About the Book

Geiger investigates a previously undocumented financial conspiracy at the Civil War's outset. In 1861, pro-secession politicians, bankers, and wealthy Missourians plotted to redirect funds from state banks to equip Confederate forces. The scheme collapsed, creating massive debt among pro-southern populations, particularly slaveholders.

Court-ordered forced sales of approximately 350,000 acres fundamentally transformed land ownership and eliminated Missouri's traditional aristocracy—unlike Kentucky or Maryland.

The resulting financial devastation intensified guerrilla warfare from mid-1862 onward, driving dispossessed families westward and southward. Many young men from these families joined guerrilla bands, later becoming outlaws, including Jesse James's gang. The violence so disrupted society that conditions remained unsettled for nearly two decades post-war.

The conspiracy reveals an archaic military financing system relying on private capital—the final time the U.S. employed this method, marking a pivotal shift toward federal centralization and modern administration.

Awards

• Tom Watson Brown Book Prize (2011) - Society of Civil War Historians
• Lincoln Prize Finalist - Gilder Lehrman Institute and Gettysburg College
• Francis B. Simkins Award - Southern Historical Association
• Fletcher M. Green and Charles W. Ramsdell Award - Southern Historical Association