Mount Zion Church
Civil War Missouri

American Civil War
December 28, 1861

Brigadier General Benjamin M. Prentiss led a Union force of 5 mounted companies and 2 companies of Birge's sharpshooters into Boone County to protect the North Missouri Railroad and overawe secessionist sentiment there.

After arriving in Sturgeon on December 26, Prentiss learned of a band of Rebels near Hallsville. He sent a company to Hallsville the next day that fought a Confederate force under the command of Colonel Caleb Dorsey and suffered numerous casualties, including many taken prisoner, before retreating to Sturgeon.

On the 28th, Prentiss set out with his entire force to meet Dorsey's Rebels. He routed one company of Confederates on the road from Hallsville to Mount Zion and learned that the rest of the force was at Mount Zion Church.

Prentiss headed for the church. After a short battle, the Confederates retreated, leaving their killed and wounded on the battlefield and abandoning many animals, weapons, and supplies.

This action and others curtailed Rebel recruiting activities in Central Missouri.

Result(s): Union victory

Location: Boone County

Campaign: Operations in Northeast Missouri (1861-62)

Date(s): December 28, 1861

Principal Commanders: Brigadier General Benjamin M. Prentiss [US]; Colonel Caleb Dorsey [CS]

Forces Engaged: Detachments of the 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment (approx. 240) and Birge's Sharpshooters (approx. 200) [US]; unknown [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 282 total (US 72; CS 210)


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Civil War Missouri History Book Club Additional Reading Titles

The Devil Knows How to Ride: The True Story of William Clarke Quantrill and His Confederate Raiders
William Clarke Quantrill was quite possibly the most dangerous man to fight in the Civil War. The leader of an almost psychopathic band of guerrilla warriors, Quantrill participated as a Confederate in a deadly border war between Southern sympathizers in Missouri and the Unionist Jayhawks of Kansas. He was largely responsible for the 1863 massacre of nearly 200 unresisting men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as dozens of other brutal acts that today would be called terrorism. Among the notorious men who rode with him were Frank and Jesse James, whose postwar crime careers are briefly reviewed.

The Civil War in Missouri, Day by Day, 1861 to 1865
Follow as events transpire across Missouri within those four long years. From raids and pursuit of the outlaws to the hunting down of Southern sympathizers and the Federal scouting parties across the state. Something for everyone in this book. This book is deemed by many readers as a Missouri classic.

Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border
This aspect of the Civil War is often misunderstood in that the majority of what we know has been passed down to us from the "victors" point of view. In fact, these were very, very hard times and a good case can be made that there were indeed no real winners in this not so isolated, but under reported, part of the war. Horrible, barbaric actions were consummated by both sides of this conflict. If we attempt to place ourselves at that time and place in history, we can well see where both sides had their grievances, and both sides were able to justify their atrocities.

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.