USA > Missouri > Linn County > The history of Linn county, Missouri. An encyclopedia of useful information > Part 34
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The first company organized in Linn county for the Federal service- claimed, with good reason, to be the first company organized in north Mis- souri-was Captain Watson E. Crandall's company of home-guards, or of the United States Reserve Corps as designated by General Lyon. This company was made up about the middle of June and sworn in at Brook- field, on the twenty-second of that month, by Capt. F. C. Loring. Imme- diately thereafter the company went into active service.
By the first of September there were several hundred Federal troops in the county, at Brookfield, Laclede, and the railroad bridges. At Laclede, Colonel Morgan threw up an earthwork for the protection of his men, which was called "Fort Morgan." Fort Morgan was built chiefly by the labor of captured " rebels" and impressed negroes and citizens. It contained two pieces of cannon, one of which Captain Love had cast at the foundry in Quincy, at his own expense. At Brookfield there were no fortifications. The Sixteenth Illinois, a German company from St. Joe, and Crandall's and Loring's men had given way to the Third Iowa.
CAPTURE OF SLACK'S CANNON.
Early in the summer General W. Y. Slack, who had been appointed brig- adier-general of the Missouri State Guard by Governor Jackson, for this
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military district, made his headquarters at Chillicothe. He bargained for and procured to be made at a foundry in Palmyra two pieces of iron cannon for the use of his division of the State Guard against the Federals. The cannon were made and started toward General Slack in a covered wagon, it not being deemed safe to attempt their transportation over the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, as that corporation was known to be friendly to the Yankees and hostile to the secessionists. The wagon in which lay the two terrible four-pounders had every appearance of being an ordinary emigrant wagon and the driver seemed in every particular to be a very innocent, guileless individual.
Soon after the cannon had been started from Palmyra the fact was dis- covered by the Federal military authorities, but the direction they had taken was not discovered for some days. As soon as it was known, however, word was sent along the railroad to look out for them. Captain Loring, of Brook- field, Captain Crandall and others of the home-guards, got the word from Major Hunt at Hannibal, and immediately set about to intercept and cap- ture the "deep-mouthed artillery" so much needed by General Slack.
At the old Elliott farm, on section fourteen, township fifty-eight, range nineteen, on the main road the innocent looking emigrant wagon was met and captured, together with some ammunition, and the whole affair termi- nated without the firing of a gun. The prize was taken in great triumph and turned over to the Federal military authorities.
Well was it that Worthley's and Crandall's men captured those cannon when they did. An hour or two later and they would have been forced to fight for them, and to fight hard. General Slack had sent out from Chilli- cothe about twenty well-armed mounted men under Captain Small to escort his cannon into Chillicothe. Part of this escort passed through Linneus at- tracting some observation and making known to their secession friends who they were and the nature of their mission. They arrived at the Elliott farm just in time to be too late to rescue the ill-fated cannon, and were forced to return to Chillicothe and General Slack in much discomfiture. Small was prepared to fight and would have fought had he encountered the home guards.
THE FIRST CONFEDERATE TROOPS.
Among the prisoners taken at Linneus and "carried away into captivity" was William Sandusky, a young merchant of that place. After being held by the Federals for some time he was released and retured to Linneus and immediately set about organizing a company for service under General Price and Governor Jackson, and against the Federals. He found many kindred spirits but he was forced to proceed very cautiously. About the first of September enough men to form a good sized company were under promise to go south and join General Price. Word had been passed from
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one to another of the faithful, and the secret was well kept, that a company for the Southern army was being made up in Linn county. It was known that another company was being organized in Sullivan county, and it was arranged that both companies should make a common rendezvous and march out together. Those thought to be tried and true were "sounded," and in- vited to join the expedition, or at least give it aid and comfort. The invita- tion was uniformly accepted as to one or the other of its conditions.
All things being ready the time came for the assembling of the clans. At Mark Arnold's, in Jackson township, on the twelfth day of September, the company rendezvoused and organized. George W. Sandusky of Linneus was chosen captain of the company, which numbered about thirty-five men, and was composed of men from all parts of the county, Jackson furnishing more, however, than any other township. The lieutenants were Hon. E. H. Rich- ardson, Taylor Singleton, and Henry Cherry.
