As Bruce said, the hamlet of Brunot was in the middle of things. It lies on the road between Pilot Knob and Patterson. During the war, this road was improved by the 25th MO (later part of 1st MO Engineers). A telegraph line ran from Pilot Knob to Patterson along the road. Troops moved up and down this route a great deal. A couple miles south of Brunot is a crossing of Big Creek. Beyond that (south) lies a large valley and then the gorge known as Stoney Battery. During Marmaduke's Cape Girardeau campaign of April 1863, the fort at Patterson was taken and Union troops retreated toward Pilot Knob, fighting a stiff rear-guard action at Stoney Battery and the bridge over Big Creek. Brunot was a more important crossroads then and the area was a popular camp site for Union troops for much of the war. Many local men served with the Union army, and many of their descendants still live in the Brunot area.