When in the late summer of 1864 a force of some twelve thousand soldiers under the command of Confederate major general Sterling Price were sent to capture the state of Missouri for the Confederacy, it represented a real threat to the Union.
By September of 1944, the Western Allies had broken out of the Normandy beachehead, and suddenly and quickly moved across northern France . By September 7th, the 90th division was stretched across the northern sector on Patton’s Third Army’s left, advancing slowly northeast. As they did so the German defenders made a risky attack in an effort to spoil the allied advance, cutting through Allied lines in a surprise action at the small town of Mairy-Mannville.