Key Facts
- Duration
- August 29 – December 2, 1864
- Theater
- Trans-Mississippi Theater, American Civil War
- Confederate commander
- Major General Sterling Price
- Geographic scope
- Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas
- Decisive engagement
- Battle of Westport, late October 1864
Strategic Narrative Overview
Price's column crossed into Missouri in September 1864, winning several early engagements and threatening St. Louis before Union resistance stiffened. Turned westward, his force pushed toward Kansas City but was decisively defeated by Major General Samuel R. Curtis at the Battle of Westport in late October. Retreating southward, Price suffered further heavy losses when Union cavalry under Major General Alfred Pleasonton routed his rear guard at the Battle of Mine Creek in Kansas.
01 / The Origins
By mid-1864, Confederate fortunes in the Trans-Mississippi Theater had declined sharply. Southern strategists hoped a bold cavalry raid into Missouri could recapture the state, reinvigorate Confederate support in the border region, disrupt Union logistics, and potentially sway the November 1864 presidential election against Abraham Lincoln. Major General Sterling Price was tasked with leading a large mounted force northward from Arkansas to achieve these objectives.
03 / The Outcome
Price's shattered column retreated back into Arkansas by December 2, 1864, ending the campaign in failure. The expedition secured no lasting territorial gains for the Confederacy and effectively ended large-scale Southern military operations west of the Mississippi. Its defeat strengthened Northern morale, reinforced Union control over Missouri, and contributed to President Lincoln's decisive re-election victory in November 1864.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Sterling Price.
Side B
1 belligerent
Samuel R. Curtis, Alfred Pleasonton.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.