Rainwater joined John S. Marmaduke’s expedition into Missouri in January 1863. Marmaduke hoped an assault into Missouri would alleviate pressure on Northwest Arkansas, by diverging the attention of Union troops under Brigadier General James Blunt in the region. His goal was to quickly strike Union positions, causing the Federal forces to withdraw back into Missouri to protect their rear and flank. Marmaduke’s expedition resulted in several engagements including the Battle of Springfield on January 8, 1863 and Battle of Hartville on January 11, 1863. Rainwater was wounded at the Battle of Hartville. He asked Dr. T. R. Ferguson, a surgeon, to write one of Sarah’s relatives, informing them that he survived the battle and hoped to be home soon. Ferguson tried to reassure Sarah in the letter, “not to be troubled about him. Just keep yourself as one of your sex should. trust in the Lord and do good and he shall bring it to pass, for the Righteous shall have the desire of there harts.”2

Rainwater was appointed ordnance officer on Marmaduke’s staff in 1863. In late April, Rainwater wrote Sarah while in Bloomfield, Missouri. He reported numerous engagements and skirmishes involving the 5th Missouri Infantry, including the Battle of Cape Girardeau on April 16, 1863. The 5th Missouri Infantry took an active part in the defense of Vicksburg, and was captured when the city fell on July 4, 1863.3 After being exchange, the Regiment was assigned to General Cockrell’s Brigade and consolidated with the 3rd Regiment.

Throughout the war Rainwater was wounded several times. He was described as a cheerful, brave and unselfish comrade, but injury prone. His extensive injuries caused him permanent physical damage. On February 17, 1864, Rainwater applied for permanent disability from the Army of the Confederate States due to epilepsy and paralysis from gunshot wounds.

We do hereby certify that we have carefully examined this officer and find him permanently disabled and cannot perform duty in any branch of the Military Service because of Gun shot Wound to the head producing symptoms of epilepsy also Gun shot Wound of the left hip – the ball yet remaining – producing parolysis and incapacitating him from riding on horseback

Medical Certificate of Disability, February 17, 1864

Rainwater was injured again on June 6, 1864 at Ditch Bayou, Arkansas. Marmaduke cited Rainwater for his gallant conduct in his report of the Battle of Lake Chicot. His injuries, however, disabled him from further combat service. Rainwater served for the remainder of the war on General Joseph Shelby’s staff. After the War, Charles and Sarah moved to St. Louis, where they lived a comfortable and prosperous life until Charles died in 1902.

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

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1. 1860 United States Federal Census; Census Place: Township 43 Range 21, Benton, Missouri; Roll: M653_607; Page: 418; Image: 422; Family History Library Film: 803607
2. T. R. Ferguson Letter to Daniel Fowler. Jan. 20, 1863. Rainwater and Fowler Family Papers, 1863-1869, R227, The STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER – ROLLA.
3. “5th Regiment, Missouri Infantry”, CONFEDERATE MISSOURI TROOPS, National Parks Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/regiments.cfm

On May 4th, 1858 Wadlow filed a claim against Benjamin Perryman in the Probate and Common Plea court in Greene County, Missouri for one thousand dollars. The outcome of the case hinged on the definition of the slaves’ condition. The way to determine the “sound condition” of a slave was very subjective and the evidence to prove that a slave was “worthless” had to be quite substantial for a claim to hold any legal standing in a court of law. When Violet and Aaron came to Wadlow, they were very ill. Mrs. Whittenburg, another slave of Wadlow’s, testified that when she helped Violet into bed she “discovered that the Negro woman could not lie on one side because it caused her a lot of pain.”3

The declarations of the Negro woman, Mrs. Whittenburg, were excluded by the court, and because the judge did not allow her testimony, the verdict came back in the favor of Perryman. Charles Wadlow, displeased with the outcome, decided to appeal the case to the State Supreme Court, in which they sided with Mr. Wadlow; sighting that the lower courts had erred in not allowing the testimony be submitted into evidence.

We see no difference between this case and that of Man vs Hill & Haynes, 10 Mo. 323. The evidence offered by the plaintiff of the declarations of the slave, made whilst she was laboring under sickness, as to the cause of her ilness and the source of it, was admissible and the Court erred in excluding them. With the concurrence of the other Judges, the judgment is reversed and the cause remanded
Charles Wadlow vs. John G. Perryman.

