Montgomery County, Missouri - Leading Events of 1861, 1885 (part 1 of 2)

Leading Events of 1861

Election of Delegates to the State Convention - The Work of the Convention - The Winter of 1861 - After Fort Sumpter - The First Federal Troops - First Bloodshed in the County - Atrocious Murder of Maj. Benj. Sharp and Lieut. A. Yager, by Alvin Cebb's Men - A Skirmish - Retaliation - Murder of Terrill, Nunnelly'and Bishop by the Federals - Military Operations - Troops for Gen. Price's Army - Miscellaneous War Items During the Year 1861 - Murder of McGlatchey, a Union Man, near Blufften - The Raids on the Railroads - A Montgomery County Company for Price's Army - Mount Zion Fight - Invasion and Occupation of the County by Federal Troops.

Election Of Delegates To The State Convention

There was short time for the election of delegates to the State convention. The first senatorial district was composed of the counties of St. Charles, Warren and Montgomery. As the district was entitled to three delegates, it was agreed that each county should have one. The matter was so discussed in the newspapers and there seemed to be no objections to the plan.

The district was largely in favor of the Union, unconditionally. Montgomery county was largely that way in sentiment. But there was a large number of conditional Union men, and many open secessionists. The latter two elements combined and determined to have a representation in the State convention.

A joint convention of the district was to be held at Warrenton to nominate '' Union '' candidates for convention delegates. A meeting was held at Danville to select delegates to the Warrenton convention. Both *' unconditional '' and ''conditional '? Union men were present in considerable numbers. The '' unconditionals'' were in the majority and succeeded in organizing the meeting. The ' conditionals '' bolted and organized another meeting, presided over by Frank Skinner, who admitted the conditionals or Skinner delegates, and rejected the regulars, or unconditional Union men with Maj. Benj. Sharp at their head. Each county named its candidate, who was indorsed by the convention, as follows: St. Charles presented Robert B. Frayser, Warren named Joseph G. Waller, and Montgomery (the Skinner delegates) nominated Dr. Geo. B. Bast.

Among some of the Union men there was dissatisfaction with the | result of the district convention, and two independent candidates - W. W. Edwards, of St. Charles, and A. T. Franklin - ran as unconditional Unionists. But when the election came off they were defeated and the regular candidates, Messrs. Frayser, Waller and Bast, were chosen by large majorities.

The Work Of The Convention

The convention assembled at Jefferson City, February 28, 1861. Sterling Price, of Chariton county, afterwards the distinguished Confederate general, was chosen president. On the second day it adjourned to meet in St. Louis, where, it re-convened March 4, continued in session until the 22d, when it adjourned to meet on the third Monday in December, Subject, however, to a call of a majority of a committee of seven. Before adjourning, a series of resolutions was adopted, two of which were of superior importance, and here proper to be noted: 1. Containing the explicit declaration that there was no adequate cause to impel Missouri to dissolve her connection with the Federal Union. 2. Taking unmistakable ground against the employment of military force by the Federal government to .coerce the seceding States, or the employment of aihiaey force by the seceding States to assail the government of the United States.

Judge Redd, of Marion, on behalf of himself and Mr. Harrison Hough, of Mississippi, presented a minority report from the committee on resolutions, of which Hamilton R. Gamble was chairman. But Redd's report was almost unanimously rejected. )

The assertion of the unconditional Unionists that Dr. Bast was really a secessionist seems to have been well founded. He was the only member of the convention that voted '*no'' on the_ following resolution : ye

1. Fesolved, That at present there is no adequate cause to impel Missouri to dissolve her connection with the Federal Union, but onthe contrary she will labor for such an adjustment of existing troubles as. ae secure the peace, as well as the rights and equality, of all the F

It was an open secret among the secessionists of the county that Dr. Bast was insympathy with them. But when the convention reassembled July 22, on the call of a majority of a committee appointed for the purpose, Dr. Bast attended as he did other sessions up to July 1, 1863, and never himself '' seceded '' or took up arms at any time. He was excused from voting wher Claiborne Jackson was deposed from the governership of the State and Hamilton R. Gamble appointed in his stead. He and his colleagues, Frayser and Waller, voted "* no "' on the '' Gamble test oath'? and he and Mr. Waller ''no'' on the emancipation ordinance adopted by the convention July 1, 1863, declaring that slavery should not exist in Missouri after July 4, 1870. He always denied, however, that he was a '* rebel'' and never admitted openly that he was a secessionist.

The Winter Of 1861

During the months of January, February, and March, 1861, there was great interest manifested in public-affairs by the people of the county. The prospect of war was fully discussed, and many prepared for it. A large portion openly sympathized with the seceded States, but the majority preferred to take no decided steps to aid either side. Many declared that Missouri had done nothing to bring on a war, and would do nothing toe help it along should one break out. '' We are neither secessionists nor abolitionists,' said they, '' and we are neither fanatics nor fire-eaters."'

February 8th a shooting affair came off in Danville, which grew out of politics. As previously stated men's sentiments underwent sudden and radical changes in these days. Mr. Nathaniel Patton, then a hotel-keeper at New Florence, had been a strong Union man and antisecessionist in December and the first part of January, but saw proper to change or modify his views as events progressed. Daniel M. Draper was the editor of the Danville Herald, a strong Union paper, and took occasion to comment, in what Patton conceived to be disrespectful and insulting language, on his, Patton's, change of heart. Patton attacked Draper on the street in Danville, and proceeded to cowhide him. Draper was taken somewhat unawares as he was walking from his dinner, but he drew a pistol and contrived to shoot his assailant in the leg, and that is why Nat. Patton ' walks lame'' to this day.

Meantime, and especially in February and March, numerous secret meetings were held in the county by both Union men and secessionists. Every man's politics were known (or were thought to be) by - every other man, and invitations were sent out to attend these meet- ings only to those who were known to be ''sound.''? Each side knew that the other side was meeting secretly, and yet there was no attempt at interference. Both parties met and were friendly. The policy seemed to be that of the '*I'll let you alone, if you'll let me alone "' kind. : Ki

The secessionists met from time to time, and deliberated. Honestly believing that the best interests of Missouri would be served if she should unite her fortunes with those of her sister Southern States, these men worked zealously and faithfully. They met in secret conclave from time to time. They got ready for any emergency that might come. They were encouraged by emissaries from Gov. Jackson and the secession cause in the central portion of the State, who promised them plenty of arms if the time should come to use them, and plenty of powder when the time should come to burnit. Very many of this class of our citizens deprecated civil war, and sincerely hoped that it might be avoided, but resolved that, if come it did, they would bind their fate to that of the Southern cause, allied as they were to that section by ties of kinship, of birthplace, of self-interest, of commonalty of sentiment, of sympathy. It may be that no men were ever more mistaken, but certainly no men were ever more in earnest and more honest in opinion than were the secessionists of this country in the winter and spring of 1861.

A few secession flags were hoisted. One at High Hill went up in the winter when a fair sized meeting adopted secession resolutions and were addressed by Robert P. Terrill, of Danville. Another '¢lone star'' flag was raised at Wellsville, and Grandville Nunnelly

After Fort Sumpter

Gov. Jackson's indignant refusal to respond to the requisition on Missouri; the excitement throughout the South; the uprising in the North - these are incidents in the history of the country, the particularsof which need not be set forth in these pages.

The reception of this remarkable intelligence caused the most intense excitement in Montgomery county. Many who had opposed secession until now changed their views, denounced the administration for its policy of coercion, and avowed themselves '* on the side

April 22, Gov. Jackson ordered the Legislature to convene in extra session May 2, '' for the purpose of enacting such laws and adopting such measures as may be deemed necessary and proper for the more perfect organization and equipment of the militia of the State and to raise money enough and such other means as may be required to place the State in proper attitude for defense.'' The Legislature was in session twelve days. It passed Jackson's famous military bill on the reception of the news of the capture of Camp Jackson, but Harris, of Montgomery, was absent when the vote was taken.

In the middle of June, or even before the first Boonville fight (which was June 14), a number of secession troops, or companies of the Missouri State Guard, from Lincoln and Pike, and the northern and western parts of St. Charles and Warren, passed through this county on their way to Gen. Price's or Gov. Jackson's army, at Boonville, or in South-western Missouri. These companies were joined by a few Montgomery county men, and more were preparing to follow.

Some of the Unionists were preparing for organization, it being evident that there was to be fighting here at home and elsewhere, and that nothing could be accomplished except by organization.

The First Federal Troops

When it was certain that Missouri would be one of the States wherein the battles of the Civil War would be fought, the immense importance of preserving and holding the North Missouri Railroad was early realized by the authorities of the Federal government. If it was kept intact, troops could be moved rapidly from one side of the State to the other, supplies and munitions of war sent, and all of North Missouri kept under Federal or Union domination. The great thoroughfare would also be of incalculable service in keeping open communication with the first line of offense adopted by the Union commanders - the Missouri river. It was of the utmost importance, therefore, that the road should be well guarded from the actual and threatened assaults of the secessionists, and kept in running order continually.

The authorities of the railroad were all loyal, and the secessionists regarded it as the great enemy to the Southern cause, to be assailed whenever practicable, and when troops were passing upon it, to be

About the 15th of June two companies of Col. B. Gratz Brown's regiment of Union Home Guards, under Maj. Shaw, were sent up from St. Louis to St. Charles and vicinity, for the purpose of guarding bridges, and to exercise a general superintendence of the country. A day or so later they were joined by Col. Kallman's regiment of Home Guards, and went on an expedition still further up the railroad. Near Wentzville they arrested John G. Cook and took some guns from him. At Wentzville they took complete possession of the town, searched the houses of several of the citizens and took a number of the citizens prisoners. They also found a secession flag hid away in a hay loft. The prisoners were all released upon taking the oath, except the railroad agent, Wm. M. Allen, whom, together with Cook, they retained and carried off to St. Louis. This is believed to have been the first invasion of this part of the State by Federal troops.

