Price's Missouri Expedition

• Major General Sterling PriceFort Davidson, Lexington, Little Blue River, Westport, Marmiton River, Newtonia
• Brigadier General John S. MarmadukeIndependence, Byram's Ford, Mine Creek, Marais des Cygnes
• Brigadier General James F. FaganIndependence, Mine Creek, Marais des Cygnes
• Brigadier General Joseph ShelbyGlasgow, Byram's Ford
• Brigadier General John B. ClarkGlasgow

• Brigadier General Thomas Ewing Jr.Fort Davidson
• Colonel Chester HardingGlasgow
• Major General James G. BluntLexington, Byram's Ford, Newtonia
• Major General Samuel R. CurtisLittle Blue River, Westport
• Major General Alfred PleasontonIndependence, Byram's Ford, Mine Creek, Marais des Cygnes
• Brigadier General John McNeilMarmiton River

Between late August and early December of 1864, Confederate horsemen swept through Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas in a bold but ultimately failed venture known as Price's Missouri Expedition, sometimes called Price's raid. Major General Sterling Price commanded this cavalry operation in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, hoping to wrest Missouri back from Federal hands and give the Confederacy fresh momentum in its broader struggle.

The campaign started promisingly, with Price's men notching several victories in its opening phase. That momentum collapsed at Westport, where Major General Samuel R. Curtis and his Union troops handed Price a decisive defeat in late October. Additional setbacks followed at Mine Creek, Kansas, where Union cavalry under Major General Alfred Pleasonton dealt further blows, compelling Price to withdraw into Arkansas.

This expedition marked the final major Confederate campaign fought west of the Mississippi River. Its collapse strengthened faith among Northern supporters that the war would end in Union triumph, a shift that helped secure Abraham Lincoln's path to re-election as president. The outcome also settled the matter of Missouri once and for all, locking in Federal authority over a border state that had long been fiercely disputed.

Background

By the fall of 1864, with the presidential contest looming and three grinding years of war behind them, Confederate leaders had grown anxious about their prospects. Federal forces held the major rivers and cities of the west, Sherman's army was cutting through Georgia, and Lee remained pinned down protecting Richmond. Any hope of recognition from foreign powers had faded, and a second term for Lincoln threatened to seal the Confederacy's fate.

That summer, Confederate officials had directed E. Kirby Smith, who commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department, to move a corps under Lieutenant General Richard Taylor over the Mississippi River so it could help defend Atlanta and Mobile. Union gunboats patrolling the river made such a crossing unworkable, so Taylor was given other assignments instead.

Out of the effort to draw Union attention away from that planned crossing, Smith devised a fresh strategy. His idea was to seize Missouri back for the Confederacy, calculating that success there might sway Northern voters away from Lincoln. To carry this out, he tasked Sterling Price, a native of Missouri, with leading an invasion of his home state aimed at St. Louis, where he was to seize the city along with its military arsenals. Should the city's defenses prove too strong, Price was instructed instead to head west and take Jefferson City, the seat of the state government. From there, his orders called for pushing into Kansas and then south through the Indian Territory, stripping that region of its mules, horses, cattle, and military supplies along the way.

Battles

Setting out from Camden, Arkansas, on August 28, 1864, Price rode his horse Bucephalus toward what would become a sprawling campaign. He joined two divisions at Princeton the next day and added a third at Pocahontas on September 13. By September 19 his combined force had crossed into Missouri. Union militia loyal to the federal cause clashed with the invaders nearly every day, yet it took until September 27, near Pilot Knob southwest of St. Louis in Iron County, for Price to fight his first major engagement.

Fort Davidson, September 27, 1864: Union Brigadier General Thomas Ewing, Jr., learning of the incursion, rushed reinforcements from St. Louis along the railroad to Ironton in hopes of slowing Price down. On the morning of the 27th, Price struck Ewing's men and pushed them back into Fort Davidson, an earthwork and palisade redoubt beneath Pilot Knob. After positioning his troops on the surrounding high ground, Price threw his men into repeated late-afternoon assaults that cost him dearly in casualties. Overnight, the Federals slipped away from the fort and detonated its powder magazine using a timed fuse. Though Price ultimately held the ground, the toll in men and munitions was steep, and the delay allowed Union forces elsewhere the breathing room to gather and organize against him, all for a position of little lasting worth.

That same day, some 130 miles to the northwest, guerrilla leader William "Bloody Bill" Anderson and his band descended on Centralia, killing 24 unarmed Union soldiers in what became known as the Centralia Massacre. Anderson, tied to the notorious bushwhacker Col. William C. Quantrill, rode alongside Frank and Jesse James during the raid. These events prompted the XVI Corps to shift toward St. Louis, bolstered by Pleasonton's arrival. Realizing St. Louis was now too well defended, Price redirected his march toward Jefferson City, only to find the capital similarly fortified. He bypassed it as well, pressing onward toward Kansas City.

Glasgow, October 15: Price dispatched Generals Shelby and John Bullock Clark, Jr. with a detachment to seize an arms depot rumored to hold weapons and supplies in Glasgow. Confederate cannon opened up before sunrise on the 15th, and Shelby's cavalry pressed forward, driving the town's defenders back to their works atop Hereford Hill, where they made a stand. Union Colonel Chester Harding, convinced further resistance was futile, surrendered around 1:30 in the afternoon. Though Harding managed to destroy some of the stores beforehand, Price's soldiers still came away with muskets, coats, and horses. The Confederates lingered in Glasgow for three days before rejoining the main body headed for Kansas City. The victory and its spoils lifted spirits within Price's ranks, but the time lost there, added to his already sluggish pace along the river, gave his opponents the opening they needed to coordinate a response.

Lexington, October 19: With Price's column still crawling westward, Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, in charge of the Department of the Missouri, envisioned catching the enemy in a two-pronged trap. He struggled, however, to coordinate with Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis of the Department of Kansas, whose own troubles included Kansas militiamen unwilling to fight outside their state. Eventually Major General James G. Blunt led 2,000 men toward Lexington, roughly 30 miles east of Kansas City. Price's army reached the town on the 19th, clashing with Union scouts and pickets around 2:00 p.m. before quickly overwhelming them and turning