Jasper County, Missouri - Chapter 6: The War in Jasper County, 1912

Confederate Forces - Movements op the Union Army - Battle op Carthage - ^Notes op the Battle - ^Pmce and McCollough Enter Carthage - County Raises a Confederate Regiment - County Records During the War - ^Medoc Skirmish - The Corn Creek Engagement - Shirley Ford.

After the engagement at Boonville Governor Jackson retreated to the south and at Lamar was joined by General Raines of Sarcoxie, with the recruits from southwest Missouri. Jackson's army now consisted of about 5,000 men, about 2,000 of whom were expecting to be equipped when the army arrived at Neosho. Many of the companies had only such arms as they had brought from home and they presented a motley array - some with rifles, some with shot guns and some with the oldfashioned squirrel rifles.

The regiments which came from Clay county were equipped with the rifles from the United States arsenal at Liberty and were well drilled and disciplined. The first regiment organized from the companies raised in the counties around Jefferson City were also well armed, having been furnished with rifles purchased at St. Louis and with the equipment received at Jefferson City.

Governor Jackson also had two batteries in his army, six of the guns having been taken from the Liberty arsenal. The cannon that did him the most efficient service however was the "Old Sacramento'' under command of Captain Hiram Bledsoe, a veteran of the Mexican war.

On arriving at Springfield the main body of the Union army halted ; Colonel Sigel who was in command of the Third Brigade, Missouri United States Volunteers, was ordered to proceed to southwest Missouri and arrived at Sarcoxie on June 28th. Learning here that General Price with a force of 900 men was encamped on Pool's Prairie, Newton county, he set out at once for that place intending to rout the southerners there and also to prevent a juncture of Governor Jackson's and Price's armies.

On arriving at Pool's Prairie Colonel Sigel found that Price had already gone to Arkansas and that Governor Jackson and his men were at Lamar, he therefore hurried north to prevent a juncture of Jackson's army and other troops, marching to meet him at Neosho. The two armies met at Coon creek about twelve miles from Carthage and a line of battle was drawn on the ledge that gently inclines toward that stream, July 5, 1861.

Governor Jackson placed Weightman's brigade and Bledsoe's battery with **01d Sacramento," on the right. Slack's brigade, Kelly's regiment and Gubor's batteries were in the center and General Raines with the cavalry, a body of men armed mostly with revolvers and about 1,000 strong, were on the left.

Governor Jackson with the unarmed troops constituted the reserves or as General, then Captain Joe Shelby happily put it, **the line of spectators."

Colonel Sigel 's command consisted of 1,100 men including Bickof 's and Bssig's batteries and although plainly outnumbered he moved his column forward until he came within eight hundred yards of the state troops when he threw his men in line of battle and Captain Essig quickly unlimbered his guns, eight in number - six six-pounders and two twelvepounders - and opened fire. The fire was returned by Bledsoe. The cannonading was kept up for some time until General Raines with his brigade moved off to the right intending to outflank Sigel and cut off his baggage train. Colonel Sigel, perceiving this move, changed front and ordered two gUDs to the rear and opened fire. His infantry was formed in a hollow square around the wagon-train, which now had come up, and retreated in good order until they reached Dry fork where a second engagement took place.

The road on the north side of the creek is surrounded by two bluffs and Raines with his men had ridden on either side around Sigel, having placed themselves on the opposite side of the stream to prevent the advance, while Jackson with the infantry came on in the rear. Sigel at once unlimbered his eight guns and opened fire on the state troops who thereui)on fell back and the Union commander, ordering a double-quick, crossed the creek under cover of his death-dealing cannon.

Colonel Sigel now moved rapidly toward Carthage, while General Raines and his men harassed him with a continuous fire with their small arms.

At Carthage the Federal commander found the city in possession of the state troops and, finding himself greatly outnumbered, decided to take to the woods on the Sarcoxie road which would, together with the darkness, protect him from Raines' cavalry which was surrounding him on all sides and from the Confederate infantry pressing him hard in the rear and making a capture possible. Unlimbering his guns again he poured a deadly volley into the troops in front of him. He formed his regiments into a hollow square again and made through the opening.

The hottest fight now took place and was kept up without a moment's hesitation, from half past six until darkness brought the battle to an end, and under the cover of the darkness Sigel gained the Sarcoxie road and continued his retreat until he reached that town.

Although msjiy shots were fired in this battle the loss was not great and has been often erroneously reported on both sides. We glean from the ofiicial reports of both commanding officers that the loss of Sigel's army was 13 killed and 36 wounded and Jackson's loss was 10 killed and 64 wounded.

**01d Sacramento," Bledsoe's best gun, had in its makeup a considerable quantity of silver and when it was fired had a ring like a bell, being easily distinguished from the other guns in Jackson's command.

