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 12
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 12
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 12
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 12
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On the evening of this day (August 1) occurred the battle of Newark. (For particulars see Knox County division of this volume. )
The angry roar of a Federal command in his rear, swarming like mad hornets, well mounted, well equipped, and led by the savage fighter, Col. John McNeil, roused Porter, and warned him to up and hie himself away, and he left Newark at nine in the forenoon of August 2, going northward to enable to join him the force, which had been operating against Canton and the eastern part of Lewis County, and which had been ordered to move to the westward or northwestward so as to avoid the Federals on the south, and unite with the main body somewhere in the north- eastern part of Knox or the northwestern part of Lewis.
124
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Realizing the ruse played upon him by Porter at Paris, McNeil hastened by an all night march to Hunnewell, where he arrived at 5 o'clock in the morning. After a brief rest he moved north, encamping that night four miles east of Shelbyville. Hearing during the night of the capture of Newark, he marched early the next morning for Bethel, where he was joined by Maj. John F. Benjamin, with eighty men of the Eleventh Missouri State Militia.
Saturday morning, August 2, McNeil and Benjamin made a rapid March to Newark, ten miles away. Porter had just left the village, and the Federal advance leaped upon his rear guard a mile or so from town, and drove it upon the main body, captur- ing several horses. McNeil's forces arrived and occupied the town till next day, when several hundred re-enforcements came up, under Lieut .- Col. Shaffer, of the White Horse Cavalry, increas- ing the Federal command to nearly 1,200 men. * Strong now and confident, McNeil moved at noon from Newark to the northward, going into camp that night on Troublesome Creek, on the farm of Judge Kendrick. The next morning the pursuit was resumed.
From Newark Porter went north along the western line of Lewis County, and on the North Fabius was joined by the force from Canton under Col. Franklin and by Col. Frisby McCul- lough with 300 men. Porter now had at least 2,200 men, and felt comparatively safe, although he knew he could obtain more, and as was natural he wanted all he could get. If his luck should hold out, instead of the insignia of a colonel, the stars of a Con- federate brigadier would glitter on his collar. He moved north by Smith's Bridge over the north fork of North Fabius, where he encamped Sunday night, August 3. When he left he tore up the bridge.
The Confederates were now threatening Memphis, but, antic- ipating a contingency of this sort, McNeil had some days previ- ously sent Lieut .- Col. Morsey with 420 men of the Tenth Mis- souri State Militia, and Maj. Rogers with the Second Battalion of the Eleventh Missouri State Militia, into Scotland, ahead of Porter, to hold that county and Schuyler, and to be prepared to
*The re-enforcements had formed a part of Guitar's command that fought Porter at Moore's Mill, and comprised 334 of Merrill's Horse, under Shaffer; 175 men from the Third Iowa Cavalry, Ninth Missouri State Militia, and the " Red Rovers," and the section of the Third Indiana Battery, Lieut. Armington.
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
attack him in front, when McNeil should assault him in the rear. Learning of the presence of the forces of Morsey and Rogers at Memphis, which were reported to him as numbering 800 or 1,000, Porter realized that he could not enter Scotland County very far without the hazardous experience of a hard fight. Monday night the Confederates staid on the noted camping ground at Short's well, resting as best they could on the bare ground, under a drenching rain.
At Short's well the Confederate leaders held a consultation. What was best to be done? Three plans were suggested: 1. To remain at or near the well in a chosen position, and await McNeil's approach and attack. 2. To turn about, march back and fall upon McNeil in the Fabius timber. 3. To turn to the west or southwest, march rapidly through Knox, Adair and Macon Counties into Chariton, and form a junction with a considerable Confederate force believed to be in the last named county, under command of Col. J. A. Poindexter. The third plan was finally adopted, mainly by the influence of Col. Franklin, but against the protest of Col. Mccullough and certain other officers.
Col. Franklin argued that they were between two strong, effective Federal forces, those at Memphis and those under McNeil, and to remain in the vicinity of the well was to invite an attack from both. Against the proposal to fall back and meet McNeil in the Fabius bottom, and whip him before Morsey and Rogers could come to his assistance, it was urged that in the retrograde movement the point of contact with the Federal column could not be calculated so as to say it would be in the creek bot- tom; that McNeil was too wary to be taken at a serious disadvan- tage; that he knew the situation as well as the Confederates did, and would if attacked fight until Morsey should come to his relief. Nobody thought of going any further north toward the Federal forces in Scotland. After all, the movement to the westward seemed best.
