what is the real story of the battle of pilot knob ?

Question

what was the whole story

Answer 1

In brief, in 1864 Sterling Price raised another army of Confederates (10K +) and made an advance towards St. Louis as his initial goal. His army was not particularly well equipped, but he did have veteran troops under Fagan and Marmaduke. While advancing up the Arcadia Valley, Price found his advance blocked by the hexagonal earthern fort at Pilot Knob. Fort Davidson had a fairly small garrison (3K+), but a nice, deep earthern moat around it and lots of good artillery. The Union garrison was led by Ewing (who issued the infamous Order No. 11). Ewing knew that if captured, his life would be forfeit, so he made an excellent stand against Price's repeated frontal assaults. Price suffered roughly 2000 casulties throughout the day. He broke off the attack towards evening and planned to concentrate his artillery the next day and force the surrender of the garrison. Well, it wasn't to be. Ewing set a long a fuse to the ammo bunker and led his troops safely from the fort in the dead of night and made it safely to St. Louis. Over 200 CSA dead are still buried on the field and the crater from the ammo bunker explosion is still very visible today. There is a fantastic museum alongside the museum, which is well worth the time. Every third September, the battle is re-enacted on the spot of the actual battle and is also well worth the time.

The effect of this battle on Price's force was to have long lasting effects on the morale of Price's men. The attack on the fort were ill-coordinated and shook the men's trust in Price as a leader. The defeat also convinced Price that he couldn't threaten St. Louis, so he turned his forces towards Jefferson City and upon reaching it, had to turn away from a strong Union force. He continued moving north towards Glasgow, MO where he did win a victory. He continued moving towards Kansas City and fought the battles of Blue Springs and Westport. Westport was a staggering defeat which sent the remainder of Price's forces on a horrendous retreat back to Arkansas. It would be the final act of Price's military career.