Thomas H. Flood, of Sandusky's company, was sent up to the Sullivan county men to notify them that their Linn county brethren were ready, and of the rendezvous. He found them at Field's mill, ready and willing to go, but without a leader. They at once chose him their captain, and he led them down to Mark Arnold's in safety. Here there was a cordial but brief fraternization, for time was precious. The two companies, numbering about seventy-five men, were combined, and Dr. P. C. Flournoy, of Linneus, put in charge of the battalion, which at once took up the line of march for Price's army. It was after dark when the movement of the companies be- gan from Arnold's. They marched silently but swiftly south, crossing the railroad east of Meadville in safety, though Federal troops were on either side of them in considerable numbers, and supposed to be on the alert. Two wagons loaded with supplies accompanied the battalion. After a long and fatiguing tramp the companies arrived the next day at Brunswick, where they appropriated some provisions from the stores, whose proprietors were secessionists for the most part, and who willingly gave out supplies to feed the tired and hungry Linn and Sullivan men. Here they crossed the Missouri, and then passed on up the river to Lexington, where General Price's army was met, and where the men were sworn into the State Guard, to serve six months from September 12, unless sooner discharged. The day from which the Linn county company's service dated was that on which General Price completed the investment of the gallant Colonel Mulligan and his mnen. Sandusky's company took part in the operations which led to the capture of the Federals six days later. It was known as Company A, Third Regiment, Third Division, Missouri State Guard, Ed Price, colonel; William S. Hyde, lieutenant-colonel; and afterward became Company K, Second Missouri Infantry, Confederate States of America.
Meantime, in the eastern part of the county, Martin Hamilton had taken out a company of Confederates in which were about fifteen Linn county
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men. Hamilton had been a lieutenant in Barbee's company in the Mexi- can War, and was known as a good fighter. His company was composed mostly of Macon county men, and was a part of Colonel Bevier's Fourth Regiment, in the State Guard. It is stated that a few men, not more than six, left Yellow Creek and Jefferson with Major Hansford.
After Sandusky's company had reached Price's army, a number of re- cruits from this county joined from time to tinie during the months of Sep- tember and October. These men went when they could, and as they could -starting after dark in most cases, and going singly, in couples, by threes, and in squads, as was deemed best and most prudent under the circum- stances.
OTHER MILITARY OPERATIONS OF 1861.
Not long after its primary organization at Laclede, Morgan's Eighteenth Missouri went to Brookfield, and there remained in camp for some time, and at length was sent to Weston, in Platte county.
Capt. W. R. Love was in command of the post at Laclede. His company and Captain Loring's, of the Seventh Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, had been mustered into the United States service at the same time the Eighteenth Missouri was mustered in. One night an attack was made on Love's pick- ets by some scouting secessionists, who lost one man-killed. Love and Humphrey's companies were also at Brookfield a portion of the time.
Captain Love states that when Sandusky and Flood's companies of Con- federates crossed the railroad on their way south word was sent to him at Brookfield of the fact, and he instantly prepared to intercept them. Mount- ing his own and Humphrey's company, he was about to set out in pursuit, when a violent rain began to fall, which wet the ammunition and the car- bines of the men to such an extent that it would have been a piece of fool- ishness to have undertaken the case with the prospect of a stubborn fight. So the men dismounted and returned to quarters.
Love's company made a visit to Carroll county prior to Morgan's expedi- tion, and some time in the month of September had the first fight of the civil war in that county.
Crandall's company of home-guards was on service in the county until September twenty-first, the men receiving from the government no pay, clothing or other allowances except arms and provisions.
In December Captain Morris's company was sent down from Chillicothe to guard the railroad bridge over Locust Creek, and remained at that post for some time. Morris's company, as has been stated, was made up of Linn county men, and their service in a locality where they stood on their " na- tive heath " was very acceptable to them.
The close of the year saw Linn county completely under the Federal au- thority. None but Federal soldiers were to be found within her borders,
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and a vast majority of the people were sympathizers with the Federal or Union cause. The secessionists were chiefly confined to those who had rela- tives in the Southern army, and could not but wish them well at least. There was little to cheer or comfort them here in Linn. The Union army was strong and growing stronger every day.
