Jasper County, Missouri - Chapter 30: Military Matters, 1912

Second Regiment Organized into Two Battalions - ^Lettebs Replace Old Names - ^PmsT Appearance at St. Louis - The First Regimental Camp - Camp Cunningham, August 15-22, 1897 - Sham Battle - Carthage Honors Her Dead - The United Confederate Veterans - Semi-Military Societies - The Third Regiment, U. R. K. P. - ^Patriarchs Militant, I. O. O. F.

Following the reorganization of the Carthage Light Guard, seven companies of the National Ouard were quickly organized in Southwest Missouri, and on October 9, 1890, the officers of the several companies elected the following officers for the Second Regiment, Missouri National Quard : Colonel, W. E. Caffee, of the Carthage Light Guard ; lieutenant colonel, A. B. Deggins, Springfield Rifles; major, Heniy Allen, Sedalia Rifles.

The Joplin Light Infantry, Company G, was mustered December 30, 1890, and completed the organization of the regiment, which was now divided into battalions, in accordance with the new United States army drill regulations.

Major Allen, of Sedalia, having resigned, an election was ordered for two majors for the First and Second battalions, respectively. H. H. Mitchel, of Nevada, was chosen major of the First Battalion, and Captain F. E. Williams, of the old Joplin Rifles, was elected major of the Secand Battalion.

The local names were now dropped and 'the several organizations designated by letters. In assigning the letters priority was given to the company in the order of its organization. The companies were designated as follows : Company A, Carthage Light Guard ; Company B, Butler Rifles; Company C, El Dorado Guard; Company D, Sedalia Rifles; Company E, Pierce City Guards ; Company F, Springfield Rifles ; Company G, Joplin Light Infantry, and Company H, Nevada Light Infantry. Company C was disbanded shortly after the organization of the regiment, and the company which was mustered at Lamar took its letter and place in the First Battalion. The Second, Major William Batta- ban, comprised Companies A, E, P and 6. The old Springfield Rifles was disbanded in 1894 and a company, at Clinton, took its place. In 1896 the Springfield company was reorganized and came into the regiment as Company K.

In making ap his staff, Colonel Caffee called to his assistance the following who had served with him in the old Light Guard: Captain and Adjutant, J. M. McMillen; Captain and quartermaster, A. B. Deutsch; Captain and judge advocate, J. W. Halliburton. Lieutenant Harrington, of the Light Guard, was named by Brigadier General Milton Moore as one of his aide-de-camp, with the rank of major.

The Second Regiment made its first appearance at St. Louis in February, 1891, upon the occasion of General Sherman's funeraL Company G from Joplin, having the greatest number of men in line of any comi>any attending the last sad rites held over the body of the great soldier.

This was held at Kellogg Springs, near Carthage, July 17-20, 1892, and was named in honor of the regimental commander, Camp Caffee. The camp was a very successful one, about ninety per cent of the rank and file being in attendance. The military manoeuvers very greatly improved the efficiency of the regiment, as well as furnishing the boys with a most delightful outing.

Camp Caffee presented a striking contrast to damp Allen, which was held at Carthage in July, 1884, and which was mentioned in our Military chapter of the eighties. At Camp Allen there was a great variety of equipments, each company being clothed with a different uniform, but at Camp Caffee the entire regiment wore the blue of the United States army, the uniforms and equipment having been furnished by the United States government ; the expenses of the camp, transportation, etc., were paid by the state. To give an idea of the magnitude of the camp, we present the following figures which represent a portion of the daily rations furnished the men : The commissary department issued each day, among other items, 600 pounds of fresh beef, 600 I>ounds of corned beef, 600 pounds of ham and 350 loaves of bread, as staples, with coffee, tea, butter, eggs, etc., on the side. The Second Regiment also participated in state camps at Lake Contrary and St. Joseph, and held regimental camps at Springfield, Sedalia, Lamar and Joplin. We make mention here of the Joplin camp, because it is one of the Jasper county events and because it was the last one held before the regiment was called into the service of the United States in the Spanish- American war.

