A skirmish fought on February 19, 1862, marked the only confrontation between Union and Confederate regular troops in Howell County during the Civil War. Six Confederate infantrymen were killed, eight were wounded, and 40 were captured. Union forces reported no casualties.
At the time of the battle, West Plains had a population of approximately 150 residents, and the courthouse was a simple log structure. Believing Confederate troops were concealed inside the building, Union forces positioned a mountain howitzer and opened fire. Official reports stated that one round of canister “covered the entire front with bullet-holes,” and that a shell “passed through both walls and three partitions and then exploded.”
While several other buildings stood in town during the skirmish, guerrilla fighters burned West Plains to the ground in 1863. No structures from that period survived.
Today, a marker on the west side of the courthouse lawn within the West Plains Courthouse Square Historic District commemorates the event.