Introduction
Clinton Owen Bates

“Old Age,” written by Clinton Owen Bates in 1949, reflects on the life of a young boy growing up in Arkansas during the Civil War, and his career as a teacher. Bates was born in 1857, and grew up on a farm in Fayetteville. The Bates family had split loyalty among the North and South, and even as a young child, Bates remembered the tension that the War brought into their home. Bates recalled the bloody conflict along the border of Missouri and Kansas, encounters with runaway slaves, and various Trans-Mississippi Theater battles. After the War, Bates began his career as a teacher. He taught at the Cherokee Headquarters on the Tahlequah Indian Reservation and later held a position in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Contributed by the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections
Manuscript Collection MC 594

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Rolla was pivotal location for the Union during the Civil War because the southwest branch of the Pacific Railroad ended there. Thousands of Union troops and their supplies came to Rolla by train from St. Louis and then were transferred to wagon trails to go to the battles of Wilson Creek in Springfield, Mo., Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove in Arkansas, plus a number of other smaller skirmishes. While in Rolla, Bushnell organized construction of the earthen fortifications to protect the vital railhead.  The fortifications would eventually become Fort Wyman, named after the regimental commander of the 13^th Illinois, Col. John B. Wyman.  Bushnell noted the influx of soldiers turned Rolla into a city of tents, “I have a tent to myself about 10 feet square & the lieutenants have one of the same size togeather – to give you a correct idea of our canvass city.”4

Bushnell reported to his wife in his letters different rumors he heard about military movement.  He wrote his wife on July 11, 1861 saying that a man had come in to camp on stage and said that there had been a battle between Col. Sigel and Gov. Jackson 150 west of Rolla and that the “confederates routed compleatly with a loss of from 500 to 600 men while Seigel’s loss was only 25 or 35.”5 The battle Bushnell heard about was the Battle of Carthage, in which Jackson surprised Col. Sigel and his troops and forced the Union troops to retreat to Sarcoxie. The losses for the Union were higher than Bushnell recorded; the Union suffered casualties of 44 men, not including the 94 men taken prisoner. Although Sigel retreated both the Union and Confederacy claim Carthage as a victory. Springfield was a valuable supply area both Union and Confederate troops fought continually over the town. While Confederate troops were able to drive the Federal soldiers out of Springfield in the Battle of Wilson Creek, Bushnell was optimistic and stated, “I think we have got the upper hands of secessionism in this vicinity.”6 Bushnell was ready to fight the Confederates if the opportunity arose, writing to his wife, “I should like to be in the next battle fought in Mo. for I think it is our time to “lick.”7

By Oct 27, 1861, Bushnell and his company moved to Bolivar, MO and were “now within about 30 miles directly north of Springfield when Genl [Sterling] Price the rebel Genl is with 20,000 men.”  They had marched 30 miles the day before and met General John. C. Fremont, who was on his way to Springfield. Bushnell wrote in his letter to his wife stating that “if Price stays in Springfield two days longer we will give him the liveliest shaking up a rebel army ever got we can clean him out “root and branch,” which will tell the tale of rebellion in this state.”8 Fremont was successfully able to lead his regiment through the embittered Southwest Missouri region in an effort to drive out Sterling Price from the state.

When the Colonel Wyman was promoted, Bushnell received a promotion of Major. Wyman was so well pleased with Bushnell’s work that he gave him a horse, “which he said I should need, & as an infantry officer of the line does not need & is not entitled to one, you can infer of what he was thinking”9 With Bushnell’s promotion to Major he was often quartered with his superiors giving him privileged knowledge of future military movements.

Genl. [Samuel R.] Curtis that all the troops at this place should be prepared to march. But no order to march has been isued, I know certain – I occupy a room with Genl. [John B.] Wyman, & night before last Genls Van Ranseller [Henry Van Rensselaer] & Curtis were in there all the evening, and I geathered by their conversation, that Curtis was very anxious to move on to Springfield where [Sterling] Price is stationed with about 15,000 men (more or less), but, Genl. [Henry H.] Halleck is opposed to it & I think, and feel certain there will be no move

Douglas Bushnell Letter to Emily Bushnell, June 25, 1861, pg1

In March of 1862 the 13^th Illinois Regiment had relocated to Northwestern Arkansas.  There, several companies from the regiment fought in the Battle of Pea Ridge on March 7^th and 8^th. General Curtis expected a Confederate attack on the morning of March 8. When it did not come, the Federals advanced. Union artillery was brought forward and opened fire on the Rebel position. After a successful bombardment, almost 10,000 Union infantrymen surged forward. The Confederate position collapsed and Van Dorn ordered a general retreat.

Bushnell and Company B of the 13^th Illinois Infantry along with other Missouri regiments continued to pursue Sterling Price and his Rebel forces; eventually leading them to Searcy County Arkansas by May 1862.  The living conditions in this camp were dismal as the constant rain and marching were trying on the young men’s patience.

