USA > Missouri > Clay County > History of Clay County, Missouri > Part 7
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An inventory of the property taken was made and consisted of three six-pound cannon, mounted on carriages, twelve unmounted iron cannon, five caissons, two wagons, two forges, a lot of equipment for artillery, 1,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, mostly canister and solid shot; 1,180 muskets, 250 rifles, 119 carbines, 100 pistols, 420 sabers, forty swords, 450,000 cartridges, 1,000 pounds of coarse powder, 1,550 pounds of fine or rifle powder. large quantity of cartridge boxes, belts, scabbards and sundry articles of military equipment for army use in great quantity. Large amount of the powder was hidden in various parts of the county, in hay stacks and hay lofts, but the greater part of which reached those for whose use it was intended, the Confederates.
The first Monday following the seizure the circuit court was in session. The court took a recess in order that a political meeting could be held in the court room. The meeting assembled in great numbers. Hon. Samuel H. Woodson delivered an eloquent and impassioned address in favor of Missouri taking her stand with her sister southern states-a secession speech. He was followed by Aaron Conrow, of Ray ; Dr. G. M. B. Maughs, of Jackson; John E. Pitt, of Platte; John T. Hughes, of Clinton; J. H. Adams, G. S. Withers, J. C. C. Thornton and J. W. Gillispie, of Clay. A fine secession flag was raised amid the cheers of the multitude. Resolu- tions were passed unanimously condemning the President's call for troops
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and indorsing Gov. C. F. Jackson for his reply to the call of Mr. Lincoln. One resolution was, "That in the event there should be a new convention ordered, we pledge ourselves to support no man for delegate for said con- vention who will not aver himself a Southern Rights man and that we will use all honorable means for the immediate secession of Missouri". A few months previous Clay County was enthusiastically for the main- tenance of the Union; now that a call had been made to make war on Southern states, Clay County must give expression of its hostility to such a course and its willingness to secede from the Union. Only a very few of the better class of the people of the county did not declare themselves in favor of secession. A meeting of those opposed to secession was held the day following. Dr. William A. Morton was chairman. Colonel Doni- phan and Col. James H. Moss delivered eloquent speeches. Doniphan de- clared he was still for the Union, but that he could not take part in the war. Moss pleaded for the Union. Resolutions were adopted claiming "that secession was no remedy for an evil, and asserting that the true policy of Missouri at present is to maintain an independent position within the Union, holding her soil and institutions against invasion or hostile interference from any quarter".
Companies of men were organized in various parts of the county. A company of "South-Rights" men was organized in Liberty with Henry L. Routt, as captain and L. S .. Talbott, George W. Morris and John W. Gil- lispie as lieutenants. At Smithville a company was formed with Theodore Duncan as captain and J. E. Brooks, William Davenport and P. M. Savery, as lieutenants. In the northeast part of the county a company was officered by Prof. L. M. Lewis as captain and G. W. Mothershead, M. D. Scruggs, Richard Laffoon, as lieutenants. In Gallatin township another company was organized with G. W. Crowley, captain, Amos Stout and R. H. Stout, lieutenants. Just west of Kearney, at Gilead, a company for "home defense" was organized of which O. H. Harris was captain; W. W. Smith and Samuel Henderson were lieutenants and Tapp Soper orderly. Another company at Liberty was organized, O. P. Moss, captain; James H. Moss, William G. Garth and John Dunn, lieutenants. With the ex- ception of the company of which O. P. Moss was captain were armed with arms from the Liberty arsenal. These various companies did not all re- main intact. Some of them were broken up and the men joined other companies and served in the Confederate cause. Camp Jackson, near St.