LEADING EVENTS OF 1862.
Early in the spring of 1862, the first cavalry regiment was organized in north Missouri, chiefly in the counties of Daviess, DeKalb, Livingston, Linn, Sullivan, Putnam, and Harrison. Of this regiment the first officers were, James McFerrin, colonel; Alexander M. Woolfolk, lieutenant- colonel; A. W. Mullins, of Linn, major. March 25th, Harvey Wilkinson, of this county, received a commission as captain of Company F, of the First Cavalry Missouri State Militia; John D. Mullins and D. C. Woodruff, on the same date received commissions as first and second lieutenants, re- spectively. The company was soon filled up, and went immediately into active service, south of the river.
THE HAND OF WAR IS FELT, AND IT IS HARD AND HEAVY.
The people of the county now begin to realize, in some degree, the mean- ing of civil war. While there were no formidable and bloody engagements between the two armies within their borders, they endured the discomforts, annoyances, and privations incident to war in an unpleasant degree. The Federal troops had practically undisputed control, and caused the Confed- erates and Confederate sympathizers to realize that fact. The right to " for- age on the enemy " was recognized and freely exercised. Many a Confed- erate sympathizer, or a citizen under that ban, was called upon to furnish corn, hay, and other supplies for the garrisons at Brookfield, Laclede, and at other points where troops were stationed. Sometimes pay or vouchers were given for these supplies, and sometimes not. Teams and horses were fre- quently " pressed." Scouting parties made frequent forays into the country, and demanded food and forage of the farmers. The housewives were fre- quently called up and labored far into the night, cooking for hungry soldiers.
Men were also detailed to work upon the block-house at Locust Creek, Parson Creek, and Yellow Creek, and these men were usually supposed to be Confederate or "rebel " sympathizers. The "loyal " also suffered at times with the disloyal, at the hands of the militia. The logic of some of the troops when demanding favors of the people was irresistible. " If you are loyal, you wont grumble; if you are a d-d secesh, it serves you right."
Prisoners were frequently made of the suspected -- those who, as it was thought, had given, or were giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Some-
22
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times they were carried away and incarcerated for a season, and released upon a heavy bond, and upon taking an oath to support the Federal gov- ernment as well as the "Gamble government," or existing government of the State. Often, however, the prisoners were released on bond without leaving the county.
ORGANIZATION OF THE ENROLLED MISSOURI MILITIA.
· In the summer of 1862 the Enrolled Missouri Militia, or "E. M. M.," was organized. The majority (if not all) of the Linn county men belonging to this organization were members of the Sixty-second Regiment. The En- rolled Millitia were designed to be used in the localities where they were organized, in emergencies and upon extraordinary occasions, and for a species of guard and patrol duty. When wanted they were summoned to a rendezvous, and when their services were no longer needed they were allowed to return to their homes. They were armed and uniformed by the United States government, and paid by the State for the time they were actually in service.
Every able-bodied male citizen between the ages of eighteen and forty- · five was expected to become a member of the Enrolled Missouri Militia. Exemptions could be purchased for thirty dollars at first; afterward the commutation was made larger; finally it ceased altogether.
The majority of the Linn county Enrolled Militia belonged to the Sixty- second Regiment, as above stated, which was composed mainly of Linn and Macon county men. R. J. Eberman, of Macon, was colonel of the Sixty-second; Hamilton DeGraw, of Linn, lieutenant-colonel; Luther T. Forman and Watson E. Crandall, of Linn, were majors. The Linn com- panies were:
Company A, captain, Robert W. Holland; first lieutenant, John S. Baker; second lieutenant, William B. Brinkley.
Company C, captain, A. P. Wilkerson; first lieutenant, Elijah Jones; second lieutenant, John Gooch.
Company D, captain, Moses G. Roush; first lieutenant, Samuel A. Henley; second lieutenant, Silas M. Bennett.
Company F, first captain, Jesse Buckman; second captain, William R. Thomas; first first lieutenant, John Branson; second first lieutenant, William Robbins, promoted from second lieutenant.
Company G, captain, Lacy Sipples; first lieutenant, Thomas Ratten; second lieutenant, T. C. Cutter.