It rained nearly all night, and continued to rain all the next day, but notwithstanding, we made an early start and marched through a pouring rain. . . I am not home sick but I am sick of this marching, marching, marching

Douglas Bushnell Letter to Emily Bushnell September 25, 1861, pg 1

Bushnell said that he was involved in several small skirmishes since arriving in Arkansas.  Although his company did not receive any major casualties he wrote of the horrific incident that occurred to the 17^th Missouri Regiment, who was ambushed and slaughtered by either Rebel soldiers or Bushwhackers. What was more shocking about the attack was that when, “A surgeon from the Mo. 3^rd [Missouri] infantry went to the place with an ambulance, for the purpose of dressing the wounds, and bringing away the wounded, but the villains took him, hung him, and with their knives, cut and disfigured him.”10

The 13^th Illinois marched eastward along the Missouri border pursuing the Confederate retreated across the Mississippi River.  After failing to capture Little Rock, they marched along the west bank of the Mississippi River and reached Helena, Arkansas on July 14, 1862.  From Helena, Bushnell and the 13^th Illinois became part of the Army of the Tennessee and participated in actions against Confederate surrounding Vicksburg.  They engaged Confederates at Chickasaw Bluff, where Col. Wyman was killed in December 1862, and the capture of Arkansas Post the following January.  The 13^th Illinois Infantry went on to participate in the siege of Vicksburg in May 1863. 11

Following the capture of Vicksburg, the regiment moved to Memphis and Chattanooga, Tennessee, in October 1863.  Afterwards, the 13^th Illinois embarked on the Chattanooga-Ringgold campaign, and Bushnell participated in the fight at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge near Chatta­nooga in November.  On November 27, 1863, during an action with the Confederate rearguard near Ringgold, Bushnell was shot through the head and died instantly. The collection consists of seventy-two letters, but only Bushnell’s correspondence form May 1861 – May 1862 have been digitized.  The entire collection can be found at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection in Rolla, MO.  The 13^th Illinois Infantry lost 6 officers and 61 enlisted men in combat.  An additional 2 officers and 123 enlisted men died from diseases.

Contributed by the STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA

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1. Douglas Ritchie Bushnell, Douglas Bushnell Letters, 1861-1866. The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA, http://web.mst.edu/~whmcinfo/shelf27/r675/info.html.
2. 1860 United States Federal Census; Census Place: Sterling, Whiteside, Illinois; Roll: M653_237; Page: 1069; Image: 441; Family History Library Film: 803237.
3. “History of the 13th Illinois Infantry”, Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois vol. I, containing reports for the Years 1861-66. Revised by Brigadier General J. N. Reece, Adjutant General. 1900. Springfield, Ill., Phillips Bros., State Printers, http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/cw13-agr.html
4. Douglas Bushnell Letter to Emily Bushnell. July. 11, 1861. Douglas R. Bushnell Collection, 1861-1862, R675, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
5. Douglas Bushnell Letter to Emily Bushnell. July. 11, 1861. Douglas R. Bushnell Collection, 1861-1862, R675, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
6. Douglas Bushnell Letter to Emily Bushnell. Aug. 1, 1861. Douglas R. Bushnell Collection, 1861-1862, R675, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
7. Douglas Bushnell Letter to Emily Bushnell. Sep. 25, 1861. Douglas R. Bushnell Collection, 1861-1862, R675, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
8. Douglas Bushnell Letter to Emily Bushnell. Oct. 27, 1861 . Douglas R. Bushnell Collection, 1861-1862, R675, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
9. Douglas Bushnell Letter to Emily Bushnell. Sep. 25, 1861. Douglas R. Bushnell Collection, 1861-1862, R675, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
10. Douglas Bushnell Letter to Emily Bushnell. May 23, 1862. Douglas R. Bushnell Collection, 1861-1862, R675, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA .
11. Douglas Ritchie Bushnell, Douglas Bushnell Letters,1861-1866. The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA, http://web.mst.edu/~whmcinfo/shelf27/r675/info.html.

the Federals charged up it frightened the old man, and he tried to make his escape by running they charged after him and shot him from the back of the neck down to the waist he had nine or ten balls passed through his body so scraied and disturbed was every body that I had to stay with him in the woods all day by myself with my apron spread over his face we got a little help to bury him we buried him in the back ground of Sam’s Orchard we had to buy him withough any coffin
Jane Page letter John Page – November 14, 1866

After the Union victory at the Battle of Prairie Grove, Page explained that the Confederate troops were transported out of the region. Arkansas was left uncontested to Federal control. “Shortly after this battle the Yankees come to Kingsrive and commenced their dreadful slaughter of men and horse stealing them.”2 This resorted in the formation “independent companies of Lawless bands,” who attacked military and civilian targets without distinction between political affiliations. “After they got every thing in our country they turned in and burnt our houses turned [out] widows and orphans out in the cold winters snow they entirely robed me out.…”3

Page wrote about the location and news of other family members and friends. Many of the towns in Madison County were burned and civilian lives destroyed. Page noted the price of land in Arkansas was very cheap in the postwar period, but money was extremely scarce. The whole cost of living in the region was very low, but after the war little provisions or luxuries were available and life was “hard hard very hard.”4 Jane Page’s letter is representative of the struggles many civilians faced, and demonstrates the lasting impact the war had on families in the Ozarks.

