The Battle of Marmiton River, also known as Shiloh Creek or Charlot's Farm, occurred on October 25, 1864, in Vernon County, Missouri during the American Civil War. Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate States Army commenced an expedition into Missouri in September 1864, with hopes of challenging Union control of the state. After a defeat at the Battle of Westport on October 23, Price began to retreat south, and suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Mine Creek early on October 25. The afternoon of the 25th, Price's wagon train became stalled at the crossing of the Marmaton River in western Missouri. A delaying force led by Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby attempted to hold off Union cavalry commanded by Brigadier General John McNeil and Lieutenant Colonel Frederick W. Benteen. Shelby was unable to drive off the Union force, although fatigue of the Union cavalry's horses prevented close-quarters action. At nightfall, the Confederates disengaged and destroyed much of their wagon train. Price was again defeated on October 28 at the Second Battle of Newtonia, and the Confederate retreat continued until the survivors reached Texas in early December.
In early September 1864, during the American Civil War, Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate States Army began an invasion of Missouri with hopes of capturing St. Louis and regaining control of Missouri for the Confederacy. After being repulsed at the Battle of Pilot Knob in late September, Price's army changed course to aim for the Missouri River. The Union Army of the Border began pursuing Price's column, and defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Westport near Kansas City on October 23. Price's defeated army retreated southward, and suffered defeats at the battles of Marais des Cygnes and Mine Creek early on October 25. The loss at Mine Creek was particularly devastating, as a pile-up at the ford of Mine Creek led to the capture of many of Price's cannons and soldiers, including Brigadier Generals John S. Marmaduke and William L. Cabell. Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby's division arrived in time to provide Price's column with a rear guard after Mine Creek. Shelby's men fought a delaying action against the pursuing Union soldiers at the crossing of the Little Osage River. Union cavalry would eventually brush aside the Confederates at the Little Osage River, but the defense had bought time for Price's retreat.
After crossing into western Missouri on the afternoon of the 25th, Price's wagon train became stalled at the crossing of the Marmaton River, much as it had at the Mine Creek crossing. Price formed a line to protect his wagon train from the Union soldiers. The front of the line consisted of militia officer M. Jeff Thompson's brigade of Shelby's division, some of the remains of Major General James F. Fagan and Marmaduke's (commanded by Brigadier General John B. Clark Jr. after Marmaduke's capture) divisions, which had been shattered at Mine Creek, and a portion of Colonel Charles H. Tyler's brigade. Some of the men in Tyler's brigade were unarmed. The rest of Fagan and Clark's divisions and Tyler's brigade were aligned in a second line. Colonel Sidney D. Jackman's brigade was held in reserve. While Price's men were estimated to number around 8,000, many of these men were either too demoralized or fatigued to fight, or were unarmed. Estimates of how many Confederates were in true fighting condition range from 1,000 to 4,000.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
This page covers Battle of Marmiton River 1864. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside historic sites, land records, and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Content adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Wikipedia source.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the US, drawing on NRHP records, battlefield archives, census history and geological data to tell the full story of a place.