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Louis was captured by General Lyon and E. P. Blair, Jr. This was a camp of Missouri State Guards, under the command of Gen. D. M. Frost. Directly thereafter the Missouri Legislature passed the famous "military bill". Governor Jackson immediately ordered several companies of the Missouri State Guard to come to the capital for its defense. Captain Routt's company from Liberty and Capt. Theodore Duncan from Smith- ville left for Jefferson City in obedience to orders, but only remained a few days, returning to their respective homes. On the 15th day of June, 1861, by orders of the governor, Capts. Routt, Duncan and Mothershead, with their companies, crossed the Missouri River at Blue Mills Landing and joined the forces under Col. Richard H. Weightman, who were in camp on the Lexington road a few miles east of Independence. Some history states that on this date a fight had ensued on Rock Creek, two miles west of Independence, between the Missouri State Guards under the command of Col. Hollaway and some regular army forces under the command of Lieutenant Stanley. No such conflict ever occurred. Colonel Holloway's men were in camp west of Independence, when receiving information that a large force of Federals had left Kansas City with the intention of attack- ing the State Guards, Colonel Holloway made preparations for defense and when the Federals approached the camp of the State Guard, Colonel Hollo- way observed that a white flag was being carried at the head of the Fed- eral column; riding toward the Federals, Colonel Holloway was accident- ally shot, mortally wounded, by one of his own men. Some one had acci- dentally shot his gun off, which the rank and file of Holloway's men thought was a signal to fire, when there was a general fusillade from the State Guard, mortally wounding the commanding officer, Colonel Holloway, and Bud McClanahan and slightly wounding Samuel Ralston. The Fed- erals did not fire a gun but returned with the least disorder to Kansas City. While in camp east of Independence, Capt. Theodore Duncan was shot and mortally wounded, dying from the wound a few days later and was buried in Liberty. At the time Colonel Holloway was wounded he was acting instead of Brig. Gen. James S. Rains, the commander of that military division of the state, and had for his aids-de-camp, John W. Henry, afterwards judge of Supreme Court, Shrewsberry Darneal, Bud McClanahan and William H. Woodson, all citizens of Independence.
Lieut. Colonel Weightman marched the State Guard to Lexington, where General Rains assumed command of the troops gathered at that
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place. In the meantime other companies were being organized in Clay County. Capt. Thomas McCarty organized a company of infantry, with Alexander J. Calhoun, J. C. Vertress and R. P. Evans as lieutenants. This company started for Lexington, June 17th. Within a week four other companies from Clay County were on the road to Lexington-Captain Tal- bott's, Captain Holt's, Captain Mothershead's and Captain Crowley's. Captain Talbott succeeded Captain Routt in command of the "Rangers", Routt being elected to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
The Federal forces under Lyons and Sturgis had a fight at Boonville with the State Guards, compelling the latter to retreat to Lexington and other places southwest of Boonville. These Missourians were compelled to still further retreat toward the southern part of the state, but were inter- cepted near Carthage on the 5th day of July by a large force of Federals under command of Gen. Franz Sigel. A battle was fought, resulting in the defeat of the Federals. In this battle, Captain McCarty's company had one man killed, Albert (Dink) Withers. On the 10th day of August, the greatest, most stubbornly and sanguinary battle on Missouri soil dur- ing the war between the states was fought at Wilson's Creek. The follow- ing men from Clay County under General Price were killed: Sergts. A. W. Marshall, John W. Woods and Amos Stout; privates David Morris, John Grant (cousin of Gen. U. S. Grant), and Richard Cates. The wounded were: Capt. Thomas McCarty, seriously, and Lieut. Theodore K. Gash, James Miller, J. B. Winn, C. S. Stark, Richard Talbott, William Hymer and L. B. Thompson, more or less severely. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, the com- mander-in-chief of the Federal forces was killed and his army defeated. Gen. Samuel Sturgis succeeded to the command and retreated to Spring- field and from that place to Rolla. This victory gave great encourage- ment to the people of Southern sympathy and greatly stimulated by the Federal defeats at Carthage and Wilson's Creek, many rushed to enlist before the war should be over. The Federals in the western part of the state kept remarkably quiet for quite awhile as the Confederates passed to and from Price's army with no "one to molest or make them afraid".
Clay County formed a part of Gen. A. E. Stein's military division of the state. This commander issued in August a proclamation calling upon men to enlist in his army to drive from the state the Northerners who had invaded it, which was not without results. Men were organized into com- panies and regiments in Stein's division which was in Northwest part of
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the state. Colonel Saunders from the extreme northwest Missouri, com- manded a regiment and other regiments were organized, ready for im- mediate service. Col. John H. Winston, of Platte County, organized a regiment. A considerable force under the command of Col. Henry L. Routt, were encamped near Lexington. Colonel Mulligan, a Federal com- mander with a large force had taken the Old Masonic College building at Lexington in possession and had thrown up entrenchments. The South- erners determined to capture this officer and his army if possible. To this end the two above mentioned regiments hastened to Lexington. In Clay County, Capt. L. B. Dougherty commanded a company, with James A. Gillispie and L. A. Robertson, as lieutenants. Capt. John S. Groom and Capt. Peter C. Pixlee had also organized companies. These Clay County soldiers also repaired to Lexington, for the news had reached them that Gen. Sterling Price was marching on Lexington from Springfield. The regularly organized companies from Clay County which participated in the siege of Lexington and assisted in the capture of 2,800 Federals under Colonel Mulligan, who surrendered September 20th, were those of Captain Pixlee, Captain Groom, Capt. Gideon Thompson, L. B. Dougherty and Cap- tain Mothershead. Other men from Clay County participated in the siege, but were attached to other commands.
