In the summer of 1862, Confederate Lieutenant Colonel Joseph C. Porter of Lewis County recruited and harried in northeast Missouri, while Adair County farmer Captain Mathias (Tice) Cain, commanding irregulars from Schuyler County, informed Porter that he held Kirksville, then a village of 700 centered on the courthouse square. Their combined force numbered about 2000, but only about 500 were well equipped enough to fight, while fully 1000 were unarmed raw recruits. Porter arrived before noon on August 6. Union Colonel John McNeil, commanding the Northeast Division of the District of Missouri, had pursued Porter since July 29, and his forces were based in what is now Memorial Park. After an artillery barrage, Federal forces reached the edge of Kirksville about 10 a.m. The battle centered on the courthouse square, where McNeil sent in a squad that drew fire from Confederates concealed in the courthouse and nearby houses and shops. Once their positions were exposed, fighting opened in earnest, with Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer commanding the Union right wing and Major Caldwell the left. McNeil committed about 500 of his 1250 soldiers. As the two wings met, they drove the Confederates from the courthouse area, and Porter fell back behind a fence on the western edge of town. From there the Confederates poured heavy fire into McNeil's men, but the Union advance pushed that line westward while the left wing secured the southern part of Kirksville. The battle lasted about three hours, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Many residents fled beforehand, and only two civilians were killed. McNeil reported five Union soldiers killed and thirty-two wounded, while Confederate losses were 150 killed, 300 to 400 wounded, and forty-seven captured. On August 7 and 8, a number of Confederates were tried and executed for violation of parole. The day after the battle, McNeil ordered Kirksville residents to bury the Confederate dead. The battle is regarded as having consolidated Union control of Missouri.