USA > Missouri > Missouri the center state, 1821-1915 > Part 45
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Thomasville. After traveling about three miles I met a man who informed me that Colonel Coleman was to be at Thomasville with his command of about 300 men the night previous. I kept on my route, hastening my speed; six miles this side of Thomasville, at the house of Nallmesses, I was informed that Coleman had camped at Thomasville the night previous. When I arrived within one mile of Coleman's camp the advance guard captured a prisoner, who stated that Coleman had 300 men, but that there were only from 160 to 200 in camp. I used the prisoner as guide, and as soon coming in sight of the camp, which was in a field, I gave the order to charge, which was promptly executed by my men, who were eager for the sport. After a half hour's skirmish the enemy were completely routed, killing 20 men and I captain (Taylor), captured 10 prisoners, 24 head of horses and 5 mules, nine saddles, and about 30 stand of small-arms, which I was obliged to have broken up except three guns that I brought in, as I had not transportation or means to bring them here. No loss on our side except one horse slightly wounded."
A Long Chase Near Huntsville.
Lieut. Col. Alexander F. Denny, of the 46th Missouri Militia, telling about a skirmish near Huntsville, conveyed a good idea of what the bush fighting was.
"We came upon the trail of Jim Anderson, the notorious robber and guerrilla," he replied, "some five miles south of this place, about 10 o'clock, and after pursuing it about two hours lost it. I scoured the brush for miles, and at 2 p. m. came out upon the road from Huntsville to Fayette, at the residence of Owen Bagby. Four of our men rode up to the house, when Anderson and his men commenced firing upon them from the house. I ordered the column to dismount and charge them on foot. The boys came up in fine style with a deafening yell, when Anderson mounted his men and retreated hastily through the rear of the farm, having previously left the gates down. I ordered the men to remount, and with some five or six of the men who had their horses in advance, charged the enemy as he retreated through the fields. We were obstructed by gates and fences, and the enemy got under cover of the woods some 300 yards in advance of us. With the little handful of men in the advance I ordered a charge through the thick brush, which was made in gallant style, random shots being fired at us and returned by our men until we reached a long lane. Here the chase became fierce and rapid. We ran upon the rear, coming on two men mounted on one horse. The horse was shot from under them, and the men scaled the fence and took to the pastures. George Raynolds of Captain Mayo's company, who was with me in the advance, having fired his last shot, fell back to reload. A short hand-to- hand conflict with pistols ensued between the robber and myself, when, after the exchange of some four or five shots, George Peak, Company D, Ninth Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, came to my relief and ended his existence with a rifle-shot. He had been previously wounded in the neck and back. John Kale, of Company D, Ninth Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, pursued the other dismounted man on foot through the fields until he had exhausted his last shot, having previously wounded him in the neck. So soon as the men came up I ordered them forward, but Anderson being so well mounted could not be overtaken. The men all conducted themselves well. At the time of the attack we were not fully aware of Anderson's strength. There were only ten men at Bagby's, yet their number was reported to us subsequently at thirty men. Result of the skirmish: One man killed and one mor- tally wounded; also, Jim Anderson reported shot through the nose; one horse killed, one wounded and one captured; also, one gun and four or five pistols. Money taken from the person of the dead man-$90 in gold, $286 in greenbacks, $4.50 in silver, $16 W. M. B .; total, $396.50. Our loss, one horse. Anderson turned into the brush after a run of three miles and scattered his men. We followed the trail as long as we could, when we turned in the direction of Huntsville. We came upon him again at 6 o'clock in the brush within three miles of Huntsville. A few shots were fired by our men, and an exciting chase of ten minutes followed, when the enemy was lost in the thick brush."
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War on the Smugglers.
A good deal in brief space was told by Capt. J. W. Edwards, commanding at Cape Girardeau : "I sent a scout, under Lieut. Davis, of twenty men, Tuesday morning, up the country around Wolf Island and vicinity. They returned Thursday evening, having scouted the whole country within six miles of Charles- ton and also on the river. They succeeded in breaking up large gangs of smug- glers, killed three authorized Confederate smugglers and three noted guerrillas; they broke up seven skiffs and one flatboat that were used by the smugglers; just opposite Columbus captured two horses and some contraband goods. I think it has been a severe lesson to them. The guerrillas murdered John Gard- ner Tuesday morning near Fugitt's. They shot him sixteen times and robbed him of his money and horses. Neute Massey and four of his gang did it. Lieut. Davis killed John Hancock, who was Massey's right-hand man and was a regular authorized Confederate smuggler. I think the scout did well."
