History of Boone County, Missouri., Part 43

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: St. Louis, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1220

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News of the discovery of the whisky spread rapidly, and very soon nearly all of the guerrillas, and Anderson himself, had sampled it, as experts of the border alone can accomplish a convivial feat of that character. Then the question arose as to the method of carrying a portion of it to the camp, that their " comrades in arms" might share with them its exhilarating influence, and it was soon decided that some of the new boots should serve the office of demijohns, and they were filled to the leg tops, and carried to the camp miles away.

CAPTURE OF THE COLUMBIA STAGE.

Meanwhile it was apparent that something beside plundering the town and terrorizing its defenceless inhabitants was on the pro- gramme.

" How long before that d-d train will be here ?" was frequently asked. " Will the Columbia stage be in first?" was another query.

At about eleven o'clock a commotion was observed at the edge of town, on the Columbia road, and a dozen or more guerillas were gal- loping in that quarter. The Columbia stage, an old-fashioned " Concord," drawn by four horses driven by Joe Kelly, and owned

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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY. .

by Wm. J. Jordan, of Columbia, had arrived, and Anderson's men were proceeding to "interview" the passengers. They surrounded the coach, and some of thein dismounted and opened the doors. " Are there any Federal soldiers in here?" they demanded. " None," was the reply. "Well, get out, all of you," said the guerillas. The stage had for passengers, James H. Waugh, sheriff of Boone County ; John M. Samuel, ex-sheriff; Henry Keene, Boyle Gordon, Lewis Sharp, Columbus Hickam, Lafayette Hume and Hon. James S. Rollins, the latter then the representative in Congress from this district, and nearly all of them on their way as delegates to the Democratic Congressional Convention at Mexico, before which Mr. Rollins and Gen. Odon Guitar were understood to be can- didates.

The passengers were questioned, inspected and robbed, in less time than it takes to write it. " What is your name?" was asked of each passenger. " My name is Smith," said Sheriff Waugh. "My name is Johnson, and I am a minister of the Methodist Church, South," said Maj. Rollins, " and I live a few miles south of Columbia." " My name is Samuel," replied John M., " and I have been arrested by the Federals, and graduated from Lynch's old nigger yard in St. Louis." " That's all right ; hand out your pocket books, all of you," demanded the robbers. Peyton Long, a lieutenant of Anderson's, and a desperate guerilla, whose home was in Clay County, and who- was afterwards killed, with Quantrell, in Kentucky, robbed Mr. Samuel. Two or three had Maj. Rollins in custody, and were ply- ing him with questious, which he skillfully answered. Two of the horses were taken from the stage and led away for use. There were Southern men and Union men in the stage, but all were insulted and robbed alike, at the point of the pistol. " We are Southern men and Confederate sympathizers ; you ought not to rob us," remonstrated one of the passengers. " What do we care ? Hell's full of all such Southern men. Why ain't you out fightin' ?" was the retort.

After taking what " plunder " there was in sight and what was surrendered to them, preparations were made to search the passen- gers thoroughly. Had this been done, Sheriff Waugh and Maj. Rollins would probably have been identified and murdered, unless held as hostages or for large ransom. Waugh had his pocket full of papers pertaining to his office, and Rollins would have been recog- nized by his name in indelible ink on his clothing, and by his letters

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and papers, as a loyal member of the hated Federal Congress. But, just as the search began, a cry arose : -

" THE TRAIN ! THE TRAIN ! YONDER COMES THE TRAIN !"

Away dashed the guerillas toward the depot, about 250 yards away. The passengers then wended their way toward Sneed's hotel, and to other supposed safe quarters in town. They all felt very nervous, but there was no manifestation of cowardice on the part of any of them.

An hour before the stage reached Centralia it had been stopped by J. G. Bruton, and the passengers informed of the presence of the bushwhackers in the vicinity. Some of the passengers wished to re- turn, but the driver (Joe Kelly ) said he was carrying the United States mail, and intended going on at all hazards. . All then agreed to go with him.

CAPTURING THE TRAIN.

About 11 : 30 A. M., the regular northern bound train from St. Louis, on the North Missouri Railroad, came in sight of Centralia. At that day trains were not run by telegraph, but by schedule. Following the passenger train out from Mexico was a gravel or construction train. The passenger train carried the mail and express, and there were three coaches. Conductor Overall was in charge of the train, on board of which were some railroad officials, Joseph Gamble, Belden, and another, and also twenty-three discharged and furloughed Federal soldiers, and fully one hundred and twenty-five other passengers, men, women and children.

