Despite achieving several early victories, Price was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Westport by Union forces under Major-General Samuel R. Curtis in late October. He suffered further reverses at the hands of Union cavalry under Major-General Alfred Pleasonton at the Battle of Mine Creek, Kansas, forcing him to retreat back into Arkansas. Price's Missouri Expedition proved to be the last significant Southern operation west of the Mississippi River. Its failure bolstered confidence in an ultimate Union victory in the war, thereby contributing to President Abraham Lincoln's re-election. It also cemented Federal control over the hotly contested border state of Missouri.
After three years of bloody fighting, Confederate authorities were becoming desperate as the U.S. presidential election approached during the fall of 1864. The Union controlled the key western rivers and cities, Sherman was moving through Georgia, and Lee was tied down to the defense of Richmond. With foreign recognition now hopeless, Abraham Lincoln's re-election would be disastrous for their cause.
The strategic situation in the west in 1864.
Earlier that summer, the Confederacy had ordered General E. Kirby Smith, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, to send a corps under Lieutenant-General Richard Taylor across the Mississippi River to assist in the defense of Atlanta and Mobile. Such a crossing was impossible because of Union gunboat patrols on the river and Taylor was assigned to other duties.[1]
Inspired by preparations to divert Union attention from Taylor's crossing, Smith came up with another plan. He would recapture Missouri for the Confederacy, in the hope that it would help turn Northern opinion against Lincoln. He ordered Missouri-native Sterling Price to invade his home state and advance on St. Louis, capturing the city and its military arsenals. If St. Louis was too heavily defended, Price was to turn west and capture Jefferson City, the state capital. This would strike a major psychological blow, and provide justification for the inclusion in the Confederate flag of a star for Missouri. Price was then told to cross into Kansas and turn south through the Indian Territory, "sweeping that country of its mules, horses, cattle, and military supplies".[2]
Price assembled a force he named the Army of Missouri, consisting of 12,000 men and fourteen artillery pieces.[3] His army was divided into three divisions under Maj. Gen. James F. Fagan, Maj. Gen. John S. Marmaduke, and Brig. Gen. Joseph O. "Jo" Shelby. However, the infantry units originally assigned to Price were ordered to the Western Theater, changing his mission from an full-fledged invasion into a cavalry raid.[4]
Price's men were a mixture of the best and the worst, a full quarter of them being deserters who had been returned to duty.[5] Hundreds of Price's men marched barefoot, and most lacked basic equipment such as canteens and cartridge boxes. Many carried jugs for water and kept their ammunition in shirt and pants pockets.[5] Nevertheless, Price hoped the people of Missouri would rally to his side. In this he proved to be mistaken, as most Missourians did not wish to become involved in the conflict. Only mounted bands of pro-Confederate guerrillas joined his army, perhaps as many as 6,000 altogether.
The Union Army in Missouri included thousands of Missouri State Militia cavalry, which would play a key role in defeating Price, together with the XVI Corps of Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith. These were augmented by Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton's cavalry division, detached from William S. Rosecrans's Department of Missouri. As Price commenced his campaign, Smith's corps was on naval transports leaving Cairo, Illinois to join Gen. William T. Sherman's army in Georgia; Rosecrans requested these troops be assigned to Missouri to deal with the threat, and Army Chief of Staff Henry W. Halleck immediately complied. By mid-October, more troops had arrived from the Kansas border under Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, Price's old adversary at the Battle of Pea Ridge and commander of the newly activated Army of the Border. Curtis commanded the divisions of Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt (cavalry), Maj. Gen. George W. Dietzler (Kansas Militia), Pleasonton's cavalry, and two infantry divisions from Smith's corps under Colonels Joseph J. Woods and David C. Moore—about 35,000 men in all.[6] The Confederates were already greatly outnumbered.