Porter did not wish to fight. Not that he lacked bravery, or personal courage, but because he possessed that discretion which is the better part of valor. He knew that his own force largely outnumbered the pursuing Federals, but the greater number of his men were raw recruits, and many of them were unarmed. He
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
had not a single piece of cannon, while McNeil had five. He had only about 500 men whom he could depend upon, while every man of McNeil's was a disciplined soldier. His organization was very imperfect, his discipline next to nothing. A victory would bring him nothing substantial, a defeat meant ruin and destruction.
Tuesday, August 5, Porter set out in the direction of Kirks- ville, sending detachments on all roads, however, to conceal his real intentions. Behind him he tore up bridges, felled trees in the fords and roads, and obstructed the pursuit as well as possible. His detachments marched at times through fields, woods, and across prairies, pursuing devious and eccentric routes, but ad- vancing rapidly in the proper direction. With no commissariat, the Confederates lived off the country, but so hard pressed were they that they had barely time to snatch a mouthful or two at the houses they passed. A few wagons had been pressed into service, and these were laden with meal and bacon, but there was no time to cook them.
On the 5th, through the northern part of Knox into the cor- ner of Adair, Col. Porter kept up the march, bringing together all his forces, and ordering a concentration at Kirksville. This place had, until a day or so previous, been held by the Federals under Capt. James A. Smith, but Col. Gilstrap had ordered him down to Macon for safety, and Capt. Tice Cain, with his company of Confederate rangers from Putnam, Schuyler, and Adair, gal- loped in, took possession of the town and sent a courier to Porter with the news. In a few hours Capt. Cain moved out and joined Porter in person with his company. All along the road Porter's men grumbled that they were not permitted to fight. They grew tired of the hard and incessant retreat, and, not understanding the situation, clamored for a halt and a battle. Charges of cowardice were made against Porter by many reckless spirits, and at last desertions began. The captains of some of the companies notified the leaders that if a fight were not had soon there would be a stampede. " We came out to fight, not to run," was the general cry. At last Porter consented to gratify the belligerent disposition of his men and give them fighting to their hearts' content.
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
After concluding to deliver battle, Porter thought of halting, waiting for the arrival of his pursuers, and fighting out the issue between them, but when he heard that Kirksville had been taken he thought best to try the combat there, under cover of the houses and behind fences and brick walls. He relied, too, upon the effect of an ambuscade which he carefully and rather skillfully planned. In reaching a determination Col. Porter was aided greatly by the counsel of Col. Franklin. But for the latter it is quite probable that the battle would have been fought either at Short's well, in the Fabius bottom, or somewhere in the woods of Knox or Adair. The Confederates outnumbered the Federals two to one, and in a rough-and-tumble fight in the timber and among hills and hollows, where the Federals could not not use their artillery to advantage, there was hope of success. Indeed it was asserted that in the brush, where it could not be handled well, the Federal artillery might be captured. And give Porter a battery of artillery, and he need fear nothing north of the Missouri River.
Porter arrived at Kirksville early Wednesday morning, August 6, with the Federals at his heels. Here he planted his standard and formed his battle line, notifying the inhabitants to leave. He placed only about 500 of his men in the woods to the east of town, 500 more in the houses, behind the fences, and elsewhere under shelter in the town itself, and the remainder to the west of the place. He conjectured that the Federals would come boldly up, assault the first line, drive it back into the town, rush wildly on, be shriveled up by the fire of the concealed troopers in the houses, and then the reserve would come for- ward and finish the work. But Col. Porter's scheme lacked McNeil's endorsement and co-operation. One commander may plan a battle, but it takes two commanders to fight it.
Following Porter's devious route, on half a dozen roads, and at times across country, McNeil's pursuit was most toilsome. His men did some very hard riding, and endured much fatigue. Porter's men complained much of their hardships, but McNeil's troopers endured the same, marching over the same ground, under the same rains, and depending for food on a line of march along which the rebels had eaten everybody out of house and
128
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
home. The pursuer is always at a disadvantage, but so active and energetic was McNeil that he kept well up with Porter, often driving in his pickets, beating up his camps, and killing and wounding, from Newark to Paulville, several of his men.
