MG Price's Raid in Missouri - Fall 1864

Major General Sterling Price

MG Sterling Price's Missouri raid, depending on what one considers to constitute a raid, is the longest raid of the Civil War at 1,435 miles. In comparison, Gen. Morgan's Raid into Kentucky, Indiana, & Ohio was just over 1,000 miles. Considering that lasted from 29 AUG to 2 DEC, I'm not sure one could really consider it a raid, but if one chose to, Price's raid to liberate Missouri would be the longest of the War. One might more accurately call it an expedition.

Expectations were high for all of Old Pap's forces. Here is a quote from James E. McGhee's book, Campaigning With Marmaduke, from the diary of 2LT John A. Bennett, Co. D at the beginning of the Raid.

"Recruits are daily coming into our army, filling up its ranks to overflowing. Our prospects are bright. Every one looks forward to a glorious victory and a speedy termination of this horrible war. May God speed the day of a glorious peace."

So started Price's Raid from Camden, AR on 29 AUG 1864. By the 19 SEP, Price's Army of Missouri was crossing the state line. Troop totals were between 12,000 & 15,000, with probably half of them armed. Of course, when opportunity presented itself, small arms & ammunition would be secured for the unarmed soldiers. The Raid started off well enough. Victory in APR 1864 in Southern Arkansas in forcing MG Steele (US) back into his Little Rock headquarters of the Army of the Frontier set the stage for this last heroic charge to secure Missouri firmly for the Confederacy.

MG Price had on hand as his leaders:

Major General John S. Marmaduke

Brigadier General James F. Fagan

Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby

A series of skirmishes occurred leading up to Pilot Knob from the Missouri border. Colonel Jeffers engaged General McNeil's forces on the Bloomfield/Sikeston Road near the Castor River on 21 SEP 1864. It was a rout, with a fair amount of supplies secured, despite the efforts of the Yanks to hastily destroy them.

On 24 SEP, COL Jeffers band left Bollinger's Mill (present day Zalma, MO) according to LT Bennett's account and "marched in the direction of Jackson, Cape Girardeau County, MO. We charged into Jackson about sunset, captured 18 prisoners and about 40 horses. We got one man wounded." On 26 SEP they linked back up the main column.

COL William F. Jeffers

Then on 27 SEP, the fateful battle at Ft. Davidson began. Basically, a series of frontal attacks, while bold, turned out to be largely ineffective. I'm not sure what else could have done. Maybe doing a better job of reconnaisance and developing a solid plan. Old Pap had at least 10 to 1 advantage. But speed was of the essence...long story short, CS losses were estimated 1,000-1,500 while US losses were only 184. And to boot, BG Ewing and his men slipped through Confederate pickets that night to escape a sure defeat the next day, as Price's men were constructed ladders. Talk about a loss of command and control out there on the pickets! Such it goes sometimes.

This map shows the the path of the raid. Basically, St. Louis the primary goal of the raid. With a brutally costly victory at Pilot Knob/Ft. Davidson, attack on St. Louis was pointless. The secondary aim of the mission was then to try and secure the state capital, Jefferson City, in the hands of the Confederacy. Hot pursuit from Federal forces prevented that. From that point forward, MG Price's forces were bleed little by little as they had to turn back to friendly territory. From there the battles went as follows:

• Battle of Glasgow - 15 OCT
  
• Second Battle of Lexington - 19 OCT
  
• Battle of Little Blue River - 21 OCT
• Second Battle of Independence - 22 OCT
• Battle of Byram's Ford - 22/23 OCT
• Battle of Westport - 23 OCT This battle also known as 'Gettysburg of the West'
  
• Battle of Marais des Cygnes - 25 OCT
• Battle of Mine Creek - 25 OCT
• Second Battle of Newtonia - 28 OCT
  

As you can see on the map, he pushed through Kansas and Indian Territory as fast as possible before returning to Arkansas on December 2 with only 6,000 survivors. He reported to LTG Kirby Smith that he "marched 1,434 miles, 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." He claimed the loss of 1,000 men, but it was closer to 6,000 over the three-month adventure.

