USA > Iowa > Davis County > History of Davis County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc. > Part 58
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AMOS STECKEL,
Clerk.
Now follows the report of Captain Horn, or the essential parts of it, as to the occurences in the county, made to the Governor, through the Adjutant General of the State, March 2, 1863, some three months after the adoption
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HISTORY OF DAVIS COUNTY.
of the foregoing resolution by the board of supervisors, and it tells the story :
On the 9th of February, 1863, citizens of the south-west of part our county, to the number of about fifty-four, met together (being partly armed, as I am informed), and repaired to the house of Mr. D. B. Pugh, a loyal and peaceable citizen, and foreibly abducted a man of color, and carried him to Missouri. These men having no legal authority, their acts caused considerable excitement, and on the 12th of the month I was called upon by Mr. Pugh and others, to take some action in the matter, as commander of this company.
The negro having already been driven beyond my reach, and the mob having dispersed and returned to their homes, I addressed a note to Gov- ernor Kirkwood in regard to it. This he referred to Attorney-General Nourse, who advised me as to the statute in such cases, and suggested that these men be indicted by our grand jury. There was no doubt that these men are liable for abduction, conspiracy and riot; but Davis county is not the place to punish men for such crimes; for the disloyal men among us have banded themselves together to resist the law, and the authority of those in power, and publicly proclaim the same to the world.
At a peace meeting of the self styled "Democracy" one William A. Rankin, of our county, offered a series of resolutions, which were unani- monsly adopted, from which I take the following:
"4. We here deliberately and firmly pledge ourselves, one to the other, that we will not render any support to the present administration in carry- ing on its wicked abolition crusade against the South; that we will resist to the death all attempts to draft any of our citizens into the army, and that we will permit no arbitrary arrests amongst us by the minions of the adminis- ation.
"5. That while we regard the emancipation proclamation as the final blow that has destroyed all hope of a reconstruction of the Union as it was, we also view it as the entering wedge which will ultimately divide the Mid- dle and Northwestern States from our mischief-making, Puritanical, fanat- ical New England brethren, and finally euhninate in the formation of a democratic republic out of the Middle, Northwestern and Southern States, and for this we are thankful.
"6. That we will resist the introduction of free negroes into the State of Iowa -- first, by lawful means, and when that fails we will drive them, to- gether with such whites as may be engaged in bringing them in, out of the State, or afford them hospitable graves!"
From this, you will see that it will be almost out of the question to pun- ish these men in our eounty. %
On the 15th of February, three armed men from Missouri came into our town and attempted to carry into slavery a colored man, who for some time had been employed at a hotel in this place. The negro refused to go with them, when one of the men fired on him with his pistol. This frightened the negro, and the three white men then seized him and started south. A writ was issned for their arrest, and they were pursued and brought back for trial. These proceedings caused intense excitement-some of our citizens siding with the Missourians, and some taking sides against them. My scouts were then in the south part of the county, but in order to prevent
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any violence being done, I immediately called together a sufficient number of my company to maintain order. Those called together for that purpose were on duty one day, but having no authority to call them out, their ser- vices were volunteered for the occasion. *
On the 28th day of November 1862, I received orders to collect and take into possession the State arms, etc., in our country, and on the 6th day of December I procured a room where I deposited the same. *
The prospect for peace in our county the coming summer is anything but flattering; and, if practicable, I would be much pleased if at least part of my company could be furnished by the State with suitable cavalry arms. I am very respectfully your obedient servant,
HOSEA B. HORN, Captain commanding company.
Border affairs in this county do not appear to have further required the intervention of the military forces, than shown by the foregoing report, un- til October 1864, when a raid of armed and mounted cut-throats from Mis- souri appeared in the southern townships, and carried consternation among the people, as shown by the following report of Lieutenant Colonel S. A. Moore, aid-de-camp to Governor Stone. The report telis the painful story fully and well:
BLOOMFIELD, IOWA, January 1, 1865. GEN. N. B. BAKER, Adjutant-General of Iowa :-
SIR: In compliance with your request, I have collected together the main facts of the recent raid through this county by a band of guerillas, in the month of October last.
While the main features of the sketch are undoubtedly correct, I have, no doubt, omitted many incidents that would be interesting if collected and related as they occurred.