Captain Bledsoe displayed great bravery during the fight and when the men who were manning the gun were disabled he loaded and fired it himself.

James Broadhurst of Joplin who took part in the battle and was in Slack's brigade says that Sigel displayed great skill in handling his men on the retreat and used his batteries to the best advantage, always bringing the artillery into action at the critical stage of the fight.

Grovernor Jackson's army, excepting a few companies was not uniformed; its men wore only the every-day clothing which they had on when they left home.

General Slack was a dignified young southern gentleman and wore daring the battle a plug hat, which, by the way, was his every-day hat, and such as the gentlemen of quality who dressed with care used to wear in those days.

The members of Captain Joe Shelby's company were the heroes of General Raines' cavalry and here, like the Light Brigade, charged into the thickest of the fight and displayed that daring and bravery that afterward made his brigade famous.

Colonel Sigel's brigade was composed almost entirely of German3, many of whom had seen service in the army in the old world, and their precise military movements made a beautiful and impressive scene. The notable feature in his command was the quiet attention given to the commanding officer and the quick and precise manner in which the orders were executed.

Samuel B. LaForce of Carthage, acted as a guide for Sigel on his march from Neosho to Carthage and his knowledge of the roads and toi)ography of the land were of great value to Sigel.

The strength of the Union army was as follows : Third Regiment Missouri Volunteers, U. S. A., 550 ; Seventh Regiment, Missouri Volunteers, U. S. A., 400; two batteries, 150; total, 1,100.

In his official report of the battle Colonel Sigel complimented his troops by saying that not a man in the entire brigade left the ranks during the twelve hours in which they were under fire, save those who were killed or wounded.

The state troops engaged were as follows: First brigade, including battery, 1,204; second brigade, including cavalry, 1,812; total, 3,016; unarmed men (not taking part in the fight) about 2,000.

The next day after the battle Qeneral Price and General Ben Mc- Collough, with the Confederate troops that had come up from ArlraTiffftg to help Governor Jackson, arrived at Carthage too late to participate in the battle but in time to participate in the great rejoicing in Jackson's army over the result of the fight with Sigel. McCollough 's men were uniformed in the Confederate gray and were well equipped, their steady march and neat appearance greatly impressing the citizens of the county who flocked thither to see the real Confederate soldiers. General Price nqw led the army to McDonald county where he began drilling and organizing his men.

After the battle of Carthage there was great activity among the southern sympathizers, and the companies of minute men which had been formed in the western part of the county formed the nucleus for a regiment of State Guard which was recruited almost entirely in Jasper county. The regiment when formally mustered into service was known as the Eleventh Regiment, Missouri State Guard. A. J. Talbott who had been the captain of the Border Guards was chosen colonel.

The volunteers were enlisted for a term of six months and the enlistment of the Eleventh Regiment, Missouri State Guard, expired in February, 1862, and a large number formally entered the Confederate service. Perhaps half of the regiment returned home, intending to take no further part in the war, but on returning to the county conditions were very much unsettled. Families were arrayed against one another; troops were passing and repassing through the county; Carthage had been fortified by a small garrison of United States troops and the hatred and bitterness between the sympathizers of the two armies was most intense. Finding it impossible to remain at peace at home, T. R. Livingston called together the fragment of the regiment which had returned and organized a battalion of scouts and tendered its service to the Confederacy.

and disappearing at unexpected times and places. They would make a quick dash for a wagon train or cut off a small detachment of troops from the main army. They frequently scouted the country in small bands, for the purpose of securing information as to the movement of the enemy and then reassembled at an appointed time and place to report. They participated in a number of engagements, making their last stand at Stockton where their leader was killed.

A number of Jasper county citizens who were southern sympathizers were in Colonel Coffey's regiment, later in Shelby's brigade and also in Captain Jackman's Scouts, a band similar to Livingston's command.

At the breaking out of the war Hon. John R. Chenault was the judge of the circuit court, and has been stated before, was a conditional Union man.

When the war came on he linked his fortune with the south and after the battle of Carthage ordered Stanfield Ross, the circuit clerk, to take the records of the court into the lines of General Jackson's army for safe keeping. The court records were accordingly taken to the Missouri state army, then drilling on the Cowskin prairie and later placed in the vault of the Newton county court house, at Neosho. John Onstott learned that the records had been taken away and feared that they would be lost or destroyed, as his informant told him that the Confederates were using the blank pages of the books for stationery and for the printing of the necessary blanks used by the temporary government set up by Governor Jackson.

