USA > Missouri > Scotland County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 11
USA > Missouri > Lewis County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 11
USA > Missouri > Clark County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 11
USA > Missouri > Knox County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 11
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Q. M. Thomas Price, Feb. 22, 1863; provost-major and paymaster. Q. M. James C. White, Oct. 17, 1864; vacated March 12, 1865. Surg. Joseph A. Hay, Feb. 22, 1863; vacated March 12, 1865. Asst. Surg. C. H. Carothers, Oct 20, 1864; vacated March 12, 1865.
CONPANY A-LEWIS COUNTY.
Capt. William Odor, Nov. 10, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865.
1st Lt. Thomas McChesney, Nov. 10, 1862; vacated by special order in 1864.
1st Lt. Merrick Dwer, Nov. 10, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865.
2d Lt. John H. Cooper, Jan. 12, 1865; vacated March 12, 1865.
COMPANY B-LEWIS COUNTY.
Capt. David Wagner, Oct. 23, 1862; revoked by special order in 1864.
Capt. G. W. McClain, Aug. 6, 1864; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. James T. Hammon, Aug. 6, 1864; vacated March 12, 1865. 2d Lt. S. Glow, Oct. 23, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865.
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
COMPANY C-CLARK COUNTY.
Capt. Willis G. Brown, Oct. 23, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. William G. Ewing, Oct. 23, 1862; vacated by special order in 1864. 2d Lt. Henry N. Fletcher, Oct. 23, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865.
COMPANY D-LEWIS COUNTY.
Capt. Henry J. Lewis, Nov. 10, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. John K. McCollum, Aug. 11, 1863; vacated March 12, 1865. 2d Lt. William Kishbaum, Nov. 10, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865.
COMPANY E-CLARK COUNTY.
Capt. Thos. W. Arnold, Nov. 9. 1862; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. Vernon A. Matlock, Nov. 9, 1862; vacated by special order, 1864. 2d Lt. Reid Dillon, Nov. 9, 1862; vacated by special order, 1864. 2d Lt. J. H. Bennett, Jan. 15, 1865; vacated March 12, 1865.
COMPANY F-CLARK COUNTY.
Capt. Erastus Sacket, Nov. 9, 1862; vacated March 12,'1865. 1st Lt. Orris Cross, Nov. 9, 1862; vacated by special order, 1864. 2d Lt. Chas. E. Carter, Nov. 9, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. A. L. Cardwell, Jan. 15, 1865; vacated March 12, 1865.
COMPANY G-CLARK COUNTY.
Capt. Barton P. Hackney, Nov. 14, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. Wm. McCown, Nov. 14, 1862; vacated by special order, 1864. 2d Lt. Wm. C. Banta, Nov. 14, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865.
COMPANY H-CLARK COUNTY.
Capt. Daniel F. Hull, Nov. 14, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. Wm. Cameron, Nov. 14, 1862; vacated March 12,51865. 2d Lt. G. W. Folker, Nov. 14, 1862; vacated by special order, 1864.
COMPANY I-CLARK COUNTY.
Capt. Jonathan Hulett, Nov. 14, 1862; vacated by special order, 1864. Capt. James F. Wolf, Jan. 15, 1865; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. Silas Keath, Nov. 14, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865. 2d Lt. James Hancock, Nov. 14, 1862; vacated by special order, 1864. 2d Lt. Wm. Hiller, Jan. 15, 1865; vacated March 12, 1865.
COMPANY K-CLARK COUNTY.
Capt. Isaac D. Haun, Oct. 23, 1862; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. Thos. S. Staples, Oct. 23, 1862; killed May 12, 1863.
1st Lt. John T. Anderson, doubtful; vacated by special order, 1864.
1st Lt. Geo. R. Horn, Jan. 15, 1865; vacated March 12, 1865.
2d Lt. J. D. Smuelling, Jan. 15, 1865; vacated March 12, 1865.
COMPANY L-LEWIS COUNTY.
Capt. Felix Scott, April 3, 1863; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. John Fee, April 3, 1863; revoked by special order, 1864.
