 The defeat of the Confederate army under Earl Van Dorn, Benjamin McCulloch, and Price in northwestern Arkansas at the Battle of Pea Ridge further discouraged the Confederate leadership as to the wisdom, or possibility, of occupying Missouri.Subsequent Confederate military action in the state would be limited to a few large raids (notably Shelby's Raid of 1863 and Price's Missouri Expedition of 1864), and partial endorsement of the activities of Missouri guerrillas.During the war, thousands of black refugees poured into St. Louis, where the Freedmen's Relief Society, the Ladies Union Aid Society, the Western Sanitary Commission, and the American Missionary Association (AMA) set up schools for their children.