Sterling Price
Sterling Price | |
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Austin Augustus King | |
Succeeded by | Trusten Polk |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's at-large district | |
In office March 4, 1845 – August 12, 1846 | |
Preceded by | John Jameson |
Succeeded by | William McDaniel |
Personal details | |
Born | Confederate States | September 14, 1809
Branch/service |
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Years of service |
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Rank |
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Battles/wars |
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Sterling Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a United States general and senior
Early life and entrance into politics
Virginia
Sterling Price was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia,[1] near Farmville,[2] to a family of planters of Welsh origin.[3] His parents, Pugh and Elizabeth Price, owned 12 slaves[4] and have been described as "moderately wealthy". Sources disagree as to Sterling's date of birth. The historian Albert E. Castel states that Price was born on September 11, 1809,[3] a date with which the State Historical Society of Missouri agrees.[5] The historian Ezra J. Warner provides the date of birth as September 20, 1809.[1]
Price's father and older brother fought in the War of 1812.[4] Sterling attended a now-unknown grammar school and worked on his father's tobacco plantation before entering Hampden–Sydney College in the fall of 1826. Price did not return for the 1827–28 session for unknown reasons (Price's biographer Robert E. Shalhope speculates that poor examination grades or financial problems could have been the cause), and instead went to study law in Cumberland County, Virginia, under the jurist Creed Taylor.[6]
Records do not indicate that Taylor's law school was in operation for the 1828–29 term, and Price became an assistant to a court clerk in Prince Edward County in 1828. According to Shalhope, Price did not receive "more than a minimal legal education". Shalhope attributes the political climate of Prince Edward County at that time to lasting political beliefs of Price, including support for slavery, a dislike of debt, and tendency to oppose change; the region politically supported John Randolph of Roanoke.[7] The decade of the 1820s saw economic troubles in Virginia, with a mid-1810s surge in tobacco prices being followed by a collapse in prices which ruined many merchants and shippers. Poor economic conditions persisted through the 1820s, and Pugh Price decided to move his family to the state of Missouri, where tobacco production competed with Virginia's tobacco and slavery was legal.[8] The Price family reached Missouri in either 1830[5] or 1831[9] and temporarily settled near Fayette.[10]
Missouri
The stay in Fayette was designed solely to give Pugh time to select good tobacco-farming ground, and the family moved to the Keytesville vicinity in Chariton County in the summer of 1831.[11] The area was part of a region known as the Boonslick, which contained a number of other former Virginia planters.[12] On May 14, 1833, Price married Martha Head,[13] the daughter of a local judge; the couple would have five sons, one daughter, and several children who did not survive childhood.[3][12] Having entered into a business partnership with one Walter Chiles, Price worked as a merchant, served in the local militia, and began to purchase land both at a nearby river landing and on the prairie in the area.[14]
Price was selected as the area's representative to a
Missouri Mormon War
In 1836, the state of Missouri had established
During the election campaign before the Gallatin riot, Price had heard from Josiah Morin, a judge and
Things appeared to be trending peaceably, but an incident in which Mormon militiamen in Daviess County captured three anti-Mormons and a cache of weapons resparked violence. A force of 400 militiamen under the command of Doniphan was mustered, and the three prisoners were taken back on September 12.
Boggs also ordered the state militia to deal with the situation; Price commanded the militia from Chariton County.[26] In early November, militia forces took control of Far West, and under the command of John Bullock Clark, Mormons considered to be guilty were rounded up for trial.[27] Price commanded a force that escorted captured Mormon leaders from Independence to Richmond.[28] The men under Price's command treated their prisoners poorly during the movement; Price did not intervene. When the residents of Keytesville met in January 1839, Price was part of a four-person group that drafted a resolution describing their thoughts about the conflict. The resolution supported Boggs's actions and approved of the measures taken to respond to the violence.[29]
Return to the legislature
Due to his involvement in the conflict with the Mormons, Price did not serve a second term in the state legislature. The mercantile business with Chiles had struggled, so Price dissolved the entity, paid off his share of its debts, and formed a new enterprise with Lisbon Applegate. He was also appointed to a position with the Fayette branch of the recently-approved state bank.
