The Siege of Lexington, Missouri: The Battle of the Hemp Bales (Civil War Sesquicentennial Series)

Following victories at Carthage and Wilson’s Creek in the
summer of 1861, the Confederate-allied Missouri State Guard achieved its
greatest success when it advanced on Lexington in September. Former Missouri
governor General Sterling Price and his men laid siege for three days against a
Union garrison under the command of Colonel James Mulligan. An ingenious mobile
breastwork of hemp bales soaked in water, designed to absorb hot shot, enabled
the Confederates to close in on September 20 and force surrender. Civil War
historian Larry Wood delivers a thorough account of the battle that briefly consolidated
Confederate control in the region.