The Union commander was Col. David Moore, who had been a Captain in the Mexican War. He led his Missouri Home Guard, plus help from a Co. of Illinois militia and a Co of Iowa militia around 500 fought Missouri State Guard Col. Martin E. Green's 2000 (including two of Moore's sons) on August 5, 1861, at Athens, Mo. Athens was a small river port town close to the confluence of the Des Moines River and the Mississippi River . Green also brought along 2 cannons and a hollowed log. The guns were a 6 pounder and a 9 pounder. Moore was outnumbered 5 to 1. Moore's men were better armed, having just received 200 Springfield rifles and equipped, as well as better trained. Green's men were armed mostly with shotguns and squirrel rifles, poorly trained. Green attacked Athens and they fought for maybe 2 hours. The log cannon flew apart after it's first shot. The other two cannons fired and flew over the river hitting a train depot in Croton, Iowa. The other shot went through the Thome-Benning House's front door into the river. The house was then ever after known as the Cannon Ball House. The battle was decided when Moore ordered a bayonet charge, driving Green's forces from the town. They were about 50 killed and wounded in the battle. Moore's men captured a large number of the Missouri State Guard's supplies.
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