A large force of secession troops, under Gen. Tom Harris, was known by the Federal commander in St. Louis to be near Fulton, Callaway county, threatening an attack on and the capture of Jefferson City. July 10 Harris had an engagement with a Federal force at Monroe Station, on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, in the northern part of Monroe county. This force was cooped up in an academy building, and though Harris surrounded it with a large force he did not attack it, and Federal re-enforeements coming up Harris incontinently retreated and made his way down into Callaway.

Third regiment of U. S. Reserve Corps (Home Guards), under Col. John McNeil, and the greater portion of Schuttner's Fourth Missouri volunteers (three months' men), under Lieut.-Col. Hammer, up the Pacific Railroad to cross the river at Jefferson, march to Fulton and attack Harris. McNeil, with the seven companies of his regiment, crossed the river and marched towards Fulton. .

for the Federals. McNeil's men were marching along when the seces- __ sion troops fired upon them from an. excellent position and at short - range ; yet only 15 Federals were wounded - but two mortally. The secessionists were Badly excited, and when the fire was returned, they turned and fled, panic stricken and in the greatest disorder. Some of them never halted until they had made a distance of 25 miles. The affair came to be known, and is still called, '* The Fulton Races,'' owing to the extraordinary running and racing made by Harris' men, nearly all mounted, to secure places of sufety from McNeil's men, nearly all of whom were on foot! Men, who afterwards made good and brave Confederate soldiers, ran like foot racers in this engagement. McNeil entered Fulton without serious opposition.

In the '' Fulton races'' there was a company of secession troops from Montgomery county commanded by Capt. Daniel Bryan, a merchant of Montgomery City. It, too, became demoralized and fled in great haste for shelter into the Whetstone hills, in the north-western part of this county. Alvin Cobb, another resident of this county, had a small company in the same fight and retreated with Bryan.

It seems that Col. Hammer did not follow McNeil when the latter went to Fulton. With 42 mounted men of Co. A, Capt. Jacob Melter, of Col. Almstedt's First regiment of United States Reserve Corps (Home Guards), Hammer crossed the Missouri at Hermann, landing on Loutre island. Capt. Melter was at the head of the company, and an acting lieutenant, August Yager, was present.

Hammer took the Rhineland road up the bottom, riding rapidly. He did not go to Rhineland, however, but turned off at the Neal or Cundiff place, and took the Danville road. That night he camped on Loutre, near where the iron bridge now stands. The next day he came on to Danville. From Danville he went to New Florence, where he reported to Harding by telegraph. In his report to Gen. Lyon, Col. Harding says : -

* * * Hammer telegraphed from Hermann that he concluded to leave the river there, as transportation was easily procured, and that he had made arrangements to effect a junction with McNeil. The next I heard of him he was at New Florence, on the railroad, and McNeil, with 460 men, was near Fulton, where I then knew he would meet Harris. You can imagine my anxiety, and afterwards my relief, when I heard from that brave fellow McNeil, that he bad fought and routed the rebels.

At New Florence Melter's company was sent to Montgomery City -on their way to Mexico. Hammer himself returned to St. Louis. E'n route from Hermann to Danville, Hammer took one or two horses from secessionists - one from Joe Cole - and made prisoners of Dr. D. Y. Bast (who lived on the bottom and who had voted in the State convention that there were just grounds for the secession of Missouri) and J. N. Hunter, who lived near the iron bridge across Loutre. At

The Eighth Missouri infantry volunteers, a regiment made up in St. Louis, and composed chiefly of Americans, or Irish-Americans, and commanded by Col. Morgan L. Smith, was ordered to co-operate with McNeil and Hammer in the movement against Tom Harris. ' It was to go to Mexico and move from thence upon the secessionists at Fulton. As this was the first regiment of Federal troops to enter the county a narrative of its trip to and through the county may be of interest.

Sunday evening, July 14, four companies of the Second Missouri volunteers (three months' men), Col. Henry Boernstein's regiment, under Lieut.-Col. Fred. Scheffer, and two companies, B and C, of the Eighth Missonri infantry (American Zouaves), left the St. Louis arsenal under command of Col. Morgan L. Smith, of the Eighth Missouri, for Mexico and other points on the North Missouri Railroad. Silently under cover of the night, the boat, the Louisiana, on which the soldiers embarked, passed by the city. At the mouth of the Missour] she grounded, detaining them there until the next morning, when they again proceeded on their way, arriving at St. Charles during the afternoon. Before arriving they had heard of the secession tendencies of the citizens there, but their reception gave no evidence that this was the prevailing sentiment; cheers greeted them upon their arrival, and ladies appeared upon the balconies, at the windows and at the doors to wave welcome to them. Similar to this was their _grecting for a few miles up the 'road. . Soon, however, a change appeared that, ere long, became as dark, and fearful as thus far their progsess had been bright and encouraging. About six miles from St. Charles one of the men was shot from under the cover of the woods; fortunately he was but slightly wounded. It now became evident that they were entering a section of the State where they were to be treated as enemies. The man shot was a member of Co. B, in one of the rear cars, and some little time elapsed before it became generally known that the shot, plainly enough heard, was other than the accidental discharge of a musket. Armed lookouts were now stationed on the tops of the different cars ; men sat at the open windows, musket in hand, ready to the soldiers ran into Wentzville, where they remained long enough to get supper. Here one of the men was accidentally shot, the wound afterwards resulting in his death. The town was comparatively deserted, and the majority of those who remained regarded the invaders more with fear than favor. Rumors were rife that they would be waylaid along the whole line of the road. It was desirable that they should that night reach Montgomery City, but it was with reluctance that the colonel gave the order to advance. It was night when the soldiers again started, dark and rainy, and as the long train rolled slowly on behind the hand car, the prospect was forbidding enough. Nor was it altogether deceptive; three miles from the village, the sharp crash of a volley of fire-arms rung out in the night over the pattering of the rain and the monotonous rumbling of the cars. A second's pause, and a line of flashing fire passed from end to end of the train. The whizzing of the Minie balls was a hurricane. Orders to cease firing from the cars and to turn out followed, and speedily about one-half of the battalion were plunging through the woods in the direction indicated by the firing. No signs could be found of the enemy, and flanked by the skirmishers the train was backed up to the city. Three of the soldiers were slightly wounded.

On the following morning, the train was again put in motion. Before leaving, reports by passengers on the down train were received, that the secessionists along the line. of country through which the Federals had to pass were scouring the country, armed and on horseback, gatbering in bands to waylay them, the track was to be torn up, bridges burned, etc. A sharp lookout was consequently kept, and although the hand-car had now become a forlorn hope, the fear of foul play prompted its continuance, and there was no scarcity of volunteers to man it. Quietly the point of attack on the previous evening was passed, but a little distance beyond a murderous fire was opened on the hand-car, wounding five out of six of the men who ran it, one of them mortally. Again the skirmishers, a full half of the entire force, turned out, and this time daylight aided them with effect. Through the greater part of the day the skirmishers flanked the cars. Three other attacks were made during the day, but without harm to the Federals.

Three-fourths of a mile west of Jonesburg some secession citizens had -concealed themselves, and when the train bearing the soldiers came up they opened fire upon it. These citizens were Joe Sublett, John Hubbard, Thos. Williams, Jacob Curtis and John Hunt. The soldiers returned the fire, but no one was hurt on either side. After-

But for the scouts, seen hourly, though mostly at a safe distance, the country seemed comparatively deserted. Farms had been left in charge of the women; at Wright City, a small village, but three persons were seen; Millville, now Foristell, seemed wholly deserted.

Late in the evening the troops reached Montgomery City, where their reception was hospitable in the extreme, the Union citizens appearing to be decidedly in the majority. In nothing was this illustrated so markedly as in the attendance next morning of the people upon the funeral of Wm. Pease, a soldier who had been shot the day before on the hand-car, and who died during the night. He was the first Federal soldier that died or was buried in the county.

The zouaves turned out in uniform, and they were followed by residents of the village, including many ladies. At the grave, which was and is, in the Montgomery City cemetery, after the salute was fired the soldiers fell back and the ladies passed areund the grave, each in turn throwing upon the coffin lid a bunch of flowers. Miss Prudence Pegram, anehter of James L. Pegram, an ardent Unionist, was especially deuiceable in her ministrations at the funeral of the dead soldier, who was ''somebody's darling,'' no doubt. She carefully guarded his tomb, planted flowers upon it, and preserved it from oblivion and obliteration, and yet sees to it that the grave is kept green.

Beyond this, there was no further molestation. After remaining in Mexico a.couple of hours, it was determined to run back a few miles, to meet the forces under Col. A. Hammer (Schuttner's regiment). On the road down the train was again fired on, under cover of the night, and two soldiers were wounded. Again the troops turned out, answering with a volley. Below Martinsburg they joined forces with Hammer's command, camped out on the prairie, and next morning returned to Mexico.