The Missourians from northwest concentrated at St. Joseph for their march to Lexington, and on their march to Lexington were joined by the regiment of Colonel Winston, numbering about 3,500 men, most of them mounted, and the baggage train numbered over sixty wagons. They had three cannon, two six-pounders and one nine-pounder. The Federal com- mander of the northwest part of the state was fully aware of the move- ment of these Missouri troops and determined to prevent them from cross- ing the Missouri River and augmenting the force confronting Mulligan at Lexington. This Federal commander from the northwest rushed troops from all quarters toward Blue Mills Landing, for that was the point where the Missouri troops expected to cross the river. Colonel Winston's regi- ment without interference crossed the river. At Liberty, Colonel Saun- dures receiving information that Federal troops were near and he was likely to be attacked, rapidly marched his forces in the direction of Blue Mill Landing. The Federals also were alert; they too hurried toward the Landing Before the Missourians could reach the crossing, messengers apprised the commander of the close proximity of the enemy. Colonel
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Saunders secreted a large number of his men behind an embankment of a slough for at least a quarter of a mile just west of the farm of John Beau- champ, about four miles south of Liberty. Thick underbrush between the embankment and the road prevented the Federals from observing their enemy who were in complete ambuscade. The Federals marched gaily along ; suddenly a terrific fire was opened upon them from the guns of the State Guards with disastrous results. The advantage was with the State Guards from the start to the close, which was of short duration, as the Federals being taken by surprise fled in haste and disorder back to Liberty. The Missourians crossed the river that day and marched to Lexington without being further hindered or molested. That night the Federals visited the field and removed nearly all their wounded. The next day they were all brought back to Liberty and taken to the William Jewell College building, which was improvised into a hospital for their accommodation. The dead, consisting of fourteen in number, were buried on the College grounds. The wounded were about eighty.
To give the reader some idea of reports of battles in those days made by officers whose duty it was to make reports of engagements, we here give reports of the killed and wounded in this affair. Colonel Saunders, commander of State Guards, in his report, dated September 21, 1861, states that he had one man killed and seventeen wounded and that the Federals admitted a loss of 150 to 200 killed, wounded and missing. Lieut .- Col. John Scott, of the 3rd Iowa Volunteers, commanding the Fed- erals, states in his report, dated Liberty, September 18, 1861, "The loss of the enemy can not be certainly ascertained, but from accounts deemed reliable, is not less than 160, many of whom were killed". The colonel in his report does not state the loss of the Federals, but states, "I have to regret the loss of a number of brave officers and men who fell gallantly fighting at their posts. I refer to the enclosed list of killed and wounded as a part of this report."
Governor C. F. Jackson having been driven from Jefferson City, called the legislature to meet in Neosho on the 26th of October and on the 28th, an ordinance of secession was passed by both houses. In the Senate, only one vote was cast against the ordinance, that of Charles H. Hardin, then senator from Boone and Callaway district and afterwards governor of the state and in the House only one vote cast against the ordinance, that of Shambaugh, of Dekalb County. The Congress of the Confederacy at Rich-
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mond, Virginia, approved of this ordinance annexing of the people of Mis- souri with the Southern Confederacy.
Our citizens were greatly surprised on one Sunday early in Decem- ber, 1861. to find a large body of soldiers under the command of Gen. B. M. Prentiss, of the regular United States army come into Liberty, where they remained until the Tuesday following. During their stay numbers of per- sons of Confederate proclivities were arrested and forced to take the oath of loyalty to the Federal government. When this general departed with his troops, returning to Leavenworth, he carried with him Judge James C. ' Vertrees, judge of the Probate Court, J. J. Moore, deputy sheriff, James H. Ford, constable, and about a dozen other prominent citizens.