There was also a company G in the Thirty-eighth Regiment, officered as follows: captain, E. J. Crandall; first lieutenant, John R. Worthley; second lieutenants, Charles C. Davis and Robinson Tooey. This com- pany was known as "The Railroad Brigade."
The commissions of all of the first officers of the Sixty-second Regiment
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were dated in July and August, 1862. The officers of Company G, Thirty- eighth Regiment, were commissioned September 2.
LEADING EVENTS OF 1863.
The militia were called out at intervals during the year, but their service was unimportant. The militia from Grundy county made forages at differ- ent periods into Jackson township, beating up the timber and brush along the streams for bushwhackers, and harrassing the citizens to no small ex- tent. Many men were made prisoners in all parts of the county from time to time, carried away, kept for some days, and in most instances re- leased on bond. Corn, hay, horses, oxen, and everything else needed by the militia was freely " pressed " from the "secesh " citizens.
Quite a lengthy account of Poindexter's raid was written up, but as very little of it related to Linn county, and the version was contradicted by others, it was thought best to leave it out and confine this history to Linn county and to facts which could be verified.
HOLTZCLAW'S GUERRILLAS.
In May of this year Captain Clifton D. Holtzclaw, of Howard county, came up into Jackson township and recruited fourteen men for a company of " partisan rangers," which he had been commissioned to raise by Jeffer. son Davis, and for which he had been recruiting in Chariton and Howard counties. His commission was in due form and had been recognized even by Federal officers. Learning that a number of men in Jackson and Clay townships were anxious to join the Confederate service in order to escape and avenge the persecutions of the Grundy and Sullivan militia, he came in to afford them an opportunity.
As Holtzclaw was an important character in Linn county during the war, a short sketch of him may be of interest, and mnay with propriety be given. He was reared in Howard county, and belonged to a respectable family. At the breaking out of the war he enlisted in the Missouri State Guard, and served at Lexington, Elk Horn, and on other fields. In 1862 the mili- tia under Lieutenant Street killed his father, in the latter's barnyard, and left the body for the hogs to devour. It was recovered by his daughters before it had been much mutilated. The charge against Holtzclaw was that he had fed and harbored bushwhackers. Clifton Holtzclaw then set out to avenge his father's murder, as he said, and operated thereafter, until the Price raid, in this region of Missouri.
Holtzclaw was brave, shrewd, and crafty. He came into this county on many occasions, by himself, to reconnoiter and spy out the land. It is a fact that he spent a portion of the winter of 1863-64 in Linneus, his pres- ence being known to but three citizens of the place and their families. When last heard from Holtzclaw was living in Linn county, Kansas, an old
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bachelor, quite wealthy, engaged in stock-feeding, and frequently busy at his prayers.
In Jackson township, as stated, fourteen men stole out and joined Holtz- claw. Jack Bowyer was one of these. Not long afterwards he was cap- tured by the Federals, taken to St. Joseph, and hung. He was charged specifically with shooting at a Mr. Prather. His bushwhacker companions always asserted, and those living still declare, that Bowyer was innocent of the offense with which he was charged. Howard Bragg and Joseph Gooch were two other Jackson township men who enlisted under Holtzclaw's black and dangerous banner. Bragg afterward became Holtzclaw's lieutenant, and led the party of four that killed Bruce and Jerome. He is now a promi- nent physician in southwestern Iowa. Gooch rose to be a captain of a band of his own, with the Texas ranger, Jim Jackson, as his lieutenant. In 1864 Gooch received a commission to recruit a company for the regular Confed- erate service, which he did, and joined to Col. D. A. William's regiment at the time of the Price raid. The other members of Holtzclaw's company from Linn met various fates. Some lived through the war; more did not.
In the summer of the year 1863, two or three persons were murdered in the county by the militia for being Confederates or Confederate sympathizers. Near St. Catharine, a stranger suspected of being a spy for the bushwhack- ers was taken into the Yellow Creek timber and hung. It is said that the body was thrown into Yellow Creek, after being robbed of a watch and some other articles, including a dragoon revolver. The man's name, it is thought, was Callaway.
In November, 1863, Jim Rider made his first raid into Linneus, and rob- bed Prewitt's store. Previous to this, for a few weeks, Rider boarded at the hotel in Linneus.
LEADING EVENTS OF 1864.
