USA > Missouri > A History of Northeast Missouri, Volume I > Part 29
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From the time of the Camp Jackson affair at St. Louis in May it was the determination of the Federal forces to hold the Missouri river through the entire state. General Lyon, after that affair, promptly seized Jefferson City, and the contention was over the possession of the river west of there, culminating in battles at Boonville and Lex- ington. It was also the determination of the Federal forces to keep up a complete line of communication along the line of the North Mis- souri Railroad to Macon City and from there east on the Hannibal & St. Joe to Hannibal. From the central position of Mexico it was regarded as the military key to all Northeastern Missouri and was occupied by the Union troops early in the war and held by them to the end of the conflict.
The first troops stationed at Mexico were in June or July, 1861. A portion of the Second and Eighth Missouri Regiments, in all about six hundred men were under the command of Colonel Morgan L. Smith and Lieutenant Colonel G. A .. Schaefer. Prior to the arrival of these troops efforts were made in various parts of the county toward raising companies of the State Guard, under the call of Governor Jackson, for 50,000 men to defend the state against invasion. While they were called State Guards, they in reality afterwards became the bulk of Price's army.
John G. Muldrow, a strong secessionist, got a crowd of men and boys together, which he called the "Audrain Rangers," but never per- fected an organization of them. When the first train load of these soldiers riding on flat cars, were approaching Mexico from the east, he took his men a mile or so east of Mexico and just east of the Salt river bridge, hid in the corn and brush and fired on the Union soldiers, killing some and wounding a number of them. There is no account of this affair in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, but it must have occurred in the last half of July. Immediately after this affair, Muldrow's crowd dissolved, some hiding in the brush and some go- ing to their homes and remaining hidden for a number of days. It was the first start of real disorder which was constant throughout the remainder of the war. This regiment of Union soldiers was mostly composed of undisciplined Germans and they seemed to have the idea that the war was a personal matter between them and the individual secessionists as they came into contact with them. Muldrow was a brother-in-law of John P. Clark, who was a very strong Union man and it was doubtless through his efforts that Muldrow was never held
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accountable for this affair. John Q. Muldrow being mistaken for the real Muldrow, was by the soldiers, on being met by them, shot down and killed, and by a company of these soldiers passing through the town about the same time, two other citizens, William Lockridge and Garland Surber, were killed.
When Col. U. S. Grant came to Mexico, John G. Muldrow came in from hiding and at the house of John P. Clark surrendered to Grant, took the oath of loyalty and remained loyal from then on.
When General Pope was placed in command of north Missouri he located his headquarters at Mexico, where he remained from the 29th of July until the 7th of August. On the day that General Pope estab- lished headquarters here, he assigned Col. U. S. Grant, Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers to command at Mexico, with a territory from Montgromery City on the south to include Centralia on the north.1 Colonel Grant remained here until August 7th and it was while here that his name was sent into the senate for promotion to brigadier general. On August 6th Colonel Grant was ordered to St. Louis, and from there to Ironton, Missouri.2 While it is true that Grant's name was sent into the senate to be made brigadier general while at Mexico, he did not receive his commission until he had arrived at Ironton. . The first order addressed him as brigadier general was at that place August 8th and the next day, reporting to General Fremont, he says- "I arrived here yesterday and assumed command in pursuance of directions from Major General John C. Fremont."
In Ironton in commemoration of Grant's promotion from colonel to brigadier general, there has been erected a statue of him in Emer- son Park, where he stood when he received his commission. General Grant in his Personal Memoirs does not state the date of his arrival in Mexico. He mentions being here in charge of a sub-district embrac- ing the troops in the immediate vicinity and composed of three regi- ments and a section of artillery. Here he spent some time restoring order among the people, disciplining the soldiers, "drilling his regi- ment and studying Hardee's Tactics." He says, "We were encamped just outside of town on the common, among scattering suburban houses with enclosed gardens." He further says that "owing to a want of proper discipline of the other regiments, it became necessary to take steps to prevent marauding and the appropriation of property for their own or government use, by the soldiers, but that soon the peo- ple were no longer molested or made afraid." He adds, "I received the most marked courtesy from the citizens of Mexico as long as I remained there." An account of his stay in Mexico is found in Per- sonal Memoirs, Vol. 1, pages 251-253.
