Military
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Shortly after noon, Major General Sterling Price’s advance attacked the Federal pickets encamped at the Ironton courthouse. Federal reinforcements rushed from Pilot Knob, counterattacked, and drove the raiders three miles to Shut-In Gap. As Confederate columns continued arriving, the outnumbered Federals fought a delaying action but were pushed back to Arcadia by nightfall. Under cover of a rainstorm, the Federals retired to Ironton, while the valley below filled with Confederate campfires. Brigadier General Thomas Ewing, convinced that he faced Price’s entire army, had only 1,500 men but decided to hold out because the military command in Saint Louis needed more time to prepare to meet the threat.
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Pilot Knob, Missouri · United States
