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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The Enrolled Missouri Militia, 4th Military District

On August 17, 1861 Missouri Governor Hamilton R. Gamble ordered a proclamation establishing the Missouri State Militia for defense of the State against guerrilla activity. Gamble soon realized the need for additional troops, and on July 22, 1862 he issued General Order Number 29 organizing the Enrolled Missouri Militia (EMM). General Colley B. Holland assumed command of the 4th Military district, consisting of the counties in southwest Missouri, on October 30, 1862. Based in Springfield, Missouri, roughly 2,500 men reported for duty, operating under the jurisdiction of the State of Missouri. Holland’s documented all activities related to his command in the enrolled Missouri Militia order book for the 4th Military District in Southwest Missouri, from November 1862 through May 1863. His reports covered the Battles of Springfield and Hartville and also include details about depredation in Southwest Missouri and the extensive guerrilla activity that took place in the region.

Colley B. Holland was made captain of Company D, in the famous Phelps Regiment, organized in the summer of 1861. He took part in the Battle at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, the heaviest battle west of the Mississippi. Holland was promoted to the position of lieutenant colonel of the reorganized Phelps Regiment, and in the fall of 1862 he aided in recruiting the Seventy-second Regiment, of Missouri State Militia, and was commissioned colonel of that organization, his commission bearing date of September 9, 1862.

Holland’s control over southwest Missouri was tested early as Gen. John. S. Marmaduke led confederate troops from Arkansas and assaulted Springfield on January 8, 1863. Marmaduke had hoped to surprise Springfield’s garrison, but Union Captain Milton Burch’s Company H, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry Regiment, while scouting near Dubuque, Arkansas, on January 6, 1863, detected Marmaduke’s movements. Burch then retreated with his company to Lawrence’s Mill in Douglas County, Missouri, before daylight of January 7. Captain Burch then sent a warning message: A Confederate force, estimated between 4000 and 6000 strong, was moving toward Springfield. This was alarming news for Union Brigadier General E. B. Brown’s Springfield & Ozark garrisons, whose commands included only 1,343 veteran soldiers. With suggestions from militia officers Holland, Henry Sheppard, and Doctor Samuel Melcher, General E. B. Brown called upon all available Enrolled Missouri Militia commanders to concentrate their regiments immediately at Springfield.

After fighting Union soldiers for several hours, Marmaduke realized that his force was too small to capture the Union garrison. He disengaged his Confederate forces about 11 p.m, and retreated from the battlefield on the morning of January 9. The Union won a major tactical victory since they successfully held onto the town and saved the Union Army of the Frontier’s winter supplies.

After the defeat at Springfield, General Marmaduke turned his sights towards Hartville. Marmaduke’s men were able to bypass the Union forces on the road and enter Hartville. Union troops raced to Hartville and formed a battle line on the high ground west of the courthouse. The Union forces had almost no time to prepare their position before Colonel Joseph Shelby and Colonel Joseph Porter’s commands engaged them in battle.

As the Confederates discovered the precise location of the Union battle line, they began concentrating their fire from the buildings in town. A portion of the Union line began to break and elements retreated, including the Union’s artillery. Confederate commanders noted the Union withdrawal, and presumed victory. The Union position west of the courthouse, however, was covered by ample brush and trees. While some Union forces indeed retreated from the battlefield, the 21st Iowa Infantry did not receive the order to retreat, so they held their ground in the bush. As Colonel Porter and his column reached the courthouse they realized their mistake as the enemy, only 50 yards away from his men, opened fire. Porter was wounded in the leg and hand.

Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Dunlap, of the 21st Iowa Infantry, extended his line of defense and increased his regiment’s rate of fire to mask his weakness from the Rebel forces. The Confederates made three additional advances before sundown, all of which were repelled. Dunlap later reported, “My men all acted finely, and were cool and active when they learned that they were left alone in front of a rebel horde of 5,000 men.”1 After darkness, Dunlap retreated with the other Union forces toward Lebanon.