On account of Grant's after prominence in the Civil war, his loca- tion in Mexico at the very beginning of his career has always been regarded with great interest by the people here. There has been some controversy as to the location of his headquarters. It has been claimed that he had his headquarters in a house on the lot which has been purchased by the government for the postoffice building. Some day, the people of Mexico, or some patriotic society may want to mark the spot where he was located. While persons are living who know where that spot is, it should be settled. His regiment was camped on what is now the western part of Mexico, mainly on what composes Morris' addition, north of the railroad. Under the tactics at that time the colonel of a regiment was required to keep his tent with his men. His tent was located on the west side of Depot street, on the east end of
1 Official Records, War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol. III, p. 415.
2 Ibid.
.
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block No. 9, of that addition, and his men were encamped in every direction from him except east. At that time there was more vacant space on the north side of the railroad than now, for it was before the building of the Chicago & Alton Railroad along there. In sup- port of this statement reference is made to "History of Audrain County, 1884" information furnished by John Saunders, now deceased, at that time postmaster at Mexico and a citizen of Mexico throughout the entire war. Of those living now who were on the ground and at his headquarters during the time he was located here, are James H. Sal- lee, E. D. Graham, John W. Beatty, Elmer Cunningham and George Clark (colored), all of whom were there under such circumstances that they cannot be mistaken about the place of location.
Major W. M. Stone of the Third Iowa Volunteers, commanded the post at Mexico in January, 1862." Upon the authority of Mr. Sallee. the statement is here made that it was he who occupied the building on the postoffice lot.
In June, 1861, James O'Bannon raised a company of men, not in Mexico, but in the vicinity around Mexico and undertook to join the Confederates at Boonville, but before reaching there the battle had taken place and it being impossible for them to get across the river they returned home and the company disbanded. Several members of that company afterward in one way or another got to Price's army. Among them were Louis and George Simpson, Richard Lee and Joseph W. Luckie.
The Union forces were not of sufficient numbers in that time to spread all over and take charge of Northeast Missouri, hence in Audrain, Monroe. Boone, Marion and Callaway, remote from the county seats, where Federal posts had been established, there was a great deal of recruiting going on for the Confederates.
D. H. McIntyre, at that time a student at Westminster College, raised a company in Callaway county, composed largely of Audrain county men.
Alvin Cobb, a one-armed man, raised a company of bush whackers which during the early part of the war he kept in the north part of Callaway county and south of Martinsburg in Audrain county. Lieu- tenant Jaeger of St. Louis, a German, was in command of a company of Union soldiers around Wellsville. Some time in August, 1861, with a few men on either side there was a little fight near the town of Martinsburg in which Lieutenant Jaeger was wounded. Benjamin T. Sharp, a citizen of Wellsville, was riding in a buggy with Lieuten- ant Jaeger and was also wounded. He and Jaeger were both followed into the town of Martinsburg and taken prisoners. Cobb took them with him and within about four miles of Martinsburg on Hickory creek in Audrain, killed both of them. The killing of Sharp was due more to a personal matter between him and Cobb, than to sectional strife. The excitement of the time furnished Cobb an excuse for the murder. Jaeger being with Sharp, had to suffer with him. By way of retaliation for the murder of Sharp, a company of German troops marched on Danville and without as much as a drum-head court mar- tial. lined up and shot four citizens, all of whom were southern sym- pathizers.
The next day after the murder of these men the Federal soldiers destroyed Cobb's dwelling. He had a force of about one dozen men together, stayed in the brush, bush-whacked, plundered and robbed, and was with his force at the battle of Moore's Mill, in Callaway county, on the Confederate side. He finally got to Price's army and in a per-
* Official Records, War of the Rebellion, Series II, Vol. I.
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sonal interview with General Price, was told that he must cease his guerilla warfare and take the oath of allegiance to the Confederate states if he desired to have his company mustered into the Confed- erate service, but civilized warfare not being suited to his tastes and from inability to carry on his bush-whacking further, he, in the early part of the war, went west into the state of Oregon, where he died many years ago. Shortly after this, three young men, not in arms, Robert and James Rodgers and one Hawkins were killed by the Fed- eral soldiers west of Mexico.