As Speaker, Price introduced a series of resolutions about slavery. Governor Thomas Reynolds had sent a letter to the House after receiving communication from the governor of Virginia asking for legal cooperation from the other states that allowed slavery after Governor of New York William H. Seward stated that he would not allow the return of escaped slaves to the south. The resolutions accused Seward of violating the Constitution of the United States, stated that Missourians would make "common cause with the said slaveholding States [sic]", and suggested a boycott of products from New York. While the proposed boycott was struck, the rest of the resolutions passed.[33]
Price was reelected to the legislature in 1842, but the Democratic Party in Missouri was losing internal solidarity, with splits over
In 1844, Price campaigned for Benton's reelection to the
United States House of Representatives
Price arrived in
After the United States' admission of Texas, tensions between the United States and Mexico grew and evolved into small military clashes. On May 11, 1846, President
Mexican–American War
Price's command, the 2nd Missouri Mounted Infantry Regiment,
In January 1847, the
Once the Missourians returned to garrison duty, morale and discipline began to fall apart, leading to criticism of Price in the Missouri press.[51] In July, Price received a promotion to brigadier general and became the military governor of Chihuahua,[52] with Benton likely playing a role in the promotion. The enlistment periods for most of his men elapsed in August and September, and they returned home, along with Price. He visited his family and made trips to Jefferson City and St. Louis before returning to Fort Leavenworth in order to return to Santa Fe. After leaving the fort on November 10, Price arrived at Santa Fe in January 1848, where the garrison troops had been better-behaved in his absence. Price quickly sent out new orders to try to prevent discipline from cratering again, although these were not entirely successful.[53]
While in Missouri, Price had been in communication with
Price attacked on March 16. His men were victorious in close-quarters combat that saw the Mexicans suffer heavy losses. The war had effectively ended well over a month before the battle, but Price received praise in the press and from President Polk despite having ignored the orders to not make the campaign.[56] Price left Chihuahua in July, and was back in Missouri in October, where he had gained sizable political capital. Shalhope writes that Price's success in Mexico led to a willingness to disobey orders, experience with handling volunteer soldiers, and a tendency to ignore logistical matters, all three traits that would extend into a later conflict.[57]
Governor of Missouri
Price became a
Price was appointed as the state's Bank Commissioner, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also secured a rail line through his home county, which became part of the Norfolk and Western Railway.[citation needed]
American Civil War
Struggle for Missouri
Price was initially a public supporter of the
Jackson appointed Price to command the new Missouri State Guard in May 1861, and Price led his recruits (who nicknamed him "Old Pap") in a campaign to expel Lyon's troops. By then, Lyon's troops had seized the state capital and reconvened the pro-Union Missouri Constitutional Convention. The Convention voted to remove Jackson from office and replace him with Hamilton Rowan Gamble, a pro-Union former chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court. The climax of the conflict was the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, when Price's Missouri State Guard, supported by Confederate troops led by Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch, soundly defeated Lyon's troops. (Lyon himself died in battle, the first Union general to do so.)[61] Price's troops launched an offensive into northern Missouri, defeating the Federal forces of Colonel James Mulligan at the First Battle of Lexington. However, the Union Army soon sent reinforcements to Missouri, and forced Price's men and Jackson to fall back to the Arkansas border. The Union retained control of most of Missouri for the remainder of the war, although there were frequent guerrilla raids in the western sections.[citation needed]
Still operating as a Missouri militia general (rather than as a commissioned Confederate officer), Price was unable to agree on next steps with McCulloch. This split what might otherwise have become a sizable Confederate force in the West. Price and McCulloch became such bitter rivals that the Confederacy appointed
Outnumbering Curtis's forces, Van Dorn attacked the Northern army at Pea Ridge on March 7–8. Although wounded in the fray, Price pushed Curtis's force back at Elkhorn Tavern on March 7, but the battle was lost on the following day after a furious Federal counterattack.[citation needed]
Western Theater
Price, now serving under Van Dorn, crossed the