Ben Sharp was a native Virginian, born in Lee county, in 1820. He was educated at the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, and possessed a fine scholastic, classical and military education. He had lived at Danville for some years. When the war broke out he -was an ardent Unionist, and in favor of coercing the Southern States back to their allegiance, and at once sought a position where he could be most useful. He went to St. Louis, saw Gen. Lyon and tried to get authority from him to raise a regiment in North Missouri for the Federal service.

battalion or regiment with the promise of a commission as colonel so 'soon as the battalion or regiment was full. With a paper to this effect in his pocket he started home, and accompanied the Eighth Missouri battalion and Schaeffer's men on the train from St. Charles to Montgomery City. Here he stopped and attended the funeral of Billy Pease, the zouave, who was shot from the hand-car. He confided to a few intimate friends that he was on his way to Mexico, where under the protection of Smith's command, he would make a speech and begin the raising of a regiment composed of loyal Audrain, Callaway _-and Montgomery county men.

When Melter's company, of Hammer's command, came to Montgomery City, Lieut. Yager' was sick and went on the train to Wellsville. Melter's company procured the services of a Mr. Taylor to guide them.

At Wellsville Ben Sharp, who had become acquainted with Yager, agreed to accompany him to Mexico. The two borrowed a bugg from A. Kempinski, a Unionist, and, hitching up Yager's horse, started by the dirt road for Mexico. They left word for Hammer's men (Melter's company ) to follow them, watching the tracks of the - buggy wheels for the proper course.

West of Wellsville, where the Mexico road turned to the north, the old road had been fenced up, and the new road turned about the fence and was somewhat obscure. Here Sharp and Yager, instead of turning north, either did not see the road or did not understand it, and kept on to the westward, pursuing the road leading from Wellsville to Williamsburg, in Callaway county, by way of Broadwater's mill, on. Whetstone creek.

sionists were lying in the woods among the Whetstone hills, cooling off after the '' Fulton races."' It is said that they saw Sharp and Yager, but refused to either fire upon them or attempt to take them prisoners, Capt. Bryan repressing every effort to do either. Some place near here the two Unionists met Hon. Morgan White, of Callaway, who informed them that they were on the wrong road, and directed them how they could turn back and enter the Mexico road at Martinsburg. Accordingly they circled about toward the north-east and started for Martinsburg, which they would enter from the west.

When Alvin Cobb heard that Bryan would not fire on Sharp and Yager, he said to a squad of men under his control - if not under his command that he would fix them. Alvin Cobb was a desperate fellow, and some six or eight men, as desperate as he, sprang upon their horses and followed. In some way Cobb learned that Sharp and Yager were going into Martinsburg from the west, and striking across the country, which he well knew, he resolved to intercept them and '* bushwhack'' them. He knew Sharp well. At a point half a mile west of Martinsburg, and on the east side of James Martin's farm, just where his outside fence came up to the road, there was a slough making off to the south. Here also were some bushes. In this slough and among these bushes Alvin Cobb, Frank Cobb and about six more men concealed themselves, shotguns and revolvers ready, crouching for their prey.

They had not long to wait. Leisurely driving along, for it was a hot day, Sharp and Yager soon put in an appearance, chatting pleasantly and familiarly, unconscious of their imminent peril and the terrible fate awaiting them. . They had passed Martin's house, and the village of Martinsburg was in sight. Now they were at the ambush.

caught in his '* hook,'' with his right he fired his revolver fairly at Ben Sharp. Two or three double-barreled shotguns and as many revolvers poured in a volley, sudden as a flash of lightning and terrible as the thunderbolt that follows! One revolver bullet anda full load of buckshot entered Sharp's body; one load of buckshot shattered to the buggy, a spirited animal, was badly frightened and sprang for- - ward, unrestrained, in a dead run. Cobb and his men started in pur- - suit, yelling and firing. Half the distance to town Yager, who had sunk down limp and helpless, with half his body hanging over the side of the buggy, tumbled out into the road. The bushwhackers passed him and kept straight on after Sharp. The frantic horse, which Sharp in his wounded condition was unable to control, entered Martinsburg at full speed. It dashed the buggy against the corner of the railroad cattle pen, throwing Sharp out and shivering the vehicle to atoms. Then it sprang off and was not caught until the next day. |

The bushwhackers stopped and took up Sharp's body and put it on a horse, and some say tied the legs under the animal's belly. Some ladies saw Yager fall, and running out they helped him up and bore him, all dusty and bloody as he was, into the house of Mrs. John Coyle, and began ministering to him as best they could. They sought first to stop the flow of blood, and as the arm was so shockingly mangled and dangling by a mere shred of flesh and cloth, Mrs. Coyle nerved herself to the extent that she offered to cut it off with a large pair of shears. The wounded officer consented, and the operation was about to be performed by the heroic lady when Cobb and some of his men rode up, and, entering the house, inquired for '* that d d Dutchman,'' and rudely and brutally tore him from the ladies' arms and put him upon a horse and bore him away. It was all he could do to sit onhis horse, and a bushwhacker rode beside him and kept him from falling.

In 1864 E. R. Brown, then a Confederate soldier, and recently county collector, and always a reputable, reliable gentleman, met Alvin Cobb in the Indian Territory. Asked to give the particulars of his disposition of Sharp and Yager, Cobb stated that he put them on horses, bore them north of Martinsburg some distance into Audrain county, and then he and his men dismounted and helped the prisoners to the ground. Cobb said he now told them they must die, and asked them if they wished to pray. Yager made no answer, but Sharp kneeled down and prayed God to bless and protect his wife and children, to forgive his sins, and to grant that the armies of the Union might be successful, and the Union itself preserved to his posterity forever. Ben Sharp died as he had lived, brave as a lion, devoted to the Union cause, and kneeling and praying to God alone. The prayer finished, Cobb says both men were shot kneeling; then they were taken off and buried.

the Unienists, and a thrill of horror ran through the entire county. Search was at once begun for their bodies, for it was well known that they must be dead. The soldiers came down from Mexico and joined with the citizens in scouring the woods and prairies. But some of the citizens of secession proclivities were afraid the soldiers would kill

The citizens thought the men had been taken off north into Audrain, and then the party had gone west and then turned south into Montgomery country, through the settlement on Loutre, formerly called ' «© Cobbtown,'' where the Cobbs lived. A trail was found and some blood. Col. Fulkerson asked Frank Cobb's wife where her husband was. She said that the.day of the shooting he started off south,. and the next day he came in from the north, stopped and gave her his coat to mend and went on south. In the pocket of her husband's coat she found some of Sharp's papers, one of which her husband told her was Sharp's commission, and cautioned her not to lose it as it was valuable. This was probably merely Sharp's authority from Harding to raise a ~ regiment. By some persons unknown some papers of Col. Sharp's | were afterward sent his widow in an envelope post-marked Columbia.

At last the bodies were found, far up in Audrain county, east of Mexico. Where a '' draw'' in a prairie terminated in a slough or gully there was a water-fall, and under the shelving bank over which | the water poured when it rained, there was a bench or shelf made by the action of the water. Into this receptacle the bodies of Sharp and Yager had been thrust, all gory and ghastly and mangled. Sharp's duster had been wrapped about his face, and Yager's hat pulled down over his head. A farmer found them, attracted by the smell. It was twelve days after they were shot, and they were badly decomposed 4 and in a shocking condition. 4

The farmer conti ve to haul the bodies to Martiwanae and put 4 them in the depot. Coffins were procured in Montgomery City, and - James L. Pegram went up and put the bodies in. The body of Lieut. - Yager was sent to St. Louis to his wife, who had telegraphed for it. The remains of Col. Sharp were taken first to Montgomery, and from - 4 thence escorted to Danville by Capt. McNulta's company of the First - Illinois cavalry, who buried the body with the honors of war in the - cemetery a mile west of Danville. Not long afterwards the Masonic 4

A few days after the murder of Sharp and Yager, Col. Morgan L. Smith arrested John Coyle and his wife, at whose house in Martinsburg the body of Lieut. Yager had been taken, and conveyed them on the cars to Wellsville. Poor Mrs. Coyle, who had done what she could for the wounded lieutenant, stifling and suppressing the natural feminine instincts of fear, and following those of her gentle and sympathizing nature, was arrested without explanation. She was badly frightened, and could not imagine why she was treated so. She feared some vengeance was to be taken on her and her husband because she had taken Lieut. Yager to her house, even though she had striven to save his life. But at Wellsville Col. Smith examined her and her husband separately, and then she learned that what the Federal officer wanted was to find out if she knew who the murderers of Sharp and Yager were. Mrs. Coyle is now a widow, and resides in Mexico.

Melter's company followed up the railroad to Wellsville, and there took the road on which Sharp and Yager were gone, following the buggy tracks. They were a mile or more in the rear. Over in the Whetstone country they came upon Bryan's company and other fugitives from the Fulton fight. In a small valley a brief skirmish resulted. The secessionists made a demonstration from the brush, and there was an interchange of shots, when both parties retreated. The Federals had one man wounded, and lost three horses. The secessionists had a man seriously wounded, another slightly hurt, one horse killed and two others lost, which were afterwards recovered, as were the horses of the Federals. Both parties were badly frightened. The '' rebels'' retreated into the Whetstone hills, and the German Federals scampered back to Wellsville.

From Wellsville the Germans marched up toward Mexico, and were met in the prairie below Martinsburg by the zouaves of Morgan L. Smith's command. July 21st Melter's company returned to St. Louis. (See Adj. Gen. Rep. for 1863, p. 72; do., 1865, p. 68).