In hindsight many look at his mission as a failure. True, mission aims were not completely met. But surely one must look at his audacious efforts and praise him for at least hazarding a move. For the majority of the War, the Trans-Mississippi Department simply didn't have enough manpower to mount a legitimate attack on Federal forces to remove them from the region. Consequently, they just played a defensive action throughout the War, slowly losing ground in Arkansas & along the Mississippi River valley. And while loss of manpower was high, at least he inflicted a respectable loss on the enemy as well. With the exception of the frontal attacks on Ft. Davidson, the raid was executed fairly well, considering the manpower and resources disparity. Then the inevitable complete eviction of the Confederate soldier in Missouri occurred. The noble fighting men under 'Old Pap' had to end the War on a sour note. But their accomplishments were great and will always be remembered in the best light!

Battle at Old Fairgrounds in Jackson

On 3 June 2009 the Cash-Book Journal published an article on the account of the Battle at the Old Fairgrounds in Jackson. This running skirmish was a great example of many of the battles that occurred in Missouri. Jackson is a town near to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, my hometown. This is also the home area of many of the men of the 8th MO CAV Regiment. The account below is from that article on 3 June and is taken from the perspective Luther Jenkins from Co. F of the 8th MO CAV Regiment. If you want to read a very in depth description of the activities that day so long ago, follow this link written by Kirby Ross. Also, there is a Federal perspective of the accounts of that day in the news article, but due to length of post and time chose not list it here.

Jenkins Brothers - Co. F 8th MO CAV Regiment

Luther, Edward Jr., James R. and John H
(John is a past Cape Girardeau County Sheriff)

"Two of us followed soon after and, and Lt. McGuire was being chased out Fulenwider's Lane, and Tom Wheeler had jumped in bed at Turnbaugh's Hotel and feigned sickness and actually escaped capture. I was told he did some tall groaning when the soldiers went to look at him. Two of our numbers left without horses just below father's house, which made 22, the number of the scouts.
"Now that pretty spring morning we marched afoot into Jackson to see our friends and we had a jolly day. A number of us went to Mr. Welling's for dinner and let me tell you, it was a dinner to make a soldier smile all over his face. I remember when we came out my haversack had a big pound cake put in it by some of the young ladies, and my hat had been ornamented with a splendid black plume put there Mrs. LaPierre. Wonder if she remembers it?
"When we got to the public square, everything was so still and no one in sight we knew in a minute there was something wrong. When we got to Mr. Schumke's corner we stopped to get a fine bridle-bit he had given me. They told me the command was gone, and Capt. Jeffers left word for us to come on to the Fair Grounds and the Yanks were coming. Well, we lit out, and were doing some lively walking (we were too proud to run) and saw no one till passing Mrs. Brown's when Mollie (God bless her memory) called, 'Lute, run! Look yonder!' and looking up we saw the lane full of blue coats coming down the big hill from toward fathers.
"But I turned and said, 'We don't run, Mollie.' But let me tell you confidently, after we got out of her sight, well we struck just the high places to the Fair Grounds, and we were there none too soon.
"Just as we passed where the old stand was we heard horses' feet coming down the creek, and looking up we saw a citizen on a sack of meal, and we supposed just from the mill, and he was making the best time I ever saw a mill boy make.
"And right after him were three Federal cavalrymen. As they came in range Dick Medley and I opened on them and wheeled and rejoined their command. Then Capt. Jeffers called us and for the first time we knew where our boys were....behind a poplar log about a hundred yards further up the hill.
"So going there we took our position. In a few minutes here they came. Their advance guards were allowed to pass. Lt. Hummel was leading the command that followed closely. When they reached the right place we opened on them and down went Lt. Hummel and his horse on him and nearby another soldier badly wounded. (note...CPT Jeffers ordered the men to hold their fire until his first shot. Lt. Hummel was not seriously wounded, but the other soldier William Brawner, died from his wounds.)
"The Federals immediately wheeled and formed along the old Russel fence and commenced playing marble with us pretty lively. Things looked squally. They were too far back for our buckshot, so the captain ordered a charge, which we did in true Rebel style, yelling every jump and firing as we advanced.
"Capt. Flentge's (US) boys said, 'If this is the kind of friendly reception you are going to give us, we will leave,' and leave they did full tilt. And we were real glad to see their horses' tails sailing up the creek.
"We then returned and pulled the horse from off Hummel and let him up. 'Becky' Moore said, 'ess kill him.' But it was jut to frighten Hummel. (note: and it reportedly did!) But 'Becky' was mad that day, and when he was mad enough to grin, better give him plenty of room.
"We then pulled the other soldier out of the road and I put a chunk under his head for a pillow, for which he thanked me kindly. Having no horses to follow the fleeing and disorganized enemy, we started to camp.
"When about half way father overtook us and ask Capt. Jeffers for Lt. Hummel. Said he would be responsible for him. So taking the lieutenant up behind him, he took him to brother Maple's at the academy where he remained till the next morning, when father hitched up to his buggy and took Hummel to the Cape, and (carrying out Jeffers instructions) exchanged him for Capt. (Sam) Lewis of our command who had been a prisoner for sometime. And the joke was on us. Lewis did not come back to us. This is the only instance that I know of where a civilian acted as an exchange officer during the war.
"Now while this was part of the show was going on at the fair grounds, two side shows were having their attractions. Right over the hill from us the advance guard (which we let pass us) butted up again John Craig, who had been to see his best girl and was on his way to the command and they had it hot and fast, and that is where the Federal was found that was carried to the Turnbaugh Hotel.
"Then away out on the gravel road there went one of the most gallant soldiers who espoused the lost cause, fleeing on horseback and two blue coats right after. But let me tell you, they had no idea who they were following, for no man, without want for a finish would dare follow 'Butt' McGuire. (note, actually 3 riders followed each Confederate soldier. Craig took out 2 with his first rounds of the double barrel shotgun (casualties, not mortalities). The third rider missed with his rifle, and Craig hit him fleeing through the leg with his pistol. He also captured all their small arms and saddles! McGuire hit one soldier square through the head, killing him instantly. The other two riders saw enough and promptly wheeled about and ran for it!)
"Now, Mr. Editor, print this just as I write it and will stand the blame. And I think that crowd wanted anything very sensational. One of them never came back, but stark and still he was found. The man who died at the McGuire House was a local Methodist preacher. Of the Confederates not a man received a scratch." 'Yours truly, L.E. Jenkins'