I have been unable to obtain the precise information at what point in our county the raiders first entered. I have conversed with many persons who saw them at different places along the route they traveled, but as their movements were rapid, and their stay to each house very brief, there is no one who is able to tell the whole story in detail. I am, therefore, chiefly indebted to Mr. Wallace Power, a young man who was taken prisoner and held during the entire route through the county, for the incidents here re- lated.
Twelve young men, dressed in Federal uniform, mounted on splendid horses, and armed with from two to seven revolvers each, entered the county near the southeast corner on the morning of the 12th of October, 1864, with two prisoners, young men whom they had captured in Clark county, Missouri. Riding up to the house of Mr. Gustin, a part of their number dismounted, entered the house, robbed him of a gun, which they broke, a favorite watch-a gift from his father when dying-and about $160 in money.
Another portion of the gang proceeded to William Downing's, broke his gun, robbed him of what inoney he had in his pocket, and took him priso- ner. From Downing's they went to the house of Thomas Miller, from whom they took $110. They next went to the houses of Neekadier and
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HISTORY OF DAVIS COUNTY.
Chris. Waggler, broke Waggler's gun and passed on to Blongh's, where they made, as they supposed, a grand haul, in getting a purse of gold, but in reality it was a purse containing twenty -five copper eents and a very small sum in silver coin, belonging to a little boy; but they robbed the child of his pocket knife.
Here three of the gang were detailed to go to the house of Mr. William Power, a wealthy farmer living about a quarter of a mile south of Blongh's and rob him. Mr. Power and his son Wallace were working near the road; the old gentleman remarked, as he saw them coming, dressed in blne nni- form: " Wallace, there are some of your soldier friends coming to see you." The young man walked ont to the gate to meet them; on riding up they drew their revolvers and ordered him to take off his pants It was now ap- parent that they were not his friends, and being unarmed and powerless in their hands, he drew off his "soldier pants" and handed them over. By this time one of the gang was approaching the old gentleman, ordering him to halt and threatening to shoot him; but Mr. Power, remarkable for his quiet pleasant demeanor, not finding a convenient place to halt, kept on the "even tenor of his way," until, dodging behind an ontbuilding, he broke and ran; the fellow fired at him, but missed.
Mrs. Power inquired of them who they were, and by what anthority they eame there. They claimed to be Union soldiers; but she told them that Union soldiers were good men, and did not behave in that way. One of them informed her that they were rebels and " bushwhackers," and asked her if she had ever seen any rebel bushwhackers before.
They now proposed to kill the young man unless his father was brought back, and to terrify the young man into compliance with their wishes, they told him they would kill him in the presence of his mother; he very quietly told them that they had the power to kill him, and if they intended to do it, he would rather be killed in the presence of his mother than that of any other person.
A younger brother ran down to the field where Mr. Power had gone, and told him that they would kill Wallace unless he returned; he then caine baek. They took Mr. Power's gun and broke it, compelled the father and son to both mount the same horse, without saddle or blanket. taking, how- ever from them a saddle belonging to Albert Power, then in the Third Iowa Cavalry, which they carried with them, and started in pursuit of the others who had gone on from Blongh's. They did not get Mr. Power's money; they were detained so long with the prisoners that they did not stop to search the house.
They stopped at the house of David Banghinan, broke his gun, got some apples, and then visited Perry Brown, and broke his gun. They overtook James Brown, formerly of Company B, Thirtieth Iowa, and ordered him to " fall in," a term which he seemed to understand, as he obeyed, if not with cheerfulness, with alacrity. They then went to the house of William' Millsaps. Some one of the party remarked: " From the apprarance of things these are poor folks," and proceeded without stopping to disturb them.
They next went to the house of Mr. Rease, took a musket, broke it, and robbed him of $26. They then went to Daniel Swartzendrover's, and robbed him of $15, five dollars of which belonged to Mr. Millsaps, his neighbor, the one they had coneluded not to disturb.
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HISTORY OF DAVIS COUNTY.