The murder of Sharp and Yager by the secession partisans of Alvin Cobb roused the soldiers in this quarter, or at least the Germans among them.. The Union citizens of the county were greatly indig-

-1 Col. Sharp's widow died in October, 1884, and was buried at Montgomery City, and the writer is informed that it is.contemplated to remove the remains of Col. Sharp from Danville and place them beside hers.

nant and called for retaliation. Nearly everybody denounced the act in unmeasured terms. It was reported that Granville Nunnelly, a hotel proprietor in Danville, had said that, '* as for the Dutchman he ought to have been killed, and as for Ben Sharp, if he had stayed at home and minded his own business he wouldn't have been hurt." Mr. Nunnelly was an ardent secessionist, though he had never taken up arms.

prisoners of Robert P. Terrill and Granville Nunnelly, and some young men who had been in the Fulton fight. This officer is remembered to have been Capt. Dennis T. Kirby, an ex-police officer of St. Louis, who afterwards became lieutenant-colonel of. his regiment.

Late at night the company marched on foot, with Esq. David Bruner, of Montgomery City, as guide. The road from Montgomery to Danville then was not the one now in use. The old road went more in a southerly direction and intersected the Boone's Lick road, a mile or so east of Danville. The company reached Danville after a somewhat toilsome tramp, which Capt. Kirby considered an unnecessary long one, and once warned Esq. Bruner that if he was guiding them out of their way he '' had better not."

A negro pointed out where Robert P. Terrill lived, and that gentleman was taken from his bed and hurried into the street. Granville Nunnelly was arrested, and as he was somewhat fleshy and not well able to walk he was allowed to ride in his carriage, and.Terrill was permitted to ride with him. Duncan Hughes and two or three other young men were taken along. Hughes had been in the Fulton fight. Capt. Kirby now started back to Montgomery. A mile from town he released one or two of his prisoners. f

'* Ready - aim - fire/'' called out the captain. At the word '< fire,''? Terrill and Nunnelly fell back and were dead in a few seconds. At the word ''aim,'' Hughes and his companion sprang away into the murky dawn, determined to escape if it were possible. Fortunately they succeeded and both are alive at this day. But they did not escape unscathed. Duncan Hughes received a fearful wound from a minie ballin his shoulder, and fifty shots were fired at the fugitives.

Hughes made his way to the timber and ran south-east a mile or more to the residence of Robert Nelson, where he made his appearance covered with blood and greatly agitated. Nelson refused him shelter, fearing the vengeance of the Federals, and Hughes was compelled to go on to his friends at Danville.

When the sun rose he shone upon two ghastly, bloody corpses lying out upon the green sward there by Montgomery town. The war had begun, and Montgomery county was already feeling its effects. Two of its prominent citizens had been slain in retaliation for another murder with which they had no sort of participation or connection, and which they would doubtless have prevented if they could. Certain Union citizens of Danville came and hauled away the bodies, and they were given careful sepulture.

Robert P. Terrill was a lawyer of Danville, anda man of more than ordinary ability. He was a secessionist almost from the beginning, and had made secession speeches in different parts of the county, and it was said had been in the Fulton fight with other Montgomery men. He was of high character and generally respected. His widow is now the accomplished wife of Col. L. A. Thompson, who was a gallant Union officer, and the present editor of The Ray newspaper, the organ of the Republicans of the county. Granville Nunnelly was a man of middle age, and left a considerable family.

Murder Of Granville Bishop

But the vengeance of the Federals did not stop with the killing of Terrill and Nunnelly. It sought and found another victim. Granville Bishop, who lived five miles west of Montgomery City, just across Loutre, was a secessionist. He came into Montgomery and got intoxicated, and when in* that condition gave utterance to some out of their way. They were forced to content themselves with burning his house, and with uttering terrible threats against him. In some respects Alvin Cobb was a remarkable character. His relatives were old settlers in the western part of the county, where he lived. He was a man of about middle age when the war began. He had but one arm, the other having been shot off accidentally. Upon the outbreak of the war he raised a band of desperate fellows like himself, and from the start pursued a guerrilla warfare. It is not believed that he ever held a commission. He was in many small fights in skirmishes in this part of the State - Mt. Zion, Fulton, Moore's Mill, and in one or two others in 1862 with Col. Joe Porter. His wife joined him when he was in the Indian Territory, and also abandoned him there and returned home, riding an Indian pony all the way. Cobb himself is now in California. .

Military Operations

Railroad torn up and obstructed by State forces. Mails can not be transported. Track torn up behind the United States troops. Some fighting between these and State forces. I have ordered Gen. Pope

Gen. Pope at once repaired to his field and was at St. Louis the evening of the 18th, at St. Charles on the 19th, and on the 20th issued the following proclamation or 'notice'? to the people along the line of the North Missouri : -

Headquarters District Of North America, 8T. Charles

An investigation of the circumstances attending the difficulties along the line of the North Missouri Railroad, and the wanton destruction of bridges, culverts, etc., make it manifest that the inhabitants of the villages and stations along the road, if not privy: to these outrages, at least offered no resistance to them, and gave no information by which they could have been premeuiads or merited punishment inflicted upon the criminals.

I desire the people of this section of the State to understand distinctly that their safety and the security of their property will depend upon themselves, and are directly and inseparably connected with the security of the lines of public communication.

It is very certain that the people living along the line of the North Missouri Railroad can very easily protect it from destruction, and it is my purpose to give them strong inducements to doso. I therefore notify the inhabitants of the towns, villages, and stations along the line of this road that they will be held accountable for the destruction of any bridges, culverts or portions of the railroad track within five miles on each side of them. If any outrages of this kind are committed within the distance specified, without conclusive proof of active resistance on the part of the population, and without immediate information to the nearest commanding officer, giving names and details, the settlement will be held responsible, and a levy of money or property sufficient to cover the whole damage done, will be at once made and collected.

There seems to be no method of enlisting the active agency of the citizens along the line of this road for the protection of a public work in all respects so beneficial to them, except my making it their very evident personal interest to do so, and I desire them to understand that they will be compelled to pay in full, of property or money, for any damage done in their vicinity. It has been impossible heretofore even to ascertain the names of the criminals engaged in this kind of work, although they were well known to every body in the neighborhood. If people who claim to be good citizens choose to indulge their neighbors and acquaintances in committing these wanton acts, and to shield them from punishment, they will hereafter be compelled to pay for it; or, if they disapprove, their objections must take more tangible form than mere words. It is not to be expected that the General Government will occupy a large force merely to protect from the people of this part of the State a work built for their own benefit, or to defend from outrages and hostility communities which encourage violation of all law by ¢ giving no imformation and by offering, no sort of resistance. I therefore expect all law-abiding citizens at once to take mesures to secure the safety of the North Missouri Railroad in their vicinity, and I notifiy all others that upon the safety of the road depends the security of their own property and person.

To carry out the intentions set forth above, divisions and subdivisions of the road will be madeas soon as practicable from these headquarters, and superintendents and assistant superintendents appointed by name, without regard to political opinions, who will be held responsible for the safety of the railroad track within their specitied limits. They will have authority to call on all persons living within these limits to appear insuch numbers and at such timesand places as they may deem necessary to secure the object in view. I expect all good citizens who value peace and the safety of their families and property to respond cheerfully to this arrangement, and to assume to themselves the care and protection of their own section.

JNo. Porn, Brig.-Gen. U. S. Army, Commanding North Missouri. Hight days later Pope issued the following order, appointing the military superintendents of the road, as follows : -

I. By virtue of instructions received from Maj.-Gen. Fremont, U.S. Army, the undersigned assumes the command of all the forces in North Missouri.

IJ. Brig.-Gen. S. A. Hurlbut is assigned to the command of the forces along the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, from Quincy and Hannibal to St. Joseph. Headquarters at Macon City.

matters pertaining to his jurisdiction, and will be vigilant and prompt in suppressing all combinations against the authority of the United States or the peace of the country.

No arrests will be made for opinion's sake, unless the parties are engaged.in open acts of hostility, or are stimul: ating others to such acts by inflammatory words or publications.

It is the mission of the forces under my command in North Missouri to restore peace and safety to a region distracted with civil commotion, and to bring to punishment the infamous assassins and incendiaries who have been infesting the country.

All the forces in North Missouri, therefore, are cautioned ayainst excesses of any kind, and especially against any depredations upon the persons or property of any citizen of Missouri.

Discipline and good order are essential to the efficiency and good repute of any military force, and they will be exacted from the forces under my command with all the power vested in me. The honor and reputation of their States depend upon the good conduct of the troops they have sent into the field, and I expect all commanding officers to notice, with the greatest severity possible under the articles of war, all infractions of military discipline and of good order.

The commanding general in North Missouri, being about to assemble in one camp, away from the railroad lines, all of the forces under his command, hast determined to commit to the people of North Misseurl the peace and quietude of their own section, and with these the safety of their property. Certainly the people of the various counties have to-day the same machinery of government and the same power of self-protection against lawless marauders as they had a year ago, and it only needs the same active agency and the same common interests to bring together for such purposes all those who have anything at stake. It is demonstrated by sufficient testimony,

'and by experience of the past two weeks, that the disturbances in Northern Missouri have been by small parties of lawless marauders, which at any other time could have been easily suppressed with no more. than the usual exertions of the people against breaches of peace in times past.

zens of every shade of political opinion. When these desirable results are secured, there will no longer be a necessity for the presence of armed forces in North Missouri. It is therefore the purpose of the general commanding in this region of the country, before removing the military forces under his command from theirs present stations, to visit with a considerable force every county seat and considerable town in North Missouri, and in each to appoint a committee of public safety, of persons selected from those of all parties who have social, domestic and pecuniary interests at stake. Hach committee shall consist of not more than five persons, and wherever it can considerately be done, the proper county officers shall be selected as members. No one thus appointed shall be permitted to decline, or shall fail to perform his duties, under such penalties as the commanding general shall affix. These committees shall be charged with the duty of maintaining peace and order in their respective counties, and shall have power to call out all citizens of the county to assemble at such times and places, and in such numbers as may be necessary to secure these objects. Any one who shall refuse to Se such call will be turned over to the military authorities.?

