USA > Missouri > Cooper County > History of Howard and Cooper counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages : together with a condensed history of Missouri, a reliable and detailed history of Howard and Cooper counties-- its pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens, general and local statistics of great value, incidents and reminiscences > Part 26
USA > Missouri > Howard County > History of Howard and Cooper counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages : together with a condensed history of Missouri, a reliable and detailed history of Howard and Cooper counties-- its pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens, general and local statistics of great value, incidents and reminiscences > Part 26
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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Remember and vote for the union! Remember that disunion means war, civil and servile war. Then by the thought of all of war's tremendous horrors, by the thought of outraged women and murdered children, burning homes, of a desolated country, of a ruined race, save the union! Take, then, our flag, and with it take our highest hopes, our heartfelt prayers for the union. By the memory of the day when its starry folds were first unrolled to the winds of
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heaven, proclaiming to the world that a nation was born, guard our flag! By the memory of our ancestors, who stood by it for seven long years in many a hard fought field, in want, in cold, in pesti- lence, in famine, gnard onr flag ! By the memory of the all cloudless glory of Washington, who, in death, left the union a sacred bequest in charge to his conntrymen, guard our flag! By the memory of Bunker Hill, where hanghty England first learned that American arms were wielded by a nation's heart, guard our flag! By the memory of Jackson and his heroic band, who saved the Crescent City, gnard our flag ! By the memory of the unconquered, the un- conquerable hearts
" Who scorned to yield, On Buena Vista's bloody field."
By the memory of those who sleep beneath the walls of Monterey, guard our flag ! Theme of the poet ! hope of the exile ! refuge of the oppressed ! signal of civilization and progress ! type and pledge of the freedom and union of all lands! Go! flag of our country, onr whole country ! To faithful hands, to fearless hearts we commit thee ! Once more unfurl thy radiant colors ! Let not one star grow dim ! Let not one glowing tint grow pale ! But, high above the storms of faction, triumphant over every unworthy strife, still float on ! And, for ages to come, yes, to the eyes of all future generations "The star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."
There was a similar presentation of a flag at Glasgow on the evening of the 6th of February, 1861, Miss Bettie C. Jackson making the presentation address.
Mr. Shackelford still has the flag ( 1883).
Union sentiments continned to predominate in Howard county until the surrender of Camp Jackson, after which time the people began to change their views in reference to the war which had been inaugurated, and boldly avowed their determination to nite with their brethern of the south in resisting coercion upon the part of the government.
HOWARD COUNTY DURING THE WAR OF 1861.
Compared to many other counties in Missouri, Howard county suffered but little during the war. The border counties suffered the most, especially those lying on the southwestern boundary, including Jackson, Cass and Bates. These counties coming specifically within the jurisdiction of General Ewing's order No. 11, they were almost wholly given up to pillage, and, in many localities, to the torch - notably was this the case in Bates county, where but a few honses were left standing at the close of the war. No large battles were fought in Howard, nor were her citizens subjected to any
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
very great privations at the hands of the soldiery from either army, nor were they generally greatly molested by the robbers and cut- throats who took the advantage of the country's condition of war, to indulge their thieving and murderous propensities.
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS, OFFICERS AND PRIVATES.
We have no accurate means of knowing the number of men who entered the Confederate army from Howard county .. The number could have not been less than 1,500 men, from the beginning of the war to its close. It is supposed from the best information that can now be obtained, that between 500 and 700 men joined General Sterling Price while on his last raid through this portion of the state. These soldiers were composed of all classes and ages, from men of three score years to the mere stripling of fifteen. Probably not more than one-third of the entire number who entered the army remained until its close, or did the duty of a soldier for any considerable length of time.
We have made every effort that we could to get the names of these soldiers, but failed, except as to a portion of them, which we have classed under the heads of officers aud privates.
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS. Officers.
