page_title: Battle of Mount Zion Church
section_title: Battle at Mt. Zion
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Mount Zion Church / Battle at Mt. Zion
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of battlefield core and study areas.
context_page_description: The Battle of Mount Zion Church was fought on December 28, 1861, in Boone County, near Mount Zion Church, during the American Civil War. The resulting Union victory here and elsewhere in central Missouri ended Confederate recruiting activities in the region and pushed conventional Confederate forces out of the area until the desperate fall 1864 invasion by General Sterling Price and his Missouri State Guard.
context_section_description: On December 28 at about 2 a.m., Prentiss set out with his entire force to meet Dorsey's force. While the State Guardsmen numbered around 900, most appear to have been local volunteers, many of whom were not armed with military weapons (although many had personal civilian firearms of various types). A detachment of Prentiss's force routed one company of Guardsmen on the road from Hallsville around 100 yards east of Mount Zion Church and learned that the rest of the force was in the churchyard, situated on a high hill. The main campground was actually in a thicketted hollow immediately east of the church. Prentiss advanced on the State Guard positions, making three charges. At the third, the Confederates exhausted their ammunition, fell back to their wagons, and were overrun. The battle ended around 11 a.m.
caption: Map of Mount Zion Church Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program.
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