"BRILLIANT SUCCESS IN MISSOURI: Sterling Price's Patriot Army and the 1861 Campaign for Lexington"

The Missouri State Guard's September 1861 campaign, orchestrated by General Sterling Price, that culminated in the capture of the brigade sized Union garrison at Lexington has been the subject of several booklets and articles, the best being Michael Gillespie's The Civil War Battle of Lexington Missouri (issued back in the mid-1990s). While a truly full length study is yet to be written, area native Kevin L. Tilly recently self-published another overview treatment titled Brilliant Success in Missouri: Sterling Price's Patriot Army and the 1861 Campaign for Lexington [2008, comb-bound, 80 pages, $28^*].

Events immediately before and after the September 12-20 investment and capture of Colonel James Mulligan's fortified camp north of town are discussed, but the heart of the study is a 35-page annotated narrative history of the "siege". Tilly's treatment is similar in detail to Gillespie's, but incorporates more first person accounts (military and civilian) into its narrative. Three maps are present, including the obligatory reproduction of the one from Battles & Leaders, as well as a color photo gallery. The bibliography is made up of published sources. Appendices include a casualty list (partial), orders of battle, and several transcribed historical documents.

Although many readers will likely balk at paying $28 for a spiral bound softcover of any kind, Brilliant Success in Missouri can serve as a reasonable placeholder summary history of the campaign until a book length project is finally published.


* - Ordering info (from Missouri Historical Review, July 2009 Vol. 103, issue no. 4): Kevin Tilly, 1494 South 13 Highway, Lexington, MO 64067.