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
1st Lt. G. W. McWilliams, Aug. 6, 1864; vacated March 12, 1865. 2d Lt. Robert Querie, April 3, 1863; vacated March 12, 1865.
COMPANY M-CLARK COUNTY.
Capt. M. C. Thacker, May 9, 1863; vacated March 12, 1865. 1st Lt. James M. Edson, May 9, 1863; vacated March 12, 1865.
2d Lt. Robert E. Stone, May 9, 1863; vacated by special order, 1864.
BATTALION COMPANIES-COMPANY A.
Capt. George Morehouse, Jan. 21, 1863; vacated by special order, 1864. 1st Lt. James P. Gentry, Jan. 21, 1863; vacated by special order, 1864. 2d Lt. Henry Clark, Jan. 21, 1863; vacated by special order, 1864.
COMPANY B.
Capt. Luther Washburn, Feb. 13, 1863; vacated by special order, 1864. 1st Lt. William Jackson. Feb. 13, 1863; vacated March 12, 1865. 2d Lt. L. W. Williams, Feb. 13, 1863; vacated by special order, 1864. 2d Lt. Robert E. Stone, Aug. 8, 1864; vacated March 12, 1865. 2d Lt. Alfred A. Hays, Jan. 15, 1865; vacated March 12, 1865.
THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST COL. PORTER.
In this volume, a history of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scot- land Counties, it is proper to give some account of the long cam- paign in northeast Missouri, during the summer and fall of 1862, which embraced the operations of Col. Joseph C. Porter, of the Confederate Army, and of the Federal forces sent out against him. Very many of Col. Porter's movements were made in these counties, very many of his men lived here, and very many of the troops that fought him lived here also.
In the spring and early summer of 1862 a number of Mis- souri officers, with the Confederate Army in Mississippi and Arkansas, obtained permission and authority to come up into Mis- souri on recruiting service, with the promise of proper commis- sions for whatever commands they might be able to raise and bring out of the State or maintain here. Some of these recruit- ing officers, so-called, were Capts. Joseph O. Shelby, Gid. Thompson and Vard Cockrell; Majs. Upton Hays, John T. Coffee and John Boyd, and Cols. John T. Hughes, J. A. Poin- dexter and Joe C. Porter.
Col. Porter, as elsewhere noted, was a citizen of Lewis County, though a Kentuckian by birth. He was a farmer by occu- pation, and owned a good farm on the prairie, four miles east of
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STATE OF MISSOURI,
Newark. The previous year he had gone out as lieutenant- colonel of Martin E. Green's regiment of Missouri State Guards. He had seen service at Shelbina, Lexington, Elk Horn (Pea Ridge) and elsewhere, was a brave and skillful soldier, a man of mature years, of great personal bravery, of indomitable will and perseverance, and endowed with remarkable powers of endurance and indifference to exposure and every sort of hardship.
It can not now and here be stated at just what period and at what point Col. Porter made his appearance in this quarter of the State, but on the 17th of June, 1862, he was near Warren or New Market, in Marion County, with forty-three mounted men, and made prisoners of four men of Lipscomb's regiment, who belonged to the company stationed at the Salt River railroad bridge. The Federals had their arms and horses taken from them, were sworn not to take up arms against the Southern Con- federacy until duly exchanged and then released.
Moving northward through the western part of Marion, the eastern portion of Knox and the western border of Lewis, past his own home, where his wife and children were, Col. Porter scarcely drew bridle till he reached the vicinity of the Sulphur Springs, near Colony, in Knox County, where he rested a brief time. On his route recruits came to him, until he had perhaps 200 men. Capt. Frisby Mccullough had been in the country for some months, and he soon united with Porter, bring- ing a number of men with him.
From the Sulphur Springs Porter continued north to Short's Well, threatened the Union Home Guards at Memphis, picked up recruits 'here and there in Scotland, and moved westward into Schuyler to get a company known to be there under Capt. Bill Dunn.