Battles
Map of Price's Raid
Price departed on his horse, Bucephalus, from Camden, Arkansas, on August 28, 1864. The following day he linked up with two divisions in Princeton, and then a third in Pocahontas on September 13. His combined force entered Missouri on September 19. Although Missouri pro-Union militia skirmished with the invading force almost daily, Price's first full battle did not come until September 27, at Pilot Knob, southwest of St. Louis in Iron County.[3]
Price's Missouri Expedition included the following battles:
Having learned of Price's entry into Missouri, Union Brigadier General Thomas Ewing, Jr. moved down the railroad with reinforcements from St. Louis to Ironton to retard Price's advance. Price attacked Ewing's force on the morning of September 27, driving the Federals back into Fort Davidson, a redoubt of earthworks and wooden palisades near a hill called Pilot Knob. After maneuvering elements of his army onto the hills surrounding the fort, Price launched repeated assaults in the late afternoon hours, suffering horrific casualties. During the night, the Federals quietly evacuated the fort and then blew up its powder magazine with a timed fuse. Price had taken the fort, but he had paid a high price in lives and ammunition, giving the Union forces the time necessary to concentrate and oppose his expedition, while gaining little of any lasting military value.[7][8]
That same day, 130 miles to the northwest, a band of pro-Confederate guerrillas led by William "Bloody Bill" Anderson sacked the town of Centralia, executing 24 unarmed Union soldiers in the infamous Centralia Massacre. Anderson, an associate of the notorious bushwhacker Col. William C. Quantrill, was accompanied by Frank and Jesse James.[9] In response to these events XVI Corps now moved to St. Louis, reinforced by Pleasonton. Seeing that his primary target of St. Louis was too strongly defended to take, Price turned west toward Jefferson City.[10] He eventually discovered, however, that the capital was also too heavily fortified, and he bypassed it and continued west toward Kansas City, Missouri.[11]
Price sent a detachment under Generals Shelby and John Bullock Clark, Jr. to Glasgow to capture weapons and military supplies said to be in an arms warehouse there. The Confederate artillery opened fire before dawn on October 15, and Shelby's horse soldiers advanced on Glasgow, forcing the defenders back toward their fortifications on Hereford Hill, where they formed a defensive line. Convinced he could not withstand another attack, Union Colonel Chester Harding surrendered about 1:30 p.m. Harding had been able to destroy some military stores, but Price's men located muskets, overcoats, and army horses. The Confederates rested in town for three days before rejoining the main column marching on Kansas City. This victory and the captured supplies boosted the morale of Price's army, but Price's delaying at Glasgow, combined with his slow progress along the Missouri River, gave his enemies enough time to unite their forces and to decide how to defeat Price's Confederates.[12][13]
As Price's army continued to creep slowly west, Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, commanding the Department of the Missouri, proposed a pincer movement to surround and trap his enemy. However, he was unable to contact Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, commander of the Department of Kansas, to formalize the plan. In any event, Curtis was having problems of his own, since many of his men were Kansas militia and they refused to serve in Missouri. A force of 2,000 under Major General James G. Blunt finally set out for Lexington, Missouri, about 30 miles (48 km) east of Kansas City. On October 19, Price's army approached Lexington, colliding with Union scouts and pickets at about 2:00 p.m. The Confederates quickly forced them back, then engaged the main Federal force. The Union troops resisted for a time, but Price's men finally drove them through the town to the western outskirts, pursuing them along the Independence Road until nightfall. Without Curtis's force, Rosecrans could not stop Price's army, but he did retard their sluggish march. Blunt also gained valuable information on the size and disposition of Price's army.[14]
On October 20, Blunt's retreating troops arrived on the Little Blue River, 8 miles (13 km) east of Independence. The Union force turned to engage the Confederates once again, using a strong defensive position on the west bank. However, Curtis ordered Blunt to return to Independence, leaving only a brigade under Colonel Thomas Moonlight on the Little Blue. The next day, Curtis changed his mind and ordered Blunt to take his volunteers back to the river. As he approached the stream, Blunt found that Moonlight's brigade had engaged Price's advance guard at sunup, burning the bridge as they had previously been ordered. Price's main force had arrived and was fiercely engaging Moonlight's men, who stubbornly guarded every ford in the area. Blunt immediately attacked, trying to drive Price back beyond the defensive positions he hoped to recover. A five-hour battle took place, in which the Union troops would force the Confederates to fall back, entrenching themselves behind rock walls, and await an inevitable counterattack. The outnumbered Federals compelled their enemy to fight for every inch of ground, but Confederate numeric superiority eventually forced the Yankees to retreat. The focus of the battle shifted to Independence itself.[15][16]
As Blunt's forces at the Little Blue withdrew westward toward Kansas City, they passed through Independence. Here Union rearguard units attempted to cover their retreat by engaging Price's oncoming troops in the city streets. Brisk fighting raged through the town all afternoon, with the Federals slowly being pushed back. On the night of October 21 Price camped along an unfinished railroad cut just west of Independence, having taken the city itself. However, he was himself being pursued by 10,000 Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, who caught up with Price in Independence at dawn the following day. Pleasonton crossed the Little Blue and attacked the city from the northeast, thus hitting Price in his rear as he undertook to continue his westward march. Two of Fagan's brigades were mauled by the attacking Federals, being pushed back through the city toward the west where the main Federal force lay. Another Confederate brigade attempted to stem the onslaught on the grounds of what is now the Community of Christ's Independence Temple, but was practically annihilated by Pleasonton's force. Nevertheless, a decisive victory eluded the Union in Independence. Marmaduke's division engaged Pleasonton about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of town, managing to push the Federals back and hold them until the morning of the 23rd. The focus of activity now shifted westward from Independence to Westport, in modern Kansas City.[17]
Byram's Ford, September 2007The Battle of Byram's Ford comprised two separate skirmishes, one fought on the 22nd of October, and the other the next day.
