Inside the center is a little museum. Fort Davidson was the location of the Battle of
Pilot Knob, a major Civil War battle in Missouri where 1,450 Union defenders of
the fort were attacked by a force of 12,000 Confederates. Here's one of the two Confederate cannon that were
abandoned at the site and later recovered.
There were more Civil War battles in Missouri than I thought there were. Looks like it
was about 50/50 for wins and losses.
A 10 minute presentation at a fiber optic diarama shows the progress of the battle -
red lights are Confederate forces, blue lights are Union forces, and white lights are
bullets and shells.
Civil War stuff.
The fort itself. Its an earthwork in which the defenders and 11 cannon were
placed. From ground level its about 8 feet high or so, but its surrounded by a dry
moat so its actually higher than that.
You can walk up a path that takes you inside.
The battle was considered a Union victory, but to me its more of a draw. After three
attacks on Sep 26 and 27, 1864 the Confederates could not take the fort, but lost 1,000 men trying. Under cover of
darkness the Union soldiers were able to slip out of the fort and escape between two
sets of Confederate soldiers - they thought they were their own men in the darkness.
Before leaving, the Union soldiers set the powder magazine to explode - the blast was
felt 20 miles and destroyed the fort's contents, preventing the Confederates from
capturing much needed munitions. The crater still remains as shown here. So, the Confederates lost a significant part
of their army, but the Union lost a fort. A draw in my mind.
Just outside the fort are two cannon, and across the road is the restaurant.
There's a nice view from the fort.
There is a marker at the mass grave of those who died there.
They try to keep the fort untouched, but it seems a few trees have grown on the
earthwork in the mean time.
