Advance Into Hallsville
Brig. Gen. Benjamin M. Prentiss led a Union force of 5 companies of the Third Missouri Cavalry and 2 companies of Birge's Western Sharpshooters into Boone County to protect the North Missouri Railroad, disrupt the organization of the secessionist Missouri State Guard, and generally overawe secessionist sentiment in the region. Prentiss's forces left the Northern Missouri headquarters in Palmyra, Missouri, on December 24.
After arriving in Sturgeon on December 26, Prentiss learned about a concentration of State Guard near Hallsville. He sent a company to Hallsville the next day that fought a State Guard detachment under the command of Col. Caleb Dorsey and, in a 10 minute skirmish about one half mile north of Mount Zion Church, itself situated about 3 miles southeast of Hallsville and 15 miles northeast of Columbia. Prentiss's troops suffered casualties, including men taken prisoner, before retreating back to Sturgeon by 6 p.m.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Mount Zion Church
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