As Price neared Kansas City, he learned that General Curtis' Federal Army of the Border had assembled in and around Westport, blocking his way west. Furthermore, Pleasonton's cavalry division was pressing Price's rear, being heavily engaged with elements of his force in Independence on the 22nd (see above). Price had nearly 500 wagons in his train, and he required a good ford over the Big Blue River to enable the safe passage of his supplies. Byram's Ford was the best in the area, and thus became a strategic point during the fighting that was about to take place around Westport. On October 22, Blunt's Union division held a defensive position on the Big Blue's west bank. Around 10:00 a.m., parts of Shelby's division conducted a diversionary frontal attack on Blunt's men. The rest of Shelby's men flanked Blunt's hasty defenses, forcing the Federals to retire to Westport. Price's wagon train and about 5,000 head of cattle then crossed the Big Blue River at Byram's Ford and headed south toward Little Santa Fe and temporary safety.[18]
The second skirmish at Byram's Ford took place on the 23rd, forming a part of the decisive Battle of Westport, which was raging nearby. Having dislodged Blunt's division the day before, Confederates under Marmaduke now held the west bank of the Big Blue to prevent Pleasonton from attacking Price's rear. The Northern general began his assault on Byram's Ford around 8 a.m., and initially the Confederates held their own. One of the Union brigade commanders, Brigadier General Egbert B. Brown, stalled his attack and was arrested by Pleasonton for disobeying orders. Another brigade commander, Colonel Edward F. Winslow, was wounded and succeeded by Lt. Col. Frederick Benteen, who later rode to fame at the Little Bighorn. Despite these setbacks, Federal troops gained the west bank by 11 a.m. and Marmaduke retired. Price now faced two Federal armies, one to his front and one to his rear, each of which outnumbered his beleaguered force. The outcome of the Battle of Westport was sealed, although the fighting would continue until that evening.[19]
Spurning the idea of any retreat southwards, Price decided that he would deal with Curtis and Pleasonton by attacking them one at a time. Pleasonton was coming hard after the previous day's fighting in Independence, so Price decided to strike Curtis' Army of the Border at Westport first, then turn to deal with Pleasonton in his rear. However Curtis held strong defensive positions and despite numerous charges during the four-hour battle, Price was unable to break the Union line. Once Pleasonton crossed the Big Blue River at Byram's Ford, Price's fate was sealed. His army retreated south through Kansas toward Arkansas, pursued by Pleasonton's cavalry; it would never recover. This battle, known afterwards as "the Gettysburg of the West", effectively ended Price's campaign and all remaining Confederate hopes west of the Mississippi River.[20]
Three battles occurred within several hours of each other on October 25th, the first of which was the battle of Marais des Cygnes.
With Price now in headlong retreat, Pleasonton pursued him into Kansas. He caught up with the Confederates as they camped on the banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near Trading Post in Linn County, Kansas. After an artillery bombardment that began at 4:00 a.m., Pleasonton's men launched a furious assault. Price ordered his troops to cross the swollen river, leaving Fagan to hold off the Federals until he could get his wagon train across. Although the Union captured two cannon and several prisoners, they were unable to prevent the escape of Price's force. Pleasonton continued his pursuit of Price, catching up with him again later that morning at Mine Creek.[21]
About 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Trading Post, the brigades of Col. Frederick W. Benteen and Col. John Philips of Pleasonton's division, overtook Price's Confederates as they were crossing Mine Creek. The Southerners had been stalled as their wagons crossed the swollen ford, and they formed their line of battle on the north side of Mine Creek. Although outnumbered, the Federals commenced a mounted attack, led by the 4th Iowa Cavalry, which one participant described as bursting upon the Confederates "like a thunderbolt", causing Price's line to disintegrate "like a row of bricks".[22] Superior Union firepower and the ferocity of their attack made up for their inferior numbers, and Pleasonton's cavalry forced Price to retreat once more. Approximately 600 of Price's men and two of his generals, Marmaduke and Brig. Gen. William L. Cabell, were captured, together with six cannon.[23][24]
Price continued his cartage towards Fort Scott, Kansas. In the late afternoon of October 25, his supply train encountered difficulties crossing the Marmiton River ford. Just as at Mine Creek earlier that afternoon, Price had to make another stand. Brig. Gen. John McNeil, commanding two brigades of Pleasonton's cavalry, engaged troops that Price and his officers had rallied from the earlier battles, including a sizable contingent of unarmed men. Observing the large Confederate force and not knowing that many were unarmed, McNeil refrained from an all-out assault. After about two hours of skirmishing Price recommenced his retreat, while McNeil could not mount an effective pursuit. Price's army was now utterly broken; it was simply a question of whether he could escape, and how many men he could successfully evacuate to friendly territory.[25]
The tattered remnants of Price's army stopped to rest about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Newtonia, Missouri. Soon afterward, Blunt's Union cavalry surprised the Confederates and engaged them. With many of Price's troops in pell-mell retreat, Joseph Shelby's division—including his Iron Brigade—rode to the front, dismounted, and engaged the Federals while the remaining Southerners retreated towards the Indian Territory. Brigadier General John Sanborn later appeared with Union reinforcements, convincing Shelby to retire. Union troops had once again forced the Confederates to retreat, but failed to destroy or capture them. This was the final battle in Price's Missouri campaign.[26]
Hoping to avoid Fort Smith, Arkansas, Price swung west into the Indian Territory and Texas before returning to Arkansas on December 2. He had lost more than half of his original force of 12,000, including thousands of the guerrillas who joined him. He reported to Kirby Smith that he "marched 1,434 miles (2,308 km), fought 43 battles and skirmishes, captured and paroled over 3,000 Federal officers and men, captured 18 pieces of artillery ... and destroyed Missouri property ... of $10,000,000 in value."[27] Nevertheless, Price's Missouri Expedition was a total failure and contributed, together with Union successes in Virginia and Georgia, to the re-election of President Lincoln.
A second unintended consequence of Price's Missouri Expedition was that it had largely cleared Missouri of the pro-Confederate guerrillas who belonged to no one's army, since almost all of those who had joined him were either killed or followed him out of the state. Price's Missouri Expedition proved to be the final Confederate offensive in the Trans-Mississippi region during the war.