If the people of the counties respectively are not willing or able to enforce the peace among themselves, and to prevent the organizing of companies to make war upon the United States, the military force will perform the service, but the expenses must be paid by the county in which such service is neéessary. 'To secure their prompt payment, a levy of a sufficient amount of money will be at once made and collected by the officer in command. ' Upon the call of a majority of the committee of public safety in each county, troops will be sent to keep the peace, but as such expeditions are for the benefit of the people concerned, who have in nearly every case the power to discharge the service themselves, the troops thus sent will be quartered upon them, and subsisted and transported by the county in the manner above specified for the whole period it may be necessary for them to remain.

If in consequence of disturbance not reported by committee, the general commanding finds it necessary to send a force into the county - fo restore order, they will be in like manner billeted upon the county,' unless the combinations against the peace were too powerful to be resisted, or the parties engaged were organized in other counties, and brought on the disturbances by actual invasion. It is not believed that the first case can arise in any county of North Missouri, and, in

1 In a subsequent order, appendatory to the foregoing, Gen. Pope said to his subordinates, in regard to the appointing of committees: 'In selecting members - for the committee of public safety you are directed to appoint, be sure to put upon it at least two, or, even better still, three of the most prominent secessionists. It is the service of the secessionists I especially require, and I desire that you will give them plainly to understand that unless peace is preserved, their property will be immediately levied upon, and their contributions colleeted at once in any kind of property at hand.'' the second, the forces will be marched into the county or counties where the marauding parties were organized, or whence they made the invasion, and will in like manner be quartered uponthem. Where peace and good order are preserved, the troops will not be required ; where they are disturbed they will be restored at the expense of the county. To preserve the peace is the duty of all good citizens, and as all will suffer alike from the breach of it, men of every shade of political opinion can act cordially together in the discharge of a duty as full of interest to one as to another. By performing this simple service as in times past, and which it is certainly as much their interest and their duty to discharge to-day, the people of this section of the country will be spared the anxiety, uneasiness and apprehension which necessarily attend the presence of armed forces in their midst, and will again enjoy that security of person and property which has hitherto been their privilege.

All persons who have heretofore been led away to take up arms against the United States are notified that by returning and laying down their arms at the nearest military post, and by performing their duty hereafter as peaceful and law-abiding citizens, they will not be molested by the military forces, nor, so far as the general commanding can influence the matter, will they be subjected to punishment unless they have committed murder or some other aggravated offense. By order of JOHN PorE,

These orders were at first directed against the people along the line of the North Missouri Railroad, running from St. Louis to Hudson or Macon City, but they were subsequently made to apply to the Hannibal and St. Joseph district by a supplementary order from Gen. Pope.

To carry out the provisions of '¢ General Orders No. 3,'' Gen. Pope issued the following order at Mexico for the movement of certain detachments of his troops into this region : -

ORDERS, HeapquartTers District oF NortH Missouri, 'No. 3. ' Mexico, August 2, 1861. ' In accordance with special (general) orders, No. 3, of July 31, 1861, the following movements of troops will immediately be made : - * * * * , * * * * * * * * * Captain McNulta, with one company of cavalry, upon Bowling Green and Danville, and Captain Peck, Twenty-first Illinois volunteers, upon Troy and Warrenton. ae * * * * * * * * * * * * The commanding officers, respectively, will carefully examine the instructions contained in special (general) orders, No. 3, herewith

They will assemble at each county seat here specified the most respectable citizens of the town and neighborhood, and will read and éarefully explain to them the provisions and requirements of the special order.

They will then select from the number at least five of the most responsible persons, taken from all political parties, and appoint them a committee of public safety, charged wis preserving the peace in their respective counties.

When it can be done consistently with the special order, the existent county officers, or such number of them as may be judicious, will be placed upon these committees. The names of the members of the committee thus selected will be announced to the people by the commanding officers, both at the court-house and on the return march to this place.

All citizens will be warned that the troops stand ready to eines promptly and vigorously every provision of general orders, No. 3, and will be expected, for their safety and good name, and for the peace of their counties, to preserve quiet among themselves.

At the termination of these services the troops will rejoin their original posts, except Capt. McNulta, who will repair to this place with his company by the most direct route from Bowling Green.

Speed Butler

Danville.1 The men were dressed in red shirts as a part of their uniform, and were seemingly gallant fellows. Less than two months later they were taken prisoners under Mulligan, at Lexington, and paroled not to serve again during the war.

Capt. John C. Kelton: I have the honor to report, for the infermation of the general commanding the department, that by a simultaneous movement I shall to-night or to-morrow morning occupy in force the county seats of the nineteen counties lying east of the North Missouri Railroad and its pre ne continuation north to the Iowa

1 If they came August 3, Col. Sharp's body could not have been found for fourteen days after the niurder, but it is the general statement that only eleven or twelve days elapsed.

Capt. McNulta, with 100 cavalry, upon Bowling Green, the county seat of Pike county, from Montgomery City, on the line of North Missouri road. Capt. Peck, Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, with 300 infantry, from Warrenton, on this road, marched yesterday, and occupies to-day Troy, the county seat of Lincoln. Five companies of infantry, under Maj. Goddard, occupy Fulton, the county seat

In the latter part of August Gen. Price broke up his camp at Springfield and moved nerthward toward Lexington, on the Missouri river, his main object being to secure to himself the large forces of State Guards known to be in North Missouri. When at the Osage river he sent forward a special messenger to Gen. Tom Harris, the commander of the State Guards for this district. Green's command at once prepared to set out to join the advancing army, from which so much was expected. - Word was sent to all the other commands, companies, battalions and platoons in this part of the State to repair at once to the Missouri river, at either Glasgow, Brunswick or Arrow Rock, and cross to the south side.

The secessionists in this county repaired to the Western part of the county and into Callaway to join companies making up there. About 25 Montgomery county men joined Capt. Austin Rogers' company, and about 30 men joined Capt. Law's company, both of Callaway, and both belonging at first to Maj. Milton's battalion, Gen. Harris' division of the Missouri State Guard. In Capt. Law's company were some Germans from the southern part of the county, although the Germans as a rule were Union men.

_Capts. Rogers and Laws were at the capture of Lexington, and Milton's battalion was highly spoken of by Gen. Harris for its conduct. Some of the Montgomery men were at the second Boonville fight, under Col. Brown, who was killed in that engagement.

When the Missouri State Guard entered the Confederate service in 'the winter of 1861-62 the majority of the men from this county were members of Col: Elijah Gates' regiment. They were at Pea Ridge, and afterward crossed the Mississippi and served east of the river to the close of the war. Henry De Koty and James Nowlin were killed at the battle of Corinth. Lieut. Tannehill, John Ooley, Henry Porter and Joseph Porter were killed at Champion's Hill.

Miscellaneous War Items During The Year 1861

About the 1st of August Daniel Bryan, John Bryan, the merchants of Montgomery City, and John W. Powell, a prominent citizen of the county, started for Gen. Price's army, then in south-west Missouri confronting Gen. Lyon. About the 8th of August, near Lamar, Barton county, they were killed by a party of Col. Montgomery's Kansas jayhawkers, whom they encountered in the prairie. It is believed they were shot after they surrendered. Their bodies were buried where they fell. The jayhawkers carried off their horses. It is reported that Judge Nathan Bray, of Springfield, was present when these men were shot.

About the last of October a considerable body of secessionists assembled in Callaway county, north of Fulton. Col. John B. Henderson, with 1,200 Pike county Home Guards (six months' militia), marched across the country to attack Jones. But at Wellsville Henderson halted, and here messages passed between him and Col. Jeff. Jones, under flag of truce, and at last Jones agreed to disband and disperse the Callaway men, they to -be exempt from arrest or punishment of any kind. Col. Arnold Krekel, with some of the St. Charles militia, was also at Wellsville to co-operate with Henderson. Col. Chester Harding, with the Tenth Missouri and Eighty-first Ohio, and two pieces of artillery from Hermann, reached Fulton, on his way to Jones' camp, when he was informed of the dispersion of the secessionists, and returned to Hermann.?

1 Relative to this affair, the particulars of which have never before been published, Gen. Henderson, now in St. Louis, states that he was stationed at Louisiana, and hearing of some disturbances. caused by secessionists in Montgomery and Callaway, he concluded to march over and suppress them; that with about 1,200 men he: arrived at Wellsville, where, pursuant to orders, Col. Krekel joined him with 500 men from St. Charles; that here Jeff. Jones sent a note informing Henderson that his approach with his armed men had alarmed the farmers of Callaway, and that they had. assembled for mutual protection against the reported outrages that they - the Unionists - designed perpetrating on them. .Henderson returned an answer te Jones' messengers, denying that his men had committed or proposed te commit any outrages, and notified Col. Jones that ''the farmers'' must disband immediately or he would attack them as enemies of the government. Jones disclaimed any authority, civil or military, over the Callaway men, but merely acted as their mouthpiece in addressing Gen. Henderson, and of course received his reply. This reply Jones read to the multitude, thereupon they disbanded. Gen. Henderson says this is all the

In the fall of the year a band of 15 Confederate partisans or bushwhackers, whose leader was said to be Ike Cobb, made a raid on and robbed the store of Hugo Monnig, a German Unionist, living on the road from Danville to Rhineland, half a mile from the bottom.