Danger in the rear! Hearing of the invasion of this portion of the territory over which they claimed absolute control, the Fed- erals at once set about to drive out the presumptuous Confed- erates. Col. Henry S. Lipscomb and Majs. Benjamin and Rog- ers, with some companies of the Eleventh Missouri State Militia, set out at once, struck the trail, and followed it to Col- ony. Here they were joined by Maj. Pledge, with a detach- ment of the Second Missouri State Militia, and the united forces
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
pressed rapidly on, marching night and day, until the 26th of June, when they overtook Porter at Cherry Grove, in the northeast- ern part of Schuyler County, near the Iowa line, where, with a superior force, they attacked and defeated him, routing his forces and driving them southward. The loss in this fight was incon- siderable on either side, but among the Federals killed was Capt. Horace E. York, of Lipscomb's regiment, and Porter lost Con- nell R. Bashore, of Palmyra, referred to elsewhere. Porter, at the head of the main body of his command, retreated rapidly, followed by Lipscomb, who moved very leisurely, and did not seem at all anxious to overtake his enemy. For what was con- sidered his mismanagement of the affair at Cherry Grove, and his inefficiency in pursuit, Col. Lipscomb was subsequently re- moved from command.
Porter passed east of Edina; Lipscomb came directly through the town. At a point some miles west of Newark, the pursuit becoming very tiresome and pressing, the Confederates scattered out, as the term was, for the time being. Porter, with perhaps seventy-five men, remained in the vicinity of his home for some days, gathering recruits all the time, and getting ready to strike again.
Monday, July 7, Capt. Jim Porter, a brother of Col. Joe Porter, at the head of seventy-five men, entered Newark, in daylight, and held the town. The stores of Bragg and Holmes were visited and patronized very liberally. Payment was offered in Confederate money, and refused. A valuable horse was taken from. Dr. Lafon, a Unionist, of Palmyra. The next day they captured Monticello, took $100 from County Treasurer Million, some goods from Thurston's store, some horses from other people, then went west to their camp at the Sugar Camp ford, on the Middle Fabius.
The Confederates were masters of the country for some days, and western Lewis was practically out of the Union. Many re- cruits were sworn into the Confederate service, many Union men arrested and released on paroles signed by Joseph C. Porter, colonel commanding Confederate forces in northeastern Missouri, while the Federals were trembling for their safety at Canton, La Grange, Palmyra and Hannibal.
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
Monday, July 14, the report came that Col. Porter, with 400 men, was encamped near Marshall's mill, gathering himself for a spring upon Palmyra that night, intending to rout the Federals under Col. McNeil, release the Confederate prisoners in the jail, and hold a grand season. of fraternization with the scores of families of Confederate sympathizers known to be in the city. The alarm was false, but McNeil telegraphed for re-enforcements, picketed the city far out on all the roads, and guarded it well till daybreak. During the night some companies of Lipscomb's regiment came on a special train from Macon, and early the next morning, McNeil, with a considerable force, say 500, of his own regiment. (the Second) and Lipscomb's, started after Porter, leaving Lieut .- Col. Crane at Palmyra with 200 men.
Gathering a considerable force, Col. Porter left his lair near Newark, and again moved northward into Scotland. On the 12th of July he appeared before Memphis with several hundred men, bulldozed the town into surrendering, and captured and held it for several hours. A Union Home Guard company was made prisoners, and its commander, Capt. William Aylward, was taken out and hung. Capt. William Dawson, of McNeil's regiment, was wounded and carried off with Aylward, but released after a time. A number of bushwhackers and other desperate men, including Tom Stacy and his company, had joined Porter, and their conduct was as rough as their living.
In his pursuit of Porter, Col. McNeil marched in a north- westerly direction from Palmyra, toward Scotland County. Push- ing on past Emerson he arrived at Newark Wednesday, July 9. Here he was joined by 257 of Merrill's Horse (Second Missouri Cavalry), under Capt. John Y. Clopper. This force and a detachment of the Eleventh Missouri State Militia under Maj. J. B. Rogers were sent on in direct pursuit of the Confederates, while Col. McNeil waited at Newark for the arrival of his bag- gage and commissary train from Palmyra, which came in a day or two escorted by 75 men of the Second Missouri State Militia. The Federals were much embarrassed by their trains. Col. Porter had no trains at this time. His troops lived off the country, and every man was his own quartermaster and commissary.