Retrospective assessment
In his 2004 paper Assessing Compound Warfare During Price's Raid, written as a thesis for the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Major Dale E. Davis postulates that Price's Missouri Expedition failed primarily due to his inability to properly employ the principles of "compound warfare." This requires an inferior power to effectively use regular and irregular forces in concert (as was done by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong against the French and Americans during the Vietnam War) to defeat a superior army. He also blames Price's slow rate of movement during his campaign, and the close proximity of Confederate irregulars to his regular force, for this outcome.[28]
Major Davis observes that by wasting valuable time, ammunition and men in fairly meaningless assaults on Fort Davidson, Glasgow, Sedalia and Boonville, Price gave Union General Rosecrans time to organize an effective response he might not otherwise have had. Furthermore, he says, Price's insistence on guarding an ever-growing wagon train of looted military supplies and other items ultimately became "an albatross to [his] withdrawal."[29] Price, wrote Davis, ought to have used Confederate bushwhackers to harass Federal formations, forcing his Union foe to send large numbers of troops out to pursue them over wide ranges of territory. This would have reduced the number of effectives available to fight against Price's main force. Instead, Price kept many guerrillas close to his army and even incorporated some into his ranks, which sharply reduced the value of their mobility and small, independent formations. This allowed the Federal generals to concentrate a force large enough to trap and defeat Price at Westport, which ended his campaign, forced him to retreat, and crushed one of the Confederacy's last hopes in the Civil War.[30]
^ abOfficial Report of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price June 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 2009-11-27.
^Davis, Dale E. Assessing Compound Warfare During Price's Raid. Ft. Leavenworth: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2004, pg. 46.
^ abThe Battle of Pilot Knob February 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Section "The Ragged Assembly". Publication of Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Monnett, Howard N. Action Before Westport: 1864 (Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado), 1995 Revised Edition. See also The Western Theater and Price's Raid, from Wichita State University. Retrieved on 2009-11-30. A unit-by-unit breakdown of this force can be found in the Wikipedia article Westport Union order of battle.
^Battle of Pilot Knob February 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved on 2009-11-28.
^Ft. Davidson. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^The Centralia Massacre and Battle 2009-04-13 at the Wayback Machine. Mid-Missouri Civil War Roundtable. Retrieved on 2009-11-29. See also Davis, pp. 40–41.
^Glasgow. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Report of Cpt. George A. Hollaway, U.S. Army on the Battle at Glasgow. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Lexington. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29. See also Davis, pp. 61–62.
^Little Blue River (Westport). Retrieved on 2009-11-26. See also Little Blue River. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Independence. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 11 July 2008. See also Davis, pp. 64, 67–68.
^Davis, pp. 65–67. See also Byram's Ford. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Davis, pp. 69, 71–72. See also Byram's Ford. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Davis, pp. 69–73. See also Westport. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Marais des Cygnes. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Scott, William Forse. The Story of a Cavalry Regiment: The Career of the Fourth Iowa Veteran Volunteers from Kansas to Georgia (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons), 1893, pp. 250–301.
^Davis, pg. 74. See also Mine Creek. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^The Battle of Mine Creek. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Marmiton River. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Newtonia. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
^Official Report of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price June 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Washington, Arkansas: December 28, 1864.
Lause, Mark A. (2011). Price's Lost Campaign: The 1864 Invasion of Missouri (Shades of Blue and Gray). Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press. ISBN978-0826220332. excerpt and text search
Lause, Mark A. (2014). The Collapse of Price's Raid: The Beginning of the End in Civil War Missouri (Shades of Blue and Gray). Columbia and London: University of Missouri Prss. ISBN978-0826220257.
Eicher, David J., The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN0-684-84944-5.
Forsyth, Michael J. The Great Missouri Raid: Sterling Price and the Last Major Confederate Campaign in Northern Territory (McFarland, 2015) viii, 282 pp.
Geiger, Mark W. (2010). Financial Fraud and Guerrilla Violence in Missouri's Civil War, 1861–1865. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN978-0-300-15151-0.
Sinisi, Kyle S. The Last Hurrah: Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition of 1864 (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.) xviii, 432 pp.
Smith, Ronald D., Thomas Ewing Jr., Frontier Lawyer and Civil War General. (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008), ISBN978-0-8262-1806-3.
