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Bird's Point,

Opposite Cairo, was fortified early in 1861 by the National troops. It was on the west. side of the Mississippi River, a few feet higher than Cairo, so that a battery upon it would completely command that place. The Confederates were anxious to secure this point, and to that end General Pillow, who was collecting Confederate troops in western Tennessee. worked with great energy. When Governor Jackson, of Missouri. raised the standard of revolt at Jefferson City, with Sterling Price as military commander, General Lyon, in command of the department, moved more vigorously in the work already begun in the fortification of Bird's Point. His attention had been called to the importance of the spot by Captain Benham, of the engineers, who constructed the works. They were made so strong that they could defy any force the Confederates might bring against them. With these opposite points so fortified, the Nationals controlled a great portion of the navigation of the Mississippi River. See Missouri.

Harper and Brothers Publishers. . New York. 1902.

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Sterling Price (1)
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