John Murray raised a company in Audrain county which became a member of Colonel Brace's regiment. The first officers were, cap- tain, John Murray; first lieutenant, James B. Davis; second lieuten- ant, Henry Gillispie. Murray afterward became major of the regi- ment and was succeeded as captain by George W. Edmonston. W. J. Botts now living in Mexico, upon the reorganization of the regiment, after the battle of Lexington became its ordnance master.
As this company has the most complete record of any raised in Audrain county for warfare, the writer of this sketch addressed Colonel Brace, for twenty years a judge of the supreme court of Mis- souri, after the war, and a man nearly eighty years of age now, a let- ter of inquiry concerning it, to which was received the following answer, and it is here inserted as the best account extant of Captain Murray's company :
PARIS, Mo. Aug. 6, 1912.
When Lee surrendered, I determined to forget all about the Civil war, and have succeeded pretty well. It remains with me only vaguely in memory, and the only record extant of my regiment is such slight mention as may be found in the official reports preserved and published by the Federal government, and the newspapers of the day. The only record I have is my commission as colonel of 'The Third . Regi- ment of Cavalry of the Second Military District,' dated September 23, 1861. signed by C. F. Jackson, commander in Chief of the Missouri State Guards, B. F. Massey, secretary of state and Warwick Hough adjutant general Missouri State Guards, with seal of the state, and recorded Vol. one, page 54, adjutant general's office. The inci- dents which led up to the organization of the regiment are briedly as follows: After our return from the Boonville races, where I with quite a number of young men from Monroe first heard the report of a cannon in actual warfare, we commenced and consummated the organization of a company under the state law of which I was elected captain, and we commenced trying to make soldiers of ourselves by daily drill. After some scouting and skirmishing I went into camp at the site of Higgenbotham 's old mill on Elk Fork where we were soon after joined by a company from Audrain of which Murray was captain, Davis, first lieutenant and Gillispie, second lieutenant. This must have been about the first of August, 1861. Soon after we were joined by a company from Ralls and one from Pike, and we organized a battallion, of which I was elected lieutenant colonel and Murray major. At this time the Federal forces occupying the line of the Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad were thence from time to time making inroads upon the adjoining territory. Cols. Green and Porter of the State Guards were operating north of the railroad and I with my force south of it, and General Price was in southwest Missouri, on the move towards the Missouri river. Green and Porter crossed the railroad on the move to join Price's forces and joined me in Monroe county; after a skirmish at Shelbina we went into camp for a short time east of Florida where the 'Salt River Tigers' Captain Grisby joined my battalion and soon after another company was added to my battallion, but I cannot recall the name of its captain. I think it came from Montgomery county. Colonel Green and I determined to join General Price's forces south of the Missouri river while Colonel Porter determined to remain in northeast Missouri. I cannot give the date of our starting but we crossed the Missouri river and reached Lexington and joined Price's forces, in the seige and battle followed, where we first met and came under the com- mand of the brigadier general of our district who was Gen. Tom Harris.
The position of our brigade was on the river below the Anderson house, from which we rolled up the hill the Hemp bales which enabled us to use our shot guns and rifles with some advantage in bringing about the surrender of Mulligan's forces. After the surrender my battalion then consisting of six companies was entitled to a regimental organization and accordingly the regiment was organized as 'The Third Missouri Cavalry of the Second Military District.' I was elected lieutenant colonel and Murray of the Audrain Company major, and thereafter we were absorbed in Price's army and operated therein until after the battle of Pea Ridge. By that time
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the terms of enlistment of my men (being for only six months) had expired, and the men had been discharged, some entering the Confederate Service others returning to their homes, and this ended the brief and inglorious existence of Brace's Regiment. Yours truly,
THEODORE BRACE.
After the battle of Lexington, Major Murray returned to Audrain county to recruit, was not successful, and in company with Joseph Lakenan, he and Lakenan were drowned in crossing the Missouri river * in an attempt to rejoin Price.