When the train came up near town the engineer saw the guerillas and " slowed up," intending to run back to Mexico ; but he remem- bered that the gravel train was close behind him, and he knew a colli- sion would ensue, and as the track seemed clear ahead he thought he could, by putting on full steam, pass the station in safety. Accord- ingly he pulled open the throttle of his engine and started. But immediately some of Anderson's men behind the depot began pitch- ing ties and other obstructions on the track, others opened fire on the train, and a large squad that had hidden behind a store galloped out and began firing and shouting, as did the squad which had robbed the stage, whereupon the engineer stopped the train. The fireman was slightly wounded. Some revolver balls passed through the cars, but no one was hurt. No shots were fired from the train, and no resistance of any sort was attempted by any of

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the passengers or soldiers. The soldiers had no arms -only two cavalrymen having revolvers - and the citizens had few, if any, arms of any kind.

ROBBING THE TRAIN.

As soon as the train stopped it was boarded by the guerillas. The passengers were thoroughly frightened. " Those men are guer- illas! " shouted a soldier of the First Iowa Cavalry, when the train first slackened its speed. The news rapidly spread through the cars that the bushwhackers were in possession of Centralia and would soon have the life of every passenger at their mercy. A number of the guerillas, Anderson's lieutenant, Arch. Clements, at their head, . sprang on the train, crying out to the soldiers, " Surrender ! sur- render ! you are prisoners of war." The soldiers did this, some of them saying, " We can't help ourselves, for we are unarmed." Very soon after this the demeanor of the guerillas changed. They began . to curse and maltreat the soldiers, and to rob everybody on the train, men, women, and even children. Every guerilla had a pistol in his hand, and occasionally a shot was fired. Pocket books, watches, knives, rings, bracelets, ear-rings, trinkets, clothing, and various other articles, were taken from the passengers. Many of the soldiers were stripped of their uniforms to their underwear, and the blue clothing donned by those of the guerillas who were wearing apparel of other hues. The express car was entered by a squad led by Anderson him- self. The express messenger delivered up his keys, the safe was opened, and about $3,000 taken therefrom. A much larger sum was left unnoticed, for just as it was about to be discovered a cry came from Long, Frank James, and others, in the baggage-car : " Good God ! Here's thousands of greenbacks ! Whoopee ! Run here, quick !" A valise had been broken open containing, it is said, $10,000, but doubtless this amount was largely exaggerated. At any rate, the men in the express car left it and entered the baggage car. Every valise and trunk was broken open and the contents tumbled out. The train men, conductor, engineer, brakemen, and all, were robbed of their watches and pocket books, and some of them of their rings and breastpins.

The scene, as described by the citizens who witnessed it, and by the passengers and the guerillas, was terrible and horrible. The guerillas were shouting and cursing ; brandishing pistols and threatening every- body ; the women and children were crying, sobbing and moaning. The men among the passengers spoke but few words or not at all.

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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

The stripped and unarmed Federal soldiers bore themselves well. Although jostled and kicked about by their captors, insulted and struck in the face with pistols, they uttered not a word.

SOLDIERS MARCHED IN LINE TO BE SHOT.

At last Anderson gave the command to have the soldiers taken to the south side of the railroad and formed in line. The passengers were ordered to leave the train, and they huddled in groups about the grounds adjoining, clinging to each other, and not daring to leave without permission. A few, seemingly stupefied or paralyzed with horror, remained in the cars, some of them crouching beneath the seats.

THE MASSACRE OF THE SOLDIERS.

There were twenty-four men on the train who " wore the blue," but only twenty-three of them were or had been soldiers. One man, a German from St. Louis, wore a blue blouse and a soldier's cap, both rather old and dingy, which he had probably picked up about the camps near the city. As stated, he was a German, and was thought to be a Jew. He spoke English so imperfectly that he could with difficulty make himself understood. He was not a soldier and never had been one, but he was believed to be a soldier, and was, therefore, marched across the railroad track and made to take a place in the line with the others.