One of Gen. John McNeil's Orders.
In the latter part of September, Gen. John McNeil, commanding the District of Rolla, in sending out a scouting party issued this order: "Lieut. L. Storz, 5th Regiment Cavalry Missouri State Militia, will proceed, with twenty-five men and five days' light rations in haversacks, to the country between Mill Creek and Spring Creek, in search of guerrilla bands and disloyal persons. The for- mer will be pursued and exterminated, taking no prisoners in arms, except such as voluntarily surrender previous to conflict. The latter when found guilty of harboring and feeding guerrillas will be warned out of the State and their houses burned, their fences and crops destroyed. The inhabitants of the country will be warned that aiding and assisting the enemies of this Government, whether in regular force or when acting as guerrillas, will call down certain destruction on them, and that the commandant of this district gives them a friendly warning, which he hopes they will heed, and save him from the disagreeable duty that will devolve on him when they are detected in such practices. Lieut. Storz will call on the officer in command at Little Pina for a guide and such advice and assist- ance as he may need in the execution of these orders. He will make the power of the Government felt and respected in the counties he moves through by the good order and discipline of his men and respect for the property of the loyal; next, by the destruction of every house and farm where the occupants have vio- lated the repeated orders of this department against feeding and harboring or giving aid and information to bushwhackers."
Forced Contributions in Callaway.
Assistant Provost Marshal Charles D. Ludwig sent in from Fulton, Callaway County, a discouraging review of the situation :
"During the past month the bushwhackers have been more troublesome in this sub- district than at any time before. The bands are numerous and large, and it is impossible for small squads of men to scout, as the bushwhackers in every instance, nearly, ontnum- ber them, and they are better mounted and better armed. In the first part of August the troops here, in conjunction with a company stationed at Columbia and a small squad of Illinois men, had a fight with bushwhackers in Boone County, under command of one Todd, killing and wounding several of the latter. About the middle of August a squad of from twenty to forty were in the eastern part of this county, and on the 20th entered
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Portland, robbed stores and made the citizens pay a tax of $25 a head. They went to the place of Mr. Martin, on Nine-mile Prairie, and robbed him of $5,000. They collected over $10,000 in this manner, besides several fine horses. A squad of soldiers sent out from here fell in with these scoundrels the next day and killed one of them. The bushwhackers are concentrating in Boone County. There is a rendezvous in Prussia Bottom, above Provi- dence, in Boone County, where there are from 300 to 500 men, who lately crossed the Missouri River. They are not mounted, but are procuring horses very fast, and are splen- didly armed. They are recruiting with great success. It is beyond a doubt that most of the drafted men in this and Boone County will join them, as it is openly avowed by many. An outbreak is feared here every moment, and Union men are fleeing from their homes. David Cunningham, a citizen of Boone County, a preacher, is recruiting bushwhackers. He is said to have eighty men. This man is one of the wealthiest citizens of Boone County, and holds a large real estate, as also others who are now in the rebel service.
"There can be nothing done with the troops here, as only a few men of Company L, Ninth Missouri State Militia Cavalry, are mounted. The enrolled militia is apparently dis- solved, as many of them have joined the twelve-months' troops and the rest went home. It is a sad fact that the men of Company L, Ninth Missouri State Militia Cavalry, are dreaded even by loyal men nearly as much as bushwhackers, as their officers seem to exer- cise but little control over them. They have a very loose discipline on scouts as well as in camp, as the empty hen houses and watermelon patches, etc., can testify. Complaints are coming in nearly every day of depredations committed by these men, but I am at a loss how to detect the transgressors and bring them to justice, as I have never met with the desired aid and co-operation from the hands of Capt. T. L. Campbell, commanding post here, and the men, knowing this, pay very little respect to the property of private citizens, who are insulted and annoyed by such vandalism."
