Battle at Pilot Knob, Missouri Confederate General Sterling Price invades Missouri and attacks a Yankee garrison at Pilot Knob. Price's troops captured a fort and scattered the Union defenders, but also suffered heavy losses. The Confederate military fortunes were at an all-time low, and Price had hoped that the mission would destabilize Missouri just prior to the fall elections and give new hope to the Confederate cause. He also hoped to capture one of the major cities in Missouri and secure supplies for his troops.
Price mounted his campaign from Pocahontas, Arkansas, and entered Missouri in mid-September. On September 26, he hurled his 12,000 troops at Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob. Two days later, the Confederates drove the 1,400 Yankee defenders away, but the attack was time-consuming and costly. Price lost 1,200 men and gained little in the way of strategic value or political impact.
The rest of Price's raid didn't fare any better. He was harassed by state militia and had difficulty raising supplies; and Union resistance at important points such as the capital, Jefferson City, was much greater than expected. Through October, Price drove north to St. Louis, west to Kansas City, and then south into Texas. Much of his force disintegrated along the way, and in November Missouri voters elected Radical Republicans into office.
