As the year draws to a close, Union and Confederate forces continue maneuvering for control of the border state of Missouri. Four days ago Union Brig. Gen. Benjamin M. Prentiss advanced into Boone County with a force of five companies of the Third Missouri Cavalry and two companies of Birge’s Western Sharpshooters in order to…
On October 21, the 20th Illinois, fighting alongside other Union regiments, had defeated Missouri State Guard Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson’s 1500-man force in the Battle of Fredericktown, Missouri. A minor battle, the victory was nonetheless welcome for the United States, which is struggling to retain control of Missouri and, in the larger picture, has…
Today at the Grove Hill Baptist Church in Alabama, in a formal ceremony the flag of the 24th Alabama Infantry (Co. E. Dickinson Guards) is presented to the company. Confederate flag presentation ceremonies held in churches, Baptist and otherwise, are not unusual, as many white southern Christians are patriotic Confederates, while belief in the Confederacy…