 Nyorai mberi kweiyi ndima - Muna 1862, Sikeston yakashandiswa senzira yekufambisa sezvo Brigadier General Pope akatumira pfuti yake mhiri kwerwizi kuenda kuCommerce, Missouri, kuti atumirwe nechitima kuenda kuSikeston kwekutakura ngoro kuenda kuNew Madrid, mukugadzirira Hondo yeChitsuwa Nhamba Gumi. Musi waFebruary 28, 1862, Pope akabva kuCommerce neuto rake revarwi 12 000, achisvika kuSikeston musi waMarch 2. Mukuru wemauto weUnited States William Pitt Kellogg, gavhuna wenguva yemberi weLouisiana, aitungamirira uto rechi7 rokuIllinois, ndiye akanga ari wokutanga kuona vapanduki vachiparadza mabhiriji akanga achangobva kupiswa nezvimwe zvipingamupinyi. VaFederal vakarwiswa kumaodzanyemba kweSikeston neboka diki revapanduki vaitungamirirwa naGeneral Thompson ainzi Swamp Fox, zita remadunhurirwa mushure meRevolutionary War Brigadier General Francis Marion. Thompson aitungamirira boka revarume 85 vaifamba nemabhiza uye zvombo zvekuedza zvina kusvika kuzvitanhatu zvakanga zvaitwa muMemphis. Achiona kuti mauto aColonel James Morgan eIllinois akanga asimbiswa naBrigadier General Schuyler Hamiltons 2nd Division, Thompson akatiza. 