Editing Keytesville, Missouri (section)

===Confederate raid===
On September 20, 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price arrived on the outskirts of Keytesville with a force of 250 men, among them [[George M. Todd|George Todd]] and other members of [[William Quantrill|Quantrill's Raiders]]<ref>Castel, Albert E. with TH Goodrich, ''Bloody Bill Anderson: The Short Savage Life of a Civil War Guerrilla'', Stackpole Books, 1998. pg. 60.</ref> under the command of Major John Thrailkill. This action was part of Price's [[Price's Raid|1864 campaign]] that extended across the state from eastern Missouri to the Kansas City area. When Thrailkill's force arrived, Keytesville was defended by a small Union detachment of 35 men from the Missouri militia, commanded by Lieutenant Anthony Pleyer.<ref name="War">''The War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the official records of the Union Army.'', Written and published by the United States War Department. pp. 427-430</ref> Many local residents were sympathetic to the Confederate cause. Early on the morning of September 20, under a flag of truce, Thrailkill demanded the surrender of the Union troops, promising fair treatment. Unable to persuade his men to fight, Pleyer surrendered. Price paroled the Union garrison, and six men promptly joined his force.<ref>''FROM NORTHWEST MISSOURI.; Another Chapter of Pawpawism A Dark and Bloody Record Radical Union Men Warned to Leave the Country-They Vote at tho Peril of their Lives Murder and Arson in Chariton County.'' ''Missouri Democrat''. October 2, 1864</ref> Confederate forces then briefly occupied the town, commandeering supplies from various merchants, burning down the courthouse, and executing Chariton County sheriff Robert Carmon and William Young, a Union scout and alleged spy.<ref>Lause, Mark A., ''Prices Lost Campaign: The 1864 Invasion of Missouri'', University of Missouri Press, 2011, pg. 60.</ref>