John B. Clark, Sr., brig .- general ; Hugh Stewart, captain ; John B. Clark, Jr., brig .- general ; J. L. Calaway, lieutenant ; James H. Finks, major ; William Merick, major ; H. Q. Martin, captain ;
Stephen Cooper, colonel ; H. H. Hughes, major ; G. H. Willis, captain ; Robert H. Walden, 1st lieutenant ; Thomas Turner, captain ; William O. Keeble, 2d lieutenant ; Abe Hayter, lieutenant ; Joseph Richards, lieutenant ; Sid. B. Cunningham, ensign ; C. D. Holtzclaw, captain ; William Holtzclaw, lieutenant ; Jack Cooper, captain ; John Cooper, lieutenant ; Congrieve Jackson, colonel ;
Frank Hargis, sergeant ; Garris Allen, lieutenant ; William Todd, captain ; Eugene Todd, lieutenant ; Thomas Todd, captain ; William B. Strode, captain ; Calvin Sartin, lieutenant ; William F. Cunningham, captain ; William C. Boon, surgeon ; August Elgin, captain ; Tip. Elgin, lieutenant ;
Benjamin Clark, lieutenant ; Hays Farris, captain ; James A. Walden, lieutenant ; L. B. Cooper, lieutenant ;
Layton Mansfield, lieutenant ; Virginia Leland, sergeant ; Thomas Howard, captain ; James Chorn, captain ;
Samuel Morrison, captain ; Jolın M. Hickey, captain ;
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
Joseph Green, captain ; B. M. McCraig, captain ; John Robertson, lieutenant ; James Cason, captain ;
Q. Cary, captain ; George Stapleton, surgeonl ; Dr. McGirk, surgeon.
C. B. Harris, Thomas B. Brooks, Brack Brown, John Brown, William Brown, J. K. Moss, Silas Moser, Tip. Ditzler, G. Settle, F. G. Canole, M. V. Sims, Elijah Sims, G. W. Knox, Benjamin Ray, James Ray, Captain Brooks, James Jordan, G. H. Jordan, Nick Jeter, Wilton Robertson, Neriah Brashear, William W. Hancock, Samuel Ray, Uriah Breashear, Alfred Gleary, Oliver Bailey, George Eaton, John Turner, E. W. Turner, William Wilkerson, N. B. Hughes, Robert Ainsworth, Parkinson Hocker, James Hocker, William Hocker, George Carson, Stephen Carson, James Todd, James Richards, William E. Walden, Barl. Harris, John Watkins,
Privates.
Enoch Crews, B. Scott, John Kile,
Nero Thompson,
George Craig, D. W. Whitt,
John Phillips,
Caleb Thomas,
John D. Craven,
Z. Yates,
Given Johnson,
Thomas Farmer,
Robert Hughes, Clint Calaway,
A. McCraig, Hardin Harris,
Mack. Wilcox,
John Holtzclaw,
Benjamin Holtzclaw,
James Holtzclaw,
Robert Bobbitt,
John Rosson,
Milton Elkin,
John Moore,
John A. Walden,
Sarshall Cooper,
C. J. Walden,
H. C. Tindall, Charles Cunningham,
J. P. McCraig, Ezekiel Harris, John Thurman, William H. Hardin, James Colvin, James Cooper, Walter Cooper, H. N. Kivett, Henry Wilkerson, James Ashcraft, C. S. Swearingen, Joseph Swearingen, John H. Cooper,
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
A. J. Howard,
Thomas P. Newman,
Thomas Worden, Coleman McCraig, Richard Pearce,
Frank Anderson, John Peyton, John S. Elliott, George Hackley, Patrick Allen,
John D. Taylor,
Thomas Creson,
James Creson, James Muir,
Townsend Wright,
George Kirby,
Patrick Woods,
George R. Kirby,
Henry Heberling,
David Wilson,