" What are you going to do with them fellows?" Arch. Clements asked Anderson, alluding to the soldiers, who stood tremblingly in line. " Parole them, of course," returned Anderson, with an ironical and sardonical emphasis on the word " parole." With a laugh, Clem- ents rejoined : "I thought so. You might pick out two or three, though," he added, "and exchange them for Cave, if you can." (He referred to Cave Wyatt, a sergeant of Anderson's company, who had been wounded in a fight in Carroll County, and was reported to be a prisoner in the hands of the Federals at Columbia. ) " Oh, one will be enough for that," Anderson replied. "Arch., you take charge of the firing party, and, when I give the word, pour hell into them." . Then Anderson rode to the line, which was drawn up across the street and near the store, a few yards from the railroad, where Anthony's livery stable now stands, on the corner west of Roberts' Hotel. When within a few feet of the Federal prisoners, he ad- dressed them almost pleasantly : " Boys, is there a sergeant among you?" There were three or four men of that rank in the line, but

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no man spoke. "I say, is there a sergeant in this line?" he re- peated ; " if there is, let him step out." Whereupon Sergeant Thos. M. Goodman, of Col. Flad's First Regiment, Missouri Engineers, five days from his regiment, then at Atlanta, Ga., stepped to the front, looking the guerilla chieftain squarely in the eye. The prisoners, Goodman, included, believed that the sergeants were to be taken out and shot, and the remainder of them released ; but to one who knew Tom Goodman, it would be no marvel that he should defy death. Moreover, he had been robbed of his coat by a guerrilla who stood near with the garment on, bearing the chevron of a sergeant of en- gineers, and this man moved towards Anderson, as if to point out Goodman. Anderson then directed two of his men, Hime ( or Hiram ) Litton and Richard Ellington, to take charge of the prisoner and re- move him to a place of safety, and to protect him. Accordingly, he was taken to the rear, behind a small stable.

THE BLOODY WORK BEGINS.

And now Arch. Clements began to carry out Anderson's orders, and to " pour hell " into the prisoners. Probably twenty-five men opened on the doomed line with revolvers at twenty paces. Expert pistol shots as they were, many of the guerillas missed their aim. A dozen of the prisoners, shot through the brain or the heart, fell dead at the first volley. Others screamed and staggered about with a hand pressed to their wounds until, shot again and again, they tum- bled lifeless to the ground. One man, Sergeant Peters, of the Mis- . souri Engineers, Goodman's regiment, a man of herculean stature, stripped to his shirt and drawers, was shot five times through the body, and yet knocked the guerillas right and left, broke through the line, and, with the blood spouting from his wounds, succeeded in reaching the depot and crawling under the platform, which was raised some feet above the ground.

Others wandered about, stunned and bleeding, and in their agony staggered against the very muzzles of the revolvers of the guerillas. One or two started for the railroad, and fell dead within a few feet of it. Some cried, "O, God, have mercy !" but the most of them merely groaned and moaned in the most agonizing manner. The poor German whined pitifully as he expired.

Sergeant Peters was dragged from under the depot platform and given the finishing touch, as it were, with a bullet through the brain. He sank back seemingly a corpse, but in a short time raised up, rested

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himself on his left elbow, extended his right arm, with the fist clenched, towards heaven, held it in that position a moment, then muttered, " My Lord," sank down and died with his head on his arm, as a little child goes to sleep. One man lay flat on his back, with his hands clinched tightly in the short grass. Another lay with one bullet-hole over the eye, another in his face, a third in his breast. He was unconscious, his eyes were closed, he did not moan, but, with a sort of spasmodic motion, he dragged his right heel on the ground, back and forth, back and forth. " He's marking time," said Arch. Clements, jocosely.

The passengers and citizens who were witnesses of these dreadful scenes were stricken almost dumb with horror. The women did little else than cry and pray. The men wandered about in a dazed way, trying to get farther from Centralia. The passengers who had come in the Columbia stage were in a perilous plight. Major Rollins was hid in the garret or attic story of Sneed's Hotel from a window of which he witnessed the bloody work. The other passengers were scattered about in what they deemed to be safe places. The depot and platform had been set on fire. One of Anderson's men came upon some citizens, among whom were Sheriff Waugh and Dr. Sneed, and directed them to go over to the side track and push a car of salt be- longing to Columbia merchants down to the burning depot, that it too might be destroyed. With alacrity they obeyed. As they were going over Dr. Sneed took the Sheriff's tell-tale papers from him and secreted them on his own (the doctor's) person. " May we go on to Sturgeon?" asked some of the railroad passengers of Anderson. " Go on to hell, for all I care," returned the chieftain.

THE TRAIN FIRED AND STARTED UP THE ROAD.