In June, 1864, occurred the raid on Laclede, on St. Catharine, and Buck- lin, and into Clay and Jackson townships by the guerrillas. In August, William Calhoon was killed in Jackson township by Sterling's Sullivan county militia. In October Bruce and Jerome were shot by Holtzclaw's guerrillas, under Lieutenant Howard Bragg. There was more of real ter- ror felt during this year by the people of Linn county than in any other of the war.
No man felt that his life was perfectly safe from violence at any time. If he lay down to sleep at night, he was not certain that he would not be called up before morning and hurried away to prison or foully murdered. Re- ports were daily coming into the county of the most horrible outrages com- mitted in other counties adjoining by the unprincipled partizans of both sides, and the people were in dread that the dreadful deeds of which they had heard would find counterparts in their own neighborhoods. In Carroll,
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Chariton, Randolph, and Howard Bill Anderson, George Todd, John Thrail- kill, Clifton Holtzclaw, and other Confederate guerrillas were riding rough and fighting free. Also in the same localities, the Federal militia were scout- ing after the bushwhackers, hanging citizens, burning, and plundering houses.
In Linn county the citizens, like their neighbors of the river counties, were between hawk and buzzard, and suffered accordingly. Many of them left the county for Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska; many others, to escape the malevolence of the militia, joined the militia! Still others remained at home and took their chances. They hauled corn and other forage to the militia, fed them when on their scouts, and deported themselves as good citizens generally .
In the winter and spring of this year a respectable number of men were recruited for the Twelfth Missouri Cavalry by Lieutenant Powers and Captain Smith. Later in the year, three companies were raised for the Forty-second Missouri Infantry, mostly from this county, which companies were officered as follows:
Company A, captain, William H. Lewis, of St. Catharine; first lieuten- ants, Charles C. Clitton and Herman Kemper, the latter of Fort Leaven- worth; second lieutenants, Fielding Lewis, of St. Catharine, and T. F. Cutler.
Company F, captain, Henry Shook, of Brookfield; first lieutenant, Charles W. Watts, of Fayette; second lieutenant, Elijah Jones, of Brook- field. ,
Company I, captain, Dr. John F. Powers; first lieutenant, Edward Cox; second lieutenant, T. B. L. Hardin, all of Bucklin.
The draft was run in Missouri this year, by the Federal authority, when- ever that authority was in full force, and Linn county prepared for the or- deal, notwithstanding her quota was about full on both sides! Captain Moses G. Roush, of Laclade, was appointed enrolling officer. He reported the number of men in the county liable to military duty to be as follows: Of the first class, (those over eighteen and under forty years of age,) six hundred and forty-six; of the second class (those over forty and under forty- five years), three hundred. Total, nine hundred and forty-six.
In the latter part of this year and the early part of 1865, a company of negroes was organized at Laclede, called Company N, Twenty-ninth Missouri Militia. The company numbered sixty-eight men, and was commanded by Captain Moses G. Roush. It was never employed in active service.
In the early part of the year a number of Federal soldiers belonging to the Eighteenth Missouri Infantry, who lived in Putnam, Sullivan, and Grundy counties, reënlisted, and were given a furlough for thirty days to go to their homes. On their return to take the cars at Laclede, they passed through this county and committed serious depredations on the people, Unionists and Confederates.
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A BOUNTY OFFERED.
It was in the fall of 1864 and the great civil war was drawing to a close; the Southern Confederacy was giving unmistakable signs of weakness, of a want of the sinews of war, both in men and money: it was then thought necessary to make a strong effort to bring the war to an early close. The government at Washington, to carry out this view, made a levy upon the States for more troops, and the State in turn upon each county for its quota. To get this force together as quickly as possible the County Courts of the several counties of the State made an offer of a bonus to all who volunteered. In some counties $100 was given for all volunteers, which in Linn county the court gave according to time enlisted. To those already enlisted during the year 1864, and those who would join the Union forces for twelve months, $100 were given, and those enlisting for six months $50, and in case of death the bonus, if not already paid to him, should go to his widow, or to his family having the right to receive the same, as his legal heirs. The amount under which the county became liable under this order was $15,500, and a tax was levied of one dollar on the hundred to pay the same.
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