The slave laws that prevailed during the time did not allow for a slave to testify against a white person in court.4 However, since Mrs. Whittenberg was not testifying against Mr. Perryman, only stating the condition she saw Violet in after Wadlow bought her, her testimony was legally admissible into court. The case was returned to the Common Plea court, and no documentation of further ruling could be located.

Contributed by the Greene County Archives and Records Center

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1. 1860 United States Federal Census; Census Place: Cass, Greene, Missouri; Roll: M653_621; Page: 259; Image: 259; Family History Library Film: 803621.
2. Charles Wadlow vs. John G. Perryman, 1857. S1 F007. Greene County Archives and Records Center, Springfield, Missouri.
3. Charles Wadlow vs. John G. Perryman, 1857. S1 F007. Greene County Archives and Records Center, Springfield, Missouri. Part 2, pg 8
4. “Slave Codes”, U.S. History Online Textbook, Wednesday, January 19, 2011, http://www.ushistory.org/us/6f.asp

Introduction
The Macks as Refugees
Macks in the War
Macks in Politics

The John A. Mack Collection offers valuable insight into the lives of Union sympathizers in the Ozarks. In many ways, their experiences are typical of Southern Unionists, though their home in Missouri placed them squarely in a border region. The war was bitter and personal for the Mack family. Their experiences as refugees and those who fighting guerrillas in the 1st Arkansas Cavalry (U.S.) hardened their feelings towards Confederate sympathizers. As Radical Republicans, the Macks entered the political arena only to find themselves at odds with fellow Unionists.

Regrettably, the Mack collection contains only half of the correspondence between the family members. The surviving letters were written to those serving in the army. While the soldier’s responses are missing, the existing letters provide researchers with a unique perspective on the civilian experience in southwest Missouri.

Contributed by a Private Collector

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The John H. Utz collection is a series of sixty plus letters compiled by his descendents. The letters were self-published by the family in Biographical Sketches of the Bartlett Marshall Duncan and Henry Utz Families. Very limited copies of the book are available to the public, and the letters in the collection are reproduced as they were printed in the book. This collection depicts Utz experiences as a prisoner of war from 1864 through 1865

Contributed by a Private Collector

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Introduction
John W. Fisher

John W. Fisher’s diary documents his duties in the Missouri State Guard from mid October, 1861, through the first week of January, 1862. Fisher was born in Virginia, and lived in Westport, Missouri prior to the War. Fisher served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Missouri State Guard. The diary cites Fisher’s movement through Missouri and Indian Territory. Fisher survived the war, ending his days in a Confederate Veterans home in Harrisonburg, Missouri, in 1910.

Contributed by Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield

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From April to mid-July 1862, the regiment was at Camp McCulloch near Tyler, Texas. While there in July, the regiment was reorganized under the Confederate Conscription Acts — many men over the age of 35 were discharged, and the companies were re-lettered.2 In September, 1862, the 20th Texas Cavalry marched to Arkansas where it fought in numerous skirmishes north of Fayetteville. Among these skirmishes was Cassville, Missouri on September 20, 1862, Elkhorn, Arkansas on October 16, 1862, and Cross Hollows, Arkansas in October of 1862. Mason noted the day before the skirmish at Cassville, “The mornings is Geting verry cool Though no frost yet… we will Soon Be up in Missouri and There will have Plenty of fighting to do to Keep us warm.”3 Camped at Elkhorn, on October 6, 1862 Mason wrote, “[the Federals] are Reported from 12 to 18 Thousand Strong we have not forses sufficient to withstand Them yet The fors commenced fighting on the first and is still going on we have to fall Back and wait Reinforsment we are Looking for general Hinmans [Thomas C. Hindman] Command 18 or 20 Thousand Strong Then we will make the wool fly.”4

About the first of November, the regiment was dismounted and served the remainder of the war as infantry. The 20th Texas Dismounted Cavalry was present at the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas on December 7, 1862, and was included in the surrender of the Indian Troops at Doaksville on June 23, 1865.5