Along with calling upon men to fight in combat, General Holland’s responsibilities also included protecting the citizens of Southwest Missouri from guerrilla fighters as Col Henry Sheppards replied to General Holland the need for mounted men was great, “ It is mounted men that are wanted, to distribute them in the Counties of Newton, Jasper, Lawrence, Dade, Cedar, and Barton in the West, and in Christian Stone and Taney in the South, for in many localities in the counties named are bands of Guerrillas. Unless the loyal citizens in those Counties have some protection, they will be overrun and driven from their homes; and have their property destroyed.”2

Management of rebel civilians became a difficult issue for the Enrolled Missouri Militia and Holland. Holland issued General Orders No. 4, which required all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 55 years, residing in the Springfield area, to report for work on fortification and other necessary duties for the EMM. “All able-bodied men” did not discriminate among political affiliations and oaths of loyalty. Captured rebel prisoners began work on fortifications, a pragmatic use of idle manpower. Claims of maltreatment from rebel civilians by the Enrolled Missouri Militia reached Holland and General Egbert B. Brown, in which Holland responded:

Many complaints are made to me by persons who admit they have been active rebels, or that they sympathize with those in rebellion. They complain of depredations on their property by the Enrolled Militia. In many cases I find the complaints groundless… I am ready to sustain all measures which you may consider necessary for the public good; and to have maintained in the Enrolled Militia the strictest discipline. To disarm and disband any portion, because of alleged misdemeanors or crimes, is in my judgment not only irregular, but will tend to destroy all military discipline.
Colley B. Holland to Egbert B. Brown, December 15, 1862

By the end of the war, over 52,000 men were mustered into 70 regiments of the EMM. While plagued with a stereotype created by its notorious elements, many Enrolled Missouri Militia regiments “became professional in their demeanor and execution, defended their home areas with distinction, even won acclaim for occasional combat, and often performed these feats with their own private weapons, clothing, and horses.”3

This collection represents the bureaucratic task of organizing, supplying, training, disciplining, and maintaining a military presence in the Ozarks.

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

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1. U. S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume XXII, Part 1 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), 193.
2. Order Book Enrolled Missouri Militia, 4th Military District, pg 5.
3. Bruce Nichols, Guerrilla Warfare in Civil War Missouri, 1862 (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2004), 103.

The 1st Battalion, under Maj. Banzof, marched from Sedalia to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in the latter part of November. They defeated a large force of guerrillas and remained at Fort Leavenworth until December 1861. They then were ordered to Independence, Missouri where they frequently engaged bands of guerrillas.1 Denny began his diary on February 14, 1862 in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. By February 16, He learned of news from the Battle of Fort Donelson in Stewart County, Tennessee.2 Denny wrote about the capture of two or three generals, a possible reference to Gen. John B. Floyd and Gen. Gideon J. Pillow. Thirty-four artillery shots were fired while officers drank champagne in celebration of the battle.

Denny noted the frequency of drinking among soldiers in the Army. When the regiment received orders to leave Fort Leavenworth, the men drank in celebration. Soldiers in the 1st Missouri Cavalry drank again after learning news of the Battle of New Madrid on March 18. On May 12, the men received news that Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia were captured and the ironclad Merrimac was destroyed. The men were treated to five gallons of whiskey in celebration. Denny had a disdain for alcohol and wrote of it’s negative consequences. In one case, it cost the life of Denny’s friend.

W.D Husband [William L. “Dave” Husband] got drunk and was makeing a disturbanc in a house when this Provo guard called in and demanded them to give up their arms, when Husband refused and as the guard advanced he fired his pistol at them and shot one of them in the leg, when they immediately Returned the fire and shot him in the neck. he was a great friend of mine, but whiskey would allways make him crazy.
Franklin Denny Diary, pg 87.

The disorderly conduct that ensured from drunken soldiers force the Provost Marshal on April 12, to issue orders forbidding soldiers from entering Independence, Missouri without a pass from their superior officer. The order intended to limit soldiers from drinking and destroying property.3

The Missouri / Kansas Border saw constant destruction of property, as civilians were caught between bushwhackers and jayhawkers raids. The Union Army moved into the area to help stabilize the region; however, many times the soldiers could be just as destructive. Denny recorded the 1st Missouri Infantry actions hunting bushwhackers, particularly William C. Quantrill, and their encounters with Kansas Jayhawkers. He wrote, “they [Kansans] are all jayhawers and house burners; their doings here has done more to injure the union cause than any thing else that has been done here.”4 Denny often called Quantrill a Jayhawker, as he lumped all guerrilla fighters into the same category.