Van Dorn was replaced by Maj. Gen. John C. Pemberton, and Price, who had become thoroughly disgusted with Van Dorn and was eager to return to Missouri, obtained a leave to visit Richmond, the Confederate capital. There, he obtained an audience with Confederate President Jefferson Davis to discuss his grievances, only to find his own loyalty to the South sternly questioned by the Confederate leader. Price did secure Davis's permission to return to Missouri—minus his troops. Unimpressed with the Missourian, Davis pronounced him "the vainest man I ever met."[63]
Trans-Mississippi Theater
Price was not finished as a Confederate commander, however. He contested Union control over
Missouri Expedition
Despite his disappointments in Arkansas and Louisiana, Price convinced his superiors to permit him to
The first major engagement in Price's Raid occurred at
Although he defeated inferior Federal forces at Boonville, Glasgow, Lexington, the Little Blue River and Independence, Price was ultimately boxed in by two Northern armies at Westport, located in today's Kansas City, where he had to fight against overwhelming odds.[citation needed] This unequal contest, known afterward as "The Gettysburg of the West", did not go his way, and he was forced to retreat into hostile Kansas. A new series of defeats followed, as Price's battered and broken army was pushed steadily southward toward Arkansas, and then further south into Texas. Price's Raid was his last significant military operation, and the last significant Confederate campaign west of the Mississippi.[citation needed]
Notable battles
Some of Price's notable battles during the American Civil War are listed here in order of occurrence, and indicating whether he was in overall command and whether the battle or engagement was won or lost:
Battle | In command | Result | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Carthage, Missouri |
No | Won | |
Wilson's Creek, Missouri | No | Won | |
Lexington, Missouri | Yes | Won | |
Pea Ridge, Arkansas | No | Lost | |
Iuka, Mississippi | Yes | Lost | |
Corinth, Mississippi | No | Lost | |
Helena, Arkansas | No | Lost | |
Bayou Fourche, Arkansas | see notes | Lost | in overall command, though not commanding on the battlefield |
Prairie D'Ane, Arkansas | Yes | Lost | |
Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas | No | Lost | Confederates took the field, but the Union force escaped |
Pilot Knob, Missouri | Yes | Lost | Price took the fort, but the Union force escaped |
Glasgow, Missouri | see notes | Won | in overall command, though not commanding on the battlefield |
Little Blue River, Missouri | Yes | Won | |
Independence, Missouri | Yes | Won | |
Westport, Missouri | Yes | Lost | |
Mine Creek, Kansas | Yes | Lost |
Emigration to Mexico
Rather than surrender, Price emigrated to Mexico, where he and several of his former compatriots attempted to start a colony of Southerners. He settled in a Confederate exile colony in Carlota, Veracruz. There Price unsuccessfully sought service with the Emperor Maximilian. When the colony failed, he returned to Missouri.
Death
While in Mexico, Price started having severe intestinal problems, which grew worse in August 1866 when he contracted
Honors
- During the American Civil War, a wooden river Red River campaigns. The General Price was sold for private use after the war.[67]
- Camp No. 31 (organized October 13, 1889) of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV) in the city of Dallas, Texas, was named after him.[68]
- A monument to Price stands in the Springfield National Cemetery (Springfield, Missouri). Dedicated August 10, 1901, the bronze figure honors all Missouri soldiers and General Price. It was commissioned by the United Confederate Veterans of Missouri.
- A statue of Price stands in Price Park, Keytesville, Missouri, which is also the location of the Sterling Price Museum in his honor.
- The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) commissioned Jorgen Dreyer in 1939 to create a bust of Price.[69] It is in the Visitor Center of the Battle of Lexington Missouri Historic Site.
- Camps No. 145 (St. Louis) and Camp No. 676 (Littleton, Colorado) of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) are named after him.
See also
References
- ^ a b Warner 2006, p. 246.
- ^ "Sterling Price". History, Art, and Archives: United States House of Representatives. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Castel 1993, p. 3.
- ^ a b Shalhope 1971, p. 4.
- ^ a b "Sterling Price". State Historical Society of Missouri. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 5–7.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 10–12.
- ^ Warner 2006, pp. 246–247.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, p. 14.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 14–15.
- ^ a b Shalhope 1971, p. 16.
- ^ "Sterling Price, 1853–1857". sos.mo.gov. Missouri Digital Heritage. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 17–19.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 21–22.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 23–26.
- ^ Launius 1998, pp. 63–65.
- ^ Launius 1998, pp. 65–66.
- ^ LeSueur 1987, p. 60.
- ^ Launius 1998, p. 67.
- ^ LeSueur 1987, p. 84.
