Adair County, Missouri - Chapter 7: Civil War, 1911

Slavery was never an extensive institution in this county. TV census reports for 1850 gives the number of slaves as T)l in that yea-, and that for I860 as 80. The few that were in the county were owwi by men who had come from slave-holding states and had settled dowii as farmers here. It is impossible to say who brought in the first slave*. Tradition says that in 1835 John Cain brought into the county Dirk Hill, and that in 1837 Jesse Jones brought four slaves. "Uncle Dick' Hill came to be one of the characters of the county, and won the respect of all who knew him by his sobriety and industry. He died in 180*' at the age of nearly eighty, and was buried according to his request on the farm of ( leo. Cain, whose father had brought him a slave to this county

As far as is known the lot of the slaves was a comparatively easy one here. They were as a rule, well treated as to food, clothing, and amount of work required. Married slaves were not parted except in eases o! absolute necessity. Several slaves were able to buy their freedom: some were assisted to their freedom by way of the underground railway.

A shocking affair occurred in this place yesterday which may be of interest to some of your readers; the particulars of which are as follows: A Dr. Pat ton. residing some few miles north of this town, brought a negro man to this place in order to sell him; but finding no buyers, resolved to take him south in spite of the entreaties of himself and hi* family to be left with his family. A chain was made fast to one foot and bound preparatory to taking him, when he seized an axe, laid hi* hand upon a block and severed three of his fingers. 1 saw the poor mortal a few minutes after, and a more heart-rending scene I never saw. Three of his fingers were cut close to his hand, and his little ringer w:»* cut close to the bone. He said he would rather die than leave his wife and children. He knew that the cutting off of his hand would render

There were many witnesses to this scene in Kirksville. The slave's name was Lee; he was afterwards sold to a Kirksville merchant named ( hinn. who took him to Kentucky.

Though slavery was not an extensive institution in the county, the courts meted out severe penalties for attempts to interfere with it. In January. 1860. Albert Wilkerson was indicted for attempting to entice or decoy certain slaves. He was sentenced to four and a half years in the penitentiary for this offense.

In civil suits decisions were sometimes rendered in which slaves were involved. For example, a suit wa^ brought in this county by the Bank of St. Louis against W. L. Pat ton, J. D. Callison, and G. K. Bushnell, and judgment was rendered for the plaintiff for S4.076. The following property was then attached: Certain specified tracts of land, forty head of hogs, thirty barrels of corn, two high post bedsteads, one stand, one crib, fifteen chairs, one pair hand irons, twelve stacks of timothy hay; one negro woman Amy, slave for life, 40 years old; one negro girl six y.-ars old named Ann; seventy-five acres of growing corn. The naming of the slaves with the other forms of property is an excellent illustration of the way slaves were regarded as chattels.

This county saw some rather exciting times during the war. In addition to the battle of Kirksville on August (i, 18f>2, which stands as the most prominent event of this period, there were events which were of considerable local interest and are remembered well to this day by many of the survivors.

As the issue became drawn between the North and the South, this county lined up with the North. There was a good deal of sympathy in this county for the Southern cause; many of the early settlers had eome from Kentucky or were of southern descent; but many of these >ume people were not willing to subscribe to the doctrine of secession, so that the only thing they could do when the southern states began t » secede was to oppose their action.

The first expression of the county's attitude on the great issue hetween the North and the South was in all probability at the election of the delegates to the State Convention which had been called by Governor .Jackson to consider the question of secession. This election was held on February 18, 1861. Two tickets were in the field in the district of which this county was a part; one was an unconditional Union ticket; the other, a conditional Union ticket. The candidate* - on the first ticket were Frederick Rowland of Marion County, Joseph M. Irwin of Shelby County, and John D. Foster of Adair County. These candidates carried not only this county by a decided majority, but al>o the entire district.

During one of the sessions of the convention Mr. Foster had occasion to make a speech in which he declared that he had let his constituents know just what his views were during the canvass prior to the election; he therefore felt that he had been directly commissioned by his constituents to do all he could against Missouri's seceding from the Union.

During the spring of 1801 there were several war mass meeting?- held in Kirksville. Those held by the southerners were addressed bv W. T. Davis and Tom Brannon. It has been said that these two men were the leaders of those in the county who favored secession. On May 27 a large Union meeting was held in Kirksville. A prominent feature of this affair was a long procession in which marched an aged man named Foster, the father of the delegate to the State Convention and a heavy slave owner. The sight of him in the procession carrying the American flag created great enthusiasm.

On July 4, 1801, occurred an important event which might have stirred the excited community more than it did. During the day a Union man named Ward stabbed and killed a southern man named Sumter, against whom lie had an old grudge. It is supposed that he felt it would be safe in a community that had shown itself opposed to secession for him to settle up old scores with his personal enemy. But he miscalculated matters if that was the case. Sumter was quiet and inoffensive, while Ward had a bad reputation generally. He was arrested after the murder and put in jail. A few nights later he was taken from the jail and hung just west of where the Wabash railroad now runs. No investigation of the lynching was ever made. Sympathy in the community was with Sumter even though he had political views which differed from those of the majority in the community.

For some time before this unfortunate affair the work of enlisting soldiers on both sides had gotten well under way. No record has been found of the Confederate enlistments that were made in this county. It is claimed, however, that not less than three hundred men joined companies raised in and around the county for the Confederate service and that many others slipped out of the county and state and entered the Confederate service in other states. E. M. C. Morelock and William F. Davis are mentioned among the organizers of Confederate companies in May and June, 1861. It is said that the company raised by Morelock joined Green, the famous Confederate recruiting officer just before the latter was driven out of the northeastern part <>! the state. It is also said that Tice Cain of Schuyler County was the most successful recruiting officer for the Confederate cause.