The force under Clopper and Rogers dispatched by McNeil
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
from Newark against Porter, attacked him at about noon on Friday, July 18, at Pearce's Mill, on the south fork of the Middle Fabius, ten miles southwest of Memphis. A bloody little engage- ment resulted. The Confederates were in ambush. Capt. Clop- per was in the Federal front, and out of 21 men of his advance guard all but one were killed or wounded. The Federals- Merrill's Horse-charged repeatedly, without avail, and if Rogers had not come up when he did with the Eleventh, which he dis- mounted and put into the brush, they would have been driven from the field.
The Federal loss was 83 men killed and wounded. Merrill's Horse lost 10. men killed, and 4 officers and 31 men wounded; the Eleventh Missouri State Militia, 14 killed and 24 wounded. Among the severely wounded was Capt. Sells, of Newark. Porter's loss was 6 killed, 3 mortally wounded, and 10 wounded left on the field. Among the mortally wounded was the bushwhacker chieftain, Capt. Tom Stacy, who died a few days afterward. The fact that Porter and his men were in concealment and well pro- tected, while the Federals were unprotected comparatively and taken unawares, perhaps accounts for the disparity in the losses. The action was the severest of the war in the four counties.
After the fight at Pearce's Mill, Col. Porter moved westward a few miles, then south through Paulville, in the eastern part of Adair County; thence southeast into Knox County, passing through Novelty at noon on Saturday, July 19, having fought a battle and made a march of sixty-five miles in less than twenty- four hours. Many of his men are yet alive who retain vivid remembrances of this almost unprecedented experience. It must be borne in mind, too, that for nearly a week previous it had rained almost constantly. Near Novelty Porter abandoned his two baggage and provision wagons-all he had-and Saturday night went into camp four miles southwest of Newark with 200 tired men, half of whom were asleep in their saddles, and who had eaten nothing for thirty-six hours. Stripping their jaded horses to allow their backs to cool, and bolting a few mouthfuls of half-baked corn cakes, the troopers cast themselves on the ground for a brief rest and sleep, and when the first birds were singing in the morning they were afield and ambling away toward the rosy dawn.
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
With but 67 men McNeil joined Clopper at Pearce's Mill the night of the fight, finding Clopper holding the ground. In a day or two he learned the direction Porter had taken, and send- ing Rogers and Clopper in pursuit, McNeil himself, with his detachment of the 2d, came south to Newark and reached Palmyra at midnight on Wednesday, the 23d, having made a forced march from Newark-thirty-two miles. The Federal commander was totally bewildered. Porter's extraordinary celerity and long and hard marches confused him. Asked where Porter was, he replied, " How can I tell? He may be at any point within 100 miles. He runs like a deer and doubles like a fox. I hear that he crossed the North Missouri, going south, to-day, but I would not be surprised if he fired on our pickets before morning."
Leaving his bivouac southwest of Newark very early on Sun- day morning, July 20, Porter was in the vicinity of Whaley's mill, six or eight miles east of Newark. From here, with a small escort, he went to his residence, spent a brief but delicious season with his wife and weans, and with their kisses warm on his lips, he hurried away to join his command, determined this time to cross the Missouri if possible. Striking south that Sabbath day, he swept past Warren, sixteen miles west of Palmyra, with not more than 200 men, crossed the Hannibal & St. Joe near Monroe Station, and when darkness had settled down good and black, he went into camp for a brief rest in Monroe County.
