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| Second Battle of Lexington (Missouri) | |
|---|---|
| Conflict | Second Battle of Lexington (Missouri) |
| Partof | Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War |
| Date | September 13, 1864 |
| Place | Lexington, Missouri |
| Result | Confederate tactical victory |
| Combatant1 | Union |
| Combatant2 | Confederate States |
| Commander1 | James H. Ford |
| Commander2 | Sterling Price |
| Strength1 | ~1,000 |
| Strength2 | ~10,000 |
| Casualties1 | ~213 (killed, wounded, captured) |
| Casualties2 | ~50 |
Second Battle of Lexington (Missouri)
The Second Battle of Lexington was a September 13, 1864 engagement near Lexington, Missouri during Sterling Price's 1864 expedition, commonly called Price's Raid, in the later stages of the American Civil War. The action involved elements of Price's Army of Missouri clashing with Union forces under James H. Ford as Confederates sought to threaten Kansas City, Missouri, influence the 1864 election, and capture supplies. The encounter formed part of a broader campaign across the Trans-Mississippi Theater that included fights at Fort Davidson, Pilot Knob, and later Westport.
By late summer 1864, Sterling Price assembled a large force of Missouri Confederates, veterans from the Army of the Trans-Mississippi and partisan units like Quantrill's Raiders and Joseph O. Shelby. Price intended to seize St. Louis, divert Union attention from William T. Sherman operations, and recruit recruits from Missouri and Arkansas. After setbacks at Pilot Knob and the capture of supplies at Fort Davidson, Price turned westward toward Kansas City, Missouri to threaten Union Missouri River positions and force political repercussions in the Union presidential contest between Abraham Lincoln and George B. McClellan. The Confederate advance moved through Lexington, Missouri, a river town with previous fighting during the early war Battle of Lexington.
Price's column—often described as the Army of Missouri—included infantry, cavalry brigades under commanders like Jo Shelby and John B. Clarkson, artillery batteries, and Missouri Confederate militia. Strength estimates vary but approached 10,000 effectives, with logistical support from Confederate Commissary elements. Opposing them, Colonel Ford commanded a mixed Union garrison comprising Missouri State Militia, detached units from the Army of the Border, and hastily assembled militia elements from Jackson County, Missouri and surrounding counties. Ford's force numbered roughly 1,000 and lacked heavy artillery and entrenched fortifications.
After setbacks elsewhere on Price's Raid—most notably the costly assault at Pilot Knob and failed attempt on St. Louis—Price shifted toward the Missouri interior. Confederate scouts and partisan leaders probed routes along the Missouri River, seeking supplies and foraging opportunities around river towns like Independence, Missouri, Warrensburg, Missouri, and Lexington, Missouri. Union commanders in Fort Leavenworth and Kansas City, Missouri dispatched detachments to guard key crossings and rail junctions, while Ford prepared defensive dispositions at Lexington. Skirmishes and cavalry clashes with units from Pleasonton's and Samuel R. Curtis-associated forces presaged a larger confrontation as Price approached on September 13.
On September 13, Confederate columns under Sterling Price probed Union positions at Lexington, pressing the town's defenses with cavalry screens from leaders like Jo Shelby and mounted infantry. Ford's men used buildings and limited fieldworks, while Confederate artillery deployed to shell Union positions and cut lines of retreat toward Warrensburg, Missouri and the Missouri River. Intense street fighting and cavalry charges unfolded, with Confederate envelopment tactics threatening to isolate Ford's force. After sustained pressure and the prospect of encirclement by larger Confederate brigades, Ford withdrew or surrendered sections of his command; contemporaneous reports cite captures of Union troops, wagons, and arms. Price's forces secured Lexington, seized supplies, and disabled or appropriated materiel needed for the continued westward march.
Confederate losses were relatively light compared with Union losses in the small action; estimates place Confederate casualties in the dozens, while Union casualties—killed, wounded, and captured—totaled approximately 200–250. The capture of Lexington yielded arms, horses, and supplies that temporarily sustained Price's army but did not remedy long-term logistical shortfalls. The action allowed Price to continue west toward Kansas City, Missouri and later participate in the Battle of Westport, where his raid met decisive Union opposition from Samuel R. Curtis and Alvan C. Gillem-linked forces. Union prisoners taken at Lexington were processed through prise of arms channels and exchanged or detained in Union prisoner of war camps.
Tactically, the engagement reinforced Price's temporary ability to operate in central Missouri and underscored vulnerabilities in Union militia deployments across river towns like Lexington, Missouri, Liberty, Missouri, and Fayette, Missouri. Strategically, however, the victory at Lexington failed to change the course of Price's Raid, which culminated in defeat at Westport and the dispersal of Confederate forces into Kansas and Indian Territory. The raid's failure diminished Confederate influence in the Trans-Mississippi Theater and constrained recruitment prospects in Missouri, contributing to Union control of the state for the remainder of the American Civil War. Lexington's wartime experience, including both 1861 and 1864 actions, remains part of local heritage commemorated by institutions such as the Lexington Historical Museum and preserved battlefields studied by historians of Guerrilla warfare in the American Civil War and regional Civil War scholarship.
Category:Battles of the American Civil War Category:Missouri in the American Civil War