External links
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price, missouri, expedition, august, december, 1864, also, known, price, raid, price, missouri, raid, unsuccessful, confederate, cavalry, raid, through, arkansas, missouri, kansas, trans, mississippi, theater, american, civil, confederate, major, general, ster. Price s Missouri Expedition August 29 December 2 1864 also known as Price s Raid or Price s Missouri Raid was an unsuccessful Confederate cavalry raid through Arkansas Missouri and Kansas in the Trans Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War Led by Confederate Major General Sterling Price the campaign s intention was to recapture Missouri and renew the Confederate initiative in the larger conflict Price s Missouri ExpeditionPart of the American Civil WarThe Price Raid by Samuel J ReaderOperational scopeStrategic offensiveLocationArkansas Missouri Kansas Indian Territory and TexasCommanded byMaj Gen Sterling PriceDateAugust 29 December 2 1864Executed byArmy of MissouriOutcomeUnion victory Despite achieving several early victories Price was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Westport by Union forces under Major General Samuel R Curtis in late October He suffered further reverses at the hands of Union cavalry under Major General Alfred Pleasonton at the Battle of Mine Creek Kansas forcing him to retreat back into Arkansas Price s Missouri Expedition proved to be the last significant Southern operation west of the Mississippi River Its failure bolstered confidence in an ultimate Union victory in the war thereby contributing to President Abraham Lincoln s re election It also cemented Federal control over the hotly contested border state of Missouri Contents 1 Background 2 Opposing forces 3 Battles 4 Casualties 5 Aftermath 5 1 Retrospective assessment 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksBackground EditAfter three years of bloody fighting Confederate authorities were becoming desperate as the U S presidential election approached during the fall of 1864 The Union controlled the key western rivers and cities Sherman was moving through Georgia and Lee was tied down to the defense of Richmond With foreign recognition now hopeless Abraham Lincoln s re election would be disastrous for their cause The strategic situation in the west in 1864 Earlier that summer the Confederacy had ordered General E Kirby Smith commander of the Trans Mississippi Department to send a corps under Lieutenant General Richard Taylor across the Mississippi River to assist in the defense of Atlanta and Mobile Such a crossing was impossible because of Union gunboat patrols on the river and Taylor was assigned to other duties 1 Inspired by preparations to divert Union attention from Taylor s crossing Smith came up with another plan He would recapture Missouri for the Confederacy in the hope that it would help turn Northern opinion against Lincoln He ordered Missouri native Sterling Price to invade his home state and advance on St Louis capturing the city and its military arsenals If St Louis was too heavily defended Price was to turn west and capture Jefferson City the state capital This would strike a major psychological blow and provide justification for the inclusion in the Confederate flag of a star for Missouri Price was then told to cross into Kansas and turn south through the Indian Territory sweeping that country of its mules horses cattle and military supplies 2 Opposing forces EditKey commanders Maj Gen Sterling Price CSA Maj Gen Samuel R Curtis USAPrice assembled a force he named the Army of Missouri consisting of 12 000 men and fourteen artillery pieces 3 His army was divided into three divisions under Maj Gen James F Fagan Maj Gen John S Marmaduke and Brig Gen Joseph O Jo Shelby However the infantry units originally assigned to Price were ordered to the Western Theater changing his mission from an full fledged invasion into a cavalry raid 4 Price s men were a mixture of the best and the worst a full quarter of them being deserters who had been returned to duty 5 Hundreds of Price s men marched barefoot and most lacked basic equipment such as canteens and cartridge boxes Many carried jugs for water and kept their ammunition in shirt and pants pockets 5 Nevertheless Price hoped the people of Missouri would rally to his side In this he proved to be mistaken as most Missourians did not wish to become involved in the conflict Only mounted bands of pro Confederate guerrillas joined his army perhaps as many as 6 000 altogether The Union Army in Missouri included thousands of Missouri State Militia cavalry which would play a key role in defeating Price together with the XVI Corps of Maj Gen Andrew J Smith These were augmented by Maj Gen Alfred Pleasonton s cavalry division detached from William S Rosecrans s Department of Missouri As Price commenced his campaign Smith s corps was on naval transports leaving Cairo Illinois to join Gen William T Sherman s army in Georgia Rosecrans requested these troops be assigned to Missouri to deal with the threat and Army Chief of Staff Henry W Halleck immediately complied By mid October more troops had arrived from the Kansas border under Maj Gen Samuel R Curtis Price s old adversary at the Battle of Pea Ridge and commander of the newly activated Army of the Border Curtis commanded the divisions of Maj Gen James G Blunt cavalry Maj Gen George W Dietzler Kansas Militia Pleasonton s cavalry and two infantry divisions from Smith s corps under Colonels Joseph J Woods and David C Moore about 35 000 men in all 6 The Confederates were already greatly outnumbered Battles Edit Map of Price s RaidPrice departed on his horse Bucephalus from Camden Arkansas on August 28 1864 The following day he linked up with two divisions in Princeton and then a third in Pocahontas on September 13 His combined force entered Missouri on September 19 Although Missouri pro Union militia skirmished with the invading force almost daily Price s first full battle did not come until September 27 at Pilot Knob southwest of St Louis in Iron County 3 Price s Missouri Expedition included the following battles Fort Davidson September 27 1864 Having learned of Price s entry into Missouri Union Brigadier General Thomas Ewing Jr moved down the railroad with reinforcements from St Louis to Ironton to retard Price s advance Price attacked Ewing s force on the morning of September 27 driving the Federals back into Fort Davidson a redoubt of earthworks and wooden palisades near a hill called Pilot Knob After maneuvering elements