DK - The American Civil War

chances for re-election. Since St. Louis
was too well garrisoned to chance an
assault, they veered west along the
Missouri River’s south bank, and Price
swept up whatever horses, mules, cattle,
and supplies he could find. Price was,
however, no Forrest. No doubt alarmed
by the fresh scalps he saw hanging from
the bridle of the bushwhacker leader
“Bloody Bill” Anderson, he failed to
deploy Missouri’s hordes of Confederate
bushwhackers in the Union rear. Above
all, Price moved too slowly—after
looting the state he was encumbered by
a long train of cattle and wagons.

AFTER

Prisoners of war illustration

Kansas militiaman Samuel J. Reader was among the

prisoners taken by General Price’s Confederate troops in

their raid on Missouri. He kept a diary of the war, later

publishing it with his own illustrations.

Inevitably, Union troops closed in—

35,000 of them. In October, Price

made a run west for Kansas and then

south for Indian Territory (today’s

Oklahoma). Pitched battles occurred

as he tried to ford swollen rivers. On

October 23, at Westport near Kansas

City, he repeatedly charged a Union

line but failed to break it before enemy

cavalry was at his rear.

Over the next few days, a running

fight developed until Price abandoned

his booty and fled south. The very day

that he crossed the Arkansas River to

safety—November 8—was Election Day

in the North. Not only had Price’s raid

failed to capture Missouri for the South,

but his ignominious retreat had actually

helped Lincoln’s victory—an ironic end

to the Confederacy’s final campaign

west of the Mississippi.

GENERAL JAMES H. WILSON

MISSISSIPPI OPERATIONS

By the end of 1864, the war in the

states that bordered the Mississippi

River had mostly ended.

FINAL ENCOUNTERS

In August 1864, Admiral David G.

Farragut overcame Mobile’s seaward

defenses ❮❮ 286–87, while the city

itself held out until war’s end. In

November, after continued raiding in

Tennessee, Forrest and his command

joined the Army of Tennessee on its

fateful march to Franklin and Nashville

300–301 ❯❯. Forrest’s glory days

were over, however. In early 1865, a

massive Union cavalry raid through

Alabama and Georgia 310–11 ❯❯, led by

General James H. Wilson, defeated

Forrest at each encounter.

PRICE’S EXILE

Rather than surrender in 1865, General

Price led many of his men into

Mexico, where they hoped to serve the

Emperor Maximilian. They established a

Confederate exile colony in Veracruz.