Capt. George S. Grover was in command of a detachment from Foster’s Missouri Cavalry Battalion, which was attached to General Blunt’s command. You may be wondering how a Missouri cavalry battalion ended up as part of the Army of the Border from Kansas. Well, in September 1864 George Grover was a civilian living in Warrensburg, Missouri. Grover was a veteran having served three years and resigning his captain’s commission earlier that year. When Sterling Price invaded Missouri, the commander in the District of Central Missouri, Brig. Gen. Egbert B. Brown, asked Grover (along with former major, Emory S. Foster) to reenlist. Brown wanted them to recruit other retired veterans in the area. General Brown had been ordered to Jefferson City with “every available man in his command” in order to defend the state capital. Foster’s and Grover’s recruits would be the only force protecting Warrensburg, once Brown left for Jefferson City. Thus, Foster’s Missouri Cavalry Battalion came into being. Four companies comprised of about 400 troopers mustered into service on September 29, 1864. Toward the middle of October, the battalion was ordered by General Brown to head west and make contact with Blunt’s command. They found Blunt along Big Creek near Pleasant Hill, Missouri. Major Foster left Grover with part of the battalion to cooperate with General Blunt and returned to Warrensburg with the remainder of the battalion.
Grover, George S. “Civil War in Missouri.” Missouri Historical Review 8, no. 1 (October 1913): 1–28.
———. “The Price Campaign of 1864.” Missouri Historical Review 6, no. 4 (July 1912): 167–81.
———. “The Shelby Raid, 1863.” Missouri Historical Review 6, no. 3 (April 1912): 107–26.