of his army onto the hills surrounding the fort Price launched repeated assaults in the late afternoon hours suffering horrific casualties During the night the Federals quietly evacuated the fort and then blew up its powder magazine with a timed fuse Price had taken the fort but he had paid a high price in lives and ammunition giving the Union forces the time necessary to concentrate and oppose his expedition while gaining little of any lasting military value 7 8 That same day 130 miles to the northwest a band of pro Confederate guerrillas led by William Bloody Bill Anderson sacked the town of Centralia executing 24 unarmed Union soldiers in the infamous Centralia Massacre Anderson an associate of the notorious bushwhacker Col William C Quantrill was accompanied by Frank and Jesse James 9 In response to these events XVI Corps now moved to St Louis reinforced by Pleasonton Seeing that his primary target of St Louis was too strongly defended to take Price turned west toward Jefferson City 10 He eventually discovered however that the capital was also too heavily fortified and he bypassed it and continued west toward Kansas City Missouri 11 Glasgow October 15 Price sent a detachment under Generals Shelby and John Bullock Clark Jr to Glasgow to capture weapons and military supplies said to be in an arms warehouse there The Confederate artillery opened fire before dawn on October 15 and Shelby s horse soldiers advanced on Glasgow forcing the defenders back toward their fortifications on Hereford Hill where they formed a defensive line Convinced he could not withstand another attack Union Colonel Chester Harding surrendered about 1 30 p m Harding had been able to destroy some military stores but Price s men located muskets overcoats and army horses The Confederates rested in town for three days before rejoining the main column marching on Kansas City This victory and the captured supplies boosted the morale of Price s army but Price s delaying at Glasgow combined with his slow progress along the Missouri River gave his enemies enough time to unite their forces and to decide how to defeat Price s Confederates 12 13 Lexington October 19 As Price s army continued to creep slowly west Maj Gen William S Rosecrans commanding the Department of the Missouri proposed a pincer movement to surround and trap his enemy However he was unable to contact Maj Gen Samuel R Curtis commander of the Department of Kansas to formalize the plan In any event Curtis was having problems of his own since many of his men were Kansas militia and they refused to serve in Missouri A force of 2 000 under Major General James G Blunt finally set out for Lexington Missouri about 30 miles 48 km east of Kansas City On October 19 Price s army approached Lexington colliding with Union scouts and pickets at about 2 00 p m The Confederates quickly forced them back then engaged the main Federal force The Union troops resisted for a time but Price s men finally drove them through the town to the western outskirts pursuing them along the Independence Road until nightfall Without Curtis s force Rosecrans could not stop Price s army but he did retard their sluggish march Blunt also gained valuable information on the size and disposition of Price s army 14 Little Blue October 21 On October 20 Blunt s retreating troops arrived on the Little Blue River 8 miles 13 km east of Independence The Union force turned to engage the Confederates once again using a strong defensive position on the west bank However Curtis ordered Blunt to return to Independence leaving only a brigade under Colonel Thomas Moonlight on the Little Blue The next day Curtis changed his mind and ordered Blunt to take his volunteers back to the river As he approached the stream Blunt found that Moonlight s brigade had engaged Price s advance guard at sunup burning the bridge as they had previously been ordered Price s main force had arrived and was fiercely engaging Moonlight s men who stubbornly guarded every ford in the area Blunt immediately attacked trying to drive Price back beyond the defensive positions he hoped to recover A five hour battle took place in which the Union troops would force the Confederates to fall back entrenching themselves behind rock walls and await an inevitable counterattack The outnumbered Federals compelled their enemy to fight for every inch of ground but Confederate numeric superiority eventually forced the Yankees to retreat The focus of the battle shifted to Independence itself 15 16 Independence October 21 22 As Blunt s forces at the Little Blue withdrew westward toward Kansas City they passed through Independence Here Union rearguard units attempted to cover their retreat by engaging Price s oncoming troops in the city streets Brisk fighting raged through the town all afternoon with the Federals slowly being pushed back On the night of October 21 Price camped along an unfinished railroad cut just west of Independence having taken the city itself However he was himself being pursued by 10 000 Union cavalry under Maj Gen Alfred Pleasonton who caught up with Price in Independence at dawn the following day Pleasonton crossed the Little Blue and attacked the city from the northeast thus hitting Price in his rear as he undertook to continue his westward march Two of Fagan s brigades were mauled by the attacking Federals being pushed back through the city toward the west where the main Federal force lay Another Confederate brigade attempted to stem the onslaught on the grounds of what is now the Community of Christ s Independence Temple but was practically annihilated by Pleasonton s force Nevertheless a decisive victory eluded the Union in Independence Marmaduke s division engaged Pleasonton about 2 miles 3 2 km west of town managing to push the Federals back and hold them until the morning of the 23rd The focus of activity now shifted westward from Independence to Westport in modern Kansas City 17 Big Blue October 22 23 Byram s Ford September 2007The Battle of Byram s Ford comprised two separate skirmishes one fought on the 22nd of October and the other the next day As Price neared Kansas City he learned that General Curtis Federal Army of the Border had assembled in and around Westport blocking his way west Furthermore Pleasonton s cavalry division was pressing Price s rear being heavily engaged with elements of his force in Independence on the 22nd see above Price had nearly 500 wagons in his train and he required a good ford over the Big Blue River to enable the safe passage of his supplies Byram s Ford was