Preparations were now made by the guerillas for leaving the scene of their atrocity. The two forward cars of the train were set on fire, and the engineer was ordered to jump off and " let her go." The obstructions were removed and the engineer obeyed orders. He had the boldness and presence of mind, however, to start his pumps and lower his fires so that the engine would run only a short distance when the steam would be exhausted. Away went the train, the front cars ablaze and the whistle blowing. It ran, however, but two and a half miles west of Centralia, or on the northwest quarter of section 7, township 51, range 11, when it stopped, and all of the coaches were burned. . Some citizens were near when it burned, but were unable or

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afraid to put out the fire, or even to uncouple or push out of danger the cars that had not taken fire. Some of the men had been passen- gers on the train when it reached Centralia, and had gotten out of town in some manner, and were on their way to Sturgeon. Before the train left Centralia, but after it had been set on fire, Mr. Thos. S. Sneed went through the cars and in one of them found a woman and three children. They were pale and speechless. Mr. Sneed urged them to leave the car, and explained that the train would shortly be destroyed by fire. The poor creatures then left, overcome with fright and crying and sobbing.

Subsequently the gravel train came in, and ran on a side track and it was captured and burned, some of the machinery of the engine broken, and the train men robbed. The engine of the passenger train was not materially injured. Some thousands of dollars in the express car, overlooked by the guerillas, were destroyed in the conflagration.

THE GUERILLAS LEAVE CENTRALIA FOR THEIR CAMP.

With cheers and shouts, or rather yells and screams, the guerillas now began to depart for camp. The prisoner, Goodman, was mounted on a mule and taken along. Every one of the guerillas had " plunder " of some kind, and many of them had a good deal - greenbacks, gold watches, jewelry, etc. The boots full of whisky were tied to- gether and hung over the horses' necks, or carried by the men in their arms. Much of it was spilled, of course, but enough was saved to make drunk a hundred or more of Todd's men at Singleton's. Goods were carried in front of the men, and strapped in bundles behind them. The route taken was substantially the same by which in the morning they entered the town. They rode away to the southeast two and a half miles, and were soon in camp, fraternizing with their comrades, and distributing whisky and boots and other spoils of victory among them.

SHERIFF WAUGH AND CONGRESSMAN ROLLINS.

Before leaving town, Anderson seemed to have discovered that Sheriff Waugh was the party calling himself Smith. He rode down in front of Sneed's Hotel. "If Mr. Smith is in the house," he said, " let him come out. I have found a check for $10,000 payable to him, and if he will come out I will give it to him." But " Mr. Smith " had lost no check, and it is doubtful if he would have " come out" if he had, since he suspicioned that the guerilla only meant to get him

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within range of his deadly revolver. Also, in some way, the presence of Major Rollins in the town was learned, for one of the guerillas said that a citizen had informed him that one of the stage passengers was a member of Congress. Anderson wanted to go back and search for him, but decided on reflection that this would be useless. "He would do to exchange for Cave Wyatt," he said ; but Peyton Long said, " You can get another man just as good as he is, without half the trouble."

The citizens and passengers wandered about and gazed on the corpses of the murdered soldiers with feelings to be imagined, but not described. They compared experiences and indulged in fearful fore- bodings of the future. The passengers expected to encounter the guerillas again, and the citizens knew that the Federal militia would soon be in Centralia, and perhaps would hold its citizens guilty of complicity in the visit of Anderson and his guerillas to the place with fire and sword.

NAMES, ETC., OF SOME OF THE MURDERED SOLDIERS.

As before stated, there were twenty-three soldiers on the train, but only twenty-two of them were killed. One, Sergt. Goodman, was saved. Twenty-three dead bodies lay on the ground, however, but the twenty-third was not the body of a soldier. The names, regi- ments and residences of some of the murdered soldiers have been ob- tained from Sergt. Goodman, and are here appended : -

Name.

Regiment.

Residence.

Edmund Pace

1st Missouri Engineers

Taylor County, Iowa.

James Mobley

1st Missouri Engineers.

Page County, Iowa.

Cass Rose.

1st Missouri Engineers.

Page County, Iowa.

Josiah Comer.

1st Missouri Engineers.

Nodaway County, Mo.

Chas. Hilterbridle

1st Missouri Engineers.

Nodaway County, Mo.

Sergeant Peters

1st Missouri Engineers.

Holt County, Mo.