While this work of recruiting Confederate troops in the county was going on. a section of the Third Iowa regiment came into Kirksville and put a stop to it. The leaders of these recruiting efforts fled the county in haste for safety. Among them was Major Morelock, editor of the Kirksville Democrat. The third Iowa took possession of his office and got out a special edition entitled "Union Democrat," dated August 23, 1861. This edition was a small two-page affair, four columns to the page. In it were articles expressing the feelings of the regiment towards the "rebels," especially towards the departed editor. « hie article gave an account of Major Morelock's departure. Inasmuch :ts it is typical of all the articles, it is given here in its entirety:

"Lost. Strayed or Stolen. - One E. M. C. Morelock, once known as the editor of the Kirksville Weekly Democrat, and who has, at divers and sundry times and on sundry and divers occasions officiated in various public positions in Adair County, and rumor has it, might have heen first in the hearts of his countrymen. On Saturday, the 17th in*t.. the heavy tread of armed Federal hosts was heard approaching Kirksville. For some reason, the sound fell upon the ears of the missins: man as the knell of his departing popularity. Suddenly he had matters away in an opposite, direction requiring his immediate attention. There was mounting in hot haste and there was Gilpin out- (-ilpined. Where are you, Morelock? Why hide that honest face of yours and create among your friends that surplus anxiety so prejudicial to good health? But where ere you roam, O, Morelock, you will have the comforting assurance that your worldly possessions, i. e., your press, type, papers, and especially your ponderous subscription list, all left Miind you in your haste to look after your foreign business, are receiving a fatherly care, and that your beloved journal still continues to faithfully chronicle all passing events, and to labor for the best inter- « *ts of the good people of Adair County. Terms same as before, one dollar per year, always in advance, payable in anything from chips and whetstones down to gold dollars. The patronage of the public elicited, etc.. etc., etc. (See the last issue of the Democrat.) Friend -Morelock, we found your sanctum and surroundings neglected, needy, and in want. The Iowa Third has accepted the part of the Good She; herd, lifted the type from their degraded position on the floor, reai ranged the furniture in a manner so that the printing hall has assume its wonted grandeur. Come back then, O, Morelock, you must er this have recovered from your "secesh" attack, and be able once m<>r to hold up your head among your neighbors like an honest man. Her is your press, your paper all better than you left it, and we will tak pleasure in again placing all in your hands, providing you continue th publication of the 'Democrat* in defense of the Union. Unless you d this our protection will not be given. Repent now, O, Morelock. n turn to your first love, and when you make your peace with God, yo will have one sin less to account for. Junior."

Owing to the lack of records of the Confederate troops in the coun ty, estimates have to be resorted to. But the Federal records enable u to do something better than make estimates of those going into th Federal service by way of joining companies raised here. Accordin to the report of the Adjutant General of Missouri for 1865. the quot of men which Adair County had been called upon to furnish from Apr 15, 1861, to December 19, 1864, was 257. The number of enlistment credited to the count v was 417, that is 160 in excess of what had beei called for. This does not include those who had left the county am joined companies outside, nor does it include the enlistments made it the county during 1865. Some effort will now be made to go over th history of these enlistments, though it is admitted that all of thru have not been found.

President Lincoln issued his call for 75,000 three months' volun teers on April 15, 1861. In the requisitions made upon the variou states for troops to make up this number, Missouri was asked to suppl; four regiments. Governor Jackson refused to respond to this rali Preparations, however, went on under prominent men throughout th state for the raising of troops in spite of the Governor's attitude. Com panics called Home Guards were organized, and in time these wer sworn into the Union service. These Home Guards are not to be con fused with the State Guards organized under Governor Jackson.

Several Home Guard companies were organized in Adair Count; in 1861. Some of these remained in the service only three monththe term set by President Lincoln. There were at least three sue! companies: one organized at Shibley's Point, under ('apt. Jacob H Cook, which was disbanded on September 5; another called Adair Conn ty Company, under Capt. Bolander, which was disbanded on October o; and another called Adair County Company also, under Capt. James K. Gordon, which was disbanded on October 15.

Aside from these three companies which were disbanded in the fall, many others were formed in the county, which remained in the service for several years. A Home Guard Company was organized under Capt. Nathan Winters, and another under Capt. Foster R. Hawk. Both of these companies were sworn into Federal service on August 1. Later they became Companies A and B, respectively, of the Twenty- Second Infantry, Missouri Volunteers, under Lieut. Col. .John D. Foster and Major Andrew H. Linder. With these two companies there were in this regiment four other companies which are said to have been raised by Lieut. Col. Morse between Hannibal and Macon.

The work of recruiting men for these two Adair County companies and of getting them sworn into service, had been facilitated by the arrival in Kirksville in July of some detachments of the Third Iowa Infantry and the Sixteenth Illinois Infantry. These Iowa and Illinois troops were here not only to help in recruiting Federal soldiers, but also to run down Confederate recruits anil recruiting officers.

Before the work of organizing the Twenty-Second Missouri had been completed, a skirmish occurred a few miles northeast of Kirksville between a squad of twelve men from the two Adair County companies that were to become a part of that regiment, and a squad of Confederate recruits under Capt. Bob Hagar of Monroe County. The squad from the Adair County companies were under Corporal Harvey Dix of Company I), Third Iowa. They had been scouting around northcast from Kirksville a few miles, trying to find out where Colonel Green, the successful Confederate recruiting officer, was to be found. One day at dinner at the house of a Union man, Dix's squad was attacked by Capt. Hagars scouts. In the struggle that ensued Corporal Dix was killed. He had run out of the house on seeing the enemy come up, and had backed himself into the* chimney corner and from that position fought as best he could until he was killed. The appearance of Confederate reinforcements under Capt. W. S. Richardson of Lewis County, compelled the squad of Federals to flee as best they could. J. A. Tinsman. who had been stationed as a picket while the squad had gone to dinner, came to Kirksville on hearing the firing to give the alarm. A detachment was sent out to the scene but found the enemy had fled.

This struggle occurred on August 11). lSbl, on the Westenhaver farm in section 32. township t>4, range 14. It was tlx* first military event during the civil war in Adair County, and Corporal Dix was the

On February 25, 1802, Companies A and B of the Twenty-Second Infantry, were transferred to the Seventh Regiment of Cavalry. Missouri Volunteers, thereby becoming Companies H and I of that regiment. In the Seventh Regiment there were also three mounted companies from the Eighteenth Missouri Infantry and seven compani*- from the Black Hawk Cavalry. The immediate task given to t)ii« particular company was the guarding of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. In September, 1802, this regiment became a part of the army of the frontier under General Schofield, and participated in the battles of Newtonia, Fayetteville, Prairie Grove and Van Buren. In the spring of 1863 it became a part of the Davidson Cavalry Division, and served in the seventh army corps until the close of the war, taking part in the battles of Brownsville, Little Rock, Benton, Tulip (Ark.1. Monticello, Moro Bottom, Mount Ida and Red Fork Bryan. In February, 180"), this regiment was consolidated with and became a part of the First Missouri Cavalry.

