Fort Davidson - Pilot Knob, Missouri
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 37° 37.189 W 090° 38.405
15S E 708274 N 4166253
Fort Davidson was the site of an important battle during the Civil War.
Waymark Code: WM1P51
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 06/13/2007
Views: 31
The following is an excerpt from Missouri: A Guide to the 'Show Me' State,
1941 in the Tour 13 section:
South of Pilot Knob, an iron marker indicates the Ruins of Fort Davidson,
its battle-scared earthworks overgrown with trees and underbrush, yet plainly
visible from the highway. The fort was erected by Federal troops during
the Civil War to protect the Pilot Know and Iron Mountain mineral deposits.
During September of 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price entered southeast
Missouri with a force of between 12,000 and 20,000 men, intending to capture St.
Louis. Only General Thomas Ewing and a Federal force of approximately
1,000 men at Fort Davidson lay between the Confederates and their destination.
On September 27, Price directed a bloody assault on Fort Davison with two of his
three divisions, but was repulsed with a loss of about 1,500 men and retired,
planning to repeat the attack at daybreak. That night Ewing, hopelessly
outnumbered, spiked his cannon and slipped away, leaving two soldiers to blow up
the powder magazine. The Confederates did not detect the escape until an
explosion shook the hillside, showering earth and rocks for hundreds of yards.
Price wasted three precious days in a futile pursuit, permitting St. Louis to be
so strongly reinforced that he dared not attack.
Fort Davidson is now a state historic site and is maintained by the
Department of Natural Resources. The site has a manned visitors center and
offers many interpretive programs for visitors. The site also has many
information signs and markers along its paths explaining the battle.