This battle was a Federal rout, even though the Federal forces had a 69 to 22 man advantage. CPT Flentge never employed his whole group in force, nor were the attacks coordinated. Surely if he had take more time to organize a plan, instead of losing command and control, the outcome may have been completely different. Heck, he might have taken the future COL William Jeffers out of the fight...who knows? Instead CPT Jeffers went on to organize the 8th MO CAV Regiment later that year in December 1862.

Colonel William Jeffers

8th Missouri Cavalry Regiment

Battle Analysis for Poison Spring

Here is a powerpoint presentation that I recently did for my Basic Officer Leaders Course III at Ft. Bliss, TX for Air Defense Artillery. It did not have to be an ADA battle, but the idea was to discuss pertinent effects of the battle and how they would apply to battle today. It had to be an a unit size that close enough to relate to what a 2LT would be expected to be able to control. So our instructor said we needed to study to a regiment size element of the battle or smaller. So I thought, what regiment do I know better than the 8th MO CAV REG?! So I focused on the 8th MO at the Battle of Poison Spring on 18 April 1864. They were a part of the charge of Missourians formed under COL Colton Greene that day who busted the center of the Federal lines. Once the Missouri CAV units of the 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th MO (Co. B only of the 8th - the other companies were down in Louisiana with MG Kirby Smith) went in, the battle fully turned into a rout.

Well, here is my slide show...it tells the story well enough. But there are several bullet points later in the show where I simply talked on the point. So you'll have to do without my description of say, how agility was displayed during the battle from a leadership perspective. If you wish to know more, feel free to contact me and I'll go in more detail. I very much enjoyed going over the tactics of this battle as it is one of my favorite things to do...to discuss tactics and decisions made and 'what if' this decision would have been made', etc...