Missouri state government was reorganized by ordinance of the State Convention, with Hamilton R. Gamble as provisional governor, Willard P. Hall, as lieutenant-governor, and Mordecai Oliver as secretary of state. It required all county officers and almost all other civil officers of the state to take an oath of loyalty to the State and National Government, which was generally deemed not improper, but there were many obnoxious pro- visions in the oath which a great many officers in the state would not take or subscribe to. Judge W. Dunn, of the Clay County Circuit Court refused to subscribe to the oath and ex-governor A. King was appointed his stead. D. C. Allen, circuit attorney, would not take and subscribed to the oath. and D. P. Whitmer, of Ray County, became his successor. A. J. Calhoun, the circuit clerk, subscribed to the oath.
In March, 1862, a man claiming to be a Confederate officer, named Parker, with a few men came into Liberty and held the place for part of a day. Captain Hubbard, a recruiting officer for the United States govern- ment, with about ten men, were in a house of old man Grady, which was located on the northwest corner of Kansas and Leonard streets, in Liberty. Hubbard and his men were attacked and forced to surrender to Parker after a fight of an hour or two. No lives lost.
After Parker's victorious achievement, for months peace and quiet prevailed in our county, but was marred by the coming into the county of one Col. William R. Pennick with his regiment of men, principally from northwest Missouri-some were from Kansas. Penick was a resident of St. Joseph; he was of Southern birth and rearing, a native of Boone County, Missouri, a slave holder. Penick and his men were stationed in Liberty practically the whole summer. When they were gone, no set of
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men ever left a community having less benedictions for their future wel- fare and happiness.
After about one year's service, such as it was, Penick's regiment was disbanded, as the order said, "in view of the interests of the public service".
The leader of the conservative Union men of northwest Missouri was Col. James H. Moss, brother of Capt. Oliver P. Moss, a brother-in-law of Hon. John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky. It was Colonel Moss and the men of his regiment, composed of men from Clay and Platte Counties, who did more than all other agencies combined from 1862 to the end of the war between the states, to protect Clay and Platte Counties from marauders, thieves and villains, military and otherwise. In September, 1862, the companies of enrolled militia in Clay and Platte were organized into a regi- ment denominated the Forty-eighth Regiment: Colonel, James H. Moss ; lieutenant-colonel, Nathaniel Grant; C. J .White, adjutant; William T. Reynolds, quartermaster; Dr. William A. Morton, surgeon, all of Clay. By reason of the very large reduction in numbers of this regiment by re- movals from the state and other causes, this regiment was disbanded in November, 1863. Colonel Moss retaining his commission, was instructed to reorganize effective militia of Clay, Clinton and Platte Counties, which he accordingly did and into a regiment, Eighty-second Enrolled Missouri, better known as the "Paw-Paw" militia: Colonel, James H. Moss; lieu- tenant-colonel, Nathaniel Grant, both of Clay; major, John M. Clark, of Platte. A book of no small dimensions could be truthfully written, giving a history of this command during the trying times from the time of its organization to the end of the war. Its combats with thieves and "Red Legs" alone, depicted, would be a long and interesting narrative. Espec- ially next to Colonel Moss, due credit would be given to Capt. John S. Thomason, of Clay, and Davis Johnson, of Platte, and great praise, not a modicum, to Maj. John M. Clark. It was this command that prevented Clay and Platte from being laid waste by vandals from our neighboring state of Kansas, as Jackson, Cass and a part of Bates Counties were de- spoiled about this period of the war by these same vandals.
On the 19th of May, 1863, a body of armed men, under the command of one Fernando Scott, who crossed the river at Sibley several days be- fore, made a raid into Missouri City. An account of which was published in the Liberty Tribune is as follows:
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"One of the residents of Missouri City came in and reported to Capt. Darius Sessions of the enrolled militia, or Lieutenant Gravenstein, of the Twenty-fifth Missouri Volunteers, that he noticed two or three suspicious characters lurking about a short distance below that place. The captain and lieutenant with not more than three or four men-all we suppose they could muster at the time for duty-went out on a scout and had not proceeded far before they were fired upon from the brush by a body of men at least three or four times their number. Finding their little force inadequate, they were compelled to beat a hasty retreat in a somewhat northerly direction. They were, however, hotly pursued by the bush- whackers. Captain Sessions was shot dead, several bullets, it is said, entering his body. Lieutenant Gravenstein, finding his pursuers gaining on him and escape about hopeless, turned and offered to surrender, but was killed on the spot without mercy. A private of the Twenty-fifth Mis- souri, who was wounded in the arm, found by a citizen and brought into Missouri City, was cruelly fired upon by several of these outlaws as they came rushing into town-neither his helpless condition nor the humane attentions of those around him dressing his wound, could save him. He was still alive when last heard from, but his recovery is deemed hopeless. The ruffians broke into James Reed's store, forced open his safe, took therefrom some $170 or $180 in gold, destroyed all his valuable papers and other property. They also plundered and did considerable damage to Mr. B. W. Nowlin's store and after charging about for some time in a threatening manner, departed to the woods below the city.