A great many of our citizens had gone to the fair. They arrested and took prisoner every man who crossed their path. Their movements were rapid as the wind, the main column halting rarely, and then but for a few mo- ments, all the robbing being done by details under the direction of their Captain, who had perfeet control of every member of the gang. You see how difficult it was to obtain any reliable information concerning them; the wildest rumors were current. Every prisoner taken was counted one of the gang. The distance to the county-seat from where they first commenced their depredations in the county was some sixteen miles. The rapidity of their movements. the terror they left in their path, the vague, nucertain ru- mors of their numbers, varying from fifty to two hundred, the wild, dash- ing novelty of the whole thing in a county where profound peace had always been, so startled and nnerved even brave men, that a considerable time elapsed before the news reached Bloomfield.
They next stopped at the house of Jacob King, whom they robbed of $165, two watches and some jewelry. They inquired of Mr. King what kind of horses he had. lle told them he had some very good ones at the stable, but they were becoming very much alarmed abont pursuit, and did not stop to get his horses. One of them stopped long enough to adjust a lady's breast-pin before a looking-glass, and then rode off to Jeremiah Mil- ler's, broke his gun, and robbed him of some 812. David Gibson was at Mr. Miller's, working a short distance from the house, at a cane-mill. Mounting a horse, he came with all speed to town, and brought the first in- telligence that we had received of the raiders. But yet he was unable to tell us anything with certainty about their numbers; he counted twenty per-
sons. He was a reliable man, and we are sure that there were twenty; but we afterwards learned that Mr. Gibson had counted the prisoners with the raiders, not being close enough to distinguish them. Other persons came in and reported that there was one hundred and fifty of them. We then sup- posed the party seen by Mr. Gibson was only a detachment, that the main colninn was somewhere near. A courier arrived, who had seen them, and reported them 150 strong; another gave the name of a very reliable gentle- man who had eounted one hundred and forty of them in one detachment, as they filed around the base of a hill where he lay concealed.
The news soon reached the fair grounds; the fair was broken np, and mnen hurried to the town. The arsenal was opened, arms and ammunition dis- tributed, companies were formed in line of battle, horses were ent loose from wagons and carriages without reference to who owned them, and mounted by armed men. Conriers were coming with fresh and startling news of robbery and murder. An attack on the town was momentarily expected, men were placed on the tops of honses as lookonts, to watch and warn us of approaching danger. Men, women and children were hurrying to and fro, some pale and thoughtful, some finshed and excited; mothers pressed their children closer to their bosoms. All was hurry, bustle and confusion; all were willing, and vied with each other in getting ready to meet the danger; all past differences were forgotten; a common danger united them. But there was no one to take command, and bring order out of chaos. The voice of a citizen was heard above the din and confusion proposing that Colonel J. B. Weaver, late of the Second Iowa Infantry, take command of all the militia, and that every man yield prompt and explicit obedience to his com- mands. A universal shont of approval rang out along the line, and confi- dence was seen and felt in the cheering obedience to every order issued.
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A company of mounted men, led by Colonel Weaver, who was assisted in the organization and management of the raw militia by Colonel Trimble, started in pursuit late in the afternoon, leaving the command of the militia for the defense of the town to myself, in which I was materially assisted by Captain Gray, Captain Minge, and a large number of returned soldiers whose nerves had been trained to steadiness at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Pea Ridge, siege of Vieksburg, and other fields, made glorious by their valor. Beside the farmer and mechanic, fresh from the plow and workshop, stood the heroes who had moved with eye undimmed and cheek unblanched through the smoke of battle and the valley of the shadow of death, and gave them words of encouragement and hope. The cavalry under General Weaver are in pursuit of the raiders as they move westward on their mis- sion of pillage and murder, and we will return and trace these from the house of Mr. Miller, some nine miles distant from Bloomfield.
From Miller's they moved rapidly to the house of Mr. Rodgers, where they robbed Isaac Smith of 840. Here they formed the prisoners in line, and commencing on the right, the captain asked each one separately if he did not want to join his company. They all declined to join him except one, whose name was Lewis, one of the prisoners they had taken in Clark county, Missouri. He signified his willingness to join them, and was at once clothed in federal uniform. The captain inade young Power draw off his boots and socks, and give them to the new recruit. (I learned that Lewis deserted them in Chariton county, Missouri, and came home.) After seeing the re- cruit "properly clothed," he made a short speech to the prisoners, asking a pledge that they would never go into the Federal army, and then dismissed all of them except Wallace Power, who had been a member of Company D, 45th Iowa, James Brown, of Company B, 30th Iowa, and the other prisoner whom they had brought from Clark county, Missouri; these having been soldiers, they refused to release.