Tuesday morning, July 22, a scouting party of fifty men of the Third Iowa Cavalry, under Maj. Henry Clay Caldwell (now United States district judge in Arkansas), encountered Porter at Florida. The interview was brief but spirited. The Federals were driven off and retreated to Paris. Porter lost half a dozen men killed and wounded. Caldwell reported his loss at twenty- six men, killed, wounded and missing, and said he could not tell " whether Porter will return north, continue south, or remain on Salt River." However, with 100 men, he set out at once on a return trip to Florida, suggesting to Gen. Merrill that 300 men be sent to join him at that point at once. (See Rebellion Record, Vol. XIII, p. 172. )
Soon afterward, in the southern part of Monroe County, occurred the night skirmish on Botts' farm, known as the
d
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Botts' Bluff fight, between some of Porter's men and a detach- ment of the Iowa Cavalry. One or two men were killed on either side. The Confederates moved on southward, through Audrain County, across the North Missouri Railroad, and passed into Callaway, where a junction was formed with a strong company from Callaway and Montgomery under Alvin Cobb, a one-armed bushwhacker captain. A camp was made at Brown's Spring, on the Aux Vasse, and here considerable re-enforcements were received from Boone and other counties, under Capts. Frost, Purcell, Penny and other Confederate leaders in that quarter.
Porter had expected to cross the Missouri at some point in Callaway, but coming upon the ground he found too many Federal lions in his path, and one fierce little Federal tiger, Col. Odon Guitar by name, was stopping the way and snarling sav- agely. Guitar had come over from Jefferson City with 100 picked men of his own regiment (the Ninth Missouri State Militia ) and two pieces of the Third Indiana Battery, manned by thirty-two men, under Lieut. A. G. Armington. On the 27th, with 186 men, fifty of whom were from the company (G) of the Third Iowa Cavalry stationed at Fulton, Guitar broke up the camp of the Confederates at Brown's Spring, wounding three of Porter's rear guard, capturing one wagon, some bacon and meal and a dozen fine fat sheep.
The next day, Monday, July 28, Guitar attacked Porter in position, seven miles east of Fulton, a mile west of the Aux Vasse, and about the same distance south of Moore's Mill. The previous night Guitar had been re-enforced by 306 men of Mer- rill's Horse .* Under Lieut .- Col. Shaffer, eighty-three of the Third Iowa Cavalry; under Maj. Caldwell, 120 from the Tenth Missouri State Militia ; and Capt. Hiram Rice's company of "Red Rovers," (I, Third Missouri State Militia) from Pike County, thirty-eight men-in all 547. With about 700 men on either side the bat- tle was fought, and, as might have been expected where two such chieftains as Porter and Guitar were engaged, it was des- perate and bloody. Porter was defeated, although the Federals allowed him to retreat comparatively unmolested. The Federal
*The regiment known as Merrill's Horse was the Second Missouri Cavalry. It was sometimes called "the White Horse Cavalry," because some of the companies were originally mounted on white horses. Of the twelve companies, four were from Michigan, four from Ohio, and four from Missouri.
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
loss was thirteen killed and fifty-five wounded. £ The Confeder- ates were unable to report their loss correctly, but thirty-two of their dead were buried by the citizens, and Guitar claims that he " ascertained " it to be fifty-two killed and 125 to 150 wounded. He adds that the rebel wounded "were scattered for miles around the battlefield and many of them were carried on horse- back to Boone, Randolph, and other counties." ( Rebellion Record, Vol. XIII, p. 189.) Among the killed under Por- ter was the gallant Capt. Penny, who fell, with his breast torn to pieces by grape-shot, while charging the battery.
What next? Short time for deliberation. The little Federal tiger was gathering for another spring. He had two pieces of fine artillery, manned by veterans; Porter had none. He had well armed and well mounted cavalrymen, as good as were in the Federal service. Porter had a lot of farmers and farmers' boys, with no drilling or training, and no experience save what they had obtained under him. At this time came Gamble and Scho- field's order for the enrollment of " all the militia in the State." to fight in the Federal service against Porter and his men and all such as they, who were unjustly termed "guerrillas." Porter knew that there were thousands of men in Missouri who had vowed to take no part in the war-to fight on neither side unless com- pelled, and if compelled then they would fight under the Confed- erate banner, or, as they expressed it, " for the South." He knew, too, that hundreds of this class of men were in northeast Mis- souri, and where two weeks before they had been reluctant even to give him aid and comfort, now they would run out eagerly to meet him and to fight under him. "I can raise 1,000 men in Monroe and Marion Counties alone on this issue in twenty-four hours," Porter said to some of his sub-chiefs, as they were dis- cussing the enrollment order. Back to northeast Missouri. Hot work ahead!