The Second Regiment went into camp at Joplin for a week's school of instruction August 15, 1897, and the ''meet" was named in honor of Mayor Cunningham, who extended the regiment a right royal welcome and issued a proclamation asking the citizens to join with the city officials in making the stay of the guardsmen a pleasant one. Nine companies were in attendance: Company A, Carthage, Capt. Jno. A. Mc- Millen ; Company B, Butler, Captain V. L. Johnson ; Company C, Lamar, Capt. P. M. Thorp; Company D, Sedalia, Capt. George S. Edmondson; .Company E, Pierce City, Capt. W. A. Raupp; Company F, Clinton, Capt. A. C. Landon; Company G, Joplin, Capt. Robt. A. Spear; Company H, Nevada, Capt. George B. Cawswell; Company K, Springfield, Capt. A. B. Deggins; regimental band, Joplin, T. J. Hughs, director.

A full complement of regimental officers were present, the field and staflf being: Colonel commanding, W. K. Caflfee, Carthage; lieutenant colonel, H. C. Demuth, Sedalia; major First Battalion, H. H. Mitchell, Nevada; major Second Battalion, P. E. y/^illiams, Joplin; adjutant, Capt. J. M. McMillen, Carthage; quarter master, Capt. A. B. Deutsch, Carthage; judge advocate, Capt. Jno. W. Halliburton, Carthage; surgeoUy Maj. C. Crawford, Nevada; assistant surgeon, Capt. Wm. G. Cowan; ordnance officer, Capt. A. V. Adams, Butler; commissary, Capt. J. L. Saunders, Pierce City.

Captains Geo. H. Roach and W. A. Mason of the Seventeenth Infantry Regiment, U. S. A., and Lieutenant Osborn, Third United States Cavalry, were detailed to inspect the camp and assist in the instruction of the 500 guardsmen in attendance.

After battalion drill in the afternoon the men were at liberty to rest and enjoyed themselves seeing the sights about the mines and other points of interest. Each evening in front of headquarters tent the regimental band gave a concert and every evening the camp was thronged with visitors from the city.

The third day of the camp the entire regiment visited Lakeside park and gave an exhibition drill in the evening, after which dancing was indulged in until a late hour.

Friday afternoon, in place of the regular dress parade, a sham battle was had and instruction given in skirmish battle formation. The battle was witnessed by a large number of citizens. Major Mitchell. First Battalion, and Major Williams, of the Second, commanded the .opposing forces, and the fighting was very realistic.

The Second Battalion garrisoned a hastily constructed fort at the east end of Cox park and the First Battalion was the attacking party, which opened the fight by firing upon a skirmish line which had been thrown out by the Second Battalion and after the exchange of a few shots the skirmishers retired to the fort and the battle was on. A terrific fusilade of musketry was now kept up for half an hour or more, after which the attacking party charged the garrison in the fort. The battle was so fierce that the parties engaged in a hand-to-hand fight. A truce was now had and the belligerents carried from the field the wounded (?) and injured (?) soldiers, after which the fight was resumed. The First Battalion again charged the Second, which retreated, and it looked as if the attacking party would take the fort^ when Major Williams, Sheridan-like, rallied the fieeing Second and drove the First Battalion off the field.

The Spanish-American War The Second Regiment went to the front at the first call of President McKinley for volunteers and, after being in camp a short time at

Jefferson Barracks, was sent with the main army to the south, and was stationed at the big camp at Chattanooga; later at Lexihgtoii, Kentucky, Atlanta, Georgia, and other southern points. The Second Regiment was one of the best among the volunteer troops and was f requefatly complimented by the United States army oflScers for its splendid discipline and military bearing. Colonel Andrews, of the Thirteenth United States Infantry, who was sent to inspect the Second, with other regiments, in his report of the inspection, said, **That the Second Missouri Regiment was more like the United States army ought to be than the regulars themselves, because of the personnel of the oflScers and men.'' Said he: **The discipline is excellent and the men are among the very best citizens in private life.*'

Adjutant McMillen and Quartermaster Deutsch both were called home before the close of the war on account of business, and Lieutenant John Bailey, of Company A, became regimental adjutant.