In the spring of 1801 a Home Guard company was begun in the neighborhood of Wilmathville in the northeastern part of the county. This company was made up of men from this county and from two or three neighboring counties, and was under ( apt. Joseph Story. It first became a part of the First Northeast Missouri Regiment, but in February, 1862, the First and Second Northeast Missouri Regiments were consolidated into the Twenty-First Missouri under Colonel 1). Moore. The company which was made up of men from Adair County and neighboring counties became Company B in this new regiment. In July, 1802, Josiah Davis, who is still living in Kirksville, was elected Captain in place of Captain Story. This regiment was present at the campaigns of Shiloh, Corinth, Tupelo, and Ft. Blakely. At the latter place it was the first to plant the stars and stripes upon the fortifications, and after the engagement it marched over 450 miles to brigade headquarters with 500 Confederate prisoners and two Confederate generals.

In the Twenty-Seventh Infantry, Missouri Volunteers, there were two companies which were made up largely of men from Adair County. Company C was organized in August, 1862, under Capt. D. S. Hooper. Company D was organized in the same month under Capt. Wm. A. Talby of St. Louis. In 1864 Hooper was honorably discharged, and E. O. Gates was made Captain of Company C. This regiment was first sent to Rolla, Mo., and then ordered to Vicksburg, where it participated in the capture of that place. It formed a part of the celebrated Grainville and Deer Creek expedition. It was in that long, weary and brilliant march of Sherman from Corinth to Chattanooga, and took part in the fight of Tuscumbia, Lookout Mountain, and Mission Ridge. It also took part in the siege of Atlanta and the march to the sea, assisting in the taking of Savannah. It was also in the engagement against General Joe Johnston at Bentonville, N. C. The Adair County Companies, that is, Companies C and D, were mustered out June 13, 1865.

The several companies of the Thirty-Ninth Infantry, Missouri Volunteers, were recruited in August, 1864. Company A under Capt. James A. Smith, and Company B under Joseph R. Good, were made up largely of men from Adair County. In September the various companies of this regiment were put on the trail of bushwhackers that were operating in northeast Missouri. The general rendezvous of the regiment was Hannibal. In the course of various movements. Major A. ^ . E. Johnson started from Paris with detachments of companies A, G and H, and on striking the trail of Bill Anderson, the famous guerilla, followed it up until he came upon him near Centralia on September 27. The struggle that ensued resulted in the almost complete annihilation of the pursuing companies. The circumstances were as follows.

held up a stage coach on its arrival from Columbia and robbed the passengers, and when about noon time a train from St. Louis passed through they stopped it and robbed the passengers and the express car. Among the passengers were twenty-three discharged and furloughed Union soldiers. These men were taken out, stripped of their uniforms, and shot down by a detachment of Anderson's men at his orders. Thereupon Anderson and his men retired to their headquarters a couple of miles from town. This event is known as the Massacre of Centralis.

About three o'clock that afternoon, the Thirty-Ninth Missouri Mounted Infantry under Major A. V. E. Johnson, came into Centralis. The regiment was made up of new recruits who were badly mounted and badly armed. In all there were only about 175 men. The citizens of Centralia advised Major Johnson not to attack Anderson, but disregarding the warning, he ordered about 125 men to form out in the open prairie and proceed towards Anderson's headquarters. The remainder of the regiment were left to attend to the horses and wagon?. Anderson saw what was coming and prepared to meet the attack. He had the advantage in this preparation, inasmuch as he was in timbered land, and the timber hid him from the enemy. As the Thirty-Ninth approached. Anderson's men rushed out with shouts and yells, and in a few minutes had killed, according to Lieut.Col. Kutzner's report . 122 men, including Major Johnson. So great was the panic among the Federals that only a very few of Anderson's men were killed or wounded. This is known as the Battle of Centralia, though it is sometimes sj>oken of a> the Massacre of Centralia, because of the ruthless manner in which the men were cut down.

The officers who were not present or who escaped were: Edwin Darrow, first lieutenant; Robert Moore, second lieutenant; Otis Miller, first sergeant; Samuel M. Keller, first corporal; Win. B. Denton, second corporal; Daniel Y. Conkle, fourth corporal; Peyton F. Foster, seventh corporal. The privates who were not present or escaped were: Henry Beecher, John Calvin, Samuel Dye, Peter Dorr, John W. Gregg, Yal. Judd, John Keller, W. P. Linder, James W. Moore, Jere Mann, L. Miller, Isaac Novinger, Manuel Novinger, James Pinkerton, Hiram Panghorn. Calvin Round, John T. Reynolds, Josiah W. Snell, Charles A. Snell, W. P. Stockton, Thomas J. Spencer, and Harrison Watson.

After the battle was over and the guerillas had left, the people of ( entralia gathered up the remains of the dead and brought them to town. Some were taken to Mexico and buried. Seventy-nine were buried in one long trench near the railroad in the eastern part of the town. The trench was later enclosed with a fence and a slab erected to the memory of the dead. On it was inscribed: "The remains of Companies A, C» and H, Thirty-Ninth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, who were killed in action at Centralia, Missouri on the 27th day of September, 1864, are interred here." Later the remains were transferred to Jefferson City and reinterred in one grave in the National Cemetery there.

Besides the Missouri Volunteers there were the Enrolled Missouri Militia and the Missouri State Militia, several companies of which were made up of Adair County men.