Congratulations from General Fisk.
Maj. Austin A. King, 6th Missouri Militia, sent in a report that he had come upon Holtzclaw's command east of Roanoke, Howard County. In a running fight of five miles he killed six men and wounded several. "I congratulate you," Gen. Fisk wrote from St. Joseph to Maj. King, "on the good beginning of the bushwhacking campaign. Strike with vigor and determination. Take no prisoners. We have enough of that sort on hand now. Pursue and kill. I have two of Holtzclaw's men, just captured. They state that he camps, when in Howard County, in the rear of old man Hackley's farm, not far from Fay- ette. Make a dash in there at night, and get him if possible. Let a detachment secretly watch his mother's residence. He is home almost daily, and his sisters are great comforters of the bushwhackers. Old man Hackley has a son in the brush. I shall soon send out of the district the bushwhacking families."
CHAPTER XVII.
RECONSTRUCTION IN MISSOURI.
A State Without Civil Authority-The Secret Conference in a Newspaper Office-Midsum- mer Session of the Convention-State Offices Declared Vacant-The Provisional Government- Lieutenant-Governor Hall's Keynote-Judge Philips' Analysis of the Anomalous Conditions-Erratic Course of Uricl Wright-The Factional Spirit-Gov- ernor Gamble's Death-Charcoals and Claybanks-The Enrolled Militia-President Lin- coln's Advice to Schofield-The Seventy "Radical Union Men of Missouri"-Encourage- ment from the Anti-Slavery People-The Visit to Washington-Reception at the White House-Address of Grievances-Prayer for Ben Butler to Succeed Schofield-Enos Clarke's Recollections-Lincoln's Long Letter-What Was the Matter With Missouri- "Every Foul Bird Comes Abroad and Every Dirty Reptile Rises Up"-Common Sense Remedies-The Election of 1864-Blair on the Permit System-The Constitutional Con- vention-Immediate Emancipation, Test Oath and the "Ousting Ordinance"-The Revo- lutionary Proposition-Removal of 1,000 Judges and Court Officers-Judge Clover's Astonishingly Frank Report-Ousting l'ital to the Reconstruction Policy-The Protests -The Ordinance Enforced-Justices of the Supreme Court Removed from the Bench- A Display of Military Force-Thomas K. Skinker's Valuable Contribution to Missouri History.
The dissensions between Union men in Missouri are due solely to a factious spirit, which is exceedingly reprehensible. The two parties ought to have their heads knocked together .- President Lincoln to James Taussig, in May, 1863.
In July, 1861, Missouri was without civil government. "The governor and the legislature had fled the State," said Thomas Shackleford. "I was called to St. Louis to meet other parties in regard to the situation. In an upper room of the Planters' House, Nathaniel Paschall, editor of the Missouri Republican, had a conference, at which I was present, to determine what it was best to do under the circumstances, to prevent anarchy. Mr. Paschall said he had come to the conclusion that it was best to depose the present governor and elect a pro- visional governor. He said that in the next issue of the Republican he would advise this. This was done, and in accordance with the advice, the convention was called together."
Upon the adjournment in March, after declaring in favor of the Union, the convention had provided for future possibilities by giving to a committee the power to reassemble the body.
The convention met in Jefferson City on the 22d of July. Its president, Ster- ling Price, was not there but most of the members were. Three of the state officers, the treasurer, auditor and register of lands, who had left with Jackson, came back, swore allegiance to the United States and took up their duties. The governor, the lieutenant-governor and the secretary of state, the official staff of the legislature and most of the state clerical force were away. The first action of the convention was the appointment of a committee to consider this
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fifty-six to twenty-five. In his paper prepared for the State Historical Society, Judge John F. Philips described the conditions which confronted the delegates:
"The state treasury was depleted, and the convention was left without the means of defraying its own expenses. There was no military force to protect the State in the condition of exposure to anarchy. The State was under martial law; and a German military commandant, with but crude ideas of civil govern- ment, was dominant at the state capital. Under the recent census the State was entitled to two additional Representatives in the Congress of the United States, demanding a new apportionment of the Congressional districts, or a legislative enactment providing for the manner of securing such additional representation. The legislature had disbanded without making any provision therefor.