Contributed by the Shiloh Museum of Ozarks History

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1. Census data lists Jane Page, 65, and David Page, 70, living in Kingsriver, Arkansas in 1860. This is the only Jane Page of appropriate age listed in the census in Arkansas. Frances Page is listed as a household member, and may be the Frank mentioned in the letter. David Page would have been 75 when killed, validating Jane’s nickname “the old man.”
2. Jane Page, Letter to John Page and Family. 14 Nov 1866. S-87-270-1B. The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Springdale, Arkansas.
3. Jane Page, Letter to John Page and Family. 14 Nov 1866. S-87-270-1B. The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Springdale, Arkansas.
4. Jane Page, Letter to John Page and Family. 14 Nov 1866. S-87-270-1B. The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Springdale, Arkansas.

Prior to the Civil War, there was growing tension in the area due to the border wars between Kansas and Missouri. The citizens of Osceola and the surrounding communities feared an attack from Kansas. Weidemeyer wrote in his journal regarding the town people’s concerns and the preparations they took against the attack they believed was coming.

In the fall of 1860, the Kansas Jayhawkers Committed a great many outrages upon the border of Missouri – They became so bold that it was feared that they would penetrate the state as far as our little town of Oseola [Osceola, Missouri]. Knowing as they did that it was a considerable commercial town and that the merchants Kept large stocks of valuable merchandise, The citizens became alarmed and held a meeting at the Court house. The result of the meeting was the instruction for the citizens of the town and neighborhood to immediately prepare for defense and be in readiness to resist any party of the above named ruffians should they attempt a raid upon us –
John M. Weidemeyer – Journal [1860-1863], Page 1

Weidemeyer took charge of the defense of the town by raising a company of thirty-five men, which he uniformed at his own expense.2 He became captain in Company I of the 2nd Missouri Cavalry, M.S.G., CSA, on August 28, 1861. The company was later disbanded by state order, but at the outbreak of the Civil War, Weidemeyer reorganized a Missouri State Guard company.3 The fear the citizens in St. Clair County felt was very valid as guerilla warfare continued to spread throughout the region. On September 23, 1861, Jim Lane and his Jayhawkers made a bold move and entered the town of Osceola, proceeding to ransack it.4 They robbed the bank, pillaged stores and private houses, and looted the courthouse. Capt. Thomas Moonlight bombarded the courthouse building with a cannon while others set fire to the town, almost totally destroying it. Weidemeyer recorded his recollection of the burning of Osceola in his journal and in his Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier.

General Jim Lane with about 2000 men from Kansas from Kansas came to Osceola [Missouri]. I had there two companies of about two hundred men. All raw recruits. With the few men I could keep together we fired three times on them at short range with shot guns and rifles. It was about midnight but the moon shown brightly. We retreated to Warsaw [Missouri]. We must have done some execution as they dug two large graves into which a number could have been buried. I lost one man, and one was severely wounded. They looted and burned the town. – The fear of the Kansas men was so great that nearly all the people left Osceola [Missouri] and went to the country. My wife [Lelia V. Crutchfield Weidemeyer] took our two babies, Mattie and Charley, put a few things in a trunk, and in her buggy fled to the country. The only thing that my father [John F. Weidemeyer] carried was his violin… The next day after the burning of Osceola I returned with my company to find the town still burning and the Jayhawkers all gone.
John M. Weidemeyer – Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier [1860-1865]

Even though Lane’s Jayhawkers had destroyed Osceola, Weidemeyer was determined to raise a Confederate regiment to defend the area from guerrilla fighters and Union soldiers. Soon after the burning of Osceola, Weidemeyer took his independent band of fighters and found “General [Sterling] Price’s army as he fell back from Lexington to the South part of the state.”5 In Springfield, Missouri, Weidemeyer and about fifty of his old company enlisted in the Confederate service.6

On December 25, 1861, Weidemeyer became a captain in Company F of the 6th Missouri Infantry Volunteers, CSA. He became 1st Lieut. on March 4, 1862, and Pro. Capt. on May 12, 1862.7 The 6th Missouri Infantry fought in the Battle of Elk Horn, Arkansas, otherwise known as the Battle of Pea Ridge, and at Branchville, Arkansas, as well as at the Battle of Osceola, Missouri. Then, they moved east into Mississippi, and fought in the battles at Iuka, Corinth, Big Black River, Vicksburg, Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, and the Battle of Baker’s Creek, otherwise known as Champion Hill.