'Grandpap' is Paroled - 7 June 1865

For quite some time, I thought it would be neat to try and find where my 3rd Great-Grandfather, Joseph G. Lewis, was paroled from the service of the Confederate States of America. My dad was told from his Grandpa Lewis that this occurred in Shreveport, LA. We are blessed enough to have a copy of the actual parole paper that my grandfather, LT Joseph G. Lewis signed.
I think it is great that I have his signature on this very important document. In case you don't read the whole parole, the key part says, "do hereby give my solemn PAROLE OF HONOR, that I will not hereafter serve in the Armies of the Confederate States, or in any military capacity whatever, against the United States of America,"....

And then it is signed, this very day in June, 1865. That was 144 years ago.

Well, on my way to Ft. Benning, GA in early April this year, I stayed the night in Shreveport. I went to pay for the night at the hotel, and in the lobby, there were pamphlets of places of local interest. Well, I saw one that had historical sites on it. I wondered if perhaps there was some sort of memorial to the Confederacy there in town. And lo and behold, there in the pamphlet, was a picture of a Confederate monument that was on the sight of the last Confederate flag being flown in town, and it was dated 26 May 1865. Needless to say, I felt it had to be the place where Joseph and the rest of the 8th MO Cavalry Regiment signed those parole papers and went back home a few days later.

So the next day, I excitedly rose and got ready to leave. I went to the site in downtown Shreveport. As one might surmise it was on the sight of the court house, which was used as General Kirby Smith's headquarters for much of the War. The old court house burnt down and a new one is built on the same location. But I lingered quite a while on the site of the monument. It is a beautiful monument.

Here is the monument with a Confederate Soldier on the top, and Generals Lee and Jackson (repsectively) looking on. General P.G.T. Beauregard and Govenor Henry Allen round out the busts on the monument.

The local United Daughters of the Confederacy (as I recall) paid for the monument and had it erected in the early 1900's. I can't recall exactly when it was put up. From the picture it looks like 1905. But that figure of the young women is writing with her hand on the monument her gratitude to the men of the Confederacy for their sacrifices in search of liberty for their families back home during the War Between the States.

Here is a bust of General Robert E. Lee with the 3rd Confederate National Flag
waving in the background.

As you can see from the pics (sorry for the quality...all I had was the camera on my phone) it was a beautiful spring morning. Perfect in fact, for such a visit. As I stood there, I thought about those men who surrendered there during that time. I felt their presence there that day. I especially felt the presence of my Grandpa Lewis, and his brother Eli Lewis and other family relations and friends of theirs who served with them in the 8th Missouri Cavalry Regiment. It was a special time for me, and an honor to visit the monument that day and think on those men. I gave my dad a call and talked with him a bit and read the inscriptions to him. I knew he would have very much liked to have been there with me. And even though he couldn't be there personally that day with me, he got to share in the moment with me a bit.

My respect goes thankfully goes out to those men who finally on 7 June 1865 laid down their weapons of war after so much sacrifice and blood shed on behalf of their homes, friends and families back in Missouri for four long and dreadful years. Praise be to God for the men of the 8th Missouri Cavalry Regiment!!

Camp Jackson Massacre - 10 May 1861

I'm a bit late with the anniversary of this post, but since I've been quite busy and away for almost 8 weeks at the 'Ft. Benning Army School for Boys', you'll just have to forgive me for my lapse in posts! So here are the circumstances leading up the Camp Jackson Massacre.

Missouri Governor Claiborne F. Jackson, rejected President Lincoln's request that Missouri supply enough men for 4 regiments. Governor Jackson replied,

"Sir: Your dispatch of the (April) 15th instant, making a call on Missouri for four regiments of men for immediate service, has been received. There can be, I apprehend, no doubt that the men are intended to form a part of the President's army to make war upon the people of the seceded states. Your requisition, in my judgment, is illegal, unconstitutional, and revolutionary in its objects, inhuman and diabolical, and cannot be complied with. Not a man will the State of Missouri furnish to carry out such an unholy crusade."

