[6] Records do not indicate that Taylor's law school was in operation for the 1828–29 term, and Price became an assistant to a court clerk in Prince Edward County in 1828.

[10] The stay in Fayette was designed solely to give Pugh time to select good tobacco-farming ground, and the family moved to the Keytesville vicinity in Chariton County in the summer of 1831.

[14] Price was selected as the area's representative to a Democratic state convention in January 1835, which presented potentially significant political opportunities.

After the session began on November 21, 1836, Price put forth a resolution calling for action on a bill to charter a state bank in Missouri.

[17] In 1836, the state of Missouri had established Caldwell County specifically for settlement by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

Two days later, part of the group visited a local judge, asking him to sign a statement disavowing support for any anti-Mormon violence and containing a promise to uphold the law.

The judge considered the statement a violation of his judicial oath not to favor special interest groups, and refused to sign, later traveling with a few others to Richmond, where he issued a complaint against the Mormons for starting frontier war.

[22] Things appeared to be trending peaceably, but an incident in which Mormon militiamen in Daviess County captured three anti-Mormons and a cache of weapons resparked violence.

[26] In early November, militia forces took control of Far West, and under the command of John Bullock Clark, Mormons considered to be guilty were rounded up for trial.

The mercantile business with Chiles had struggled, so Price dissolved the entity, paid off his share of its debts, and formed a new enterprise with Lisbon Applegate.

[35] In 1844, Price campaigned for Benton's reelection to the United States Senate, and then headed the Missouri Democratic Party's nominating convention for major elected offices.

On May 11, 1846, President James Knox Polk submitted a message Congress suggesting war with Mexico; Price was part of the majority that voted for it.

[39] Upset at not being renominated, Price resigned his seat in August; he was appointed colonel in one of the Missouri regiments being formed for the war with Mexico, having been suggested for the position by Benton.

[40] Price had only introduced two bills during his time in Congress: one related to determining the feasibility of establishing a mail route, and the other calling for Missouri soldiers to be compensated for horses they had lost while serving during the Seminole Wars.

[44] Price, who had been ill with cholera during the movement,[45] commanded United States forces in Santa Fe, where, according to Castel, he displayed a quarrelsome attitude, a tendency to make decisions so independently that they bordered on insubordination, and a laxness in keeping his troops disciplined.

[48] Price mobilized troops against the revolt, but as he had to keep a garrison in Santa Fe, was initially only able to move towards Taos with 353 men and four mountain howitzers, leaving on January 23.

The revolters had taken up positions in several buildings at the Taos Pueblo complex, and Price ordered an artillery bombardment of February 3, which was followed by a successful attack the next day.

[50] Once the Missourians returned to garrison duty, morale and discipline began to fall apart, leading to criticism of Price in the Missouri press.

After consulting with United States Secretary of War William L. Marcy, Jones replied that such a movement would be more effectively started from elsewhere, although Price was given permission to conduct demonstrations if a Mexican force occupied Chihuahua and threatened New Mexico.

The war had effectively ended well over a month before the battle, but Price received praise in the press and from President Polk despite having ignored the orders to not make the campaign.

Shalhope writes that Price's success in Mexico led to a willingness to disobey orders, experience with handling volunteer soldiers, and a tendency to ignore logistical matters, all three traits that would extend into a later conflict.

The Convention voted to remove Jackson from office and replace him with Hamilton Rowan Gamble, a pro-Union former chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court.

)[61] Price's troops launched an offensive into northern Missouri, defeating the Federal forces of Colonel James Mulligan at the First Battle of Lexington.

[citation needed] Still operating as a Missouri militia general (rather than as a commissioned Confederate officer), Price was unable to agree on next steps with McCulloch.

Van Dorn reunited Price's and McCulloch's formations into a force he named the Army of the West, and set out to engage Unionist troops in Missouri under the command of Brigadier-General Samuel R. Curtis.

Although wounded in the fray, Price pushed Curtis's force back at Elkhorn Tavern on March 7, but the battle was lost on the following day after a furious Federal counterattack.

[citation needed] Despite his disappointments in Arkansas and Louisiana, Price convinced his superiors to permit him to invade Missouri in the fall of 1864, hoping yet to seize that state for the Confederacy or at the very least imperil Abraham Lincoln's chances for reelection that year.

[64] The first major engagement in Price's Raid occurred at Pilot Knob, where he successfully captured the Union-held Fort Davidson but needlessly subjected his men to high fatalities in the process, for a gain that turned out to be of no real value.

Forced to bypass his secondary target at heavily fortified Jefferson City, Price cut a swath of destruction across his home state, even as his army steadily dwindled due to battlefield losses, disease, and desertion.

[citation needed] Although he defeated inferior Federal forces at Boonville, Glasgow, Lexington, the Little Blue River and Independence, Price was ultimately boxed in by two Northern armies at Westport, located in today's Kansas City, where he had to fight against overwhelming odds.