Turner Patterson,
Alfred Yeager,
Turner Williams,
Diek Childers,
Richard Enyard,
Shalen Ayers,
Joseph Cropp,
Brown Chancellor,
Thomas Grider,
William Hackley,
William Finney,
James Robertson,
James Linn,
Oliver Rose,
Lafayette Marens,
John Heberling,
James C. Heberling,
J. P. Witt, Joel Witt,
James R. Hickerson,
Henry Ditzler,
James Jackson,
Abe Bobbitt,
John Hackley,
Benjamin Ashbury,
John Finney, W. B. Miller,
William Linn,
George Mnir,
Benjamin Embree,
Frank Kirby, J. M. Moore,
A. F. Yeager, James Wiley,
Press. Walls, Robert Smith,
Jason Smith,
Alexander Dudgeon, Logan Shipp,
.John A. Woods, George Heberling. Alfred Silvey, L. Silvey, Leroy Silvey, James Silvey, Joseph E. George, Dick Nichols, Joseph Jackson, John Cooper,
Benjamin Cropp,
Claib. Carson, James Bobbitt,
John Garven,
William Boyd, Frank Dey,
William Shields,
John Krouse, David Yeager,
John F. Tippett,
Patrick O'Mely,
George Robh,
Abner Nash,
Thomas Shields,
John Embree,
William Kirby,
William Jones,
Simpson Nelson,
Joshua Lakey,
Morris Owens,
Dick Jackson,
Thomas Gibson, Joshua Wisdom,
John Robertson,
M. Cropp, Austin Jones, Strother Jones, O. Brown, A. Scrip,
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
Joseph Todd, Asa Smith, Harvey Liggett, Jasper Stapp, Milton Jackson,
Joseph Rasser, John Ridgway, Thomas Embree,
John Rosebury,
Barney Dudgeon,
James Flemming,
John Taylor,
Mat. Stapp.
Newton Stapp,
H. B. Watts,
Barney Ballew,
John T. Markland,
Charles Canole,
William Smith,
John Dudgeon,
Si. Todd,
Press. Smith,
Ike Taylor,
William Stapp,
George Fisher,
Samuel Rosser,
Gus. Sears,
James Grigsby,
W. W. Cloyd,
Thomas Warren,
Thomas Croley,
George Chorn,
Ed. Ramey,
Dick Crews,
George Carter,
Moses Ashbury,
Marion Forest,
William Harris,
Newton Swearingen,
Lewis Railey,
Ebenezer Rankin,
Asa Thompson,
Joseph Lakey,
Elliott Alsop,
John C. Heath,
James Landram,
Obadiah Swearingen,
Strother McDonald, William Carson, James Burrows, Joseph Boggs,
Hiram Shipp, William Coleman,
Hamp. Boon,
Robert Tinsley,
Et. St. Clair,
Luther Markland,
Len. Smith,
Neriah Todd,
F. M. Thorp,
William R. Carson, Jesse Spence, John Gowe,
James Campbell,
William Rosser,
James Ridgway,
John Cloyd,
William Rosebury,
Ike Stanley, Joseph Peacher, John Spence, John Gothan,
William Watts,
Martin Ballew,
Benjamin Shipp,
Henry Wills, Riley Boon, Ed. Bowen, John Cavens,
Peter Peacher,
Emmet Spence,
Stephen Campbell, Bud. Watts, Arch. Ballew,
Robert Shipp,
George Bobbitt, John Boon, Sock. Robertson, Dol. Minor,
William Markland,
Thomas Jordan,
Ambrose Callaway, James Wilson, George B. Tolson,
Samuel Hackly,
Samuel Hardin,
John Thompson, Lewis Collier,
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
Theo. Stapleton,
John Wheeler,
Harvey Hughes,
I. B. McKinly,
Charles Boulder,
James Glover,
Oscar Willis,
Achilles Carson,
Ike Garvin,
James Raines, Owen Chorn,
William Burrows,
George Ramey,
H. H. Boggs,
George Maupin,
George Whitlow,
Nick Ashbury,
Jule Massey,
Harvey Vivion,
Willis Mason,
Richard Fristol,
John Keyser.