Missouri'S Secession

On the 26th of October, '' Claib. Jackson's Legislature,'' as it was called, met in the Masonic Hall at Neosho, and on the 28th an ordinance of secession was passed by both houses. In the Senate the only vote against it was cast by Charles H. Hardin, afterwards Governor of the State, and in the House the only member voting '* no "' was Mr. Shambaugh, of De Kalb. The secession ordinance and the act of annexation to the Southern Confederacy were approved by the Confederate Congress at Richmond! and recognized by that portion of the people of Missouri who were in favor of cutting loose from the Union. And so those Missourians then and afterwards in arms against the Federal flag became entitled to the name of Confederates, and will thus be denominated in future pages of this history, instead of being called «* State Guards,'' '* secesssonists,'' '' Southern troops,"' etc., as they have hitherto been spoken of.

It was probably in October of this year that a Union man named McGlatchey, who lived in the south-western part of the county, near Bluffton, was taken from his house one night by a band of secessionists and thrown into the Missouri river and drowned. McGlatchey was about the only reliable Union man in the neighborhood, and his neighbors looked upon him asa spy and a man dangerous to them.

Upon one occasion, when a band of Cobb's or Ramsey's men were on their way to lynch the notorious '' Capt.'' Page, McGlatchey recognized some of them and got them into trouble over the matter. His presence in the community was a source of uneasiness and annoyance, and it was resolved to ''remove'"' him. The '' removal'? was accomplished in the manner above described.

A convention held at Richmond, Oct. 31, between Thos. L. Snead and E. C. Cabell, on the part of the Jackson government of Missouri, and R. M. T. Hunter, on the part of the Confederate States, agreed upon the admission of Missouri into the Seuthern Confederacy,.and it was really this agreement which was ratified by the

The Raid On The Railroads

In the latter part of December, 1861, pursuant to the instructions of Gen. Price, a number of bridges on the North Missouri and the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroads were burned by bands of Confederates, who, for the most part, were from the vicinity where the injuries were inflicted, but were usually led and their moyments directed by a leader from Price's army, then down in South-west Missouri.

On Friday night, December 20, many miles of track on the North Missouri were destroyed through Boone, Audrain and Montgomery. There was a general uprising of the adherents of the Confederate cause throughout these counties. (Since the passage of the ordinance of secession by Gov. Jackson's Legislature of Neosho, October 28, the secesssionists claimed that Missouri was one of the Confedérate States). The bridges and depots were also burned wherever practicable.

The most serious damages to the North Missouri in this county were inflicted at Wellsville and High Hill. Near the latter place a company of Confederate recruits, under Capt. Lycurgus James, assembled and silently and stealthily''swarmed upon the track, tearing up the rails and throwing them over the embankments, and cutting the culverts and bridges.

The railroad bridge over the wagon road west of Warrenton was burned. Other bridges and culverts at different points were either wholly or partially destroyed. A few freight cars were given to the

In Callaway county a considerable force assembled at Mr. Lail's, in the western part of the county, under Capt. Bill Meyers, of Lincoln county, and Alvin Cobb, and moved upon the road at Wellsville. Here the depot and some cars were burned, a barrel of whisky tapped, and then the raiders prepared to enjoy themselves! The store of the Kempinski Brothers, Unionists, was entered and such - goods taken as pleased the fancy of. the rebel '' boys.'? The amount - taken has always been a matter of controversy. The Kempinskis - claim that they lost above $5,000 worth, while the raiders assert. that - not more than $500 worth were taken. These were hauled away in wagons brought for the purpose, and ''pressed'' by Capt. Myers from Mr. Lail.t

Then portions of the road above and below the village were torn up, and Capt. Myers himself, with some of his men, galloped down to Montgomery City to burn the depot there. But Tom Stevens, the depot agent, prevailed on Myers not to burn the building or destroy any property, and the raiders rode away without striking a match. They took one or two Union men -prisoners, but released them when they left. The force at Wellsville moved back into Callaway under Cobb, followed and perhaps joined by Capt. Myers. Ina few days Myers and Cobb, with their companies, joined Col. Caleb Dorsey's command and were in the fight and rout at Mt. Zion Church, where Myers was wounded in the side.

Sunday morning, December 22d, a company of men, numbering perhaps 50, from the vicinity of High Hill left the county for the Confederate army, then stationed at Springfield. Its officers were captain, Lycurgus James; first heutenant, John H. Smith; second lieutenant, William Badger. The company was designed to serve as infantry.

At High Hill the company assembled and repaired to the church, where the preacher, Rev. George Smith of the M. E. Church South, prayed for a blessing on them, and that the cause they served might triumph. A few days later they joined the forces of Col. Caleb Dorsey and participated in the fight at Mount Zion Church.

The Mount Zion fight, to which reference has been made in these pages, came off December 28, 1861, at Mount Zion Church, in the eastern edge of Boone county, and was between five companies of the Third Missouri cavalry, Col. John M. Glover, five companies of Birge's sharpshooters, all under command of Gen. Ben M. Prentiss, and a Confederate force of about 500 recruits under Col. Caleb Dorsey, of Pike county, Lieut.-Col. Coleman Kent, of Warren, and Maj. 'Thomas Breckinridge, also of Warren. To Dorsey's command belonged 'Capt. Lycurgus James' company, Jo Payne's company, Alvin Cobb's and Bill Myers' company, in all of which were Ponte ony county men.

_ 1 After cc war A. Kempinski brought suit against Mr. Lail for $10,000, double the value of the goods alleged to have been taken. After a protracted fight in the courts. Mr. Kempinski was defeated. ;

As the Confederates were poorly armed, and were new recruits, and as the Federals were well armed and had the advantage of being well | drilled and disciplined, the Confederates were defeated and driven in confusion from the field. Ten or wu dozen were killed on each side ; the Federals had 40 wounded; the Contederates about the same number. Among the Montgomery county wounded who were left on the field were A. J. Parsons, in the left thigh, and J. E. McConnell, in the right thigh. Maj. Breckinridge and Capt. Myers were wounded.

As soon as the news of the assault on the North Missouri Railroad reached St. Louis the Federal commander at St. Louis, Gen. Halleck, ordered troops into this county as soon as possible. . The Tenth Missouri, Col. Todd, and the Eighty-first Ohio, Col. Morton, both infantry regiments, were lyingat Hermann. These two regiments crossed the river and landed on Loutre Island on the 23d. The next day they ~ marched to High Hill, and from thence on to Danville, which they reached on Christmas day. Alvin Cobb and his company left town just before the Federal advance entered.

Horses were pressed from the country and about 50 men mounted - to serve as advance guard, as the infantry force could do but little in attempting to overtake a mounted force at that season of the year. The next morning a slight skirmish occurred between the mounted Federals and some of Cobb's men at the edge of the timber a mile or more west of Danville. The rebels retreated. That day a wounded man of the Tenth Missouri, named Donaldson, accidently shot and killed a

The two Federal regiments were re-enforced. by a company or two of Hubbard's battalion of the First Missouri cavalry and pushed on into" Callaway, passing through Williamsburg and Concord and on nearly to Mount Zion, in the effort to come up with Dorsey and the other - Confederates under him. They did not participate in the Mount - Zion fight, however, and the next day turned about and marched to Mexico via Concord. ' :

The Eighty-first Ohio was stationed at Danville, and the Tenth Missouri sent at first down to Warrenton. In February the Tenth E Missouri was sent up to High Hill, where it remained until eee | when it was sent South. . The Eighty- -first Ohio was stationed - the county for nearly a similar period.

Events Of The Years 1862, 1863 And 1864

Organization of the Missouri State Militia, Co. C, Ninth M.S. M. - A Company for the Union Army - Taking the Oath - Organization of the Enrolled Missouri Militia - Sixty-Seventh Regiment E. M. M. - Miscellaneous - Killing of Joe Cole - 1863 - Raid on Rhineland - November Election, 1863 - Troops in the Federal Service - 1864 - Miscellaneous - Killing of Col. Brewer and His Son and of Fridley and His Son by the Federals - Two More Companies for the Union Army - During the Invasion of Gen. Price.

The year 1862 opened with Montgomery county under complete control of the Federal military authority. By the last of February the Tenth Missouri and Ejighty-first Ohio regiments occupied the county, the former at High Hill, the latter at Danville, with one company at Montgomery City. There were no 'rebels'' in the county, and just why these soldiers were quartered among the people is not at all clear. |

About the 7th of November, 1861, Gov. Gamble received authority from the War Department at Washington for the organization of the Missouri State Militia, the members of which, when engaged in active service, were to be armed, clothed, subsisted, transported and paid by the United States, and to co-operate with the United States forces in the repression of invasion into Missouri and the suppression of rebellion therein. The militia was not to be ordered out of the State of Missouri, '' except for the immediate defense of said State."'

In Montgomery county, under the protection, as was claimed, of the Eighty-first Ohio, recruiting was begun for a company for this service. In the latter part of February it was about completed and ready for active service. It was attached to the Ninth Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, Col. Odon Guitar, and became Co. C, of that regiment.

A portion of another company of the Ninth M. S. M. was raised in this county, and a Montgomery county man, Benjamin Sharp, was made captain, The lieutenants were from Fulton.

The recruiting of Co. C was begun in November, 1861, but. the organization was not perfected until February, 1862. It remained in Danville with the Eighty-first until the last of March, 1862, under command of Lieut. McFarlane. It was stationed at Danville after (633) the Eighty-first Ohio left until the 10th of May when it was ordered 'to Columbia under Lieut. McFarlane. When organized and mustered in Co. C had about 80 men, every man, so far as is now known, being a citizen of Montgomery county.

