The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Not likely Columbia
In Response To: Price's Raid ()

My opinion is that the author probably got his towns mixed up and the error was not caught in proofreading. In 1864 Columbia was a sleepy little college town with absolutely no strategic value. The only reason the Columbia Tigers were formed was because a powerful Columbia native, United States Congressman James S. Rollins, had just barely avoided being killed by Bill Anderson at Centralia a few days earlier and had implored Federal authorities to allow him put together a small defensive force to prevent that possibility at Columbia. The Tigers were formed in the immediate aftermath of Centralia to defend against marauding guerrillas, not a Confederate Army of thousands. In the grand scheme of things Columbia would not have been much of a prize and would have risked Price getting his army trapped a full day's march, in the best of circumstances, on the north side of the river with a horrific path of escape. The prize was the state capital, Jefferson City, and was referred to in the flood of dispatches discussing Price's pivot to the west away from St. Louis. But, by dragging his feet in getting to Jeff City, by the time Price arrived thousands of Federals had arrived and had converted the area into a massive fortress which convinced Price to keep heading west, and then south. Imagine Price taking Columbia, with that massive Jefferson City Federal force to his south, and another massive Federal force heading his way from Kansas. Price would have had a better chance of getting to the North Pole than back to Arkansas and Texas. Just my two cents worth.

Messages In This Thread

Price's Raid
Re: Price's Raid
Re: Price's Raid
Re: Price's Raid
Not likely Columbia
Re: Not likely Columbia
The Columbia Tigers and Their Mission
Tigers Formed To Defend Against Bill Anderson
Tigers Formed To Defend Against Guerrillas
Re: The Columbia Tigers and Their Mission