They then went to the house of James Paris, took one of his horses from the plow, searched his house, found a revolver and watch, which they ap- propriated. They took a gun belonging to Mr. Paris' father, who is quite old, and while in the act of breaking it, Mrs. Paris prevailed on thein to spare it, as it belonged to a very old man, who used it for linnting, to amuse himself in his old age. Strange as it may appear. they spared the gun, the first instance of the kind, except one very fine German shot-gun, which they took with them.
We next find them at William Sterritt's, where they broke his gun, but refused to take his money because he had only sixty cents in his pocket book. They went to the house of some one, whose name I did not learn; but fail- ing to find any money, they took an accordeon.
At the house of Loyal Hotchkiss they searched for money, but finding none, helped themselves plentifully at the larder, broke his gun, and departed for the residence of Frank French, who was absent from home, having gone to the fair. They compelled his little son, with pistols presented at his breast, to show them through the different apartments of the house in search of money; failing to find it, they broke his gun, took a military overcoat, dress coat, a pair of uniform pants, and some woolen shirts.
They then went to the house of Morris MeCracken. Ilis son was at home, formerly a member of Company D, 45th Iowa. They saw his uniform clothing hanging up in the house, and demanded whether he had been a sol-
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dier. Making a virtue of neeessity, he told them the clothing belonged to. his brother, who had gone to the fair; and thus escaped being killed. Af- ter robbing the father and son of some $80, and breaking a musket, they left for the house of Mr. Haney. Demanding his money, the old man told them he had none. They made a thorough search, tearing things to pieces, de- elaring that if they found one cent they would kill Mr. Haney. They failed to find his money, not having searched the old man's pockets, where his greenbacks were quietly resting; and left for the house of Thomas Hardy .. When they arrived there, two of the gang went in, demanded the keys, and commeneed a thorough search for money, but in their burry they overlooked some eight hundred dollars, which had been placed between the leaves of a day book.
The remainder of the gang passed on south about one hundred and sixty yards, where they met Mr. Hardy and another person in a wagon. The captain ordered him to halt, and asked him the age of his horses. Hardy replied, "five years old." "Get out and unhitch them; I want them," said the captain. "I want them, too," replied Hardy; "you don't intend to take. them withont paying me for them ?"" "I'll pay you for them," said the eap- tain, at the same time drawing a revolver and firing. The shot took effect near the right eye. and the wounded man tell ont of the wagon apparently lifeless, but, partially recovering, he placed his hands over the wound, and, while the blood gushed out between his fingers, he exclaimed, "God have. merey!" "God have mercy!" The infernal fiend then dismounted, and drawing a small pistol from his belt, stood over the postrate form of the dy- ing man. and took deliberate aim. The shot from the small pistol not having the desired effeet, he minttered, between his clenched teeth, a eurse- npon the weapon, replaced it in the holster, and drawing a "Colt's Navy," fired again. The life-bload spurted in purple enrrents from his mangled head, his warm heart ceased to beat, and the spirit of a good eitizen, a kind husband and father, stood in the presence of its maker. After rifling his- poekets, in which he found between $300 and $400, he remounted his horse, and ordered the man who was in company with Mr. Hardy, to nnhiteh the- horses, which he did, but they did not take them. Some of his men, on com- ing up to the seene of the murder, inquired of the captain why he had killed that man. He replied, "because he did not mind me; I will kill any man that refuses to obey me."
Passing along the road a short distance, they met a man from Missouri with a span of horses and a wagon, robbed him of his money, nearly $500, stuffed it in a cartridge box, and coolly asked the gentleman for some eigars. The one who received the money told the man the captain was coming up, and he must do whatever the captain told him, and do it quickly. The eap- tain, on coming up, told the man to nnhitch his horses. "Do they pace?" asked the captain. "No sir." "Then I don't want them; I have got better horses. Pull off that halter." "Which one?" inquired the man. "The one on the bay horse." He did it, handed it to the captain, who, after receiving it, told the man to hitch up his horses, drive up to the house, and take care of that dead man, and to not leave there until morning.
