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 aimed to recapture Missouri and renew the Confederate initiative in the larger conflict.
Despite 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.
Background
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.
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.. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
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. 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".. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.
Opposing forces Price assembled a force he named the Army of Missouri, consisting of 12,000 men and fourteen artillery pieces.Official Report of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price . Retrieved on 2009-11-27. 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 a full-fledged invasion into a cavalry raid.Davis, Dale E. Assessing Compound Warfare During Price's Raid. Ft. Leavenworth: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2004, pg. 46.
Key commanders
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.The Battle of Pilot Knob , Section "The Ragged Assembly". Publication of Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved on 2009-11-29. 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. 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.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. The Confederates were already greatly outnumbered.
Battles 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.
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.Battle of Pilot Knob . Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved on 2009-11-28.Ft. Davidson. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29. That same day, 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.The Centralia Massacre and Battle . Mid-Missouri Civil War Roundtable. Retrieved on 2009-11-29. See also Davis, pp. 40–41. 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.Davis, pg. 49. He eventually discovered, however, that the capital was also too heavily fortified, and he bypassed it and continued west toward Kansas City, Missouri.Davis, pp. 50–52. 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 1:30p.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.. 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 (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 east of Kansas City. On October 19, Price's army approached Lexington, colliding with Union scouts and pickets at about 2:00p.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.. National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29. See also Davis, pp. 61–62. Little Blue (October 21) On October 20, Blunt's retreating troops arrived on the Little Blue River, 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.Little Blue River (Westport). Retrieved on 2009-11-26. See also . National Park Service CWSAC Battle Summary. Retrieved on 2009-11-29.Davis, pp. 62–54. Independence (October 21–22)