over there by Zagonyi Park,” Wolk told KSMU.

The attack was a Union success, and the Confederate forces scattered with minimal losses for Zagonyi’s troops. Though this was a victory for the Union, the secessionists were not a significant force to begin with. Nevertheless, his charge inspired Unionists throughout the country, especially in the wake of their string of defeats in 1861.

“Certainly in the national press, the Union cavalry who made the charge were celebrated for a tremendous victory,” Wolk says.

The Springfield-Greene County Park Board is dedicating a monument to Zagonyi. A monument has actually existed since 1931, first commissioned by the University Club. Jenny Filmer Edwards, a spokeswoman for the park board, says that monument has been moved to several locations around Springfield. Now, it will rest in the park that bears his name.

“Concurrently, the [Westside Neighborhood Betterment] Association also had an idea to relocate it to Zagonyi Park, and it seemed to make sense to everyone that that is the appropriate place for a Civil War historical marker,” says Edwards.

The ceremony will take place on Friday at 4 at Zagonyi Park, which is located at 720 S Park Ave. That’s just south of Mount Vernon Street and West of Kansas Expressway.

The Springfield-Greene County Park Board says in the event of severe weather, updates will be posted on the park board's Facebook and Twitter accounts.