Mount Zion Church

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Mount Zion Church (1861)

War:

American Civil War

Date(s):

28 Dec 1861

Location:

Boone County, Missouri, US

Outcome:

Union victory

Description:

Brig. Gen. Benjamin M. Prentiss, USA
Col. Caleb Dorsey, CSA

Prentiss had about 250 cavalry and 200 mounted infantry against an unknown force of Southerners.

Confederate casualties were three times the Union’s 70.

Brig. Gen. Benjamin 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.

The next day he sent a company to Hallsville; they met a Confederate force under the command of Col. Caleb Dorsey and suffered numerous casualties, including many taken prisoner, before falling back to their local base.

Prentiss was determined to do his job, and on the 28th set out with his entire force to meet Dorsey’s rebels – no more sending a boy to do a man’s job. Prentiss encountered one company of Confederates on the road from Hallsville to Mount Zion, and routed them. From a prisoner he learned that the rest of the Confederates were at Mount Zion Church, so he headed there.

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, one of the strongholds of pro-Secession sympathy. The Union forces were gaining the upper hand in Missouri.

Content provided by:
eHistory Staff

Selected sources:
American Battlefield Protection Program, Heritage Preservation Services, National Park Service.

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THESE ARE ARCHIVED PAGES OF THE OLD EHISTORY SITE
These pages are not actively maintained and may have errors in content and functionality