The Fiftieth Regiment of Enrolled Missouri Militia contained at least two companies organized in Adair County in 1 8<>2. They were Company A, under Capt. James A. Smith, and Company I, under ('apt. Benoni W. Bell. Most of the companies of this regiment were transferred to the Eighty-Sixth Regiment of the Enrolled Missouri Militia in 1864. Company A of the Fiftieth became Company A of the Eighty-Sixth, and Company I became Company I). The regimental officers of the Eighty-Sixth were all Adair County men. J. D. Foster was Colonel; John B. Dodson, Lieutenant Colonel; B. W. Bell, Major; I). S. Hooper, Adjutant; A. L. Wood, Quarter Master. .las. A. Smith remained Captain of Company A of the Fftieth when it became Company A of the Eighty-Sixth. Shortly before Company 1 of the Fiftieth became Company D of the Eighty-Sixth, P. J. Brown became Captain in place of B. W. Bell, and remained so after the change.

Kirksville for thirty-three days in the summer of 1864. One incident occurred during that period that is of interest. Every night picket men were put out at different points along the roads leading into town. One night report was brought into headquarters that the 4 'rebels" had captured the two pickets which had been stationed near Geo. Rice's house, east of where the High School now stands. The other pickets were immediately called in and preparations were made for a battle with the oncoming foe. But when the foe did not appear, an investigating party wa* sent out, and found the two pickets who had been reported as captured, sound asleep in bed at Rice's house. They were brought to town and drummed out of the Company forthwith.

In the Eleventh Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, there was at least one company of Adair County men: Company B, under Capt. H. E. York, and later under Capt. Samuel Shibley. This company was organized early in 1862.

In 1865 the Missouri Militia was thoroughly reorganized. Most of the counties were made to organize the loyal citizens into regiment* so that there was a regiment for nearly every county. The Twenty- Eighth was made up of eight companies from Adair County. J. R Dodson was Colonel, and D. S. Hooper, Major. The Captains were as follows: Company A, Charles H. Malone; B, Wm. J. Ashlock; (', George H. Boone; D, Henry M. Barnes; E, Harvey H. ToneyjF. Wm. P. Linder; G, James W. Callison; H, Adam Shoop.

In order to understand the significance of the battle of Kirksville . it is necessary to give a brief outline of the general situation in the state j from the outbreak of the war to the day of the engagement.

In the election of 1860, Missouri cast her electoral votes for Doug- j las for President, but elected Jackson, a southern rights man as Governor, and Reynolds, another southern rights man as Lieutenant Governor. The Legislature elected at this time met in January, 1861, and through a combination made between the Douglas man and the southern rights men, a Speaker was elected who agreed with the Governor \ and the Lieutenant Governor in politics. During January and Feb- j ruary of that year, six southern states followed South Carolina in seceding from the Union. Under the influence of these acts of secession the Legislature ordered that the people should elect representatives to a State Convention which should decide whether the State should stay in the Union or not. To the great disgust and disappointment of the southern sympathizers in the Legislature and elsewhere, the election returns showed that not a single member of the secession party had l>een elected, though a few believers in states rights had been elected. The Convention after discussing mutters for some time, finally voted in March not to secede. This was followed by futile attempts by Governor Jackson to take the State out of the Union anyhow. How Camp

Col. John McNeil Commander of the Federal forces at the battle of Kirksvillc. Shortly after the battle he was given the title of Brigadier General.

Jackson was taken by General Lyons, how the effort to effect peace between the different parties failed, how Governor Jackson abandoned Jefferson City, how he defeated Sigel at Carthage, how he went to Memphis, Tennessee to secure assistance from the Confererate Government, how the State Convention in its second session deposed him and appointed Hamilton R. Gamble in his stead, how the Confederates won the battle of Wilson's Creek in August and the battle of Lexington in Septemtar, how the subsequent victories of the Federals in the next few months culminated in the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, in March, 18o2, thereby determining the course of the State with reference to the great question of secession - all these things need not be detailed heir But as we approach nearer to the time of the battle of KirksviHe in August, 1802, it is necessary to note somewhat more carefully the eventthat took place.

In June, 1802, all of Missouri, except the three southeast counties was erected into a military district called the District of Missouri, ami was placed under the command of General Schofield. The district was divided into five divisions. The Northeastern Division was placed under Col. McNeil of St. Louis, his effective force being at that tim- 1250 men.

At about this time the Federals began to realize what the plans o: the Confederates were after the battle of Pea Ridge, and how tho* plans were working out. As has already been intimated, this battle put an end forever to the Confederates' plan of taking the State out of the Union, but they did not give up hopes as vet. Many Missouri men were sent back home after Pea Ridge to recruit soldiers for the Confederate army, and the forces that were to be raised were to be used in gaining the State for the southern cause. Places of rendezvous wen appointed and men began to assemble in large numbers at these place* in May and June. The order for a general enrollment which was is»ue»l by Governor Gamble in July served to send many men into these r»- cruiting camps in order that they might escape the state militia service

Among those recruiting in Northeast Missouri were Joseph C Porter. Poindcxter, Franklin, and McCullough. Porter had been elected Lieutenant-Colonel of a regiment raised in Lewis County in July, 1801. and had taken an active part in the campaigns in Missouri in that year and had been at the battle of Pea Ridge. He was sent back to his home in Lewis County by General Price after that battle to recruit troops, and some time in April or May he established a camp on the North Fabius River near Monticello. To this camp a goodly number of recruits came.

When it became apparent to the Federals wm\t was going on under Porter and others, every step was taken to prevent their plans from succeeding. General Schofield caused all boats and other means of crossing the Missouri River which were not under guard of his troop*, to be destroyed. This was to prevent any considerable number of Confederate troops from crossing the Missouri and proceeding south to join the main army. Meanwhile Federal troops were directed against the masses of Confederate recruits that were being collected, so as to crush them before they became too large. As Col. McNeil was in command of the Northeast Division of the District of Missouri, the attack

To escape attack and to increase the number of his enlistments, Porter moved from his camp on the North Fabius near Monticello, to Memphis, which he took on July 13. For nearly a month from this time on Porter was on the move almost constantly, with the Federal forces generally in close pursuit. As this month of marching and fighting culminated in the battle of Kirksville, it is well to note it in detail.