The Fifth Regiment, Missouri United States Volunteers, of which command Hon. Chas. H. Morgan was the lieutenant coionel, contained, among its commands, Company G, from Jasper county. This company was made up almost entirely, of men from the rural districts and they were unusually strong and husky. The company was commanded by the following oflScers: Captain, George Whitsett, Carthage; first lieutenant, Russell Garrison, mine superintendent, Webb City; second lieutenant, Freeman Rowe, mine superintendent, Webb City.

Company O made a most excellent record in camp, and after the war Captain Whitsett was sent to the Philippines as judge of one of the military districts, where he made an enviable reputation as a jurist

A company of the Sixth Missouri, United States Volunteers, was partly made up of Jasper county men - ^First Lieutenant J. J. Nelson and sixty men enlisting at Webb City. We were unable to secure a copy of the company roster of the above organizations, the adjutant general informing the writer that his o£Bce force was so limited that time could not be given to the copy of the names.

Among the soldiers who went to the front in the Spanish- American war with Company A, was Sergeant Charles Wood, who died at Camp Chickamauga, stricken with fever. The body of the sergeant was sent home for burial and was accompanied by a detachment of Company A. The funeral occurred July 14, 1898, and was largely attended, the business of the city having ^been suspended during the hour of the funeral.

In the funeral cortege were the ex-members of the Carthage Light Guard, under command of Capt. Geo. H. Thomas; the Modem Woodmen, of which lodge he was a member, and the Sons of Veterans.

As in the 'Eighties the Twelfth Regiment Select Knights A. 0. U. W., comprising four Jasper county legions, had won great distinction as a semi-military organization, so in the 'nineties the Uniformed Bank of the Knights of Pythias and the Patriarchs Militant of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, through the regimental organization of each of these two great societies, brought the red plumed Knights and the gallant chivalry into prominent notice.

Although each of these two regiments contained companies in other counties than Jasper, both were largely officered by Jasper county cit izens and, as South Western Missouri organizations, each played a prominent part in the social and fraternal life of the county.

In 1890 there came to Carthage in t^e employ of the Frisco Railway Company and in the capacity of district freight agent, Carl Gray, a young man of great energy and executive ability who, through rapid promotion, reached the high station of vice president and general manager of the great 'Frisco system and who now is the general manager of the Northern Pacific. Young Gray, who was a graduate of a military academy, of military ancestry and a great lover of military manoeuvres was the organizer and father of the Uniformed Rank of the Knights of Pythias in Southwestern Missouri, and it was his energy and Pythian activity more than any other one factor which popularized the military branch of that fraternity during the early and middle 'nineties.

At the organization of Carthage Division No. 34 of the U. R. K. P., Sir Knight Gray was chosen captain commanding and, figuratively speaking, put Carthage on the fraternal map by the splendid manoeuvres of his division. Following the appearance of Captain Gray's command, divisions of the Uniform Rank were organized at Webb City, and Joplin and these, together with divisions at Monett, Aurora, Nevada, and North and South Springfield, made up the Third Regt. of which Cap^ Gray was unanimously elected colonel, Julius Finke, of Webb City, lieutenant colonel ; and Joel T. Livingston, of Joplin, major of the Second Battalion. Robert Robyn, of Carthage was appointed adjutant. The uniform of the Knights of Pythias during the 'nineties was, in the opinion of the author, the most attractive and knightly looking equipment that that body has ever worn. It was a decided improvement over the one worn by the Knights during the 'seventies and early 'eighties and far more attractive than the present.

The uniformed knights of the 'nineties were dressed in black broadcloth, coat of Prince Albert military cut, white helmet with red plume and the sword belt of red leather, and the buttons, trappings and other accoutrements silver mounted with white metal trimmings. The regiment numbered four hundred men, and it was an imposing sight to see this splendid organization in regimental formation.