Despite Weidemeyer’s determination to fight for the Confederate cause, he was a practicing Presbyterian and a God-fearing man. In an 1861 letter home to his wife, Lelia, he expressed his belief that God had blessed the Southern cause and in fact, had brought about this war.

J.W. Tucker thinks that France will now immediately open the blockade at Charleston [South Carolina]. – that She has been waiting for the 4th of Mch [1861] to pass, when Lincoln could not declare war without calling the new Congress together. He thinks that if he does that that they will be for peace and the result of calling together the democratic Congress would be to establish peace by immediately acknowledging the independence of the Southern Confederacy I cannot express to you how much I desire this war closed. We have all suffered greatly. Oh may our Heavenly Father have Compassion upon us, and accept our sacrifice and sufferings as sufficient for the purposes for which He in his wisdom permitted this war to be brought about Have we not suffered and made sacrifices enough? Is not all we have lost and endured been sufficient to teach us our dependence upon him? and humble the selfish pride we may have had in former days?
John M. Weidemeyer letter to Lelia V. Crutchfield Weidemeyer – ca. 1861

Weidemeyer and his family adamantly supported the Confederacy and Missouri’s secession from the Union. He never shied away from expressing his opinions in letters, or in his journal or in the Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier. Even though the Confederacy suffered massive losses and were unable to maintain control of towns such as Vicksburg and Atlanta, Weidemeyer still believed the Confederacy would prevail and win the war.8 In the beginning of 1863, he wrote Lelia comparing the character of the Southern men to the Northerners; morally, spiritually, and ethically.

I believe if any reasonable person were imparshally compare our chances, they will decide that it is impossible to subjugate us. We are united. the North is divided. we fight for liberty. They for conquest and riches. Our army is in a large propotion composed of religious, moral & good men – theirs of the very lowest characters that is picked up in the Cities of the North. – A large proportion are foreigners. Our army is disciplined and under good control. – theirs is corrupted by the licens given to them to plunder and Commit all kinds of atrocities. Our Genls are men of acknowledged superiority, and give general satisfaction. – theirs the reverse. The President of our Confederacy has been acknowledged for years to be a great statesman. Lincoln is denounced by his own party for being a man of but little attainments. All acknowledge that their great army is so badly demoralized that nothing can be done with it at present.
John M. Weidemeyer letter to Lelia V. Crutchfield Weidemeyer – January 3, 1863

In 1864, Weidemeyer and the 6th Missouri Infantry CSA participated in the Georgia Campaign and the Tennessee Campaign. Weidemeyer’s beliefs about the unity and superiority of the Confederacy’s army began to dissipate after Sterling Price’s Expedition to regain control of Missouri failed in 1864. He wrote in his Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier of the disasters that began to befall the Confederate Army and of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender.

In the battle of Nashville [Tennessee] we met disaster. I was at the front that day and with other officers did all we could to keep the men in line and prevent a rout. It was all in vain. I never witnessed before such a panic. Men threw away their blankets, their guns and any thing that retarded their flight, but for a few gallant men of the army especially Forsets [Nathan B. Forrest] cavalry the whole army must have been captured… As prisoners, we the officers were taken to Dauphan [Dauphin] Island [Alabama]. There we learned of the surrender of General [Robert E.] Lee army of Northern Virginia.
John M. Weidemeyer – Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier [1860-1865]

The regiment officially surrendered in May 1865. After the war, Weidemeyer rejoined his family who had been staying with his brother in Palestine, Texas. Weidemeyer attempted a beef import business following his discharge. He had seen a great way to make money transporting beef to New Orleans, Louisiana, and selling them for a great profit. Unfortunately, when he arrived in New Orleans with one-hundred and thirty head of Texas cattle he discovered that several other men had seen the same opportunity, thus flooding the market and driving the prices down.9

After four years, Weidemeyer finally returned to Missouri, settling in Clinton, with his wife, Lelia, and their three children, Mattie, 10, Charles, 8, Willie, 5, Lelia, 2, and Annie, 1. (Annie, born in 1867, passed away in 1975, at the age of 107.)10 Weidemeyer conducted a grocery store on the east side of Clinton’s public square for 25 years and had six more children. He was a stockholder and cashier at the State Bank of Clinton and on the board of directors for the Citizens’ Bank. Weidemeyer was a deacon at the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and although a staunch Democrat, he never sought public office. He was well respected as a contributing member of the community.