Grant was succeeded at Mexico by General S. D. Sturgis. Stur- gis had under his control about four thousand men. He arrived at Mexico on the 9th of September, 1861, and was ordered to Lexington the 13th. He left a small force in charge of the post at Mexico.
Along in July desperate efforts were made by the Confederates and citizens who were secessionists, to destroy the North Missouri Railroad, so as to break up the line of communications established by the Union forces. They succeeded in practically destroying the railroad from Wellsville to within a short distance of Mexico, destroy- ing the bridge west of Mexico on the 27th day of July. In the destruc- tion of this bridge, a number of citizens of Mexico were engaged. They acted under a commission from General Price, who sent men along the line of the. North Missouri Railroad for that purpose, com- missioned to destroy the railroad, with authority to procure assistance from the citizens. A great many citizens of Audrain county were arrested for their participation in this matter, but none were ever tried for it by court-martial although a great number were sent to St. Louis and Alton as prisoners on account of it.
John B. Henderson of Pike county, prominent before the war as a Democrat, and distinguished as a lawyer, raised a regiment of militia for the Union side. Colonel Jefferson F. Jones, equally prominent as a lawyer, in Callaway county, raised a regiment under the call of Governor Jackson for troops to prevent invasion of the state. These two distinguished men being well acquainted and having probably met as antagonists often in court, concluded to effect a compromise and so far as they and their sections were concerned, bring about a fightless, bloodless war. In August, 1861, they met at Benton City about six miles east of Mexico and signed a paper providing that the Union forces should after that date, keep out of Callaway county and the Missouri defence or Confederate forces should after that date keep out of Pike county. It is needless to say that when this compromise was brought to the attention of the Federal authorities, it was promptly repudiated. Colonel Jones' force soon surrendered and disbanded. He was taken prisoner by the Federal forces and put under bond for good behavior during the remainder of the war. He was tried by court marshal, but not found guilty of violation of any of the Articles of War.
Colonel Henderson continued in charge of his command but changed his views as to warfare. He became brigadier general and was placed in charge of a section of the country in north Missouri. He was located at Mexico in the early part of January, 1862, and on January 9th reports having captured forty prisoners, ten of whom he took in bat- tle. They were held by the Federal authorities for bridge burning.
After Henderson came Major H. C. Caldwell,t Third Iowa Cavalry. He and different detachments of his men were located at Mexico for some time.
* Some say Murray was crossing the Mississippi aiming to go down the river on the Illinois side.
t Afterward United States District Judge in Arkansas and Judge Eighth Cir- cuit United States Court retired, residence Los Angeles, Calif.
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Another attempt to organize a company for the Confederate forces was made by William O: Johnson, in the northern part of Audrain county, in the early winter of 1861. On the 24th of December, a company of Colonel John W. Burge's Sharp Shooters, then called, afterward the Thirteenth Missouri Infantry, was on its way from Pal- myra to Sturgeon and in order to avoid the timber and thus escape chances of ambush, they detoured south through Audrain county over the prairie and stopped to rest in a barn known as Mcclintock's barn, situated on the northeast corner of section 16, township 52, range 9. This presented a splendid opportunity to the mind of Captain John- son, for a battle or surrender. His company was mostly undisciplined farmers of the neighborhood. He approached the barn from the east and when within a short distance of it, halted, lined up his men, to give the Federals an opportunity to surrender. . They filed out of the barn, formed a line of battle, swung around in front of Johnson's company, to use the language of Johnson, "like a gate," and when all this military precision was observed, before any one had time to fire, his men broke. The Federal company fired a volley or two after them, probably not aiming to hit anybody, and continued on their way to Sturgeon, arriving there the next day in time for the battle at Mount Zion, in Boone county. This resulted in the dissolution of Captain Johnson's company.
In the battle of Mount Zion, on the Union side, Captain John D. Macfarlane of Mexico distinguished himself in action and was men- tioned in the report of the battle, for meritorious services. Later on account of his splendid services in the Ninth Missouri Cavalry, his brother, Wm. W. Macfarlane, a Confederate soldier, who had been taken prisoner at the battle of Moore's Mill, and ordered shot without a judgment of court martial, had his sentence commuted to imprison- ment at Alton, Illinois.