The Union army’s advantages of supplies and food helped them support their soldiers through long winters and hot summer. Disorganization and miscommunication were conventional traits associated with the Confederate Army. Mason’s letters to his wife and mother revealed the lack of supplies within the Confederate forces. The Confederate Army was not prepared for extended fighting and often their soldiers were half-clothed, starving, and sick when they went into battle. Mason reported that his regiment was nearly out of flour and that there was no corn or wheat in Arkansas.6

Mason, like other Confederate soldiers, relied on the charity of family members to help sustain them through the war. In his letters home, he requested clothing be sent to him to get him through the cold winter. Soldiers were supposed to be paid every two months in the field, but they were fortunate if they got their pay at four-month intervals (in the Union Army) and authentic instances were recorded where they went six and eight months.7 Payment in the Confederate Army was even slower and less regular. Although they fought on different sides, soldiers in both Union and Confederate camps faced the same problems and held the same concerns for their families in their hearts and minds. All longed for the day when they would return home and as Mason stated, “kiss their babs.”8

Yet many men would never return home. If not killed in combat many soldiers died from complications related to injury and disease. Injury and illness were common in both Union and Confederate camps. Lack of hygiene and medical supplies made it difficult for men to stay healthy on the battlefield. To make matters worse, there were not physical examination guidelines for Rebel soldiers; so men suffering partial deafness, hernias, partial blindness, missing several fingers, and infection were acceptable for active duty.9Mason received several injuries during his service including being kicked by a horse.10 The deficiency of medical training, coupled with rapid infections that occurred from injuries and the inability of medicine to combat illness killed many men. Joseph H. Mason died from pneumonia on December 13, 1862 in a hospital in Camp Roan Arkansas.

Dear Sir I have the paneful duty of droping you a few lines to let you now that J.H. Mason is dead he died the thirteenth of this month he tuck a sick on the seckond of This month with a chill when he died he had the new monia he went to the hospitle an I did not see him any more he was well wated on while he was sick our sergant at the hospital is good Doctor he was burried very deason. he was well like in the company he mad a good officer an a soldier there is a great deal of sickness in camps at This time
Thomas Hardin letter to Mary Mason – Apr. 24, 1863

Mary Mason requested Joseph’s personal effects be sent to her; however, his clothes were issued to other soldiers in need, his pistol sold, and family portrait sent to a family friend. The money earned from these sales was applied to cover his debt. Mary was left with little of his personal items from his time in the war to remember him.

Contributed by the Wichita State University Special Collections and University Archives.

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1. Joseph Harris Mason, U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. accessed October 25, 2010
2. Justin M. Sanders, A Brief History of the CSA 20th Texas Cavalry, http://www.txgenweb7.org/txhenderson/Military/CivilWar/hecsa20th.html
3. Joseph Mason, Letter to Mary Mason. 18 Sept. 1862. Joseph Mason Papers. MS 87-03. Wichita State University Special Collections and University Archives
4. Joseph Mason, Letter to Mary Mason. 6 Oct. 1862. Joseph Mason Papers. MS 87-03. Wichita State University Special Collections and University Archives
5. Confederate Texas Troops, National Parks Service: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/regiments.cfm
6. Joseph Mason letter to Mary Mason – Sept. 18, 1862. Joseph Mason Papers. MS 87-03. Wichita State University Special Collections and University Archives
7. Mark M. Boatner, “Soldier’s Pay in the Civil War” in The Civil War Dictionary, http://www.civilwarhome.com/Pay.htm
8. Joseph Mason letter to Mary Mason – Sept. 29, 1862. Joseph Mason Papers. MS 87-03. Wichita State University Special Collections and University Archives
9. C. Keith Wilbur, M.D., Civil War Medicine, 1861-1865, Old Saybrook, CT: The Globe Pequot Press, 1998, pg 9.
10. Joseph Mason letter to Mother – July 29, 1862. Joseph Mason Papers. MS 87-03. Wichita State University Special Collections and University Archives

The 36th Iowa Infantry eventually traveled southward toward Helena, Arkansas, stopping in St. Louis at Benton Barracks. While stationed at Helen, Arkansas, Miller resigned from the 36th Iowa Infantry, and accepted a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Arkansas Infantry (African Descent). He wrote about the condition and development of the African American soldiers in his letters home. Miller participated in the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863, and described the Battle to his mother. The remainder of the War, Miller served in support capacity, stationed at Pine Bluff, Little Rock, and Fort Smith, Arkansas. At the end of the War, when Miller was finally eligible for discharge, he elected to continue his career as a military officer. Miller’s letters tell a remarkable story, and provide a rare glimpse of life in the Ozarks during the Civil War.