""Co. C'' was known as the ''abolition company,'' because nearly all of its members came to be Abolitionists. In December, 1863, the company was broken up, and the officers transferred to the ~ Twelfth Missouri cavalry.

A Company For The Union Army

In the fall of the year 1861 the organization of a company for the Federal military service was begun at Montgomery City. The organization was not perfected until in February, 1862, when the officers were commissioned and the company went to Macon City, joining what was then known as the Twenty-second Missouri volunteers, Col. - John D. Foster commanding. It served in North Missouri until ' April 21,{when Col. Foster's regiment, not having but six companies, was broken up and the companies distributed among other Missouri regiments. While at Montgomery City the company was quartered for a time in the college building.

The Montgomery county company, which had been Co. F in the Twenty-second, became Co. E, of the Twenty-fourth Missouri volunteers, Col. S. H. Boyd. It was never, however, sent to its own regiment, but was attached during its term of service to the Tenth Missouri infantry. It served in the armies of the West, under Gens. Pope, a Grant, Rosecrans and Sherman, and was in the battles of. Iuka, Cor- - inth,*Raymond, Jackson, Champion's Hill, and the siege of Vicksburg, Miss., and Missionary Ridge, Tenn. At Corinth and Champion's Hill, as well as at Vicksburg, the men fought directly against the Confed- - erates of.Gen. Martin E. Green's brigade, or division, many of whom - : were their old neighbors in this county. e

One engagement in which this company took part is deserving of mention. On the night of October 12, 1864, after the main part of the - Tenth Missouri regiment had gone home, and during the period when | 4 Gen. Hood had gained the rear of Gen. Sherman and was marching - on Tennessee, Capt: W. B. White, with his company, H, of ther . Tenth, and the Montgomery county company, under Lieut. Driscoll - Capt. McCammon being on staff duty - had a desperate engagement with an entire brigade of Hood's army, at a point on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, four miles north of Resaca, Georgia.

Capt. White, with his two companies of about fifty men each, had been detailed to guard a camp of timber cutters and bridge carpenters. Hearing of the approach of the Confederates he threw up a little fort out of the timbers, and at nine o'clock in the night was attacked. He repulsed first a battalion, then a regiment, then two regiments, and then held an entire brigade (Sears') of French's division of Stewart's corps at bay until three o'clock in the morning, when, every cartridge having been exhausted, and Capt. White very desperately wounded, Lieut. Driscoll, of Co. E, Twenty-fourth Missouri, the only other officer present, surrendered.

In this action two of the Montgomery county men were killed and Capt. White and another man wounded. Owing to their defended position, the loss of .the Federals was inferior to that of the Confederates. The latter had seventeen men killed and a proportionate number wounded. The Federal prisoners spent several months in Andersonville and other prisons, and with a few exceptions were not released until the war was about over.

Taking The Oath

After the raids on the railroads in North Missouri the Federal authorities resolved to place those of Confederate sympathies not only under oath, but under bond for their '*¢ good behavior.'' In. February Gen. Halleck issued a circular order to that effect, and to carry out this order provost marshals were appointed, who nétified the people that they had better come forward and take the oath, and soon they came pouring in, hundreds in number, to '* take their medicine,' which many of them did as if it were medicine, with many wry faces, and much squirming and contorting.

On July 22, 1862, Gov. Gamble issued an order, known as Special Order No. 101, organizing the entire militia of the State into companies, regiments and brigades, and to order into active service such portions of the force thus organized as might be necessary for the purpose of putting down all marauders and defending the peaceable citizens of the State.

guerrillas that infest the State.'' The militia were further directed to assemble at any post with whatever arms they had, and a good horse each, if they had one, elect officers and be sworn into service accord- portion of the time as the commanding officer of the district might - direct, and while in service were to be paid as volunteers. In Montgomery county the militia belonged to the Sixty-seventh

Miscellaneous

At the time of Jo. Porter's raid, in July and August, 1862, the ~ enrolled militia of this county did some service in Callaway county, scouting about trying to intercept the Confederates. 1

In the fight between Porter and Guitar, at Moore's Mills, July 28, Alvin Cobb and his company were present under Porter. Cobb had joined Porter some days previously, but left him soon after the Moore's Mill fight. ;

It was some time in the summer of this year that '' Capt.'' Page, the noted Federal scout and spy, was captured by a party of bushwhackers - said to have been Cobb's men - on the road between Mexico and Concord, and hung. '* Capt.'' Page lived in the vicinity of Bluffton. His was a life of daring and adventure. He belonged to Gen. Fremont's exploring expedition that crossed the continent in 1842-46, and experienced so many hardships and vicissitudes. When the Civil War broke out he was a Unionist, and early attached himself to Fremont's army. When Fremont was removed from Missouri, he returned home, and in February, 1862, became a scout for the Tenth Missouri at High Hill. ;

Page had an unsavory reputation and record. He was a great jayhawker, and often, as was charged, led scouting parties to the houses of certain Confederates in order that he might seize upon something: to which he had a fancy. The Federal troops grew to dislike bine . and it was reported, and is yet believed by some persons, that he was. _ ' hung by a'scouting party of the Tenth Missouri State militia.

one of them knew him, and when they searched him they found his dispatches in his boot. They took him out and hung him and left his body dangling in the summer breezes.

Killing Of Joe Cole

trouble in this county, was killed by a party under Lieut. A. Kempinski, of Co. B, Sixty-seventh E. M. M., near Portland, in Callaway county.

Joe Cole was raised in the south-eastern part of Montgomery county, and knew all the country in the southern part of this county and Callaway very well. Early in the war he announced himself a rebel and notified some of the German Unionists of near Rhineland that his principal business during the war would be to ' raise h - ll with the Dutch.'' When Hammer's men came into the county in July, 1861, they took Joe's horse, as a German citizen had informed them of what Joe said. Then Joe went on the war path.

With only half a dozen men the bold bushwhacker raided the Germans at will, went in and out of Bluffton, Portland and Williamsburg when he pleased, and killed two or three citizens and militiamen of this county and Callaway at different times. He made many a Union man sleep in the woods, and rode many a good horse to which he could not show a legal title. Sometimes he would dress himself fantastically, and up and down Lower Loutre and Dry fork and Prairie fork and over on the Auxvasse, he rode whistling and singing, with peacock plumes in his hat, his coat and pantaloons slashed with gaudy gilt braid and his horse's bridle trimmed with tassels and rosettes. He delighted to roam the country in quest of women and whisky and militia - and they cost him his life.

A negro came up to Wellsville and informed Lieut. Kempinski that Joe Cole was in the neighborhood of Portland, reckless and off his guard. Kempinski took seven men, well mounted, and started for the neighborhood immediately. Kempinski was wary and careful. At the house of a Union man above Bluffton, Kempinski secreted himself and six men one day while the seventh, dressed in citizen's clothes, went into Portland, saw Joe Cole, drank with him, talked freely with him, and learned where he would pass the night ; then the militiaman returned in safety with his information.

~Two miles east of Portland, in a story and a half cabin, lived the Widow Hill and her two daughters - the latter fair in form and . feature and light of love. After his season of devotion at the shrine of Bacchus this son of Mars was wont to repair to the court of Venus for such care and solace and delights as only her daughters can bestow. At the Widow Hill's was where Joe Cole meant to pass the night, as he told the spy. Just as the dawn was peering over the river bluffs, Kempinski and his men knocked at the door of the widow's cabin. Joe Cole lay softly, «I don't care.'' Then he heard the angry voices of the mil- 4 itia demanding admission, and a realization of his peril came to him, q and he sprang from his couch and in a few seconds stood clothed and in his right mind and armed cap a pie. |

The widow asked the soldiers what they wanted. '*We want Joe ~ Cole,'' answered the lieutenant. The widow and Delilah and Delilah's sister protested: <'* He is not here! He is not here! Don't come 4 in! For heaven's sake don't come in!'' But the soldiers insisted, and said sternly, '*If you don't open the door, we will burn the house.'? Amid the wailing of the women and the demands of the militiamen came a clear, ringing voice, '' Stand aside!'' The door opened and forth came Joe Cole, a revolver in each hand, blazing away, firing right and left.

No use. A militiaman at the side of the door shot him in. the twinkling of an eye and he fell to the ground. But Cole turned in his dying agony and desire for vengeance and caught another man named Harris by the coat and sought to raise himself so that he could shoot ; but Harris raised his musket and with the butt of it struck the guerrilla a fearful blow on the head crushing in his skull.

The militia administered on Joe Cole's personal estate, and tooke m charge of it. They found two good horses, two large navy revolvers | and a double-barreled shot gun. Citizens came and claimed the whom Joe had '*borrowed'' him one night when everything was still:' and Clark was asleep. Nobody came forward to claim the revolvers and the shot gun. . ey As Kempinski and his seven men were riding back to Wellsville they passed a school-house where a Miss Mosely, of a family of noted Unionists, was teaching. The young school mistress, with her brood of little ones about her, came 'out to ask the 'soldiers where they had been and what was the news. '* We have killed Joe Cole,'" answered - B the lieutenant. Instantly the lady was on her knees, actually return- - a ing thanks and praising God that the '' rebel villain,'' as she called him, was no more. '** He killed- my brother,'' she said, '* and he has threatened my father's life and my other brothers' lives, and for months we have known no peace or safety on his account. O, God! I thank Thee that the bloody dog is dead. And I thank you, gentlemen,'' as she turned to the soldiers, '* that you killed him.'¢ Such were the women in war times.

