09/19/2024
September 19th 2024 year marks the 160th anniversary of the burning of Doniphan, MO by Federal Troops
In September, 1864, General Sterling Price formed an army of some 12,000 troops with 14 pieces of artillery in Arkansas and began “Price’s Invasion” of Missouri. The objective was to reclaim Missouri for the South by retaking Jefferson City and installing the exile government. It was the last attempt of the dying Confederacy to gain victory in the west. General Price, a Mexican War hero and former governor of Missouri, divided his army into three divisions. General Shelby, with his cavalry, formed the column on the left flank and General Marmaduke’s division was on the right. General James Fagan commanded the center column. Price, who weighed over 300 pounds, was there on a special wagon made for the occasion and accompanied by a small brass band. There was about 20 miles between the columns as they moved forward.
As the invasion advanced on Ripley County, a detachment of Union troops commanded by Lt. Erich Pape, arrived in Doniphan at daybreak of September 19, drove Reeves’ soldiers out and burned the wooden courthouse and the town with it, sparing only the Methodist Church and Aden Lowe’s home. The widow Lowe was apparently feeding some Union troops while others torched the town. While the burning of Doniphan was tied to Price’s raid, it was also an act of retribution for guerrilla attacks.
Shelby’s cavalry arrived in the afternoon, crossing Current River about a half mile above the present bridge, but the Yankees had fled to the north, burning farmhouses and outbuildings as they went. Shelby’s troops caught up with Pape’s unit at Ponder’s Mill on Little Black just over the Butler County line. In the battle that followed 16 of the 80-man Yankee force were killed or captured while the Rebels lost only six. Generals Price and Fagan crossed the river at Indian Ford near Pratt while Marmaduke’s division entered at Pitman’s Ferry. Once again the Old Military Road was the scene of history as Price’s army moved north.
"Civil War in Ripley County - The Burning of Doniphan" Publication by the Current River Heritage Museum a project by DNAP
https://sites.google.com/view/moconfed/home/the-burning-of-doniphan