"What was the duty of the members of the convention in such a conjuncture to the people of the State who had sent them to the capital to represent them? Were they to display the moral cowardice of those 'wlio do not care what be- comes of the Ship of the State, so that they may save themselves in the cock- boat of their own fortune,' or should they first save the State, and leave their action to the sober judgment of posterity? They chose the latter course.
"Naturally enough the few favoring secession or nothing, and others in sym- pathy with the absent state officials, desiring that nothing should be done con- flicting with the mere theory of their official existence, vigorously opposed any action of the convention other than an adjournment sine die. The opposition was led principally, in so far as talking was concerned, by Uriel Wright of St. Louis, who had come to the convention as an unconditional Unionist ; and at its first session had made a three days' speech in opposition to the whole theory of seces- sion, minimizing the grievances of the seceding States, with a force of eloquence that enthused, beyond description, the entire convention, including the presiding officer, General Price, who while with dignity seeking to repress the applause of the galleries said to me on adjournment, in walking to the old Planter's House where we boarded: 'That speech was so fine I too felt like applauding. But alas, for the infirmity of great geniuses, Wright was carried off of his high pedestal by the small incident of the Camp Jackson affair, and came to the July session of the convention anxious to display the usual zeal of the new convert. So he turned loose the whole vocabulary of his invective against everything and everybody pro-Union. To my conception he was the most brilliant orator of the State, with a vast wealth of historical, political and literary information. Like a very tragedian he bestrode the platform, and with the harmony of accent and emphasis he charmed like a siren. But he was unsteady in judgment, un- stable in conviction and inconsistent of purpose. And, therefore, was wanting in that moral force that holds and leads thoughtful men. His rhetoric went into thin air before the severe logic and more sincere eloquence of such men as Judge Gamble, the two brothers, William A. and Willard P. Hall, John B. Hen- derson and James O. Broadhead."
The Convention's Authority.
The convention was authorized in the act creating it "to adopt such measures for vindicating the sovereignty of the State, and the protection of its institutions as shall appear to them to be demanded." The southern rights majority in the leg- Vol. [ -21
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islature intended these words to mean secession. The convention found in them the power to go forward and reconstruct an entire state government loyal to the Union. Judge Philips said: "The arguments advanced in favor of the power of the convention to establish a provisional government to meet the emergency may be summarized as follows: The convention called for by the legislature was elected by popular vote of the people. Under our form of representative government when such delegates met they were as the whole people of the State assembled.
"In so far as concerned the domestic local affairs and policy of the State, the people were all powerful to make and unmake, bind and unbind, so long as they maintained a government republican in form, and not in conflict with the Federal constitution. The only recognizable limitation upon its power was to be found in the terms of the legislative enactment calling it.
"In anticipation and expectation of the framers of the act that an ordinance of secession would be adopted, they sought to invest the convention with most plenary powers in order to meet the requirements of the new, extraordinary conditions likely to arise, both from without and within the State. Accordingly the convention was authorized not only to take consideration of the existing relations between the government of the United States and the governments and the people of the different States, but also 'the government and people of the State of Missouri, and to adopt such measures for vindicating the sovereignty of the State, and the protection of its institutions as shall appear to them to be demanded.' So that the convention during its deliberations found civil govern- ment in the State paralyzed, without a head, society unprotected by the arm of the State, disorder and confusion fast spreading over it like a pall of anarchy. It was the deliberate judgment of the great majority that it was neither extra- constitutional, usurpatory, nor without the recognized law of the public necessity, that the convention should provide a provisional government, ad interim.
"The first step in this work of conservation was to provide for an executive head. And no higher evidence of the conservative impulses of the convention could be furnished than the fact of its designation of Hamilton R. Gamble as governor and Willard P. Hall as lieutenant governor. Where could have been found two wiser, safer, more prudent, unselfish men? Their very names were a rainbow of promise to the sorely vexed and perplexed people of the State. With unsparing energy, consummate ability and unfaltering courage, Governor Gamble set his face and all the aids he could command to the work of restoring order, lawful process, and peace within the borders of the commonwealth."
The Evolution of the Factions.