It seems that Porter left Memphis a few hours after he entered it, going to Downing** eight miles away, where he camped that night. On the day following Porter's departure from Memphis, Col. McNeil arrived with throe or four of his officers. After leaving Memphis Porter became aware that the Federals wore pursuing him, and so planned an ambush at a nearby place called Vassar's Hill. As a result he badly crippled Major Clopper's battalion of Merrill's Horse on July 18. Porter's men have always spoken of this engagement as Oak Ridge, and Clopper's men as Pierce's Mill.

After this engagement Porter continued his way southward through Knox and Shelby Counties. At Florida, Monroe County, a skirmish took place on July 22 between Porter and Major Caldwell of the Third Iowa Cavalry. Caldwell was forced to fall back, while Porter continued south. Caldwell resumed his pursuit a little later and came upon Porter at Santa Fe Monroe Co., and wa< defeated in skirmishes on July 24. He was compelled to fall back again, while Porter advanced farther south through Audrain County.

Porter left his camp in Audrain County on July 2."> and moved west to the boundary line between Callaway and Boone Counties. He then turned east and came to Boone's Spring, nine miles north of Fulton. Here he was reinforced by men from Capt. Frost's and Capt. Cobb's companies, so that he had in all 200 men. The expected attack from the Federals did not materialize, so Porter proceeded down the Auxvasse River to Moore's Mill, about seven miles east of Fulton. Here he was opposed by Col. Guitar who had advanced into Callaway County from Jefferson City, having been advised by General Schofield as to the movements of Porter. Guitar's forces were much larger than Porter's and were therefore able to win a victory which turned Porter hack from his movement south. Notwithstanding this serious check Porter, according to his recent biographer, accomplished a great deal in fifteen days, having marched five hundred miles, captured one town, paroled one hundred of the enemy, fought four battles, and captured a lot of arms.

Aft or the engagement at Moore's Mill Porter turned north, sendnm detachments to Paris and Canton thereby taking those places. Froiu Paris he went to Newark, Knox County, where he captured Capt. Lair and his company. Meanwhile Col. McNeil was following him in h<.; pursuit. Finding it advisable to keep on the move, Porter withdiw to the north from Newark, leaving that town just shortly before Mr- Neil came up. Instead of pushing the pursuit any farther at that time, McNeil remained at Newark a few days awaiting reinforcement- Porter continued his march until he reached the western Ixirder <>: Lewis County, where he was reinforced by a battalion of Col. Cyru- Franklin who had been sent to capture Canton. With this battalion was Col. Frisby H. McCullough, of whom we shall hear more shortly. Porter therefore called a conference of his officers to decide on wliit should be done.

The ultimate object of all these movements of Porter was, as lue been said, to gather a large army and move it to Arkansas where it could then join the forces that were gathering there. Thr problem wallow to get across the Missouri River, and it has already been noted how the Federals had anticipated this problem and had made the crossing of that river very difficult by destroying the means of transportation and by patrolling the river. Nevertheless the Confederates did nor despair of crossing the river, and in order that they might conceal their plans and draw the Federals away from the Missouri, a feint in force was to be made in the northern part of the state by Porter's foree>. which feint would perhaps involve a bloody battle. It seems that Memphis had been thought of as the proper place at which to concent rat* the Confederate forces and there bring on a battle; but while Porter and his men were deliberating upon what they should do, a courier came from Captain Tice Cain to the effect that he and his Schuyler County Company had entered Kirksville and taken it. Kirksville had been held for some days previous to Cain's arrival by a company of newly enrolled militia (Company A, Fiftieth Regiment) under Capt. James A. Smith, but this company had been ordered by Col. Gi 1st rap, who was in command at Macon, to come to that place and avoid the danger which it was thought was threatening it at Kirksville. Hardly had this company left before ('apt. Cain came in and sent a courier to Porter telling him what he had done. This news caused Porter and his men to decide in favor of moving to the west and joining Cain at Kirksville. near which place they might bring on an engagement.

hundred were only fairly armed, and the rest, fully one-half the entire number, were completely unarmed. The presence of so many unarmed men was doubtless due to the fact that Porter was gathering up recruits many of whom had no arms of their own and would not get any until they reached the main Confederate army in Arkansas.

This conference of Porter and his men seems to have been held in the* northeastern part of Knox County near the North Fabius River. The Federal forces were crowding in upon Porter very rapidly. On Sunday, August 3, they caught up with him, but after reconnoitering for a while decided not to give battle and so withdrew. Later that same day Porter and his force started towards Kirksville, which place they reached Wednesday forenoon, August 6, and made their entrance from the northeast.

Seeing how hard pressed he was. Porter decided to give battle at Kirksville. It has been said by some that he made a mistake in not going on a little farther west and making his stand in the Chariton River bottom: it has been claimed that his chances would have been a great deal better there than in the town. Parties who were witnesses of the battle and who are still living in Kirksville, say that Porter was altogether too much pushed to get beyond the town, and could not have chosen to go farther if he had wished. Warning the people to get out of town. Porter ordered some of troops to barricade themselves in the houses, and drew up his main line of defense behind a rail fence that ran along where the Wabash railroad now is, just west of the central part of the, town.

Kirksville was then a very small village, extending from High Street on the east to the line of the present Wabash railroad on the west, and a few blocks from the square to the north and the south. The population was about seven hundred. The census of 18(>() gave it only bT>8.

As has already been intimated, Porter had been pursued for some time by McNeil. McNeil had started the pursuit on July 29, the day after the battle of Moore's Mill. According to his report he had started out from Palmyra on July 29, and after passing through Clinton, Monroe County, he came to Paris, which place he found Porter had just vacated. The pursuit from there to Kirksville has already been detailed. It should be added that McNeil remarks in his report that the pursuit from Newark to Kirksville was delayed somewhat by the worn out londition of his men and horses, by the character of the country, and by the burning of the bridges and the destruction of the fords by Porter who was in retreat before him.