May 26, 1863, a band of bushwhackers, fifteen in number, among whom were Frank Ramsey, Col. Brewer, and a German named Myers, made a raid on Rhineland, a small hamlet in the southern part of the county. The band came in from the west and as part of them were dressed in Federal blue they were mistaken for militiamen.

Mr. Andrew Rincheval, the founder of Rhineland, kept the only store in the place at the time. His son Louis, a young man, assisted his father in the store. Mr. Rincheval, saw the party approaching, and supposing it to be a militia scouting party, and desiring to gain their good will said to his: son: '« Louis, go down in the asi ae bring up some whisky for those militia.'" While Louis was in the cellar.he heard a commotion above and running up saw his father struggling with two or three bushwhackers, and a moment afterward: saw him shot by Col. Brewer, who was a one-armed man and well known in the country.

It seems that, from the statement of Mrs. Rincheval, the bushwhackers rode up to the door, suddenly dismounted, rushed in and Rincheval seized the leader and threw him to the floor and while holding him in this position, and nearly succeeding in dragging another down, he was shot by Col. Brewer, and killed instantly.

Louis Rincheval, seeing that his father was killed, ran into a back room. His mother closed the door leading into the room and bolted it, and he ran out the back way and dodging through the fields and the high grass and woods in the bottom, he succeeded in reaching the river and passed on down to Hermann. His mother could do nothing but wring her hands and weep and wail.

The bushwhackers made a short visit. Spurning the body of Mr. Rincheval to one side after having rifled his pockets, they took about _ $200 in greenbacks from the money drawer, what fire-arms they could find, and such goods as they could carry, and rode rapidly away to- Scie Portland or Perean Col. Brewer and Frank Ramsey in the lead.

The burghers of Rhineland hardly knew what had happened until they saw the raiders leaving. Then came Mrs. Rincheval telling of the murder of her husband. He had been shot through the body and

Brewer's ball had cut close to his heart. Mr. Groteveil, Mr. Hohl- - man, and one or two others ran off to Hermann for soldiers. A Capt. Smith, then in command at Hermann, sent up 20 men, who followed the bushwhackers fifteen miles up intoCallaway, but did not encounter them.

November Election, 18638

At the-general election for 1863, in Missouri, but two tickets were voted for, both claiming to be '' Union.'' One ticket, headed by ~ Barton Bates, W. V. N. Bay and J. D. 8. Dryden, for Supreme q Judges, was called the Conservative ticket; the other, headed by H. 3 A. Clover, Arnold Krekel and David Wagner, was denominated the '* Radical'? or '* Charcoal'' ticket. The latter was supported by all of the immediate emancipationists in the State. This election is remarkable for being the first in Missouri, under a general law, where voting was done by ballot, and not viva voce.

In the fall of this year another company was organized in this. ~ county for the Federal State militia. This company came to be ; known as Co. L, Ninth M.S.M. At the time it was received, - Guitar had ceased to command the company (having been promoted - to brigadier-general), and Col. John F. Williams was its commander.

In the Missouri Volunteer Regiments. - Second infantry, 1; Sixth infantry, 1; Eighth infantry, 4; Tenth infantry, 2; Twenty-fourth infantry, 51; Twenty-sixth infantry, 46; Thirtieth infantry, 22; Thirty-first infantry, 27; Thirty-second infantry, 5; Thirty-third in- - fantry, 15; Second cavalry, 2; Tenth cavalry, 10; Eleventh cavalry, 7 2; total in Missouri regiments, 188. 4

TAS ate) ae on an Illinois regiment, 1; in an Arkansas regi- oe ment, 1; in the Third Arkansas'*«*A. D.,'' 42; total miscellaneous, a AA ee sf

Those in the Thirtieth, Thirty-first, Thirty-second and Thirty-third regiments of Missouri infantry enlisted mainly in the fall of 1862, under President Lincoln's call for ** 300,000 more."'

In the latter part of the year there was a great deal of outlawry in the county. Thefts and robbery were quite common. Horses were stolen, and many people were called upon and made to deliver their money at the point of the pistol. - Neither life nor property was very safe in some quarters. In some parts of the county bands of bushwhackers or fugitive returned Confederates did this bad work; elsewhere the marauders were unquestionably militiamen.

Though the country was greatly disturbed, and people were generally demoralized, courts were held, and the political machinery of the county ran along smoothly until after the Danville raid. It was a Presidential year, too. Gen. George B. McClellan and Hon. George H. Pendleton were the Democratic nominees, and Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson were the nominees of the Republicans, only two tickets being in the field. Geo. W. Anderson, of Pike, was the Republican candidate for Congress, and his Democratic opponent was Hon. James S. Rollins, of Boone. Col. Anderson was elected. The Democrats carried Montgomery county by a good majority for '* Little Mac,"' the vote standing: For the McClellan electors, 597; for the Lincoln electors, 158 ; Democratic majority, 439.

Many Democrats remained away from the polls, even among those entitled to vote.. No one could vote or hold office who could not and would not take the oath of loyalty, and of course many a Confederate and ''rebel'' sympathizer was disbarred. The vote in the State for President was: Lincoln, 71,676; McClellan, 31,626. For Governor, Thos. C. Fletcher, 71,531; Thos. L. Price, 30,406.

Killing Of Col. Brewer And His Son James

It was some time in the summer of 1864, after the raid on Rhineland, that a scouting party of Federal cavalry, under Capt. Hunter, * crossed the river and came westward through the southern part of this county on a scouting expedition to Portland. Either at Portland or en route back to Hermann they caught Col. Brewer and his son James, the latter a young man of 20, and shot them both on top of Poindexter's hill, three miles west of Rhineland, on the Port- a land road. | i: Col. Brewer is declared by Louis Rincheval to have been the one- ~ armed man who shot Andrew Rincheval, at Rhineland, in May, 1863, _and he and his son were both called bushwhackers. The colonel was A a man of uncommon intelligence and acquirements.. He had a mili- - | tary education and on the outbreak of the war drilled a company or ~ two for the Southern army. '

Some time in September, 1864, two men rode into Danville from the west and stopped at Mrs. Nunnelly's hotel. These men wore an air that caused suspicion. Capt. George J. Smith's:Co. D, Fortyninth Missouri, was then in Danville, and the captain arrested the two suspicious strangers, who at last confessed that they had been bushwhackers, members'of Anderson's band.

They gave their names as Fridley, father and son, and said they lived in Howard county. They had become tired of pushwhacking, they said, and were going down into St. Charles county to. remain with some relatives until the war was over. .

Capt. Smith's company was about to start for St. Louis and he determined to take the prisoner's with him - at least he so stated. But when the company did start it took the Fridleys as far as Dryden's mill (the old horse mill), two miles west of New Florence. The two men were taken into a peach orchard and summarily shot to death, and their bodies left to rot and fester in the autumn sun.

Smith went on to New Florence, and told T. J. Powell, the well known ex-sheriff, etc., that there were two dead bushwhackers at' Dryden's mill. Powell and Dan Nunnelly rode out and found the ~ bodies of father and son. Esq. Forshey and others assisted and the - corpses were decently buried in the orchard where thee fell, and where the still remain. ;

Some days after the shooting of these men, the news traveled up - to Howard county and reached Mrs. Fridley. She came down to learn the particulars, and remained at T. J. Powell's some days, and stated to the family that it was true that her husband and son were bushwhackers, and that it was true, as they had stated, that they had - abandoned the guerrilla warfare and were going to St. Charles county for safety. | -

Two More Companies For The Federal Service

In September, 1864, two companies were raised in this county for the Federal or Union army. They were known as Cos. Band D, of the Forty-ninth Missouri infantry, Col. D. P. Dyer's regiment. Co. B was from Middletown and the eastern and north-eastern part of the county. Co. D was from the vicinity of Danville.

These companies served in North Missouri until February, 1865, when they were sent to New Orleans. They took part in the siege and capture of Mobile and Spanish Fort, after which they were stationed in Alabama until the expiration of their term of service.

During The Invasion Of Gen. Price

At the time of Gen. Price's invasion of Missouri, in October, 1864, the Confederate sympathizers in this county were greatly elated for a time. It was reported that he had captured St. Louis, then Jefferson City, and a letter was received saying he would be in this county soon. The country was full of guerrillas and bushwhackers, and the Confederate cause, long smoldering in this quarter of Missouri, had flashed up, as it were, and its flickering blaze brightened the faces of its friends for a brief season before it died out. and was quenched forever.

Gen. Marmaduke captured Hermann, but did not cross the river, or stay long in the German town. Perhaps 50 men improved the opportunity to leave the county and join the Confederate army. Col. Caleb Dorsey passed into Lincoln and Pike and the eastern part of Montgomery and took out 300 or more recruits. He went through the southern part of this county, past Big Spring and up Dry Fork, on the Cote Sans Dessein road. At the big spring, on the old Groom farm, he camped one night. Dorsey crossed the Missouri river at Portland, swimming his horses, and one of his men was drowned.

While Dorsey was on Hancock's prairie, in camp, Col. S. A. Holmes with the Fortieth Missouri was sent into the county, about October 25. He went to Danville and tried to induce Col. Canfield to accompany him with his mounted militia and they would march out, but Canfield would not. Col. Holmes then passed down the railroad from ' Mexico, repairing the injury done by the guerrillas and Confederate scouting parties.. Holmes had previously been in this county as major of the Tenth Missouri.