Roland Fisher,
HOWARD COUNTY MILITIA.
The following are the names of the officers of the various militia companies of Howard county :
Boonsboro Township-W. A. Elkins, captain ; G. A. Knox, first lieutenant ; W. R. Quinly, second lieutenant.
Franklin Township -Hugh W. Stewart, captain ; Charles Canole, first lieutenant ; N. Rollins, second lieutenant.
Moniteau Township-George M. Pipes, captain ; M. M. Basey, first lieutenant ; Zach. Crews, second lieutenant.
Bonne Femme Township- Platoon -J. N. Smith, first lien- tenant.
Prairie Township-W. S. Lynch, captain ; W. A. Green, first lieutenant ; Thomas Montgomery, second lieutenant.
Chariton Township -Jume Williams, captain ; Martin Green, first lieutenant ; Peter Land, second lieutenant.
Richmond Township -James H. Feland, captain ; Joseph Peeler, first lieutenant ; William Shafroth, second lieutenant.
Colored Companies. - Richmond and part of Bonne Femme, - R. J. Patton, captain ; Woolman Gibson, first lieutenant ; A. M. Fielding, second lieutenant.
Moniteau and part of Bonne Femme - No officers.
Franklin and part of Boonsboro - No officers.
Chariton - W. P. Etheridge, captain.
Prairie Platoon - John Quinn, first lieutenant.
COLORED RECRUITS.
The former owners of slaves, and their descendants in Howard county, may feel some interest in looking over the list of negroes who enlisted in the war of 1861. The list does not contain the names of all the slaves who entered the army from Howard county. The num-
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
ber enrolled and in the service (U. S. army) was 600; the whole number fit for military duty was 930. This was in 1864. One of the most remarkable facts connected with the history of those times - a fact showing the astonishing credulity of the people - was the belief that the institution of slavery would either remain intact, or that the owners of slaves would be compensated for their loss. Notwithstand- ing the enrollment of negroes was going on in their very presence, where they could be seen drilling daily for service, they were bought and sold as though the existence of the " peculiar institution " had not been imperiled by the war. The sale of the following slaves took place as late as January, 1864 ; they were owned by Philip Robert- son's estate, and were sold at the court-house door in Fayette : -
Dick, aged 31 years, bought by David E. Hays, price $140. Bal- timore, aged 25, by David Dennis, $100. Elizabeth, aged 13, by Jos. Robb, $200. Caroline, aged 9, by A. J. Robertson, $174.50. William, aged 11, by by Hiram Robertson, $211. Susan, aged 6, by Wm. Shields, $78.85. Kitt, aged 3, by Jno. Manion, $48.50.
COLORED RECRUITS FROM HOWARD COUNTY.
Cyrus, owned by Elizabeth Hughes. Turner, owned by John Burton.
Squire, owned by Frank Williams. George, owned by John H. Withers. Sam, owned by Henry Knouse. John, owned by Joseph Hockersmith.
Lewis, owned by A. W. Morrison.
Ben, owned by A. W. Morrison. Henry, owned by Narcissus Snoddy. Ollie, owned by Wesley Green. Cyrus, owned by Richard Earickson.