Finding that Porter had turned westward from Short's well, McNeil at once ordered Col. Morsey to move down and hang upon the Confederate flank and line of march, thus eventually forcing an action. The main Federal column pressed on after Porter. About 9 o'clock, on Wednesday morning, August 6, citi- zens of Kirksville were met with the information that Porter had sent them out of the place, and that appearances indicated his intention to deliver battle. Everything was at once hurried up, without regard to the condition of horses or men. The train was left to the care of the rear guard.
The advance, composed of detachments of the Second and" Eleventh Regiments, Missouri State Militia, under Maj. Ben- jamin, was pushed forward and held the northeastern approach to the town some time before the arrival of the main column and the artillery. Kirksville is situated on a high plateau or prairie ridge, and at that day was surrounded by timber and cul- tivated fields, with open ground on the east and northeast. To the west, as now, a heavy body of timber extended from the con- fines of the town to the Chariton River, five miles away. From the roof of the house of Hon. William H. Parcells, two miles east of town, Col. McNeil reconnoitered the position, and in a very brief period thereafter had formed his columns for the attack.
The Federal right wing was commanded by Lieut .- Col. Shaf- fer, and consisted of detachments of the Merrill Horse, under Maj. Clopper, detachments of the Second and Eleventh Regi- ment, Missouri State Militia, under Maj. Benjamin, and the Third Indiana Battery, under Lieut. Armington. The left wing, under Maj. Caldwell, of the Third Iowa Cavalry, was composed of detachments of his regiment under Capt. Emanuel Mayne, two companies of the Ninth Missouri State Militia under Capts. Garth and Leonard, the "Red Rovers" under Capt. Rice, and the detachment of the First Missouri State Militia under Maj. Cox. A sectionof flying artillery, two two-pound steel howitzers, under
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
Lieut. McLaren, a twelve-pound howitzer in charge of Sergt. West acted, as did the Indiana Battery, under Capt. Barr, of Merrill's Horse. The dispositions for battle made, a little skirmishing resulted. The first Confederate killed was shot by Col. McNeil's body servant, a colored man, called Jim.
A great deal of time was spent by the Federal commander in developing the plans of the Confederates. He knew Porter had a very large force, and it puzzled him when only a few hundred came into the field. Where are the rest? he wondered. Suspecting that an ambush was laid for him, and divining Porter's schemes, he called for volunteers to ride into the town and learn what was there. Ten plucky fellows of Merrill's Horse, led by Lieut. John N. Cowdry, a very dashing young officer, charged into the very heart of the town, around the square and through the streets, developing the fact that every house was a Trojan horse, every garden fence an ambuscade, and the courthouse a cas- tle, with its lower windows boarded up and loopholed, and all its rooms filled with sharpshooters. After receiving the fire of five hundred shot guns, rifles and revolvers, losing only one man killed (A. H. Waggoner), one mortally wounded (Will- iam Ferguson), and having but two others struck, the daunt- less Cowdry rode back and reported.
Easy enough for McNeil to win the fight now. Porter had not a single cannon. McNeil had five. They were brought up immediately and opened. First the iron guns. Then came Armington with his pieces, which opened with conical shot, tearing the little frame houses to pieces as if they were built wholly of shingles, and crushing the brick walls as if they were egg shells. Dismounted men were thrown forward to seize ยท the outer line of fences and buildings on the north - ern and eastern sides of town. The Confederates fell back. McNeil's right wing, under Benjamin, wriggled still farther to the right, and the cannon followed it. A corn field in the southeastern part of the line was taken from the Confederates and they forced into the town. The artillery followed, and again thundered away, the Indiana Battery doing fearful execution. Slowly the Federals advanced, under cover of their artillery fire, and Porter's shot-gun men, on whom he had relied to do
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
such effective work, had to run from their covers and for their lives before a Federal came within gun shot.
Col. McNeil himself came forward and took personal charge of the fight. A Confederate rifle ball knocked the skin off his temple and clipped a lock of his hair, but he never flinched. Say this always for John McNeil. He was not a coward. Cruel some think him to have been, savage as a fighter he certainly was, but not a drop of craven blood flowed in his veins. At Kirksville, as elsewhere, he rode into the thickest of the fight, and watched the movements of the Confederates without a tele- scope or field-glass.
