Confederate General Sterling Price's 1864 Missouri Raid

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1. Fort Davidson State Historic Site [Battle of Pilot Knob]

The Battle of Fort Davidson, also known as the Battle of Pilot Knob, was the first full-scale engagement of Confederate General Sterling Price's raid on Missouri during the Civil War. Although outnumbered by eight-to-one, the Union soldiers managed to repulse repeated Confederate assaults on their fort before slipping away during the night of September 26, 1864. The attacking Rebels took possession of the fort the next day, but Price's waste of men, time, and ammunition dashed his hopes of seizing St. Louis for the Confederacy. The park includes monuments and a visitor's center that relate the history of the raid and the battle. Portions of the Fort Davidson earthworks remain, as does the massive crater left by Union troops when they blew up their remaining ammunition during the retreat, and one can still uncover artifacts throughout the site.

2. "Deciding Against Attack" Daughters of the Confederacy Marker (Price's Raid)

In September 1864, with the Confederacy less than a year from its surrender and the end of the Civil War, Confederate General Sterling Price embarked on an ambitious invasion of Missouri to gather new recruits, eject Union forces from the state, and install a new governor at the head of a Confederate state government in Jefferson City. As his army moved northward through Missouri, he suffered a stinging defeat (and delay) against a Union garrison at Pilot Knob. Deciding to bypass his original objective of St. Louis, Price moved directly on Jefferson City and arrived at the outskirts on October 6, 1864, to find that it had been heavily reinforced. Today, a monument dedicated in 1933 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy commemorates the "high water mark" of Price's invasion--the approximate position Confederate forces occupied when Price decided to forgo an attack on Jefferson City and turn his army westward, toward its eventual defeat in Kansas.

3. Capture of Union Troops Historical Marker; 4th Battle of Boonville (Price's Raid) 1864

This marker in front of downtown Boonville's Thespian Hall marks the location of U.S. defenders as they were captured by a larger force of Confederate raiders under the command of Sterling Price on October 16, 1864. There is also a monument in the Sunset Hill Cemetery commemorating the U.S. troops who perished. The battle was fought in a location different from the previous three Civil War battles near Boonville. This 1864 skirmish underlines the town's importance as a crucial crossroads in central Missouri during the conflict. The battle itself, albeit small by Civil War standards, was an important step in the six weeks of Confederate General Price's Missouri Expedition, during which he led an army of 12,000 in a failed bid to claim the border state for the Confederacy once and for all. Had he succeeded, it may have been a powerful political blow against the reelection of Abraham Lincoln that November, and could perhaps have led to Southern independence. The battlefield is not preserved, but other important moments in Price's Raid are well-marked.

4. Battle of Glasgow (Price's Raid)

During the final months of the Civil War, after a string of failures upon his infamous Missouri Expedition in 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price finally had a taste of victory at the Battle of Glasgow, where a detachment of his troops defeated a Union garrison and secured badly needed rifles and clothing. As he had at previous battles during the campaign, after the victory Price again tarried too long, giving the Union forces in his path to Kansas much-needed time to prepare their defenses.

5. Battle of Sedalia (Price's Raid)

Nearly a month into Confederate General Sterling Price's invasion of Missouri in 1864 toward the close of the Civil War, he was forced to turn his army westward away from the fortified Union cities of St. Louis and Jefferson City. With much of his army lacking food and weapons, he dispatched two raids on October 15 to the small towns of Glasgow and Sedalia--the former for weapons, the latter for a large supply of beef cattle and mules. Confederate victories at Glasgow and Sedalia turned out to be the high water mark for Price's Raid, as Union forces closed in and eventually destroyed his army a week later in Kansas. This would be the last time Confederate forces operated in Missouri during the war.

6. 2nd Battle of Lexington (Price's Raid)

Three years after a Civil War battle took place in Lexington in 1861, Confederate General Sterling Price returned to defeat another Union force in the city, albeit less decisively. In October 1864, a month after beginning his 12,000-man raid into Missouri, Price failed to achieve his goals of capturing St. Louis and Jefferson City. Determined to gather supplies and still score a propaganda victory over the north, Price turned west with the intention of attacking Union strongholds in Kansas. Passing through Lexington on Oct. 19, he engaged 2,000 men under Union General James Blunt in a running fight that lasted most of the day.

7. Battle of the Little Blue River (Price's Raid)

Though technically a Confederate victory, the Battle of Little Blue River proved another nail in the coffin of General Sterling Price’s cavalry raid into Union-held Missouri and Kansas in September-October of 1864. Desperate to gain a political victory and sway the outcome of the 1864 Presidential election against Abraham Lincoln, the Confederate War Department had ordered Sterling Price to seize St. Louis and Jefferson City in order to install a Southern governor in Missouri--and initially, all seemed to go well. Despite a series of victories over scattered Union garrisons, however, Price squandered valuable time and failed to meet his objectives, instead turning west to raid Kansas. At the Little Blue River, only a day’s march from the Kansas-Missouri border, a much smaller Union force fought a fierce delaying action and cost him more time, bringing Price’s 12,000-man army one day closer to annihilation.

8. 2nd Battle of Independence (Price's Raid)

One of the final engagements in Confederate General Stirling Price's 1864 raid through Missouri before his disastrous defeat at Westport, Kansas, the 2nd Battle of Independence was a fierce, all-day fight that progressed from the Little Blue River (7 miles east of the city) to the Big Blue River (several miles west). As Price moved his army southwest to avoid fighting heavily entrenched Federals on the banks of the Big Blue, Union General Alfred Pleasonton aggressively attacked his rearguard with nearly 10,000 Union cavalry. Though the battle's result was, by end of day, a tactical draw, Pleasonton nevertheless forced Price to commit a large portion of his army to protecting his retreat. A marker near the city center commemorates the fighting that took place within town boundaries, and the nearby Jackson County Courthouse served as Pleasonton's headquarters after the Confederates retreated.