Harrison, owned by Wesley Green. Walter, owned by Roxanna B. Hern. George, owned by Roxanna B. Hern. Samuel, owned by L. T. Patrick. Henry, owned by Colonel John F. Williams. William, owned by S. T. Crews. Frederick, owned by Thos. C. Boggs. Howard, owned by Thos. C. Boggs. Toby, owned by John Kirby. Stephen, owned by Hampton Green. Polk, owned by Wesly Green. Oscar, owned by P. W. Hawley. James, owned by W. P. Hawley. Baddies, owned by W. P. Hawley. Jacob, owned by P. W. Hawley.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
Edward, owned by J. R. Estill. Joseph, owned by estate of Roland Hughes. Frank, owned by Joe Swan Hughes. Martin, owned by J. H. Hughes. Andrew, owned by John Blakely. Lowry, owned by J. R. Estill. Olie, owned by J. R. Estill. Dennis, owned by John Hickerson. Ben, owned by Wm. Wigham. Robert, owned by James Ferguson. Martin, owned by Thomas Knouse. Jacob, owned by John Q. A. Bibb. Benton, owned by Ira C. Darby.
William, owned by R. T. Prewitt. James, owned by B. Eddins. Andrew, owned by S. T. Crews.
Robert, owned by James P. Beck.
Lewis, owned by J. P. Morrison. William, owned by J. P. Morrison.
Martin, owned by J. W. A. Patterson.
Jackson, owned by L. D. Brown. Jackson, owned by J. W. A. Patterson. George, owned by Nancy Snell. Sanford, owned by Nancy Snell. William, owned by R. J. Payne. William, owned by I. S. Brooks.
Booker, owned by Willoughby Williams.
James, owned by W. L. Reeves.
John, owned by estate of John A. Talbott. Jeff, owned by W. L. Reeves. Richard, owned by Benj. Reeves. Samuel, owned by estate of J. Q. Hicks.
William, owned by Benj. Reeves.
Mack, owned by Willoughby Williams. Solomon, owned by Dr. Thomas Dinwiddie. Merit, owned by Jeff Payne. Alexander, owned by Hiram Robertson.
John, owned by estate of David Johnson. Green, owned by John Embree. Reuben, owned by Mary Ann Cake.
Howard, owned by S. T. Crews.
Granderson, owned by Mary Withers.
Henry, owned by T. H. Richards. Jackson, owned by John Snoddy. Ben, owned by Sarah Barnes. Jackson, owned by estate of William Brown. Charles, owned by Ann Miller. Lewis, owned by William Payne. Daniel, owned by estate of William Brown.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
George, owned by Susan Jackson. Sam, owned by James Means. Benton, owned by James Means. Willis, owned by Samuel Maddox. Lewis, owned by W. P. Jackson. Alfred, owned by Andrew Tolson. Bartlett, owned by Rice Patterson. William, owned by John R. White. Adam, owned by John R. White. Alfred, owned by John R. White. Sam, owned by John R. White. Andy, owned by John R. White. Preston, owned by John R. White. Jacob, owned by John R. White. Thomas, owned by W. B. Muir. Perry, owned by Ira C. Darby. Charles, owned by Gideon Wright. Shelby, owned by Federal Walker. Daniel, owned by Federal Walker. St. Andrew, owned by Federal Walker.
Charles, owned by Gerard Robinson. William, owned by Wade M. Jackson. James, owned by David Isaacs. Ben, owned by David Isaacs. Barny, owned by Mark Jackman.
Charles, owned by L. S. Eddins.
Thomas, owned by L. S. Eddins. Judd, owned by L. S. Eddins. Oliver, owned by M. G. Maupin.
Garland, owned by Ann Adams. Jim, owned by Bainer Spotts. Abraham, owned by estate of George P. Bass. Thomas, owned by Mrs. Sallie Patton. Jim, owned by Archie Woods. Warren, owned by estate of A. Leonard.
Joseph, owned by A. Cooper. Henry, owned by A. Cooper. George, owned by A. Cooper. Robert, owned by Luther Cooper.
Lunzen, owned by C. E. Givens.
Isaac, owned by C. E. Givens. Thomas, owned by Stephen Mott.
Edmon, owned by C. E. Givens. Jake, owned by estate of A. Leonard. Anderson, owned by Jack Haden. John, owned by Archibald Hill.
David, owned by G. W. Stapleton. Harrison, owned by J. T. Carson. Charles, owned by Solomon Barnett.