John M. Weidemeyer died on January 12, 1911, and is buried in Englewood Cemetery, Clinton, Henry County, Missouri.11 His wife, Lelia, lived another 20 years, passing away on June 22, 1931.12

Contributed by the Pearce Civil War Collection, Navarro College

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1. 1860 U.S. Federal Census; Census Place: Osceola, St Clair, Missouri; Roll: M653_644; Page: 873; Image: 378;
   Family History Library Film: 803644
2. 1860 U.S. Federal Census; Census Place: Osceola, St Clair, Missouri; Roll: M653_644; Page: 873; Image: 378;
   Family History Library Film: 803644
3. The Civil War As it relates to St. Clair County, Missouri, Henry Co., MO Cemetery Records, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mostclai/CivilWar/CivilWarJohnWeidemeyer.htm
4. Albert Castel, “KANSAS JAYHAWKING RAIDS INTO WESTERN MISSOURI IN 1861″, Missouri Historical
   Review, State Historical Society of Missouri, October 1959, http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History2/casteljayhawking.htm
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Missouri Digital Heritage, John M. Weidemeyer Service Records, http://www.sos.mo.gov/TIF2PDFConsumer/DispPDF.aspx?fTiff=/archives/AdjutantGeneral/Civil_War/ServiceCards/s740/2538.tif&Fln=S420122.pdf
8. Missouri Digital Heritage, John M. Weidemeyer Service Records, http://www.sos.mo.gov/TIF2PDFConsumer/DispPDF.aspx?fTiff=/archives/AdjutantGeneral/Civil_War/ServiceCards/s740/2538.tif&Fln=S420122.pdf
9. The Civil War As it relates to St. Clair County, Missouri, Missouri History Encyclopedia 1901,
   http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mostclai/CivilWar/CivilWarJohnWeidemeyer.htm
10. The Civil War As it relates to St. Clair County, Missouri, Henry Co., MO Cemetery Records, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mostclai/CivilWar/CivilWarJohnWeidemeyer.htm
11. “John M. Weidemeyer,” Englewood Cemetery Part 22 – UDO to WETZELL, Henry County, Missouri, Clinton
    Township- 400 S. Vansant Rd, Clinton, Indexed By: Jean Rentchler Swann and Betty Jo Smith Johnson
12. The Civil War As it relates to St. Clair County, Missouri, Henry Co., MO Cemetery Records, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mostclai/CivilWar/CivilWarJohnWeidemeyer.htm

Donnell’s company spent several days drilling and preparing themselves for life as a soldier. He equated himself “as ignorant of military tactics as an Ouran Outang is of a cotillion, or an Esquimaux is of an Indian war-dance.” Camp life did not sit well with Donnell. He wrote, “I find camp life very unpleasant, in consequence of bad diet, and irregular meals, as none knew much about cooking.” Company F received orders to rejoin the main body of the Missouri State Guard after the Siege at Lexington. They met Sterling Price and the rest of the guardsmen near Greenfield, Missouri.

As far as I could see the face of the earth was covered with tents. Some of the men were cooking, some reading, some playing, some lounging around, while others were engaged in various industries or idleness as suited their convenience. It was an interesting scene to me, being a novice in this business.

Lemuel Donnell Diary – October 4, 1861

Donnell was astonished that Price retreated southward after his victory at Lexington, not realizing that the Missouri State Guard was heavily pursued by Federal Forces from Jefferson City. Eleven days later the Missouri State Guard marched to Neosho, where they remained for the duration of the Neosho Convention. Donnell wrote, “We come to Neosho, where Gov [Claiborne F.] Jackson convened the Legislature, which after some days of deliberation declared in favor of secession and elected members to represent Missouri in the Congress of the Confederate States.” Legislators gathered at the Newton County Courthouse in Neosho on October 21, and passed an ordinance of secession.

After the Neosho Convention, Donnell’s company marched through several towns in Southwest Missouri, and was permitted to return to Hickory County to “drive the ‘Home Guards’ out of the county.” Donnell’s company reached Springfield, Missouri around December 30, 1861. There, they erected tents in the snow and endured the bitter cold. The Missouri State Guard occupied Springfield until mid February, before they were forced to retreat from the town by Federal troops. Springfield was a crucial strategic position, as it served as a supply distribution center for Southwest Missouri and Northern Arkansas. General Samuel R. Curtis’s Army advanced down the wire road determined to engage Confederate forces yet again. Price abandoned his position in Springfield on February 12, and retreated southward to join forces with Benjamin McCulloch in Arkansas. “The Federals cause us to retreat towards the South by hard marching day and night, fighting almost daily in the near, passing through Cassville, Keytsville, Mo, Mudtown, Fayetteville and Cane Hill in Arkansas.” The Missouri State Guard joined McCulloch’s forces who were encamped south of the Boston Mountains. On March 4, the Confederates began their march north to meet the Union Army.