the best in the area and thus became a strategic point during the fighting that was about to take place around Westport On October 22 Blunt s Union division held a defensive position on the Big Blue s west bank Around 10 00 a m parts of Shelby s division conducted a diversionary frontal attack on Blunt s men The rest of Shelby s men flanked Blunt s hasty defenses forcing the Federals to retire to Westport Price s wagon train and about 5 000 head of cattle then crossed the Big Blue River at Byram s Ford and headed south toward Little Santa Fe and temporary safety 18 The second skirmish at Byram s Ford took place on the 23rd forming a part of the decisive Battle of Westport which was raging nearby Having dislodged Blunt s division the day before Confederates under Marmaduke now held the west bank of the Big Blue to prevent Pleasonton from attacking Price s rear The Northern general began his assault on Byram s Ford around 8 a m and initially the Confederates held their own One of the Union brigade commanders Brigadier General Egbert B Brown stalled his attack and was arrested by Pleasonton for disobeying orders Another brigade commander Colonel Edward F Winslow was wounded and succeeded by Lt Col Frederick Benteen who later rode to fame at the Little Bighorn Despite these setbacks Federal troops gained the west bank by 11 a m and Marmaduke retired Price now faced two Federal armies one to his front and one to his rear each of which outnumbered his beleaguered force The outcome of the Battle of Westport was sealed although the fighting would continue until that evening 19 Westport October 23 Spurning the idea of any retreat southwards Price decided that he would deal with Curtis and Pleasonton by attacking them one at a time Pleasonton was coming hard after the previous day s fighting in Independence so Price decided to strike Curtis Army of the Border at Westport first then turn to deal with Pleasonton in his rear However Curtis held strong defensive positions and despite numerous charges during the four hour battle Price was unable to break the Union line Once Pleasonton crossed the Big Blue River at Byram s Ford Price s fate was sealed His army retreated south through Kansas toward Arkansas pursued by Pleasonton s cavalry it would never recover This battle known afterwards as the Gettysburg of the West effectively ended Price s campaign and all remaining Confederate hopes west of the Mississippi River 20 Marais des Cygnes October 25 Three battles occurred within several hours of each other on October 25th the first of which was the battle of Marais des Cygnes With Price now in headlong retreat Pleasonton pursued him into Kansas He caught up with the Confederates as they camped on the banks of the Marais des Cygnes River near Trading Post in Linn County Kansas After an artillery bombardment that began at 4 00 a m Pleasonton s men launched a furious assault Price ordered his troops to cross the swollen river leaving Fagan to hold off the Federals until he could get his wagon train across Although the Union captured two cannon and several prisoners they were unable to prevent the escape of Price s force Pleasonton continued his pursuit of Price catching up with him again later that morning at Mine Creek 21 Battle of Mine Creek Little Osage River October 25 About 6 miles 9 7 km south of Trading Post the brigades of Col Frederick W Benteen and Col John Philips of Pleasonton s division overtook Price s Confederates as they were crossing Mine Creek The Southerners had been stalled as their wagons crossed the swollen ford and they formed their line of battle on the north side of Mine Creek Although outnumbered the Federals commenced a mounted attack led by the 4th Iowa Cavalry which one participant described as bursting upon the Confederates like a thunderbolt causing Price s line to disintegrate like a row of bricks 22 Superior Union firepower and the ferocity of their attack made up for their inferior numbers and Pleasonton s cavalry forced Price to retreat once more Approximately 600 of Price s men and two of his generals Marmaduke and Brig Gen William L Cabell were captured together with six cannon 23 24 Charlot October 25 Price continued his cartage towards Fort Scott Kansas In the late afternoon of October 25 his supply train encountered difficulties crossing the Marmiton River ford Just as at Mine Creek earlier that afternoon Price had to make another stand Brig Gen John McNeil commanding two brigades of Pleasonton s cavalry engaged troops that Price and his officers had rallied from the earlier battles including a sizable contingent of unarmed men Observing the large Confederate force and not knowing that many were unarmed McNeil refrained from an all out assault After about two hours of skirmishing Price recommenced his retreat while McNeil could not mount an effective pursuit Price s army was now utterly broken it was simply a question of whether he could escape and how many men he could successfully evacuate to friendly territory 25 Newtonia October 28 The tattered remnants of Price s army stopped to rest about 2 miles 3 2 km south of Newtonia Missouri Soon afterward Blunt s Union cavalry surprised the Confederates and engaged them With many of Price s troops in pell mell retreat Joseph Shelby s division including his Iron Brigade rode to the front dismounted and engaged the Federals while the remaining Southerners retreated towards the Indian Territory Brigadier General John Sanborn later appeared with Union reinforcements convincing Shelby to retire Union troops had once again forced the Confederates to retreat but failed to destroy or capture them This was the final battle in Price s Missouri campaign 26 Casualties EditMain article List of Casualties During Price s Missouri ExpeditionAftermath EditHoping to avoid Fort Smith Arkansas Price swung west into the Indian Territory and Texas before returning to Arkansas on December 2 He had lost more than half of his original force of 12 000 including thousands of the guerrillas who joined him He reported to Kirby Smith that he marched 1 434 miles 2 308 km fought 43 battles and skirmishes captured and paroled over 3 000 Federal officers and men captured 18 pieces of artillery and destroyed Missouri property of 10 000 000 in value 27 Nevertheless Price s Missouri Expedition was a total failure and contributed together with Union successes in Virginia and Georgia to the re election of President Lincoln A second unintended consequence of Price s Missouri Expedition was that it had largely cleared Missouri of the