Governor Claiborne F. Jackson

You see, most of the delegates to the special convention of 18 February 1861 voted to keep Missouri in the Union conditionally. That is, Missouri should remain in the Union so long as her rights were protected by Constitutional guarantees. Another strong concern was that there was no desire to have Federal forces move throughout the state.

To make a long story short, Francis P. Blair, a Missouri congressman and outspoken Republican party leader in Missouri, got President Lincoln to secure the transfer of Captain Lyon to manage the arsenal in St. Louis. There was a great stand of weapons at the arsenal (which contained 60,000 muskets, 90,000 pounds of powder and 1,500,000 ball cartridges) and Lyon managed to move all these precious small arms to Illinois.

Franics P. Blair, Jr.

Nathaniel Lyon

But Governor Claiborne did not sit idly by as men worked to bring armed force into his state. On 20 April he quietly had men secure the arsenal at Liberty, Missouri. Then on 2 May he called a special session of the legislature to assemble & discuss duties of protecting the people of the state and that secession was a strong choice to make. He also asked to mobilize and grow militia forces within the state. Next he instructed the state guard to meet in camps throughout the state, beginning 3 May, for 6 days of training.

One of these camps was Camp Jackson in St. Louis. To shorten the narrative here, a force under General Daniel M. Frost of 800 men or so, were drilling at Camp Jackson. On 9 May, Captain Lyon came into the camp disguised as a women (an appropriate outfit for him - obviously it was quite convincing as he came and went undiscovered!) and noted that there were some arms (intelligence suspected they were sent by the Confederate Government from an arsenal in Louisiana, as General Frost was a close friend of President Davis) on hand, as well as the men drilling.

General Daniel W. Frost

So on 10 May 1861, Captain Lyon came into Camp Jackson with a force of over 7000 men. Of course, General Frost had no choice but to surrender, and peaceably did so. But at this point, a crowd had formed.

The crowd was angry at the "Dutch" (really most of the troops were of German descent) troops and started to taunt them for capturing the men. The German troops called themselves the "Die Schwarze Garde". The crowd started calling them 'The Black Guard' and other insults. Then debris started to reign in on the troops from the crowd. Even a few random shots are purported to have rang out from the crowd toward the troops. The nervous & undisciplined troops, temporarily leader-less (Lyon got off his horse to square things away and got kicked unconscious by his horse!) got antsy and fired back.

This atrocity resulted in upwards of 28 civilians killed and injured (depending on the report you read). Several youth were killed. A mother with her child in her arms was slain by these ungoverned soldiers. This horrible & needless act divided the once neutral State. Captain Lyon's unprofessional leadership and rash decision making caused tens of thousands of Missouri men to enter battle and die, often fighting against one another. The destruction of property ran into the millions. Countless families were interrupted from their normal routines and forced to flee the state, or somehow try and scratch out a living in a war zone.

Captain Lyon can be held utterly responsible for the Camp Jackson Massacre. Additional violent repercussions happened in St. Louis later that day and into the next. Fear abounded and efforts were taken on both the Union and Secession side of thought. Civilians feared destruction and left their homes and fled to Illinois. They were turbulent times indeed after the Camp Jackson Massacre instigated by Captain Lyon.

On 30 May 1861, Blair also got President Lincoln to remove the neutrally mannered General William S. Harney from command of Missouri forces. After a visit from Washington, General Harney made an attempt to smooth over the heightened feelings of Missourians by making the Price-Harney agreement.

General William S. Harney

This agreement basically said that General Harney would not move troops about the State. Price agreed to keep order in the state and to protect the interests of all. But Blair and Lyon did not approve of this arrangement at all. So they had Harney removed and Lyon was inserted in his place. Lyon was now a Brigadier General, despite his horrible handling of the situation at Camp Jackson. His unacceptable actions as an officer of the United States of America took a neutral state and turned it into a state divided. Consequently, Missouri went to have the 3rd most battles in the Civil War. But Lyon got his due portion coming to him for this horrible deed. He was killed in the battle of Oak Hills/Wilson Creek a few months later that year.