McNeil's forces arrived at the edge of Kirksville about ten o'clock on the morning of August 6. The main column and artillery had been preceded by the advance guard composed of detachments of the Second and Eleventh Missouri State Militia under Major Benjamin. This advance guard occupied the northeast approach of the town, halting at the Parcells place, afterwards known as the Kellogg place, and now the Kinloch farm. When McNeil learned that Porter had halted in the town, he ordered all his troops to hurry up into line and deployed them on the northern and eastern sides of the town. Lieut. Col. Shaffer was put in command of the right wing, which was composed of the Merrill Horse under Major Clopper, detachments of the Second and Eleventh Cavalry of the Missouri State Militia under Major Benjamin, and a section of the Third Indiana Battery under Lieut. Armington. Major Caldwell was put in command of the left wing, which was composed of his own command and a detachment of the First Cavalry, Missouri Volunteers, under Major Cox. A section of the steel battery of two pound howitzers in charge of Sergeant West and ten men of Company C, Second Missouri State Militia, acted as did the Indiana Artillery under Capt. Barr of the Merrill Horse.

In order to ascertain the exact position of the enemy in the town McNeil called for an officer and a squad who should charge into the town and draw the enemy's fire. Lieut. Cowdry of the Merrill Horse and a squad of eight men were detailed to execute this order. Cowdrey approached the public square, and, according to McNeil's report, entered the square and passed around it, coming out at the other corner. According to eye-witnesses still living in Kirksville, this squad came close to the northeast corner of the square but never entered it because of the heavy fire that was being poured into it. The charge revealed what had been sought for, but it was accomplished at some loss. According to McNeil's report, two of the squad were mortally wounded, three slightly wounded, and five horses killed. Other reports make the loss still greater while some make it less.

The enemy having been discovered, the attack commenced. The artillery of five guns, planted near what was then called the Cumberland Academy, threw shot and shell into cornfields, gardens, and houses where Porter's men were. The dismounted men were thrown forward and they seized the outer line of sheds and houses on the north and east sides of the town. Meanwhile a large body of Porter's men who had been in a cornfield in the northeast part of town was driven out. As the Federal forces moved towards the public square the two wings met and succeeded in taking the court house. As Porter yielded ground, he concentrated his forces along the main line of defense which had been stationed on the western edge of the town. From a position where tin Wabash depot now stands he poured a galling fire into McNeil's men but McNeil's right wing moved against this line and drove it away v> the west, while the left wing took full possession of the southern par of the town. The battle lasted about three hours, from about ten in the morning to one in the afternoon.

The pursuit continued through the woods that lay to the west the town, and many horses and large quantities of arms, clothing and camp equipage were thus found. Major Clopper was ordered to pursue the fleeing Confederates with a body of Merrill's Horse, and he i> reported by McNeil as having done so until he felt the enemy had crossed the Chariton. It is the opinion, however, of certain citizens of Kirksville, who were witnesses of the battle, that the pursuit was not kept up very long, for if it had been the whole of Porter's force, they claim, would have been captured. At any rate McNeil explains his failure to pursue any farther than was done to the hunger and fatigue of his troops, to the large numbers of the enemy, and to the fear that the enemy might suddenly fall upon his rear.

It is impossible to state with absolute accuracy the number of mm engaged in this battle or the number of the killed, wounded and captured. Col. McNeil in his report dated September 17, 18<>2, enumerated the forces under his command, but though they amounted to more than one thousand, he savs that onlv about five hundred of his men took part in the battle. The others were engaged in guarding the army train and in taking care of the horses of the men who were in the firing line. He reported the Federal casualties as five killed and thirty-two wounded. According to an account of the battle given in the History of Shelbv Count v there were six men killed, and their names were a> follows: Capt. Mayne of the Third Iowa; A. H. Wagoner, Mathia> Olstein and Sylvester Witham, privates of Company C, Merrill's Horse; Sergeant William Bush of Company B, Ninth Missouri State Militia: H. H. Moore of Company E, First Missouri State Militia. These names have never been verified by the writer from official records. Col. Wells Blodgett in his address delivered at the unveiling of the McNeil monument in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis in \SlM. said that the Federal loss was twenty-eight killed and sixty wounded. What his source of information was is not known. Col. McNeil was slightly wounded in the head during the engagement.

may be given for the Confederate side. Porter's men numbered about two thousand, but not over five hundred, if that many, took part in the battle. Those that were unarmed or poorly armed hurried on to the woods west of the towTn after the battle began. The Confederates killed are estimated all the wav from thirtv-fivc to one hundred and fifty; the wounded from seventy-five to four hundred, and the captured from fifty to two hundred and fifty. McNeil in his report said that about one hundred and fifty were killed, three hundred to four hundred wounded, and forty-seven taken prisoner. He had an excellent opportunity of knowing the situation as he stayed in town several days after the battle, but we cannot take his estimates as being as correct as an official count would have been.

On the day after the battle, the people of the town were ordered by Col. McNeil to bury the Confederate dead. According to the testimony of several citizens of the town who responded to the order and who are still living here, the bodies of the twenty-six men who were killed in the battle were gathered up and put in one large grave in the cemetery lying west of the square. But according to Mr. S. M. Johnston, who was in the battle under McNeil and who has long resided ' in Kirksville since the war, there were three graves dug and thirtyseven Confederates were put in the one dug in a ravine west of the present Wabash depot, twenty-six in the one in the cemetery, and over twenty in the one to the northwest of the cemetery. This does not include the prisoners who were executed after the battle. As yet the writer of this article has found no confirmation of the statement of Mr. Johnston al>out there being three graves. It is agreed, however, by all that many of those who wrere buried in the cemetery were removed by their friends to other places as convenience permitted.

Among Confederates fatally wounded was Lycurgus Bozarth of Adair County, who is said to have joined Porter the morning of the battle. He was of the well known family of Bozarths who were among the first settlers of the county and whose relatives were generally ardent Unionists. He did not die for several days after the battle and was buried in a separate grave in the cemetery.

The condition of the Confederate wounded after the battle was something frightful. Porter came into town with practically nothing in the way of surgical instruments or medical supplies. Dr. A. P. Willard, who then owned a drug store in Kirksville and is yet a resident of the place, says that Porter came to him on arriving in town and forced him to give up his surgical instruments. Dr. Willard says that he was promised the safe return of the instruments but that he never saw them again.