"These men, those of them who came into the city, were under the leadership of Scott, a saddler who lived in Liberty some years ago, but for the past four or five years has resided in Jackson County. He is a native of Ohio. George Todd, it is said, was at hand with another squad. Their pickets were seen early Wednesday morning on the bluff above the lower part of Missouri City. The number of guerrillas altogether was sixteen, although at first they were supposed to number a much larger force.
"Captain Garth, with what forces he could hastily gather up, immedi- ately went in pursuit but did not succeed in capturing any of them. In the absence of the militia, the citizens of Liberty turned out en masse to defend the town and it was done with a willingness and a "vim" that
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plainly indicated that the bushwhackers had but few, if any, sympathizers in Liberty.
"The bushwhackers were all from Jackson and other counties but three-Vondivere, Easton and James-all of whom were of Clay. Vandi- vere boasted in the streets of Missouri City that he killed Captain Sessions because he reported on him and wouldn't let him stay at home. The rascals, when firing on the wounded man in town, declared that when any of their men were captured they were killed and that they intended to do the same-that they asked nor gave quarter.
Mr. Benjamin Soper, residing some eight or ten miles north of Lib- erty, reported to headquarters on Thursday that fourteen of the above squad took possession of his farm, stationing out pickets and notifying him and his family that they were prisoners and not to leave the place. That they remained all one day and on leaving took one of his best horses and warned him it would not be good for any of his family to be caught from home that night."
During the summer of 1865, Clay County was badly infested with bushwhackers, lawless soldiers and other disreputable characters, keeping peaceable and law abiding citizens in almost constant fear of losing lives and property. So great was the disturbed condition of affairs that it was deemed by the county court unsafe to attempt the collection of the county revenue in the usual manner and in the time prescribed by law, that the court by a special order of record required all tax payers of the county who had not paid their taxes up to the time of the order, July 8, 1863, be notified and enjoined to repair as soon as practicable to the office of the sheriff and ex-officio collector of the revenue, Francis R. Long, at the court house, in the city of Liberty, and pay their taxes to said collector or his deputies, and, unless they promptly respond to the order, the court will not be compelled as an act of justice to the state, the county, and the brave militia faithfully serving the cause of law and loyalty, and said col- lector either to call into requisition the services of said militia to enable said officers to collect said taxes or to order said defaulting tax payers to be returned as delinquents.
The troubles in Clay County were greatly augmented by the issuance of the celebrated order of Gen. Thomas Ewing, known as "Order No. 11", the result of which was the depopulation of the counties of Jackson, Cass and a part of Bates, except certain towns and cities in said order desig-
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nated, which order, practically left the country districts of these counties open to all crimes, murder, arson, petty and grand larceny, in fine the whole catalogue of crimes. Hordes of men, many of them claiming to be soldiers from Kansas overrun this territory effected by Order No. 11; killing men, robbing and burning houses, driving off horses, mules and cattle, loading wagons with household and kitchen furniture, leaving in their wake absolute desolation. In retaliation for these acts, a consider- able force of young men, the large majority of whom were the sons and relatives of those who had been murdered or plundered, whose houses had been burned or property stolen, went to Lawrence, Kansas, and there com- mitted what is known as the "Lawrence Massacre", committing murders and other atrocious crimes. Many farmers in the counties effected by this infamous order, instead of going to the places designated in the order, fled from their homes and sought a refuge elsewhere, many of them com- ing to Clay County. The men, with their families, who came to our county, were quiet inoffensive citizens, not connected with either the Fed- eral or Confederate army-non-combatants. The military authorities then in Clay County greeted these refugees with this order:
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