Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to episode number 68 of our Civil War podcast.

My name is Rich.

I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Welcome to the podcast. As y'all will recall, Rich and I used

the last episode to cover the Battle of Wilson's Creek, which took place in Southwest Missouri

on August 10th, 1861. The Federal Commander Nathaniel Lyon was killed at Wilson's Creek,

but as men, despite having suffered heavy casualties during the fighting, managed to retreat

back to Springfield, then withdraw to Rala.

Immediately after the battle at Wilson's Creek, the victorious commanders, Ben McCulloch,

Sterling Price, and Enbart Pierce, they met in Springfield to plan the southern armies

next move. Sterling Price, the commander of the Missouri State Guard, wanted to capitalize

on the victory at Wilson's Creek by marching north and striking out for the Missouri River.

Price argued that such an advance would not only threaten union control of the important

waterway, but would also allow reinforcements from the northern part of Missouri to enter

the ranks of the State Guard.

Price was specifically looking at the town of Lexington as a base of operations on the

river. About 150 miles almost due north of Springfield, Lexington was a bustling river

town of over 4,000 people, the majority of whom were sympathetic to this other cause,

and so Price knew that the town would be a source of valuable supplies and provisions,

and would also serve nicely as a focal point for recruiting. In addition, Price and Claiborne

Fox Jackson apparently wanted to seize the money the bank in Lexington owed the State

of Missouri.

But Ben McCulloch, the Confederate commander in Arkansas and the Indian territory, wasn't

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