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
Antony, owned by George Harvey.
Ambrose, owned by G. F. Stapleton.
John, owned by Ira C. Darby. Amos, owned by James Perkins.
James, owned by G. W. Stapleton.
Aaron, owned by Wm. Long. Jacob, owned by Mrs. J. Blythe.
Henry, owned by Moses Burton.
Adam, owned by estate of F. E. Williams.
Mack, owned by Eliza Stapleton.
Lee, owned by James Proctor.
Isaac, owned by estate of Wm. Elgin.
George, owned by Thomas Dinwiddie.
Allin, owned by estate of F. E. Williams.
Ambrose, owned by H. Dudgeon.
Pleasant, owned by Mrs. Sallie Patton.
Alex, owned by Jo Davis.
John, owned by Ben Reeves.
Charles, owned by J. H. Petty.
Sam, owned by B. W. Lewis.
William, owned by J. G. Long.
BATTLES AND INCIDENTS.
There were a few engagements, and one or two incidents that occurred in Howard county during the war, that we deem of sufficient importance to be chronicled in this history. We copy from Major John N. Edwards' " Noted Guerillas."
ATTACK ON FAYETTE.
A long night march and a dark one, succeeded to the evening of the fight, but by sunrise the next morning Todd had formed a junction with Quantrell, Poole, Anderson, Perkins and Thomas Todd, these two last being Confederate officers. Aggregated, the force numbered 277 rank and file, not a formidable force to do effectively the important work General Price required of it. Poole commanded 52 men ; George Todd, 53; Anderson, 67; Quantrell, 16; Thomas Todd, 42, and Perkins, 47. All eyes were now turned towards Fayette, the county seat of Howard county, eleven miles north of the ren- dezvous, where 400 Federal soldiers did garrison duty, strongly forti- fied and capable of stout resistance. The command was first offered to Quantrell, but he refused it, next to Anderson who accepted. Quantrell argued in the counsel against attacking Fayette, and voted against it, as a piece of military folly. So did George Todd ; but the balance overbore them and decided to make the venture.
On the morning of September 20, 1864, the march towards Fayette began. Anderson moved first, Poole next, Stuart next, and
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
Quantrell fourth. In the rear were George Todd, Perkins and Thomas Todd. Fayette had a strong stockade on the north as a defensive work, and in the town itself both the court-house and a female academy were strongly fortified. Anderson, Poole, and Quantrell were to charge through Fayette and invest the stockade, while the two Todds and Perkins were to look after the buildings on the inside of the cor- poration. Tom Todd led the advance in the attack on the town, as Fayette was his home.
Fayette was reached about eleven o'clock and attacked furiously. Anderson, Poole, and Quantrell dashed through the square, losing some of their best men, and the two Todds and Perkins faced the two fortified buildings, and did what was possible to be done - bear breasts against brick and mortar. Sergeant McMurtry, of George Todd's company, fell first and close to the court-house fence. Oll Thompson was mortally wounded, Perkins lost ten men in as many minutes, Tom Todd seven, and Poole eight. Anderson lost in killed, Garrett, Cravens, Agen, Grosvenor, and Newman Wade; and in wounded, Thomas Maupin, Silas King, William Stone and Lawrence Wilcox ; Lieutenant Little, one of the oldest of Quantrell's veteran's was badly wounded. Every attack was repulsed both upon the court- house and the stockade, and the guerrillas retreated finally, but un- pursued, with a loss of eighteen killed and forty-two wounded. Richard Kinney and Jesse James volunteered to bring McMurtry out from under the guns of the enemy, and they dashed in afoot, and succeeded safely amid a shower of balls. Quantrell, infuriated at a loss of so many splendid fellows, fought with a recklessness unusual with him. Leading in person three desperate assaults upon the stockade, and wounded severely in the second assault, he would have commanded a fourth if Poole and Anderson, convinced at last of the uselessness of the sacrifice, had not shown the insanity of the effort and argued him out of his reckless purpose. Many feats of individ- ual and heroic daring were performed. Thomas Todd, his long red beard waving in the wind, and his black plume floating free where the fight was the hottest, dashed up once to the main gate of the court- house and emptied six chambers of a revolver into a door, from which twenty muskets were protruding. Peyton Long, losing his horse early in the fight, rushed desperately into a corral under cover of the stockade, coolly chose the horse which suited him best, mounted him bareback and galloped away unhurt into his own ranks again. Harri- son Trow, procuring from a citizen an excellent shot-gun, crept to a sheltered place close to the academy and silenced one window of it by the accuracy and rapidity of his fire. He was so cool and so calm always in danger, that his comrades called him " Iceberg." The night of the retreat, Oliver Johnson died. Only twenty-five years of age, he was six feet two in height, and large in proportion. Of im- mense physical strength, in a charge or close hand to hand fight he was simply resistless. Wounded six times, the seventh wound killed him. To find one to fill his place, who could be braver, more deadly,
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
or more constantly in the saddle, was to hunt for gold dust in a straw pile. There were none such.