- ^ Launius 1998, pp. 68–70.
- ^ Launius 1998, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Launius 1998, pp. 78–80.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, p. 27.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 27–28.
- ^ LeSueur 1987, pp. 188–189.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, p. 28.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 28–29.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 30–32.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 33–34.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 37–39.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 41–46.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 49–54.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 52–54.
- ^ a b Castel 1993, p. 4.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, p. 54.
- ^ Eisenhower 2000, p. 234.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, p. 58.
- ^ a b Castel 1993, pp. 4–5.
- ^ a b Welsh 1995, p. 177.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, p. 59.
- ^ Eisenhower 2000, pp. 232–233.
- ^ Castel 1993, p. 5.
- ^ Eisenhower 2000, pp. 237–240.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, p. 66.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 66–67.
- ^ Dupuy, Johnson & Bongard 1992, p. 612.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 66–69.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 70–71.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 72–73.
- Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
- ^ Shalhope 1971, pp. 74–77.
- ^ Governor's Information: Sterling Price. Retrieved November 22, 2009. Archived December 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Pictorial and Genealogical Record of Greene County, Missouri Archived March 6, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, entry: "General Sterling Price"; The Library, Springfield, Missouri. Retrieved November 24, 2009.
- ^ Pollard 1867, p. 155.
- ^ "Wilson's Creek". American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ^ Eicher, p. 440.
- ^ Sterling Price. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
- ^ "Sterling Price (1809–1867)", The Latin Library. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
- ISBN 0-87338-505-5.
- ISBN 978-0-8262-0103-4.
- ^ History of the ship, CSS General Sterling Price
- ^ Charter, constitution and by-laws, officers and members of Sterling Price Camp, United Confederate Veterans, Camp No. 31: organized, October 13, 1889, in the city of Dallas, Texas. published 1893, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
- ^ Sedalia (MO) Democrat, p. 10, September 17, 1939.
Sources
- ISBN 0-8071-1854-0.
- Davis, Dale E. Assessing Compound Warfare During Price's Raid. Ft. Leavenworth, KS: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2004. OCLC 70153559.
- Dupuy, Trevor N.; Johnson, Curt; Bongard, David L. (1992). ISBN 978-0-06-270015-5.
- Eicher, John H., and ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3279-2.
- Gifford, Douglas L. The Battle of Pilot Knob: Staff Ride and Battlefield Tour Guide. Winfield, MO: D.L. Gifford, 2003. ISBN 978-1-59196-478-0.
- Launius, Roger D. (1998). "Alexander William Doniphan and the 1838 Mormon War in Missouri". JSTOR 43200103.
- LeSueur, Stephen C. (1987). The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-6103-8.
- Lexington Historical Society. The Battle of Lexington, .... Lexington, MO: Lexington Historical Society, 1903. OCLC 631462805.
- ISBN 9780517101315.
- Rea, Ralph R. Sterling Price, the Lee of the West. Little Rock, AR: Pioneer Press, 1959. OCLC 2626512.
- Shalhope, Robert E. (1971). Sterling Price: Portrait of a Southerner. Columbia, Missouri: ISBN 0-8262-0103-2.
- Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
- Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. The History of the Military Occupation of the Territory of New Mexico from 1846 to 1851. Denver, CO: Smith-Brooks Company Publishers, 1909. OCLC 2693546.
- Warner, Ezra J. (2006) [1959]. Generals in Gray (Louisiana Paperback ed.). Baton Rouge, Louisiana: ISBN 978-0-8071-3150-3.
- Welsh, Jack D. (1995). Medical Histories of Confederate Generals. Kent, Ohio: ISBN 0-87338-505-5.
Further reading
- Forsyth, Michael J. The Great Missouri Raid: Sterling Price and the Last Major Confederate Campaign in Northern Territory (McFarland, 2015) viii, 282 pp.
- Geiger, Mark W. (2010). Financial Fraud and Guerrilla Violence in Missouri's Civil War, 1861–1865. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-15151-0.
- Sinisi, Kyle S. The Last Hurrah: Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition of 1864 (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.) xviii, 432 pp.
External links
- Sterling Price at Find a Grave
- Sterling Price at The Historical Marker Database (HMdb.org)
- Sterling Price at the National Governors Association
- Works by or about Sterling Price at Internet Archive