Price's Great Raid of 1864, Jefferson City
N 38° 33.469 W 092° 10.123
15S E 572428 N 4268036
Confederate General Sterling Price led a great cavalry raid
across Missouri in the late summer of 1864. This stone remembers
his decision to bypass Jefferson City--Missouri's capital city.
The red granite stone and plaque was placed here by the UDC.
Waymark Code: WMAM70
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 01/28/2011
Views: 4
In the late summer of 1864 Confederate General Sterling started
a great cavalry raid across Missouri. It was in response to
General Sherman's march to the sea across Georgia. Price's
legions too had cut their communications and were living off
the land and captured Union army stores and provisions.
Price also lost valuable time before reaching Jefferson City.
His engagement of the well defended Ft. Davidson commanded
by Union General Thomas Ewing did not go well. Price's
deliberate attack of the well defended fort delayed him
three days because of Ewing's troops strong defensive position
and firepower.
The Marker reads:
DECIDING
AGAINST ATTACK
THE CONFEDERATE ARMY
UNDER
GENERAL STERLING PRICE
TURNED FROM
JEFFERSON CITY
OCTOBER 7, 1864
THIS MARKER DEDICATED
APRIL 6, 1933
BY
WINNIE DAVIS CHAPTER
UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE
CONFEDERACY
Price's army approached Jefferson City crossing the Osage River
and the Moreau River. The Moreau is a very serpentine stream
curving back on itself in the hills and valleys that surround
Jefferson City.
His artillery batteries approached Jefferson City via Bald Hill
Road, while the infantry approached the city via the Moreau
River and today's Moreau Drive.
In summary, there was no Battle of Jefferson City. Price's troops moved through Russelville, California and Boonville and points farther west in the state. At Westport was fought the definitive battle when the blue and the gray participated in the largest
cavalry battle of the war in the Trans-Mississippi region of the American west. There the Confederate forces fought valiantly
against Alfred Pleasanton's Union cavalry chasing him from the east and Samuel Curtis's forces converging on Price from the west.
The red granite rock with its bronze plaque remembers the cavalry raid that passed by the city long ago. Price,a former governor of
the state was familiar with the city and its many hills. He saw before him its defenses, and the rapid approach of the Union
cavalry commanded by the Gettysburg veteran Alfred Pleasanton.
Price chose to bypass the city. Citizens of Jefferson City
breathed a sigh of relief. The defenses in front of Price that
day were similar to those at Franklin, Tennessee. Confederate
General John Bell Hood chose a frontal assault that history
records as a gigantic mistake.
Group that erected the marker: Winnie Davis Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Clark Avenue /Moreau Drive and Fairmount Avenue
Jefferson City, MO USA
65101
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