He is under the impression that Porter wanted to arrange for a hospital at the Isliam Dodson place which stood south west of the town to take care of the wounded after the battle. Even if that were the case the rout that ensued after the battle made whatever arrangements Porter might have made quite useless. The Confederates wounded were therefore in a deplorable condition. The townspeople were naturally afraid to render assistance as they felt that they might be dealt with as rendering help to the enemy of the victors. Moreover, the local doctors were helpless to do anything, as the only surgical instruments in town had been taken away and nobody knew anything about where they were. Whatever of assistance was finally rendered is due to Mr. John L. Porter, who was then Deputy Circuit Clerk and Recorder of Adair County and who is yet a citizen of Kirksville. He was a southern sympathizer but was acquainted with McNeil. On coming back to town late in the afternoon after the battle was over he saw the dreadful condition of affairs, and went to McNeil and begged for help. Mc- Neil detailed Surgeon Lyons to do the work. Lyons called in Dr. Willard to assist him, and for two days these two men amputated limbs ' and performed other surgical operations upon the wounded who had been brought to what is known as the I vie building which stood on the northeast corner of the square where Griffith now has his grocery store. The amputated limbs were thrown out the window of the building into the alley, and it is said that a cart load accumulated before they could be taken off and buried. The Ivie building was not sufficient to accommodate the wounded, so a great many were taken care of at other places in the town.

Before the battle began, the citizens acting on the warning of Porter, had very generally fled. Many of them fled to the north and several on reaching a place of reasonable safety from danger climbed up on the roof of a barn and witnessed the battle. Had there not been a general desertion of the town many of the citizens would have been killed. As it was one woman, Mrs. Elizabeth Coots, was mortally wounded. She and her husband lived in a house just northwest of the square. When the battle began they took refuge in their cellar. Accounts differ as to how she was killed. According to one she was killed after she had left the cellar and gone back into the house, the battle being at that time about half over. According to another, some Confederates tried to take refuge in the Coots cellar while she was still in it and she was shot as she started to come out. She lived only a few days after she was shot.

Tlif day after the battle fifteen of the Confederates who hail been captured in the fight, were executed on a spot about two hundred yards HHlthwesI of the present Wabash depot. They were executed on the - barge of having violated their paroles. They were: William Hates, K. M. (ialhreath, Lewis Rollins, William Wilson, Columbus Harris, KeuU-n Thomas or Thompson. Thomas Webb, and Reuben Green of Monroe County; .lames Christian, David Wood, and Bennett Harden of Shelby County; William Bailee and Hamilton Brannon of Marion County: and John Kent of Adair County.

that of the other fifteen. He had been a very successful recruiting officer in North Missouri, and was at the time of his execution an officer in the Missouri State Guards, a military force that had been organized under Governor Jackson for the purpose of taking the state out of the Cnion. McCullough had been operating with Porter only a short time before the battle of Kirksville, having joined him after he left Newark on his way to Kirksville. Almost immediately after the battle he had become so ill he could not keep up with the command. Declining the escort which Porter offered him, he started to go to his home in Marion County. Near Edina he was captured by the State Militia and taken to that place. Knowing that some drastic punishment would be meted out to him, he asked that he be sent to Palmyra; but instead he was brought to Kirksville by ('apt. James S. Best, whose command was escorting McNeil's supply train which had come into Edina on its way to Kirksville just after McCullough had been captured. According to one of McCullough's friends who wrote after the event, he was paraded up and down the streets of Kirksville amid the jeers and shouts of joy of the Federals. The author has had this statement confirmed by at least one of the Federals who was here at the time. He was taken near the spot where the fifteen had been shot the day before, and standing up before his executioners ami looking them steadily in the face he gave them the signal to fire. Hi> remarkable bravery excited the admiration of friend and foe alike.

There is some dispute as to the procedure which led up to the execution of McCullough. Col. McNeil in a letter to a friend some time after the event said that "McCullough had been tried by a commission of which Lieut. Col. Shaffer was President, under Order No. 2 of General Halleck, and Nos. 8 and 18 of General Schofield. He had no commission except a printed paper authorizing the bearer to recruit for tin- Confederate army. He was found guilty of bushwhacking and of being a guerilla. He was a brave fellow and a splendid specimen of manhood. I would gladly have spared him had duty permitted. A> it was he suffered the same fate that would have fallen to you or me if we had been found recruiting within the Confederate lines. He met a soldier's death as became a soldier."

Dr. Joseph A. Mudd, who was with Porter up to and including the battle of Moore's Mill, has recently written a book entitled "With Porter in North Missouri," which has been extensively used in the preparation of this section. In this book the author has condemned in no uncertain terms the execution of McCullough. He doubts the statement of McNeil that a trial was held at all, and supports his view by the fact that the government records contain no account of it whatever. He moreover points out that in McNeil's report made on September 17. 1802, mention is made of the execution of the fifteen prisoners taken at the battle of Kirksville who were charged with having broken their paroles, but no mention is made of the execution of McCullough nor of any trial. He even goes further and doubts whether any of these fifteen were guilty of having violated their paroles as they were charged. It might be further said that General Sterling Price said that he thought he had given McCullough a commission to recruit troops at Springfield the preceding winter, but he did not know whether he ever acted under

Some other things took place which make the story sadder still. A Or. Davis who had come into town with Porter, was attempting to give some assistance to the Confederate wounded who were in the southwest part of town, when Federal soldiers came up and ordered him to go with them to McNeil's headquarters. It is said that after he started to go with them he was made to run, and was then shot down for running. How true this part of the story is cannot be said.

To the list of the fifteen who were executed on the charge of having violated their paroles, there came very near being added the name of Jackson G. Oldham of Kirksville. It seems that there were two Oldhams by the same name, father and son. The father hat! been paroled l>ut the son had never been. Notwithstanding this the son had been arr< .*ted and tried at Macon and executed on the charge of having violated his parole. All this occurred before the battle of Kirksville. McNeil was about to arrest the father and execute him when Mr. John I... Porter of Kirksville interceded and assured McNeil that the elder Oldham had never violated his parole. Porter also protested that the younger Oldham had been unjustly executed. Later the older Oldham erected a monument to the memory of his son in the Kirksville cemetery, on which was inscribed an account of the awful mistake that had been made.

