The 1864 Invasion of Missouri

Abstract

In the fall of 1864, Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price led a raid into his beloved state of Missouri that combined the efforts of guerrilla forces with those of his own Army of Missouri. Although the campaign proved disastrous for the Confederacy, it demonstrated the strategic potential of guerrilla and “conventional” troops working in concert with one another, if only for an instant. Missouri’s Southern-sympathizing guerrillas created havoc and served to distract Union troops away from Price’s invasion force. Price, meanwhile, restored some measure of hope to the state’s Southern White populace. By the end, though, it was too little too late: Price was unable to retake St. Louis or any other population center before the presidential election in November of that year, and many of the most powerful guerrilla leaders who came out to support the raid were killed and their supporters’ supplies all but exhausted.