pro Confederate guerrillas who belonged to no one s army since almost all of those who had joined him were either killed or followed him out of the state Price s Missouri Expedition proved to be the final Confederate offensive in the Trans Mississippi region during the war Retrospective assessment Edit In his 2004 paper Assessing Compound Warfare During Price s Raid written as a thesis for the U S Army Command and General Staff College Major Dale E Davis postulates that Price s Missouri Expedition failed primarily due to his inability to properly employ the principles of compound warfare This requires an inferior power to effectively use regular and irregular forces in concert as was done by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong against the French and Americans during the Vietnam War to defeat a superior army He also blames Price s slow rate of movement during his campaign and the close proximity of Confederate irregulars to his regular force for this outcome 28 Major Davis observes that by wasting valuable time ammunition and men in fairly meaningless assaults on Fort Davidson Glasgow Sedalia and Boonville Price gave Union General Rosecrans time to organize an effective response he might not otherwise have had Furthermore he says Price s insistence on guarding an ever growing wagon train of looted military supplies and other items ultimately became an albatross to his withdrawal 29 Price wrote Davis ought to have used Confederate bushwhackers to harass Federal formations forcing his Union foe to send large numbers of troops out to pursue them over wide ranges of territory This would have reduced the number of effectives available to fight against Price s main force Instead Price kept many guerrillas close to his army and even incorporated some into his ranks which sharply reduced the value of their mobility and small independent formations This allowed the Federal generals to concentrate a force large enough to trap and defeat Price at Westport which ended his campaign forced him to retreat and crushed one of the Confederacy s last hopes in the Civil War 30 References Edit Edmund Kirby Smith Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Battle of Mine Creek 1864 Usurped Retrieved on 2009 11 29 a b Official Report of Maj Gen Sterling Price Archived June 18 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2009 11 27 Davis Dale E Assessing Compound Warfare During Price s Raid Ft Leavenworth U S Army Command and General Staff College 2004 pg 46 a b The Battle of Pilot Knob Archived February 22 2015 at the Wayback Machine Section The Ragged Assembly Publication of Missouri Department of Natural Resources Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Monnett Howard N Action Before Westport 1864 Niwot CO University Press of Colorado 1995 Revised Edition See also The Western Theater and Price s Raid from Wichita State University Retrieved on 2009 11 30 A unit by unit breakdown of this force can be found in the Wikipedia article Westport Union order of battle Battle of Pilot Knob Archived February 22 2015 at the Wayback Machine Missouri Department of Natural Resources Retrieved on 2009 11 28 Ft Davidson National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 The Centralia Massacre and Battle Archived 2009 04 13 at the Wayback Machine Mid Missouri Civil War Roundtable Retrieved on 2009 11 29 See also Davis pp 40 41 Davis pg 49 Davis pp 50 52 Glasgow National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Report of Cpt George A Hollaway U S Army on the Battle at Glasgow Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Lexington National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 See also Davis pp 61 62 Little Blue River Westport Retrieved on 2009 11 26 See also Little Blue River National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Davis pp 62 54 Independence National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 11 July 2008 See also Davis pp 64 67 68 Davis pp 65 67 See also Byram s Ford National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Davis pp 69 71 72 See also Byram s Ford National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Davis pp 69 73 See also Westport National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Marais des Cygnes National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Scott William Forse The Story of a Cavalry Regiment The Career of the Fourth Iowa Veteran Volunteers from Kansas to Georgia New York G P Putnam s Sons 1893 pp 250 301 Davis pg 74 See also Mine Creek National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 The Battle of Mine Creek Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Marmiton River National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Newtonia National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary Retrieved on 2009 11 29 Official Report of Maj Gen Sterling Price Archived June 18 2013 at the Wayback Machine Washington Arkansas December 28 1864 Davis pp 85 86 Davis pg 55 Davis pg 87 Further reading EditLause Mark A 2011 Price s Lost Campaign The 1864 Invasion of Missouri Shades of Blue and Gray Columbia and London University of Missouri Press ISBN 978 0826220332 excerpt and text search Lause Mark A 2014 The Collapse of Price s Raid The Beginning of the End in Civil War Missouri Shades of Blue and Gray Columbia and London University of Missouri Prss ISBN 978 0826220257 Eicher David J The Longest Night A Military History of the Civil War Simon amp Schuster 2001 ISBN 0 684 84944 5 Foote Shelby The Civil War A Narrative Red River to Appomattox Random House 1974 ISBN 0 394 74913 8 Forsyth Michael J The Great Missouri Raid Sterling Price and the Last Major Confederate Campaign in Northern Territory McFarland 2015 viii 282 pp Geiger Mark W 2010 Financial Fraud and Guerrilla Violence in Missouri s Civil War 1861 1865 New Haven CT Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 15151 0 Sinisi Kyle S The Last Hurrah Sterling Price s Missouri Expedition of 1864 Lanham Rowman amp Littlefield 2015 xviii 432 pp Smith Ronald D Thomas Ewing Jr Frontier Lawyer and Civil War General Columbia University of Missouri Press 2008 ISBN 978 0 8262 1806 3 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Price s Missouri Expedition Price s Raid at Clio Price s Raid at Historical Marker Database Portals American Civil War Arkansas Kansas Missouri Oklahoma Texas Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Price 27s Missouri Expedition amp oldid 1162836432, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