The Third Regiment, as a whole, participated in the Knights of Pythias Fourth of July celebration at Monet in 1892, the national encampment at Kansas City, at the laying of the corner stone of the Jasper county court house ; and a number of other public events. The regiment appeared at its best in Kansas City, at the supreme encampment, held in August, 1892, at which gathering it was designated by General Carnaham, commanding the U. R. K. P., to act as the ofBcial escort for the delegates to the supreme lodge, and as such led the way to the place where that august body assembled to legislate for the order.

The regiment did not compete for any of the prizes at the national encampment, but all three of the Jasper county companies won prizes that year at some one of the different gatherings they attended, and each reflected great credit on its home lodge.

In 1897 Colonel Gray was transferred to Wichita, Kansas, and the Third Regiment fell into a state of inactivity until 1902, when it was reorganized, and will be spoken of in our fraternal events of the last decade.

In 1893 the six cantons located in the western border counties, from Kansas City to Joplin, were organized into a regiment and Dr. M. T. Balsley, of Joplin, was elected lieutenant colonel commanding. Colonel Balsley made a vigorous commander and by a sfystematic effort built up a fine command which, on a number of occasions, attracted the favorable attention of not only the Odd Fellows, but of the public at large.

Jasper county's interest in the cantons is largely centered in Canton Lincoln, of Joplin, which is especially mentioned in the history of that city.

The Patriarchs of the Odd Fellows is to that order what Knights Templarism is to Masonry, only that the military idea is more predominant, the several cantons being organized into regiment and brigades.

The word canton is a Swiss word and means a company of soldiers. Patriarch-Militants is a compound word and has a double meaning - Patriarch being a ruler and militant indicating ready for the fight. The Patriarch Militant must be a wise ruler and a good soldier.

Jasper county 's Camp No. 522, United Confederate Veterans, was organized May 22, 1894, with forty charter members. The camp has had on its rolls 174 veterans of the Confederate army, but death and removals from the county has cut down the present membership to 72.

At the oBganization of the camp, Q. R. Hill was chosen commander and held the oflSce until the annual election of 1905, when he was succeeded by C. C. Catron, who held the position until his death on December 25, 1910. Z. H. Lowdermilk, post department conmiander, was called to the post of commander and at this writing is still the com- Qiander of the camp.

Jno. W. Halliburton was elected adjutant of the camp, at the date of -its muster-in, and has filled the position with such care that the camp would never let him resign and he has held this important post through the sixteen years of the society's existence

W. E. Hall, who was a resident of Jasper county during the war and -one of the first to enlist in the regiment which the county sent to the front, was elected the first treasurer of the camp and held the position until his death in July, 1907, when he was succeeded by Jacob Litteral, who still holds the post.

Previous to the organization of the camp the ex-Confederate veterans of Jasper county raised $1,000 toward the building of the Confederate Home at Higginsville, and since then has contributed $775 toward its maintenance. In addition to the above, the camp has contributed the following sum : $100 toward erecting the monument at the Confederate cemetery, Springfield ; $100 toward building the Confederate monument at Palmyra and a like sum toward erecting the Confederate monument at Neosho. Eight members of the Jasper county camp have been sent to the Home at Higginsville, and six ex-Confederate veterans, not members of the Jasper county camp, have been sent to the Confederate Home and have been cared for by the Jasper county veterans who wore the gray.

The Jasper county camp of United Confederate Veterans has enjoyed an annual picnic and reunion each year since its organization, and at these gatherings the members have lived over the old days that tried men's souls and have, in memory, sat around the camp fire and recounted the pleasures and the sorrows, the hardships and the recreations of the soldier's life.

The Jasper county camp has twice been honored by the state organization by choosing a Jasper county citizen for the important post of department commander. At the state reunion in 1907 Z. H. Lowdermilk of Joplin was elected major general commanding the department of Missouri, and at the next annual meeting Jno. W. Halliburton, of Carthage, was chosen to preside over the veterans. This was considered a most extraordinary compliment to the Jasper county camp to have twice in succession one of its members called to the highest office in the state organization; a compliment which, however, was well deserved, for the two men mentioned have both given much of their time to the organization which has so signally honored them.

In 1905 the Jasper county camp entertained the department at Joplin, and a more extended mention of this meeting will be made in our Joplin items for the last decade.