Of the subsequent trials of Governor Gamble and the provisional government, Judge Philips drew this picture: "That in that endeavor and purpose he and his coadjutors should have encountered opposition and criticism from the very element he so earnestly strove to protect excited wonder among thoughtful, good citizens at the time ; and in the light of experience it now seems anomalous. There were two extremes in the State. One was the impracticable theorists, who, rather than accept deliverance from any source other than the Claib Jack- son defunct government, would accept anarchy. The other was the inflamed radicals, who preferred the substitution of military for civil government, so long
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as under its bloody reign they could make reprisals and wreak personal spites upon an unarmed class who had incurred their dislike. In other words, they preferred a condition of disorder and confusion as more favorable to rapine, plunder and persecution. The very determined policy of Gamble's administra- tion to extend protection to noncombatants, to life, liberty and property, was made the slogan of the rapidly recruiting forces of radicalism that 'the Gamble govern- ment' was but another name for southern sympathy. This feeling was in- geniously communicated to the Secretary of War, Stanton, whose motto seemed to be 'Aut Caesar aut nihil.'
"Between the two factions, the one denying on every occasion the lawful authority of his administration, and, therefore, yielding him not even needed moral support, and the other demanding non-interference with predatory war- fare and reprisals on 'rebel sympathizers,' to say nothing of the machinations of ambitious politicians, his soul was sorely vexed and tried. But with a fortitude as sublime as his moral courage he never hesitated nor halted in waging, with all force and resources at his command, an uncompromising war on outlawry, no matter under what guise it masqueraded or under what banner it despoiled. He believed in liberty with law and government without unnecessary oppression.
"Oppressed with the heavy burdens of such an office, under such conditions, and weakened physically with increasing ill health, Governor Gamble tendered his resignation to the convention in 1863, and begged that it be accepted. But so profoundly impressed was the convention with the supreme importance to the welfare of the State that he should continue his great work, it implored him to withdraw the resignation. I can yet see his pallid face, furrowed with the ravages of care and disease, his hair like burnished silver, his eyes aglow with the fire of martyrdom, his voice so mellow, yet perfectly modulated, as he stood before the convention and said: 'Your will be done not mine.' With the harness. chafing and bearing hard upon his wasting frame he went to his death, January 31, 1864, lamented and honored at his funeral as I have never before or since witnessed in this State."
Schofield and the Enrolled Militia.
The Minute Men of the winter of 1861 were enlisted by the Southern Rights. leaders "to protect the State." The next year, under an act of Congress, was begun the organization of the Enrolled Militia of Missouri for the "defense of the State." It had been found by the Union leaders that there were many young Missourians who were willing to enlist for service in Missouri on the Union side. These young men would not go south to fight against the Union. Neither were they willing to go outside the State to fight against southern relatives and friends in the Confederate armies. They were ready to enlist under officers appointed by the Union governor to preserve order in the State and to repel invasion of Missouri by Confederates. General John M. Schofield, who had been a professor in Washington University, a major in one of the Home Guard regiments which took Camp Jackson, and Lyon's chief of staff in the battle of Wilson's Creek, was given charge of the Missouri Enrolled Militia. He organized into regiments 13,000 men who rendered the State good service, making possible the withdrawal of troops from other States.
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President Lincoln promoted Schofield to command the department of Mis- souri and on May 27, 1863, wrote him this letter for guidance in his difficult posi- tion :
"Having relieved General Curtis and assigned you to the command of the department of Missouri, I think it may be some advantage for me to state to you why I did it. I did not relieve General Curtis because of any full conviction that he had done wrong by commission or omission. I did it because of a con- viction in my mind that the Union men of Missouri, constituting when united a vast majority of the whole people, have entered into a pestilent factional quarrel among themselves-General Curtis, perhaps not from choice, being the head of one faction, and Governor Gamble that of the other. After months of labor to reconcile the difficulty, it seemed to grow worse and worse, until I felt it my duty to break it up somehow; and as I could not remove Governor Gamble, I had to remove General Curtis. Now that you are in the position, I wish you to undo nothing merely because General Curtis or Governor Gamble did it, but to exercise your own judgment and do right for the public interest.
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