The 1st Missouri Cavalry constantly traveled across the region, riding from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to Little Rock Arkansas. On July 20, the 1st Missouri Cavalry marched into Arkansas towards Gainesville. Their advanced guard encountered eight to ten bushwhackers in a cabin; however, they escaped into the woods before the Union scouts could apprehend them. The 1st Missouri Cavalry then marched through Scatterville, Arkansas – which was located near current day Rector, Arkansas – and camped at an old farmhouse. The citizens of Arkansas were terrified of the Union soldiers and ran away from their homes in fear.5 Although many civilians tried to avoid interacting with the troops as they passed through, the men did find some hospitable and welcoming women. One slave owning widow, named Bonds, was particularly attractive to Denny. Even though she was a “Sesch” he wrote, “I think Some of comeing back and marrying her She is young and handsome.”6

In early August 1862, the 1st Missouri Cavalry made preparations to advance up the White River to DeValls Bluff, Arkansas. Four ironclads called the “Mosquito Fleet” joined the regiment on August 10, and Denny eventually learned that General Frederick Steele would join their expedition with twenty-five additional infantry regiments.7 The Ironclads advanced up the river scouting for rebels. They encountered General John S. Marmaduke’s command and killed several of his men and burned his pontoon bridge.8

In September 1862, the 1st Missouri Regiment joined Gen. Herron’s army and took part in the Battles of Fayetteville, Prairie Grove, and Van Buren, Ark. It was then attached to Gen. Davidson’s Cavalry Division for the advance on Little Rock and was present at the capture of that city. The Regiment was then attached to Gen. Samuel R. Curtis’ Army and participated in the various engagements in southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas. In June 1863, the 1st Missouri Cavalry was divided and detachments were sent throughout Missouri and Arkansas. The regiment participated in fighting at Searcy, Batesville, and along White River, Arkansas, and at Bloomfield and Pilot Knob, Missouri, as well as numerous minor skirmishes with the guerrilla bands which infested the two states. Henry E. Skaggs joined the 1st Missouri Cavalry in September 1862. His diary chronicles his perspective of the events recorded in Denny’s diary. In the latter portion of the diary Denny kept short entries about troop movement, weather, and provided little description of events. Pairing Denny and Skaggs’ diaries together helps frame the events the men experienced.

During the war, 2 Officers and 51 Enlisted men were killed or mortally wounded from the 1st Missouri Cavalry. 2 Officers and 179 Enlisted men died from disease. Four years after being discharged, Denny married Susan Dule¬bon at Freeport, Illinois in 1868. By 1874, Franklin and Susan Denny were living in Springfield, Missouri, where Franklin operated a carriage shop. They died in 1902 and 1917, re¬spectively.

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

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1. “1st Regiment Missouri Cavalry”, Missouri Union Volunteers, National Parks Service Civil War Solider and Sailor System, http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/regiments.cfm
2. Denny Diary,1862-1864. R548, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA, Missouri.
3. Denny Diary,1862-1864. R548, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
4. Denny Diary,1862-1864. R548, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
5. Denny Diary,1862-1864. R548, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
6. Denny Diary,1862-1864. R548, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
7. Denny Diary,1862-1864. R548, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
8. Denny Diary,1862-1864. R548, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.

Introduction
George Falconer & Albert Ellithorpe

This extraordinary diary contains entries written by both Union and Confederate soldiers. It originally belonged to George Falconer, enrolled in Col J. J. Clarkson’s Confederate Cavalry. During the Battle of Locust Grove, 3 July 1862, Falconer was taken prisoner, and Maj. Albert Ellithorpe, Indian Home Guards, 1st Kansas Infantry, captured the diary. Most of the entries are written by Ellithorpe, who described engagements with Confederate soldiers, Kansas politicians and bushwhackers. Ellithorpe participated in several battles including Locust Grove, Cane Hill, Prairie Grove and a smaller engagement with Thomas Livingston’s bushwhackers.

Contributed by Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield

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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.