Recrossing the North Missouri Railroad near Mexico, Porter and Cobb came into the heavy timber along the South Fork of Salt River, near Florida. A force under Joe Thompson was detached for the capture of Paris, which was easily accomplished on Wednesday, July 30. The county officers and some of the citizens were arrested and paroled, a store or two gutted, and a
8
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
little general foraging was done. That night 400 of Porter's men came up and staid an hour or so, and then the place was evacuated as suddenly as it had been entered.
Hearing of Porter's approach, Col. McNeil with 120 men and a twelve-pound howitzer, set out from Palmyra to meet him. At Clinton, Monroe County, he was joined by Maj. S. P. Cox, of the First Missouri State Militia, with 160 men and two small steel guns. The combined force moved rapidly to Paris, entering the town an hour after Porter's men had left. The next day, learn- ing that the Confederates were in position on the Elk Fork of Salt River, McNeil prepared to advance upon them, when sud- denly Porter made a feint of attacking Paris. This kept McNeil on the qui vive the entire time, his skirmishers encountering the enemy several times. But at noon the wily Confederate resumed his progress to the northward. Swinging the main portion of his force to the eastward around the Federals, he left a detach- ment to distract their attention from the movement, and marched rapidly toward Hunnewell.
July 30 Porter's whole force, 1,000 strong, crossed the Han- nibal & St. Joseph Railroad between Monroe and Hunnewell, and camped that night at New Market, fourteen miles west of Pal- myra. The next morning the march was resumed to Philadel- phia. From every by-path in squads, and from every cross-road in companies, recruits poured in, all mounted and armed as best they could be, to escape the hated Federal conscription or enroll- ment, and to fight if they were forced to at all, under the stars and bars. Many had been arrested by the Federal troops, released on parole, and bound not to take up arms against the Federal government, but they understood that they were not to fight on either side, and so regarded the oaths they had taken as idle words and their bonds as waste paper, when they were directed to enroll themselves as militia under the Federal flag in aid of its cause. It is safe to say of Gamble and Schofield's order creating and calling out the enrolled militia, that, however much good it ultimately accomplished, it drove 10,000 men into the Confederate service within thirty days.
From his camps near New Market and Philadelphia, Col. Porter sent foraging and recruiting parties throughout the country,
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
and some of these came within sight of the spires of Palmyra. Here there were great alarm and uneasiness. Only 150 troops held the place, and they were much demoralized and disaffected, threatening to surrender without firing a gun if attacked, because they were not re-enforced and strengthened. Recruiting for the Confederate service was lively. Every confidence was felt in Joe Porter, the rebel Roderick, one blast upon whose bugle horn was worth 1,000 men. He assured the people that he had come to stay, or at least to go away when it pleased him, and that in ten days he would have such a force that no Federal command in the State could prevent his passage across the Missouri River and into Arkansas. Men poured in from Marion, Shelby and Lewis, and in a few days Porter's command swelled from 1,000 to 1,500 and more were on the way.
Leaving Philadelphia at 10 A. M., Friday, August 1, Col. Por- ter crossed the South Fabius at Hicks' Mill, and struck into the State road from Emerson to Newark, near Midway (now Ben Bow). Here some of his men captured the mail carrier between Palmyra and Newark, a sixteen-year old boy, who had presence of mind to hide his mail sack in a hay loft. They took from him, however, some daily St. Louis papers, from which they obtained some valuable information. Here also they captured a large American flag, which they tore to shreds, and one strip, bearing the legend, "Union Forever," they tied to a mule's tail, and went cantering up the road laughing and shouting.
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