Mr. Onstott happily met Norris C. Hood and to him told the incident of the removal of the records. Mr. Hood was '*the man of the hour" and, perceiving that quick action was necessary, secured an escort of United States soldiers, went to Neosho and recovered the records which he took to Port Scott and placed in the vaults of the court house for safekeeping. After the war Mr. Hood took his team and went to Port Scott after the books and brought them back, not a volume missing. Many of the loose papers and court documents were lost, however, en route to Neosho, and these were not recovered, but the proceedings of the courts and the books of record were preserved intact, and thus the citizens were saved endless litigation.

The first little skirmish after the battle of Carthage occurred at Medoc, on August 23, 1861, between a company of Confederates who were being organized and a company of Union sympathizers en route to Port Scott to enlist in the United Statea army.

in Missouri for the southern army. The recruits were to be assembled at Newtonia, four miles east of Neosho, in Newton county and there to be formally mustered into the Confederate service.

The first regiment of this afterward famous brigade was organized in Jackson and Cass counties and on the 15th day of June started south for Newton county. After a hard ride of three days the command was halted at a quiet shady spot on Coon creek, in the northern part of Jasper county, for a much needed rest. The horses were corraled in a nearby field and the men set about to cook their meal. Colonel Cloud, of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry, a regiment which, by the way, contained quite a number of Jasper county men, had been sent into Missouri to protect the lives and property of the citizens. On this same day the regiment named also camped on Coon creek and not more than two miles from Shelby's men. It so happened that the Union soldiers were also very tired, having been in the saddle the greater part of two days and having had a small engagement with Livingston's men at Pilot Grove the day before. By a strange coincidence this beautiful retreat had been chosen by both commanders as an ideal place for a short rest.

As is customary on such occasions. Colonel Cloud put out his scouts to patrol the roads and bjnvays adjacent to the camp, and soon one of these returned and reported ''that a bunch of bushwackers*' were encamped in the field nearby. Supposing them to be a small detachment of Livingston's men whom he had encountered the day before and thinking they had taken refuge in this secluded spot, the Colonel ordered the captain of Company C to take a detachment of twenty-four picked men and surprise the Confederates. Company G was ordered to make a detour to the rear and to capture the southerners as they came out of the brush. The captain and his men proceeded quickly through the wood until they came to the fence which enclosed the field, where Shelby's men were encamped. As the Union men were climbing over the fence Shelby and his men rose and began firing, killing or wounding fourteen out of the twenty-four men in Company C. The Union men, perceiving that they had far underestimated the strength of the Confederates, retreated to the main command, taking their wounded with them.

Charles W. Elliott, of Oronogo, was a sergeant in Company C and one of the attacking party. On the retreat he and another member of the company carried a wounded comrade who had been shot four times back to the regiment. Men who are fierce in battle are often kind and tender to a wounded enemy. The wounded man was left by Sergeant Elliott and his comrade at the home of a country doctor with the request that he be cared for. The doctor was a strong southern man but was touched with pity for the unfortunate soldier whom he had known well as a former neighbor. His professional obligations also demanded that he treat the wounded man, and so tenderly did he nurse the Union soldier that he recovered and lived to a ripe old age, lived to see the bitterness of the war healed ; lived to see a reunited nation and the boys from the north and the south fighting together in the Spanish- American war.

In September, 1862, Colonel Ritchie with the Second Indian Territory Home Guard was sent into southwest Missouri counties and was encamped at the old mill near what is now Lakeside Park.

A regiment of Texas soldiers, together with the Livingston Scouts, planned an early morning attack on the red men. At about 4 o'clock on the morning of September 20th, the Texans and the Scouts came to their camping place, but, although the camp fires were burning brightly, they found no Indians ; they had quietly retreated to the west. Putting spurs to their horses the Confederates gave chase and overtook the Indian regiment at Shirley Ford on Spring river, where an engagement took plac^. On the first charge of the Confederates, the Indians began what at first seemed to be, as Colonel Ritchey in his report expressed it, a Bull Run retreat ; but his men rallied and, corraling their horses in the brush, dismounted and returned a vigorous fire. A number of times the Confederates charged them, but could not drive their horses into the thick brush. At length Major Livingston proposed to fight them Indian fashion and, in place of a charge from the front, to ride down the main road at full speed and separate the regiment from the wagon train which had been taken across the river to a place of safety. This plan did not meet with the approval of the Texas commander, and in a hasty word-encounter between the Texan and Livingston the latter said: ** Colonel, if you will give me command of your regiment for thirty minutes I will haughtily ordered Livingston and his men to the rear. Livingston, quicktempered and impetuous, said: ** Colonel you can take your regiment and

This ended the fight and the Texan without exchanging another word wheeled with his regiment to the right and rode off the field, leaving Livingston and his men who, after the last of the Texans were out of sight, moved his command to the south. The Indians were left in possession of the field. The next day on returning to bury his men who had been killed in the engagement, Livingston found that Ritchey and his men had gone west into Kansas.