HISTORY OF LEWIS, CLARK, KNOX AND SCOTLAND COUNTIES, MISSOURI

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1 HISTORY OF LEWIS, CLARK, KNOX AND SCOTLAND COUNTIES, MISSOURI Re-Printed By STEVENS PUBLISHING CO. ASTORIA, ILL Originally printed in Tuesday, August 5, Porter set out in the direction of Kirksville, 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 advancing rapidly in the proper direction. With no commissariat, the Confederates lived off the country, but so hard pressed were they that they barely had 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 meat and bacon, but there was no time to cook them. On April 5 th, through the northern part of Knox into the corner 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 Putnum, Schuyler, and Adair, galloped 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. 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 Kirksville had been taken he thought best to try and 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 council of Col. Franklin. But fir 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-tumbled fight in the timber and among the hills and hollows, where the Federals could 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 itself, rush wildly on, be shriveled up by the fire of the concealed troopers in the houses, and then the reserve would come forward and finish the work. But Col. Porter s scheme lacked McNeil s endorsement and cooperation. One commander might plan a battle, but it takes two commanders to fight it.

2 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 home. The pursuer is always at the 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 Paulsville, 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, citizens 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 in care of the rear guard. The advance, composed of detachments of the Second and Eleventh Regiments, Missouri State Militia, under Maj. Benjamin, 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 one high plateau or prairie ridge, and at that day was surrounded by timber and cultivated fields, with open ground on the east and northeast. To the west, as now, a heavy body of timber extended from the confines 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. Shaffer, and consisted of detachments of the Merrill Horse, under Maj. Clopper, detachments of the Second and Eleventh Regiment, 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 section of flying artillery, two two-pound steel howitzers, under 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 were the rest? he wondered. Suspecting that am 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 town, around the square and through the streets, developing the fact that every house was a Trojan horse, every fence an ambuscade, and the courthouse a castle, 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 (William Ferguson), and having but two others struck, the dauntless 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 a if they were egg shells. Dismounted men were thrown forward to seize the outer line of fences and buildings on the northern and western 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 con field in the southeastern part of the line was taken from the Confederates and they forced into

3 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 relied to do 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 telescope or field-glass. The Federals took their time, and advanced slowly, to prevent the fulfillment of Porter s plans, but at last the Confederates, 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. 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 Federal cavalry rode about, beating up the brush for them, capturing many, and shooting those who offered the least sign of resistance. Maj. Clopper, with the Merrill Horse, followed the flying Confederates about three miles, or until be 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 Kirksville, but they may thus be summarized: out of the 2,800 men, perhaps not more than 1,000 Confederates were really in action. Out of the 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 disproportion between the losses. Only six Federals were killed on the field, and but thirty-tree 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 0 2 Indiana Battery 0 1 Field and Staff 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.

4 The Confederate loss was never exactly ascertained. Citizens estimated 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.+ * Rebellion Records, Vol. XIII, p IBID, p. 215 During the fight a lady resident of Kirksville, a Mrs. Coots, was shot and mortally wounded as she was coming out of a cellar 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 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 reorganization, and the march was resumed. 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 Missouri 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 war, one man proposes and another disposes. Three miles north of Stockton [now New Cambria], in the western part of Monroe 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 Confederates that perhaps 2000 of them allowed 250 to check them and turn their course. At Panther Creek [Painter Creek], the same day, Friday, August 8, there was another brief fight, and Porter abandoned his attention of proceeding further southward, and retreated rapidly toward the east or northeast. In the Skirmish at Panther Creek [Painter 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 morning of the 9 th, 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 Sear s Ford [See s Ford], where he crossed 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 outright 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 12 th, 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

5 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..

CHAPTER 10 FOURTH DAY OF THE BATTLE OF WALLA WALLA. (As of February 28, 2011)

1 CHAPTER 10 FOURTH DAY OF THE BATTLE OF WALLA WALLA (As of February 28, 2011) December 10, 1855 (Monday): 1: Colonel James Kelly Official Report/ 14: Intelligence Report: At early dawn on the next day