The Confederate’s rapid advance exhausted their infantry. Donnell noted he had one biscuit for breakfast and nothing for dinner during the march. He ate nothing on March 6, when they finally reached the outskirts of Bentonville. On March 7, the 8th Division Missouri State Guard moved north to engage the Union line. “The engagement lasts till sunset just before sunset we lay for ½ hour in front of our battery till it selanced the enemy’s battery & then we charge the enemy, capturing their Commissaries, and many prisoners.” Among the captured prisoner’s was one of Donnell’s cousins, Sam Reynolds. Donnell and the rest of the 8th Division slept on the battlefield and resumed the engagement the following morning. The Confederates withdrew from the battlefield and retreated towards Van Buren. Company F was discharged from the Missouri State Guard, and Donnell re-enlisted in Company H of the 6th Infantry Regiment, 8th Division, Missouri State Guard.

After the Battle of Pea Ridge, Confederate Commanders transferred the majority of their forces east of the Mississippi River. Donnell and his company were transported to Memphis to assist with the Battle of Shiloh. He learned that his brother, Alexander L. Donnell, was very ill and visited him in the hospital. Lemuel remained in the hospital until Alexander died around May 24, 1862. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. Donnell’s service term expired in early June 1862 and he received pay for his service and his brothers. He then reenlisted in the 11th Missouri Infantry. Donnell spent the remainder of the War with this company, which as he stated, seemed like a life time.

While on furlough in Carroll County, Arkansas Donnell and John W. Murray were captured at Huntsville, Arkansas by Federal Scouts and taken to Cassville, MO and then to Springfield. He was eventually released and traveled home. During that time, his father was killed on September 15, 1862 by the Missouri Home Guards, or as Donnell called them, “Home Despoilers,’ in the name of the US.” Donnell remained in Hickory County until early October when he decided to return to the 11th Missouri Infantry, camped in Benton County, Arkansas. Donnell noted he received another pass to visit family in Texas, and began a five month absence from the military. He spent the entire time in Texas visiting family and doing various jobs. He returned to the 11th Missouri Infantry on February 26, 1863 and reported for duty to Company D at Little Rock, Arkansas. Donnell compared service in the Missouri State Guard to the regular Confederate Army. “I find the regular Confederate service much better regulated and disciplined, in as much as we drill 4 hours almost daily, except for Sundays, when we have preaching or other religious service.”

Donnell marched throughout Arkansas in the spring of 1863. On June 10, he became very ill, and “so reduced in flesh I can scarcely walk.” Ten days later, the Regiment marched towards Helena, Arkansas, but Donnell was so ill that he left his company and traveled 8 miles into the country side. He ate a diet of vegetables and rapidly improved. He started his returned to the Army on June 28th, which held a defensive position in Helena. Donnell stayed outside of Helena on June 3, the following morning he was woken by the sound of cannon fire. The battle waged and eventually on July 4 the Union Army claimed victory. Donnell rejoined the 11 Missouri Infantry on July 5, as the Regiment retreated from the town. Donnell and the 11th Missouri Infantry took position near Little Rock and prepared for the Federal’s advance. “Breastworks completed, consisting of 2 ditches 4 ft wide & deep and 12 ft apart, and dirt thrown between extending from the river below to Camp Anderson above. We now wish an attack to be made as we believe we could withstand any number.” However, the 11 Missouri Infantry retreated from their position, much to the dislike of Donnell and his regiment. Donnell spent several following weeks traveling across Arkansas with the regiment drilling and preparing winter quarters. He made one visit to family in late January 1864, and was gone for nine days. In February, Donnell joined the Knights of the Golden Circle, which he defined as “a secret order of Southern sympathizers in the North during the war.” At the meeting, Donnell noted they discussed how they might recognize each other in battle.

In March 1864, the 11th Missouri Infantry marched south into Louisiana to support Confederate troops against Union General Nathaniel Bank’s Red River Expedition. Donnell noted several towns and the total number of miles marched during each day. The 11th Missouri Infantry participated in the Battle of Pleasant Hill in Louisiana, and Donnell’s company suffered minimal casualties (1 killed, 4 wounded). Following the battle, the 11th Missouri Infantry returned north to Arkansas, and Donnell recorded activities at Camden, Arkansas and Jenkins Ferry. Donnell wrote about Jenkins Ferry,

Battle began at 8 o’clock A.M. and lasts till 1 o’clock P.M. The engagement took place in the low lands on the river almost entirely under water and rained all the time of the battle, and Gen’l [Edmund K.] Smith said the hardest small arm firing he ever heard. Three in Co “D” were slightly wounded in this engagement.