In September, 1862, General Lewis Merrill was commanding the Northeast Missouri Division and was located at Macon. There were three Macfarlane brothers, George B., a lawyer, Captain John D., above mentioned. also a lawyer; and Wm. W. Macfarlane, a physician. The Macfarlane family was prominent in Callaway and Audrain counties. During a part of the war and after the war they lived in Mexico, hence an order like that issued by General Merrill on September 2, 1862, from his headquarters at Macon, would produce unusual excitement in Audrain county. On that date General Merrill addressed an order to Major Caldwell, located at Mexico, to dispose of the following prison- ers, as follows: First, John Gastemee, to be shot to death, the 5th of September, between the hours of 10 A. M. and 3 P. M., at Mexico, Missouri. Second. W. W. Macfarlane, to be shot to death on Friday, the 5th of September, between the hours of 10 A. M. and 3 P. M., at Mexico, Missouri. Third, Solomon Donaldson, to be shot to death on Friday, the 5th of September, between the hours of 10 A. M. and 3 P. M. at Mexico, Missouri. There was no attempt made to carry out the order as to Gastemee and Donaldson, but what final disposition was made of them there is no account. As to Macfarlane, he was ordered to be taken to the execution ground and an order read to him as follows: "In consideration of the noble stand taken for the right by your brother, Captain Macfarlane, of the Ninth Missouri State Militia, the commanding general is pleased to order that your life be spared and your sentence commuted to confinement during the war.". Amidst great excitement of the people of Mexico and a large crowd which had gathered there that day to witness the execution of Dr.
* Official Records, War of the Rebellion, Series II, Vol. IV, p. 480.
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Macfarlane, as well as three others, he was led to the execution grounds, where all necessary preparations for his execution had been made. Standing in his place, the order was read to him, whereupon he was returned to the prison house and removed to prison in St. Louis, where he remained for some time, thence to Alton, where he remained until December 30, 1862, when he was paroled by Col. J. O. Broadhead, provost marshal at St. Louis.
By another order, Major Elliott Major of Monroe county was ordered to be shot at Mexico at the same time as Macfarlane. Major had been in the Confederate service, taken prisoner and discharged upon tak- ing the oath of allegiance and not to again bear arms against the United States. He had violated his oath and had again taken up arms for the southern cause, having been given a commission as Major in General Joe C. Porter's command. Upon being taken prisoner the second time, this order was made. Major had participated in the bat- tle at Kirksville under Porter and afterward at Chariton river. He had surrendered under promise of being treated as a prisoner of war.
In the minds of the people of Audrain and Monroe counties, there has always been a romance connected with the release of Major. He had a sweetheart living at Paris, Missouri, the daughter of a Union man. Lieutenant Cravin Hartman of the Third Iowa Cavalry, located at Mexico and part of the time at Paris, was attempting to pay his addresses to the sister of Major's sweetheart. Hartman was a fine- looking young fellow but considerable of a swash-buckler and in order to ingratiate himself into the good graces of this young lady, pre- tended at least to be interested in the release of Major. John W. Beatty now living in Mexico accompanied Hartman to Monroe county to secure the influence of Union men there to petition General Mer- rill to prevent the execution. Just how far Hartman's influence went is not known, or if it be real or pretended, may never be known. Hart- man turned out to be a man of neither veracity nor integrity. He committed many depredations in this section of the state, under the guise of warfare."
It is more probable that the kind-heartedness and soldierly con- duct of Major Caldwell had more to do with the saving of Major's life, as well as the others from Monroe county, who were ordered shot, than that of any other person. In a letter of September 6, 1912, to the author of this sketch, Judge Caldwell says: "The day after I received this order, the mothers, sisters and friends of these men, appeared at my headquarters in Mexico to entreat for their lives-the day fixed by the orders for their execution was only four days off. The dele- gation was headed by Mr. Marion Biggs, of Monroe county, one of the kindest and most tender-hearted men I ever knew. He was so highly esteemed by both sides in the war, that neither side molested him; and he devoted himself to the task of interceding for the relief of his neighbors (whether rebels or Federals, he made no distinction) who were so unfortunate as to fall into the hands of the enemy and likely to become victims to the rigors and passions of a civil war.
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