When I was in the 11th grade, one of our required courses for the year was an American literature course. On the first day of this class, our teacher, a Mr. David Lineberry, bragged that he did not have to send a student to the office or give a detention in over three years. Being the dedicated student that I am, I of course rose to the occasion and broke that streak, receiving detention before the end of the 1st quarter. Although I broke his streak, Mr. Lineberry didn’t hold a grudge, but he did require us to read Stephen Crane’s Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage. As our class finished this story of symbolism, impressionism, and personal conflicts of heroism and cowardice, Mr. Lineberry lead us out of the classroom and to a nearby park, showing us the remains of trenches dug into the trees and off the beaten path. As we examined the trenches, Mr. Lineberry told us his own story about local history, that of the “battle that never was.” A story of Sterling Price’s 1864 Missouri Campaign, and how he led his forces to Jefferson City to retake the capital city for the Confederacy. Many of my fellow students and I were engrossed in his tale, being largely unfamiliar with it, and it is a story that deserves to be retold. Join us as we discuss Sterling Price, Civil War battles, an embarrassing twist for the Confederates, and how they became a part… of the Show-Me.