Lemuel Donnell Diary – April 30, 1864

Donnell noted he traveled 500 miles in little over a month and participated in two battles. The 11th Missouri Infantry was exhausted, and the spent most of May marching across southern Arkansas. Towards the end of his diary Donnell began reciting poetry, including an acrostic poem about camp life. He used the alphabet to describe activities around camp, and ended the poem with,

Let all who read these lines of mine
E’er think there’s truth in every line
Much more than this may yet be true
Unless there’s drill or something else to do.
Even if they should not know the author’s name
Let me tell them how they may find the same

Let the first letter of of each line be combined
And in the word my name you shall find

Anonymous

Lemuel Donnell Diary – June 10, 1864

Summer of 1864 was fairly uneventful for Donnell. He noted most of his time was in camp, and finally in August 1864 he noted marching orders for the regiment. They traveled across southern Arkansas, and noted Prices leave for Missouri. “Gen’l Price has taken all the Cavalry and gone to Missouri, and we are left alone without pickets.”
He later wrote,

Gen’l Price, with the cavalry, has made a successful raid as far North as Jefferson City in Missouri, thence West to Kansas, thence back to the army again, and having come to town (Shreveport) last night almost the entire brigade went to serenade him. He bears the appellation of “Old Pap” and “Grand Pap” to signify that we esteem him as our father in war, and the high regard we have always entertained for him.

Lemuel Donnell Diary – March 25, 1865

Donnell reported that he received a 44 day furlough on November 30, 1864 and started on foot for Texas. He traveled approximately 180 miles to his uncle’s home in Wood County, Texas. Donnell visited several family members in Texas before beginning his voyage back to the army. He entered Camp Bragg on January 14, 1865 and wrote, “having walked the greater portion of the way through mud & water and barefooted too. I was in good condition to appreciate a good rest, even with hard dirt, and after one day’s rest resume my old business of making details for camp duty.”

The remainder of the war was calm for Donnell. He wrote poems in his diary and recorded his perspective of camp life as a soldier. He noted President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, and commented that Ford’s Theater was “an unseemly place for a Christian President to be killed.” He wrote about the surrender of the Trans-Mississippi Theater, and General Price’s farewell to his troops. “Price return to-day [from New Orleans], paroled, and bid us adieu, and has gone to his family in Texas, and from thence to Mexico.” Donnell dedicated the following poem to his comrades:

Comrades! Order arms.
Now stack your arms,
This conflict has no further charms;
Surrender is the word we hear.
From foremost van-guard to the rear.
Here let us pause and drop a tear,
For the lost cause we loved so dear;
With down bowed heads and saddened hearts,
Till its silent shade departs.
Four years ago you heard the call
To patriotic men and all;
You shouldered arms and marched away
Like gallant soldiers to the fray.
We had “Old Pap” then for our guide;
To-day he still is by our side.
He loved us then, he loves us still.
As witness many a battle field.
Now muffle the “drum” we’ll need no more.
The “Long Roll” beat, when cannons roar:
Neither “Tattoo,” nor the loved “Retreat,”
Nor “Revellie” to rouse us up from sleep.
Now place the “Fife” here with our arms
We need no more its music’s charms
And “Dixie” too our native air
To chant or sing, we must forbear
And now break ranks, and let us go.
To homes once dear four years ago
Be this our motto all through life
We’ll ne’er engage in deadly strife

Lemuel Donnell Diary – June 4, 1865

On June 21, 1865, the 11th Missouri Infantry turned in their arms, boarded a steamboat for St. Louis, marched to Schofield Barracks, and were paroled.

This closes my record as a soldier, and I return to the quiet, and much more desirable, pursuits of civil life, having served as a soldier 4 years, lacking two months, being 26 years, 3 months & 15 days old.

Lemuel Donnell Diary – June 21, 1865

Throughout his diary, Donnell provided his perspective of camp life and “the business of soldiering.” His distaste for rough living conditions did not change; yet, he learned to endure the conditions in his four years of service. Also interesting is the frequency he received “furloughs.” The timing and duration of Donnell’s leave seems contradictory to most soldiers’ experiences during the War. He missed several engagements and was gone for multiple weeks on end, which leads one to question the authenticity his furloughs. Desertion was common during the Civil War, particularly among the Missouri State Guard. Perhaps Donnell truly did received numerous furloughs; but if they were indeed unexcused absences, then he conceivably documented them as issued leave to protect his honor for all of history to remember.

Contributed by the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History

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1. Lemuel Amzi Donnell, Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas, Page 1, http://cdm.sos.mo.gov/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/mack&CISOPTR=4187&REC=1&CISOSHOW=4187
2. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
3. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
4. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
5. A Samuel Reynolds served in the 8th Indiana Infantry, and that regiment was at the position overrun by the 8th Division, Missouri State Guard.
6. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
7. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
8. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
9. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
10. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
11. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
12. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
13. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
14. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.
15. Lemuel Donnell Diary, Aug. 1861 – Jul. 1865. S-89-114-67. Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, Arkansas.

Lyman Gibson Bennett enlisted in the 36th Illinois Infantry in 1861. Prior to the War he trained as a surveyor and civil engineer, working for the railroad. The military utilized Bennett’s skills as a cartographer, and assigned him to survey battlefields, road systems, and fortifications. Bennett’s diaries document his daily duties as both a soldier and an engineer for the military. His regiment participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, which he describes in vivid detail. Bennett was discharged from the military in August 1864.