James Thomas.

1st Missouri Engineers.

Buchanan County, Mo.

William H. Barnum

Co. F, 23d Iowa Infantry

Clarinda, Iowa.

As every man was robbed, no papers or other articles were found on the soldiers by which they could be identified. Not much effort was made, however, at identification, the bodies, in most instances, being allowed to lie where they had fallen until the next morning.

DEPOT BURNED.

The depot was soon burned down, and converted into a mass of smouldering embers and smoking timbers. The majority of the pas-

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sengers from the train set out for Sturgeon as soon, and in the best manner, possible. Some of them remained in the few houses in town, owing to the fact that all of the vehicles in the neighborhood had been engaged by others.

Why had Anderson and his company come upon Centralia that morning, while all the rest of the guerillas remained behind ? Early in the morning he told Todd and Thrailkill that a reconnaissance in the direction of Sturgeon was advisable, to note if the Federals were or had been about, and as Centralia was on the road it could easily be visited. If the information obtained at Centralia was satisfactory he need go no farther, but could halt, capture the stage and train and return to camp. If he came upon Federals he was to fight them and fall back towards the main camp, if necessary .. If he could ascertain that Columbia could easily be captured, the attempt was to be made. A picket of Thrailkill's men was stationed near Young's Creek bridge on the railroad, to take observations, but with instructions not to in- terfere with the track or trains. This picket or another (it is not cer- tain ) moved up westward in sight of Centralia, so that if troops came in on cars and disembarked they could be seen and their movements reported.

ARRIVAL OF MAJ. JOHNSON'S COMMAND.

At about 3 P. M., the citizens of Centralia saw coming from the east, along the railroad toward the town, another considerable military force dressed in blue. At first they were thought to be another de- tachment of guerillas, but they were soon found to be a portion of the 39th Missouri Infantry Volunteers, under command of Maj. A. V. E. Johnson, the force heretofore mentioned, moving about between Mexico and Paris. The regiment was newly organized, and had been in service only about two weeks. On the 14th of September, Companies A and G, of the regiment, had arrived at Paris, and a week later Companies C and H. By orders from Col. E. A. Kutzner, of Scotland County, these companies were placed under command of Maj. Johnson, and mounted on horses and mules " pressed " from certain " disloyal" citizens of Monroe, Shelby and Marion Counties. These animals were of an inferior grade, most of them being old brood-mares and plow-horses, with some indiffer_ ent mules. The 39th Missouri was armed with Enfield muskets, muz- zle-loading guns, carrying an ounce ball and equipped with bayonets. There were no revolvers or sabers in the regiment, save those carried by the commissioned officers.

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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.

For some days, and at intervals, Johnson's battalion had been scouting in Monroe County. Once, as before stated, it had come up with Capt. Bryson's company of forty men near Santa Fe, Monroe County, and dispersed it, wounding Bryson and three or four of his men and taking one prisoner, Andrew Ewing. The next day it con- tinued the hunt for the fleeing Confederates, but failed to find them. Bryson's force learned from the citizens and by their own observation, how many men Johnson had, how they were armed, mounted, etc., and had conveyed this information to Anderson in the interview before narrated.

On the night of the 26th of September intelligence was brought to Paris, that Bill Anderson had entered the county from the west and was near Middle Grove. At ten o'clock P. M., Johnson mounted 147 of his men, detachments of Companies A, G, and H, and started in pursuit. Company A was from Adair County and was commanded by Capt. James A. Smith, with Edwin Darrow and Robt. Moore as Lieutenants. Company G was from Shelby county, commanded by Capt. Wm. Glover. On this occasion it was com- manded by First Lieutenant Thos. Jaynes, of Shelbyville. Com- pany H was commanded by Adam Theiss, of Hannibal, and was made up of recruits from Marion, Lewis, Shelby, and Monroe coun- ties. The lieutenants of this company were Frank B. Wray, of Lewis, and John E. Stafford, of Clark. The commissioned officers present with the command were Major Johnson, Captains Smith and Theiss, and Lieutenants Jaynes and Stafford. Company H had but 35 men on the expedition, with two wagons and one prisoner. The total number of men led by Johnson into Centralia was therefore 155, composed of 147 non-commissioned officers and privates, five officers, two teamsters, and one prisoner.

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History of Boone County, Missouri., Part 43

Author: Publication date: 1882 Publisher: St. Louis, Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 1220

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: St. Louis, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 1220