The skirmish triggered Missouri Governor Boggs to issue the extermination order expelling all Mormons from Missouri.
Key Facts
- Date
- October 25, 1838
- Location
- Southeast of Elmira, Missouri
- Mormon commander
- David W. Patten
- Militia commander
- Samuel Bogart, Ray County militia
- Resulting order
- Missouri Executive Order 44
- Conflict context
- 1838 Mormon War
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Three Mormon men were captured from Caldwell County by a Ray County militia company under Samuel Bogart. In response, Mormon leader David W. Patten organized a rescue party to recover the captives, setting the stage for a direct armed confrontation between Mormon forces and the Missouri state militia.
On October 25, 1838, Patten's Mormon rescue party clashed with Bogart's Ray County militia southeast of Elmira, Missouri. The engagement was brief but violent, resulting in casualties on both sides including the death of Patten himself, and constituted one of the most serious armed confrontations of the 1838 Mormon War.
Exaggerated accounts of the battle reached Governor Lilburn Boggs, who issued Missouri Executive Order 44, commanding that Mormons be exterminated or expelled from the state. This order forced the mass expulsion of the Latter Day Saint community from Missouri and intensified the broader Mormon War conflict.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
David W. Patten.
Side B
1 belligerent
Samuel Bogart.