In 1865, Bennett joined the engineering department of General Samuel R. Curtis as a civilian. He mapped the 1864 battlefields of Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition. Bennett was then assigned to survey fortifications in Nebraska and Colorado, and eventually served as an engineering officer on the Powder River Expedition of 1865. Bennett’s diaries provide colorful insight to his perception of the Ozarks and its inhabitants.

This collection consists of three diaries:

August 19 – December 20, 1861
December 21, 1861 – April 4, 1862
January 1 – October 4, 1865

Contributed by the STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA

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Introduction
Erasmus Stirman

The Stirman Davidson Collection is a spirited group of letters written to Rebecca Stirman Davidson, of Fayetteville, Arkansas. The bulk of the letters are from her brother Erasmus “Ras” Stirman, while serving in the Civil War. The letters tell the story of Erasmus service in the Confederate Army, his fears and doubts about winning the War, and leading his company of sharpshooters into certain death. Erasmus loved meeting new women, and his letters to Rebecca are full of candor and humor, often telling a larger tale of the social and cultural customs of the era to which he opportunistically flaunted. Erasmus’ successes in the military, coupled with his family’s access to political and societal privilege, combine to tell a wonderful story of upper class life in the Civil War of the Ozarks.

Contributed by the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections
Manuscript Collection MC 541

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Late in the afternoon on March 7, General Earl Van Dorn realized his advantage in numbers and attacked the Union forces at Pea Ridge. The shattered Union forces though rallied in Ruddick’s field, along the Telegraph Road. General Van Dorn attacked, but this time the Federals held their ground and darkness put an end to the fighting. Both commanders worked hard to consolidate their positions. General Samuel Curtis was clearly the most successful. The Army of the Southwest concentrated along the Telegraph Road as food, water and ammunition was distributed to the troops. Many Confederate units marched all night from Big Mountain to reach the battlefield. They arrived completely exhausted and many were unable to participate in the second day’s fighting. Schaumburg himself had been riding for over 52 hours and only had an hour and fifteen minutes rest.2 Worse yet, Van Dorn’s forced marches outpaced the Confederates ammunition supply. The wagons were abandoned along Little Sugar Creek, twelve miles from the army’s current position. Hundreds of Confederate soldiers spent a cold, miserable night on the battlefield gathering food from abandoned Union haversacks and hoping for more ammunition to continue the fight.3

Curtis expected a Confederate attack on the morning of March 8. When it did not come, the Federals advanced. Union artillery was brought forward and opened fire on the Rebel position. After a successful bombardment, almost 10,000 Union infantrymen surged forward. The Confederate position collapsed and Van Dorn ordered a general retreat. Casualties were heavy for both sides at Pea Ridge. Schaumburg said that he was, “broken hearted leaving behind my friend Charlie Clark, Captain of the Battery in my Brigade, his head severed from his body.”4 Schaumburg was not unlike many soldiers who were riddled with guilt and anguish about having to leave behind their wounded or deceased comrades on the battlefield. The Battle of Pea Ridge was a heavy loss for the Confederacy. Schaumburg acknowledged the sound defeat, when he returns to the field to bury the dead and stated, “I saw that they had been whipped completely.”5 While the outcome of the battle was not favorable for the Confederates, Schaumburg did mention the heroic efforts of his commander General Henry Little, who was in charge of the action of the right wing before Elkhorn Tavern, where the Federals were defeated on the first day.6

A very unique fact about this collection is that Schaumburg’s mother, Orleana Christy Wright was about to get a pass to cross into Confederate territory to go visit her son in Corinth. The pass was signed by President Lincoln.7

According the Official Records of Rebellion, Schaumburg went on to become the Inspector-General of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate Army.8 After the war ended, Schaumburg continued his military career by serving in the Cuban Army, and was appointed Colonel in 1869.9

Contributed by the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield

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1. John R. Sellers, Civil War Manuscripts: A Guide to Collections in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1986), pg 247
2. W.C. Shaumburg Letter to Paul, April 2, 1862, Van Buren, Arkansas, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, Republic, Missouri,
3. Mark K. Chris, ed., Rugged and Sublime: The Civil War in Arkansas (Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 1994), 34-37.
4. W.C. Shaumburg Letter to Paul, April 2, 1862, Van Buren, Arkansas, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, Republic, Missouri, pg 3.
5. W.C. Shaumburg Letter to Paul, April 2, 1862, Van Buren, Arkansas, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, Republic, Missouri, pg 3.
6. W.C. Shaumburg Letter to Paul, April 2, 1862, Van Buren, Arkansas, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, Republic, Missouri, pg 3.
7. John R. Sellers, Civil War Manuscripts: A Guide to Collections in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1986), pg 247.
8. Official Records, ut supra, Vol. 22, Pt. 2, P. 1051, in Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. 5, No. 2 (June 1927), http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v005/v005p251.html
9. John R. Sellers, Civil War Manuscripts: A Guide to Collections in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, pg 247.