Fort Davidson: Missouri's historic site of the Battle of Pilot Knob

Fort Davidson historic site in Pilot Knob, MissouriPhoto byKbh3rd, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fort Davidson is located near Pilot Knob, Missouri in what was known as Clark National Forest. It was the site of the Battle of Pilot Knob during the American Civil War that occurred on Septembrer 27, 1864. On February 26, 1970, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Pilot Knob is located in northeast Iron County.

Clark National Forest was established on September 11, 1939. On July 1, 1973, this forest was combined administratively with the Mark Twain National Forest becoming the Clark and Mark Twain Forest. On February 17, 1976, the name was changed to Mark Twain.

The fort originally had a nine foot wall made of compressed earth and it was surrounded by a moat. At the time the fort was nominated for the National Register, the wall was five feet tall and shrubs had grown over the moat.

The Battle of Pilot Knob was a turning point for the campaign of Confederate Major General Sterling Price in Missouri. Price was eventually put into a defensive position by Union forces.

General J. W. Davidson, commander of the Southeast Missouri District, constructed the fort in 1863 on a level plain close to Pilot Knob. It was encircled by mountains.

This image depicts the moat and earthen walls of the fort.Photo bySmoothfin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The battle occurred in the afternoon of September 27, 1864. As Price's forces drew back and many were killed or wounded. That night, the Union forces abandoned the fort after detonating its magazine (place where ammunition or other explosives are stored).

The Battle of Pilot Knob State Historic Site preserves the site of Fort Davidson. A crater still exists where the ammunition was ignited all those decades ago.

A side of Fort Davidson depicts the crater from the blast blowing up the powder magazine on the far right.Photo byAnela at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

In 1968, the Fort Davidson battlefield was added to the Missouri State Park system followed by its listing on the National Register two years later. A mass grave containing those who died on the battlefield is marked by a granite monument, the fort's walls, and the crater from the detonated magazine.

There is a visitors center and museum at the site that contains a research library, a fiber optic display, and artifacts, including Union Army General Thomas Ewing Jr.'s sword.

A stone memorial monument at Fort Davidson in Missouri with the earthen ruins in the background.Photo byKbh3rd, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

In 2014, at the sesquicentennial reenactment, over 25,000 people gathered for the state park event.

In 1905, a group of Civil War veterans known as the Pilot Knob Memorial Association purchased the site of the battlefield in the hope it would be federally preserved. General Ewing's son was also a key player in that support.

In 1938 and 1939, Ewing's son (which son isn't known) and his wife donated the site to the U.S. Forest Service. A little over three decades later, it became a historic site. Visit here for information on the next civil war renactment set for the fall of 2024.

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