The Last Hurrah: Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition of 1864 (The American Crisis Series: Books on the Civil War Era)

"In the late summer of 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price led a last ditch attempt to liberate Missouri from Union occupation and brutal guerrilla warfare. Price's invading army was like few others seen during the Civil War. It was an army of cavalry that lacked men, horses, weapons, and discipline. Its success depended entirely upon a native uprising of pro-Confederate Missourians. When that uprising never occurred, Price's rag-tag army marched through the state seeking revenge, supplies and conscripts. It was a march that took too long and ultimately allowed Union forces to converge on Price and badly defeat him in a series of battles that ran from Kansas City to the Arkansas border. Three months and 1,400 miles after it had started, the longest sustained cavalry operation of the war had ended in disaster. The Last Hurrah is the story of Price's invasion from its politically charged planning to its starving retreat. The Last Hurrah is also the story of what happened after the shooting stopped. Even as hundreds of Missourians followed Price out of the state and tried desperately to join his army, elements of the Union army visited retribution upon Confederate sympathizers while still others showed little regard for the lives of the prisoners they had captured. Many more would have to suffer and die long after Sterling Price had fled Missouri."-- Provided by the publisher In the late summer of 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price led a last ditch attempt to liberate Missouri from Union occupation and brutal guerrilla warfare. Prices invading army was like few others seen during the Civil War an army of cavalry that lacked men, horses, weapons, and discipline. Its success depended entirely upon an uprising of pro-Confederate Missourians. When that uprising did not occur, Prices rag-tag army marched through the state exacting revenge, seeking supplies and gathering conscripts. It was a march that took too long and allowed Union forces to converge and defeat Price in a series of battles that ran from Kansas City to the Arkansas border. Three months and 1,400 miles after it started, the longest sustained cavalry operation of the war ended in disaster. The Last Hurrah is the story of Prices invasion from its politically-charged planning to its starving retreat.The Last Hurrahis also the story of what happened after the shooting stopped. Even as hundreds of Missourians followed Price out of the state and tried desperately to join his army, elements of the Union army visited retribution upon Confederate sympathizers and demonstrated little regard for the lives of the prisoners they had captured. Many more would suffer and die long after Sterling Price had fled Missouri. In the late summer of 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price attempted to liberate Missouri from Union occupation. Price's invading army lacked men, horses, weapons, and discipline. Its success depended entirely upon a native uprising of pro-Confederate Missourians. When that uprising never occurred, the rag-tag army marched through the state seeking revenge, supplies and conscripts. It was a march that took too long and ultimately allowed Union forces to converge on Price and defeat him in a series of battles that ran from Kansas City to the Arkansas border. Three months and 1,400 miles after it had started, the longest sustained cavalry operation of the war had ended in disaster. This is the story of Price's invasion from its politically charged planning to its starving retreat The Last Hurrah is a military history of longest, and largest, cavalry operation of the Civil War. The book’s narrative perspective covers both Union and Confederate forces and ultimately shows that the conduct of operations could not be detached from the brutality of the guerrilla war that preceded Price’s entrance into the state. Atrocities and depredations would be just as much a part of the campaign, and its aftermath, as would be its major battles.