The above account is correct in the main, but is wide of the truth in reference to the number of men that were stationed in Fayette. The garrison consisted of 300 men all told. On the day of the attack Major Reeves Leonard was out of town on a scouting expedition, and had with him 250 men, leaving 50 men in Fayette, but only 45 of these were able to bear arms. The Federals lost two men killed, and had one man wounded. One of the meu killed, however, was not at the time a soldier. Had the guerrillas known at the time of the attack that there were only 45 effective men opposed to their number - 277 - they would have probably made a more des- perate effort to have captured the garrison. One of the men killed by the guerrillas was scalped, and this trophy of the bloody deed was found pinned to a tree south of Fayette, with an inscription badly written and badly spelled, stating in substance, " This is the way we do business."
AFFAIR NEAR NEW FRANKLIN.
While Colonel S. D. Jackman was on his last recruiting expedi- tion in Howard county, in the spring of 1863, and while in the neighborhood of New Franklin, his company, consisting of about twenty men, was attacked by a detachment of Federals under Captain Samuel Steinmetz, from Glasgow. The guerrillas had taken a strong position in a ravine, and after pouring a single volley into Steinmetz's ranks, the latter scattered in every direction, and did not halt until they reached Fayette. Major Reeves Leonard, commander of the post at Fayette, and a member of Colonel Guitar's regiment, aroused at the signal failure of Steinmetz to break np Jackman's recruiting camp, hurried out himself at the head of sixty picked troopers. A combat ensued, brief but savage. Jackman and Leonard met face to face and fought a single-handed fight. Leonard was wounded severely in the leg. Jackman and his men retreated.
CASON'S ATTACK ON TWO STEAMBOATS.
On the 17th of August, 1861, the guerrilla, Captain Cason, ascer- tained that two steamboats, the White Cloud and the McDowell, were coming down the Missouri river en route to St. Louis. An ambuscade was immediately formed on the Howard county side, and almost opposite Saline city. Here the current of the river
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HISTORY OF HOWARD AND COOPER COUNTIES.
sweeps almost to the shore, which would of necessity bring them within rifle range of the concealed guerrillas. Unsuspicious of danger and crowded with human freight, the boat swept swiftly along. A sudden flame leaped out from the bushes as though some hidden fire was there, and then on the crowded decks were terror, confusion, bleeding and dead men. For nearly an hour Cason fought the boats, making of every embankment and earthwork, and of every tree a fortress. Finally a landing was effected and two pieces of cannon hurried ashore, and used for shelling the timber that concealed the guerrillas. Cason held on. As the infantry advanced he fell back, as it retired he advanced. Night alone ended the savage duel, the Federal loss being about sixty-two killed and more than that number wounded. The guerrillas lost no men.
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