The Federals took their time, and advanced slowly, to pre- vent the fulfillment of Porter's plans, but at last the Confeder -. ates, thoroughly demoralized by the artillery fire, began to give way. A simultaneous charge of both Federal wings carried the main part of the town, the courthouse and the public square. Porter's reserves, in the western line of the town, fought a little, but Shaffer and Benjamin charged down and broke them, and then the battle was over, and there were but fugitives to fight.
Porter retreated with his forces rapidly and in disorder to the westward. It was " save himself who can." The idea was to put the Chariton River, five miles west of Kirksville, before dark between themselves and the victorious Federals, with their terrible cannon and well-mounted cavalrymen. Desertions began and were numerous and unrestrained. Officers and men both fled. Col. Frisby Mccullough started for his Marion County home, but never reached it alive. Other officers set the example for their men to abandon the cause so readily which but a few days before they had espoused so ardently. The woods about Kirksville were full of stragglers and skedaddlers, and the Fed- eral cavalry rode about, beating up the brush for them, captur- ing many, and shooting those who offered the least sign of resist- ance. Maj. Clopper, with the Merrill Horse, followed the flying Confederates about three miles, or until he became convinced they had crossed the Chariton, when he returned, having killed eight of the rear guard, and captured a number of prisoners and four wagons.
There is not room here to give the details of the battle of
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
Kirksville, but they may thus be summarized: Out of 2,800 men, perhaps not more than 1,000 Confederates were really in action. Out of 1,000 Federals not more than 600 fought. McNeil kept a good reserve. The Federals skirmished slightly with the Confederates, then stood off and battered them to pieces with artillery, then charged on them, created a panic among them, drove them helter-skelter back upon the reserve, panicked it, and drove the whole force in terror from the field and away from the country.
Owing to the peculiar circumstances, there was great dispro- portion between the losses. Only six Federals were killed on the field, and but thirty-three wounded, as follows:
COMMANDS.
Killed.
Wounded.
Merrill's Horse.
3
8
Third Iowa Cavalry
1
1
Ninth Missouri State Militia.
1
14
First Missouri State Militia.
1
5
Red Rovers.
2
Indiana Battery
1
Field and Staff.
2
Totals 6
33
In the Eleventh Missouri State Militia " no person was hurt," in the Second a few men were wounded, none disabled. Among the killed was Capt. E. Mayne, of the Third Iowa, shot through the forehead while leading a charge. Among the wounded were Col. McNeil, his adjutant, Lieut. Alex McFarlane, and Capt. Hiram Rice, of the "Red Rovers."
The Confederate loss was never exactly ascertained. Citizens estimate it at about 100 killed, and as many more wounded who were left on the field; numbers of the slightly injured rode away. Col. Shaffer says it amounted to 128 killed and 300 wounded .* Col. McNeil puts it at 150 killed, between 300 and 400 wounded and 47 prisoners.+
During the fight a lady resident of Kirksville, a Mrs. Coots, was shot and mortally wounded as she was coming out of a cel- lar wherein were a number of Confederate skulkers. The fight began about 11 A. M., and lasted altogether nearly five hours.
At Clem's mills, five miles west of Kirksville, Porter crossed
. *Rebellion Records, Vol. XIII, p. 217.
+Ibid, p. 215.
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
the Chariton with the main body of his command, and it is said that while the crossing was in progress so full was the stream with half-frantic, struggling horses, that those above dammed up the stream so that while they were swimming those below did not wet their sides. Many crossed where and as they could, and all plunged into the timber west of the stream, and soon night threw her black mantle of concealment over them and they were safe for the present. A little time for rest, a little time for bandag- ing, a little time for reorganization, and the march was re- sumed.
