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Sterling Price was a man of honor. To lead thousands of soldiers into battle, it takes mutual respect and discipline.

Mob rule was on display in St. Louis. Earlier in the Camp Jackson affair, uncontrollable green Union troops panicked and opened fire into a ruckus civilian crowd, killing 28 and leaving 100-plus wounded. The act changed Sterling Price’s opinion on Missouri staying neutral in the early stages of the Civil War.

Following the victory at Wilson’s Creek, Missouri State Guard and Confederate regulars from Arkansas parted ways. General Price drove his 15,000 to 17,000-men north to retake important parts of Missouri and recruit.

It’s no small feat to maneuver an army. Food, ammunition, horses, soldiers and armaments for the likes of those numbers can produce a caravan 10 miles long.

As Price’s army meandered north along the Kansas and Missouri border, Jim Lane and his undisciplined Jayhawks tried to slow them down. Vastly outnumbered, Lane’s boys skirmished, then wisely slithered back into Kansas, but he sensed an opportunity.

Lane knew the militia’s target had to be Union strategic strongholds; Fort Leavenworth, St. Joseph and/or Lexington.

Once a large foraging army on the recruit left an area there would be a vacuum, Lane took note.

Price was headed to Lexington, an important trading center on the Missouri River. A Union contingent had moved on the city, occupying the southern leaning town and looting local banks.

The Missouri State Militia moved through the countryside like a methodical monster. Price deployed part of his cavalry as the convoy approached Lexington, small clashes occurred as the Union retreated to their defenses, an abandoned Masonic College in the bluffs overlooking the River.

Remember Price is campaigning in his home state against his people. A measured attack commenced, “Price’s heart really wasn’t in it,” lamented Chris Fritsche, Superintendent of the Battle of Lexington State Historic Site.

Nonetheless, artillery barrages from both sides lasted hours, forcing Union troops under the command of Colonel James Mulligan to retreat into pre-established inner defenses.