They next stopped at the house of Elizar Small, a soldier who had served his country faithfully as a member of Company A, Third Cavalry. Mr. Small, when coming from the barn, saw them approaching, and mistaking them for Federal soldiers, stopped to see them. The same sonlless wretch,
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whose hands were red with the blood of Hardy, rode up to him, asked him a few questions about his regiment, and drawing his revolver, shot him in the face. He threw his hands over the wound, and turning around, uttered a piteous groan, that would have touched the heart of a savage, and received two other shots, one in the neck, and the other in the breast. The proud form that had so often faced the enemies of his country in the shock of bat- tle, and had been spared to return to the bosom of his family, fell lifeless at the feet of an assassin, who, coolly dismounting, robbed him of his money.
We next hear of them at Springville. Captain Phillip Bence, of the- Thirtieth Iowa Infantry, was at his home in Springville, enjoying the society of the "loved ones at home," and a brief respite from the toils and privations of camp life, on leave of absence. The guerrilla chief rode up to the resi- dence of Captain Bence, and calling him out, spoke pleasantly to the Captain, and inquired about his regiment. The captain was dressed in full uniform. They compelled him to take it off, and put on a pair of light blue uniform pants and a jeans coat. They then robbed him of $550 in money, and then proceeded to kill him. I have been informed that Captain Bence approached the guerrilla chief, and in a low tone of voice, that he might not be heard by his family, asked as a special favor that he would not kill him in the presence of liis wife.
News of the depredations of this gang having a few moments before their arrival reached Springville, a number of the militia were engaged in getting their horses and equipments; three or four horses were already stand- ing hitched to the fence. The guerrillas captured the horses, and took as prisoners Capt. Benee, William Hill, David Sanderson, Andrew Tannehill, and Joseph Hill. They asked Joseph Hill whether he had ever been a soldier; he said he had not, which was a slight eqnivocation; for I remem- ber to have seen him performing duty as a faithful member of Co. D, 45th Iowa. They demanded his money. made him turn his pockets, and throw away his knife, and deliberated whether they had not better shoot him be- eanse he did not throw the knife further off; they took his horse, however, and mounted the prisoners, Captains Bence and Sanderson, on the same horse, and rode off.
They next went to the house of Frank Dabney, saw him near the door, and ordered him to halt. He refused, went into the house, tossed his pocket book on the loft, and passed out of the door. They failed to find him, but took his horses.
Not far from here they met William Losey, and inquired of him if he. had heard of any rebels in the country. He told them he had, and was then on his way to Springville and Ssvannah to give the alarm and raise. the militia. "We are the rebels," said the captain, "and do yon fall in!" Losey was astounded, and was hesitating; but the click of a revolver and a word of advice from his neighbors, the prisoners, settled the matter in his mind, and he "fell in." . They robbed him of 864.
They now moved rapidly on to the house of Lieut. William Niblack, late of Co. D. 3d Iowa Cavalry, whom they robbed of sabre, uniform, and some $30 in money. They inquired of the lieutenant if he did not think he ought to be killed. It was a grave question. I do not know how long the lientenant was engaged in making up his mind; but I have no doubt he ex- pressed his calm, deliberate judgment, when he replied, "No, I don't think I ought to be killed; I have done my duty to my country faithfully." His
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life was spared; why, we eannot tell. The fiend, whose hands were reeking with the blood of Niblaek's neighbors, turned away his hand and released its grasp on the deadly weapon at his side. 1
The guerrilla chief lingered, while the murderous gang passed on; soon, however, he overtook them, rode forward to the head of the column, and for a short time seemed absorbed in his reflections. The sun was sinking behind the hills: a day of carnage and blood was elosing. The avengers of blood were on their traek; men who had faeed death in the marshes and trenches, in the tangled woodlands and open fields, and toiled and fought their way up the slopes of Lookout Mountain, above the clouds, were on the "war-path." Night was elosing around them, the only safety was in rapid flight, aided by the darkness. The prisoners would enenmber their mareh -they must be disposed of at onee.
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