9. Tour Stop 16 Byram's Ford and Big Blue Battlefield (Price's Raid and the Battle of Westport Tour) Historical Marker

A crucial chapter in both the Second Battle of Independence (Oct. 22) and the Battle of Westport (Oct. 23), this historical marker shares the history of the two days of fighting at Byram's Ford, which is now part of Kansas City's Swope Park. The battle that occurred here was also a pivotal moment in Confederate General Sterling Price's cavalry raid through Missouri in 1864. Price first used the ford to move his men and slip away from Union General Samuel Curtis' formidable defenses, and the following day Union cavalry would smash through Price's rearguard and seal the trap that would annihilate his army in the ensuing week. The marker can be found by following the trail alongside Hardesty Avenue just a few hundred feet west. Walking tours, information, and exhibits are available from the nearby Battle of Westport Visitor Center & Museum, which is contained within Big Blue Battlefield Park.

10. Tour Stop 18 Battle of Westport Historical Marker (Price's Raid) (Battle of Westport Tour)

Dedicated in 1961, this historical marker shares the pivotal moment in the Battle of Westport when General Pleasonton's forces made a successful assault on Confederate forces who had occupied this hill on the morning of October 23, 1864. After three hours of heavy fighting, Union forces took broke through Confederate lines. The Battle of Westport is widely regarded as the single most important battle of the Civil War that took place west of the Mississippi. The battle occurred in modern-day Kansas City from October 21-23, 1864, and the Confederate defeat battle was a turning point in the war in this region and marked the end of the Confederate threat in the West. As the largest battle in the West with over 30,000 combatants, the three-day battle resulted in about 1,500 deaths on each side. The scale, significance, and high casualties led to the Battle of Westport being known as the “Gettysburg of the West” among some historians.

11. Tour Stop 14 Battle of Mockbee's Farm Price's Raid (Battle of Westport Tour)

Technically only one in a series of engagements comprising the Battle of Westport, the fight at Mockbee's Farm on October 22, 1864, marked a decisive, if accidental, episode in the "Gettysburg of the West." As the right flank of the Union defenses along the Big Blue River began to collapse and retreat back to the Kansas state line, a Union militia regiment accidentally appeared in the rear of the Confederate pursuit, cutting the Rebels' assault short and giving Union forces time to recuperate and counterattack. The dramatic nature of the action at Mockbee's Farm, while part of the larger battle swirling around Byram's Ford that day, makes it one of the most memorable incidents in the climactic battle of Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition.

12. Battle of Mine Creek (Price's Raid)

The largest cavalry engagement in the West, and one of the largest during the Civil War, was fought here on October 25, 1864 at the Battle of Mine Creek. Two Union brigades of approximately 2,500 troops defeated approximately 7,000 Confederates from General Sterling Price's Army of Missouri. Price's troops had already been in full retreat after a devastating loss at Westport a few days before, and the battles of October 25 would seal the fate of his doomed expedition.

13. Battle of Marmaton River / Charlot's Farm (Price's Raid)

Confederate General Sterling Price's dramatic raid into Missouri in September-October 1864, which failed to capture St. Louis, Jefferson City, or place a Confederate governor in control of the state, came to a shattering climax at Westport on October 22-23. In full retreat southward after his defeat there, the denouement on October 25 at Mine Creek was no less devastating. After losing over a thousand men in thirty minutes, Price's army continued its retreat, and barely staved off another disaster later the same day at Marmaton River, near the Kansas-Missouri border. The actual site of the battle is still the subject of much debate. Today a marker in Missouri along Price's probably route of retreat seems to contradict many of the contemporary battle accounts, which would have placed the battle farther west.

14. Mathew H. Ritchey Home / Battles of Newtonia (Price's Raid)

This historic home was built by enslaved laborers for businessman and politician Mathew Richey. The National Register of Historic Places nomination form places the first phase of construction as occurring in 1840, and today, this neo-classical home is one of the few antebellum structures in Newtonia to have survived both Civil War battles and an 1868 fire that swept through the town. Though some additions have been made through the decades, the house retains most of its original structure and character and appears much as it did in its Civil War days. Newtonia changed hands several times during the Civil War, and Ritchey's stately house often served as headquarters for officers of either side throughout the conflict (or as a hospital, if a battle had just occurred). Confederate troops fought in Ritchey's yard and stone barn during the First Battle of Newtonia, and the house was also the scene of one of the exploits of Belle Starr, a notorious female Confederate spy. The house museum features exhibits on the life of the Ritchey family and the Civil War era, and interpretive markers tell the story of the Civil War battles, of which about 20 acres are preserved around the house.

This Tour is a Digital Story Map.

Confederate General Sterling Price's 1864 Missouri Raid

Created by Kyle Warmack on October 26th 2017, 5:19:53 pm.

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Description

This educational trail can be experienced from any location and takes users along a chronological route of Sterling Price's Confederate invasion through Missouri and Kansas. The raid occurred from September to October in 1864 and was intended to rally Confederate sympathizers and turn the state to the Confederacy. Price hoped to install a Confederate governor at the head of a new pro-Southern state of Missouri. The loss of a Border State at this time would have been a significant tactical victory and likely would have derailed Lincoln's reelection prospects. Price's ragtag invasion fought across the entire state and into Kansas before being utterly destroyed. Price lost over half of his 12,000 men over the month-long campaign, and the defeat of his army ended all Confederate ambitions in the Trans-Mississippi theater.

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Confederate General Sterling Price's 1864 Missouri Raid

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