Folks,

Our next program
is this coming Thursday, 3 May, at the Frontier Army Museum at 7 p.m.  The
program follows immediately after the Annual General Membership Meeting at
6:30.

Lexington was the site of one of the largest battles in
the western theater of the Civil War. The Battle of Lexington is better known as
the Battle of the Hemp Bales. On September 12, 1861, somewhere between 15 and 20
thousand Missouri State Guards were led to Lexington by Major General Sterling
Price. On September 18, Price began a siege against the Federal military post
stationed in the old Masonic College. The Federal troops were commanded by
Colonel James A. Mulligan. Price’s army mounted a final assault using hemp bales
as moving breastworks while they moved up the river bluffs and closed in on
Mulligan’s headquarters. On the third day of the siege, Mulligan’s troops
surrendered. The combined casualties numbered 73 dead and 270 wounded. The
battlefield remains today on the bluffs of the river in virtually pristine
condition and is preserved as a state historic site.  Mr. Gary Linhart will
examine the battle, discuss its regional and national significance in terms of
the Civil War, and give an exciting introduction to the upcoming FLHS expedition
to Lexington (5 May 2012).