A.s has been already said, Col. McNeil made no attempt to pursue Porter and his men on the day of the battle except for a little ways west of town. He assigned as the reason for not doing so the exhausted condition of his men and horses. He therefore went into camp in Kirksville and took measures for collecting forage and supplies for putting the men and horses in condition for pursuit a little later.

On August 7 Lieut. Col. Morsey with four hundred and twentyseven men of the Tenth Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, and Major Rogers with the Second Battalion of the Eleventh Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, came into camp at Kirksville from the north. As McNeil was moving towards Kirksville from Newark the day before he had ordered these troops under Morsey and Rogers to move along a line north of him so as to prevent Porter from escaping into Scotland or Schuyler Counties. McNeil thinks that Porter's knowledge of this particular arrangement had obliged him to make his stand at Kirksville. The arrival of this force on the seventh swelled McNeil's command to about seventeen hundred and added to the difficulties in getting sufficient supplies. However, on the eighth Lieut. Hiller arrived from Palmyra by way of Edina, with right thousand rations and a g«*Ml supply of horse shoes. The escort under ('apt. Best that accompanied tins supply train, was the one that brought McCullough a prisoner t<» Kirksville from Edina, as has been related.

Porter's retreat towards the Chariton resulted in a more or le» disbandment. However, a part at least of his forces tried to keep together, and moved in a southeasterly direction towards Macon. Near Stockton in Macon County this body was attacked by a Federal force and compelled retreat north. This Federal force, which was made up of a detachment from the Seventh Missouri Cavalry and Guitar's command, had been given the task of preventing the junction of Porter and Poindexter, and in pursuance of that duty intercepted Porter a-; he was fleeing from Kirksville. This clash near Stockton occurred on August 8. The Federals pursued Porter who was retreating north and came upon him at Walnut Creek. There occurred an ambush which resulted in the loss of a number of Federals under Col. McFerran, according to one report one hundred or more, and which enabled the bulk of Porter's force to get away. After shelling the woods around Walnut Creek for some time, McFerran moved towards the Chariton River, and at See's Ford skirmishing again ensued between his forces and Porter's. But being unable to get his artillery across the river, he wa< compelled to allow Porter to escape. However, Porter had been foiled in his attempt to cross the North Missouri Railroad (the present Wabash R. H.) so as to rally his scattered forces, and finding the way of escape to the south in a body cut off, he decided to disband his organization completely and leave each Company to take care of itself. This was done on August 11.

In the month that followed, Porter managed to get a force together and on September 12 he effected the capture of Palmyra. The Confederate prisoners confined in the jail there were liberated, and the bonds that had been forced from southern sympathizers to observe their oaths of allegiance were taken away from the Provost Marshall's office and burned. During the night of the twelfth Andrew Allsman, who had been the object of much hatred on the part of the Confederates, was taken from his home and murdered. Just when and how and by whom he was murdered is not definitely known. In retaliation for this act ten Confederate prisoners were shot at Palmyra by order of McNeil on October 18, 1802. This event has gone down in history as the Massacre of Palmyra, and served to intensify the hatred on both sides.

at \Vhaley\s Mill on September 14, in which Porter's forces were scattered. This was Porter's last engagement in North Missouri. For the next six weeks he gave himself up to the task of getting twelve hundred men to the Confederate lines south of the Missouri. He is credited with having sent in all five thousand men from North Missouri during; the year 1802. He was wounded at the battle of Hartsville in Wright County, Missouri, on January 11, 186,'*, and died from the e fleets of the wound in camp near Batesville, Arkansas, on February 18. 1863, aged forty-four years.

Col. McNeil served through the war and was given the title of Brigadier General shortly after the battle of Kirksville. He took an active part in the politics of the state for some time after the war. One act of his long after the war has a local bearing. At the time when the Board of Regents of the First District Normal School was considering the location of the school, which the act of the General Assembly approved in March, 1870, provided for, friends of Kirksville appealed to General McNeil to use his influence in behalf of this place. Mr. W. H. Parcells of Kirksville, who was a long time acquaintance of McNeil, went to him and urged that since the town had been the scene of conflict during the war it should be the place where the state should have one of its institutions. Just what actual influence McNeill exerted in the matter cannot be said; but he did write a letter to certain members of the Board who were just retiring from their positions as state officers and hence also from the Board. He died June 7, 1891, aged seventyeight years.

The battle of Kirksville was considered at the time as an engagement of considerable significance, especially by the Federal army officers. For some time, as we have seen, the Federals had been in hot pursuit of Porter, and it was thought that this battle had completely ended his recruiting expedition. The reports of the Federal officers are congratulatory over their marked success in doing away with so dangerous an enemy. Lieut. Col. Shaffer said it was the most successful battle ever fought in Missouri and the victory most complete. To a very large extent their view that the battle was an important one is correct. Porter was never able to recover fully from the defeat he met with at Kirksville. But it must not be lost sight of that even after this defeat he was able to keep up his recruiting to a certain extent. What he might have done if he had won the battle instead of losing it, is of course problematical. In the history of the desperate effort of the Confederates to force the State of Missouri out of the Union, the battle of Kirksville has an im-

The portraits accompanying this chapter are war-time portrait*. It was impossible to get a picture of Colonel Porter, as the only pic-tun his family had of him was burned in a fire some years ago. The picture of the battle was drawn by Prof. Allen D. Towne of the State Normal School Faculty at Kirksville. Prof. Towne had the assistance of Mr S. M. Johnston, a soldier under McNeil, and Mr. John L. Porter, in getting a knowledge of the surroundings at the time of the battle. If the cut were clear it would show the court house in the center of th» background. The large building to the left was the old Cumt)crland Academy which stood where the Cooley residence, formerly known a* the Ringo residence, now stands. The man mounted on horseback standing near this Academy building was Colonel McNeil. The line <>f soldiers in the foreground stretched from the Cumberland Academy t«i what is now the Washington School and faced the southwest. Th»- picture of Colonel McNeil, from which the half-tone cut was ma<l»' was furnished the author by Judge W. B. Douglas of St. Louis, and tha' of Colonel McCullough by his son, F. H. McCullough, Jr., of Edina. Mo.