More than ever now did Porter desire to unite his forces with those of Poindexter, down in Chariton County, for in their union there would be strength sufficient to force a passage of the Mis- souri at Glasgow or Brunswick, and to open a roadway to the Confederacy, especially if the co-operation of Joe Shelby, with his regiment, in Saline and Lafayette, could be secured. Turning southward, therefore, Porter set out for Poindexter .* But quite often, in peace and in war, one man proposes and another dis- poses. Three miles north of Stockton, in the western part of Macon County, Porter encountered 250 men of the First Missouri State Militia, under Lieut .- Col. Alex. Woolfolk, coming up from the west to co-operate with McNeil. A short skirmish resulted, but so demoralized were the greater number of the Confederates that perhaps 2,000 of them allowed the 250 to check them and turn them from their course. At Panther Creek, the same day, Friday, August 8, there was another brief fight, and Porter abandoned his intention of proceeding further southward, and retreated rapidly toward the east or northeast. In the skirmish at Panther Creek, the Federals lost two killed and ten wounded; Confederate loss unknown.
That night Col. James McFerran, of the First Missouri State Militia, joined Woolfolk with 130 men of the Fifth Missouri State Militia under Lieut .- Col. Thompson, two six-pounders under Lieut. Caldwell, and thirty men of the First Missouri State Militia-about 200 in all. Porter was retreating north along the Chariton, looking for a crossing. Moving at 2 o'clock on the
*On the 11th Poindexter was badly defeated by Gen. Guitar, at Compton's Ferry, on Grand River, in the northwestern part of Chariton County. Sweeping to the north through Livingston, and around to the east through Linn. he again encountered Guitar at Yellow Creek, on the 13th, where his command was completely broken up.
STATE OF MISSOURI. 133
morning of the 9th, and marching rapidly, these 400 Federals, McFerran at the head, came up with Porter at Walnut Creek, in Adair County, attacked vigorously, using the cannon, and after a sharp fight drove Porter eastward to the Chariton, leaping on the rear guard every few minutes, killing a man now and then, and causing no end of annoyance and uneasiness.
Porter grew tired of this, and 4 o'clock the same day, at Sears' Ford, where he recrossed the Chariton, he put 125 men in ambush, on the east bank, and when McFerran came up and the stream was full of drinking horses and their unsuspecting riders, and just as two men rode up the bank, those 125 opened fire at short range, and the stream was full of writhing men and plunging horses. And yet only two Federals were killed out- right and twenty wounded. The Confederates did not lose a man. They retreated rapidly after the first fire, but McFerran cannonaded the empty timber for an hour. McFerran did not cross the river, assigning as a reason that he could not get his artillery and ammunition over. He led his command back to the west, reaching Laclede on the 12th, and joined in the pursuit of Poindexter .*
Porter passed on to Wilsonville, in the southeastern part of Adair, and near here he paused. Danger surrounded him on every side, and the dark hour was on Saul. His men were discouraged, and many were heartily tired of war. They began to "scatter out," every man for himself, and in a few hours 500 had drifted away into the brush and the by-ways. Many went south into Monroe and Randolph. At Feltz's "log- cabin " bridge on Salt River in the southwestern part of Knox, on the 11th, there was a virtual disbandment. Many set out for their homes; others started for Illinois and Iowa; some remained in squads and companies. Porter himself, at the head of a con- siderable number of his men, went southeast through the south- ern portion of Knox, passing near Novelty, going below Newark and leaving that town several miles to the north, and then curv- ing upward to Whaley's mill, on the South Fabius.
The next day after the engagement at Kirksville, Col. McNeil was joined by the command of Col. Morsey, from Scotland and
*Rebellion Records, Vol. XIII, p. 208.
-
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Schuyler. This force, as has been stated, had been moving par- allel with Porter, but north of him, and it is believed that had it co-operated efficiently with McNeil's column, Porter's defeat at Kirksville would have been far more disastrous than it was. For some reason, which can not here be given, Col. Morsey not only failed to throw himself in Porter's front, and seize the crossing of the Chariton, but on the afternoon of the 6th, when within audible distance of the battle, he deliberately went into camp with his entire command.
By the re-enforcement of Morsey the command of McNeil was swollen to nearly 1,700 men. There was, however, but a small stock of provisions, and two-thirds of the horses were jaded and sore, and half of them were barefoot. The little army was not in condition to follow up immediately the advantage it had gained. But, on the morning of the 8th, Quartermaster H. M. Hiller, of the Second Missouri State Militia,* arrived from Palmyra, via Edina, with 8,000 rations and a supply of horse shoes. The address and boldness of Lieut. Hiller in moving night and day through what was practically a hostile country, with a guard of but forty men, and the valuable and timely assistance he gave his commander, made him the subject of very high comment.
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