Contributed by the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections
Manuscript Collection MS M58

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The Moses J. Bradford collection consists of forty letters written to his wife, Malissa Jane, and family. At the beginning of the war, Bradford joined the Missouri State Guard under General James H. McBride, and was appointed quartermaster. Sometime after April 1862, he left the state service, but, he remained active in the war. In June 1862, Bradford was captured by a Union patrol from Rolla. The Union soldiers stated, Bradford was “a noted guerrilla….who has caused us much trouble.” Either pardoned or paroled, Bardford returned to service. By April 1863, he was a Captain in Company G of the 10th Missouri Infantry (CSA). Bradford participated in the attack on Helena, Arkansas on July 5, 1863, and was taken prisoner.

Bradford was incarcerated with other Confederate officers at five different Union prisons: Johnson’s Island in Ohio, Camp Hammond in Maryland, Fort Delaware in Delaware, Morris Island in South Carolina, and Fort Pulaski in Georgia. Bradford had the misfortune of being captured at a time when the cartel agreement for the exchange of prisoners had broken down. Worse still, he was selected by his Union captors as one of a group of Confederate officers subjected to retaliation for abuses of Yankee prisoners of war in Confederate prisons.

Bradford endured increasingly deprived conditions as his food, clothing and mail privileges were withheld or outright denied. Prisoners at the Morris Island were intentionally placed within Confederate firing range. Physical torpor and malnutrition plagued Bradford and his fellow prisoners. Diseases began to reduce their numbers, and a few prisoners took an oath of allegiance to secure parole. Bradford was unwavering in his refusal to take an oath. He was among 44 of the initial 600 prisoners to succumb to disease and malnourishment during their imprisonment. They were dubbed “The Immortal 600.” Bradford wrote ten letters while in the Missouri State Guard and 10th Missouri Infantry. The remainder of the collection was written from the prison.

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

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Headquarters, General Hospital, Missouri State Guard, Springfield, Missouri

Dear John -

I suppose ere this you have had correct information in regard to the fight so I will say nothing about it. I am not in good health – nor in very good spirits. I can see no end to this infernal war… Springfield presents rather a gloomy appearance, every house nearly has been converted into a Hospital. The wounded are generally well. There has been a great many amputations. I have taken off a good many legs and arms – until I am sick and tired… We get nothing to drink (and) little to eat… Give my love to Mary… (and) respects to… friends and tell my enemies to go to hell…

Yours fraternally, O.A. Williams, Assistant Surgeon

Contributed by the The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County

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FEE BILL of the PHYSICIANS OF SPRINGFIELD, MO. As the prices of every kind of labor have greatly increased in this community in the last few years, we deem it a duty we owe to ourselves and families that there should be a fixed standard of charges for our services, which shall be in conformity with everything else in valuation…
Physicians’ Fee Bill – January 2, 1860

The Springfield physicians’ fee bill is a detailed listing of fees and services offered by physicians in Greene County, Missouri. The bill documents the types of treatments offered by physicians in 1860, and perhaps through pricing, the complexity or rarity of that type of service. It is interesting to note the cost of in-town visits compared to mileage costs for county visits, and the price difference between minor and more intensive surgeries.

The physicians justified this current fee adjustment because the price of all labor in Springfield had increased. Presumably, the bill reflects a price increase in physician services. Perhaps the increased population size of Springfield and the surrounding community, the threat of war, and increased violence of guerrilla warfare in the region had an impact on the services rendered in Springfield. For a better understanding of the economy of the Springfield and the Ozarks, consult the economic collections, specifically the John Doran diary, and surviving newspapers from Springfield and Rolla.1

Physicians in Springfield unified under one fee structure, indicating varying prices among the city’s physicians before 1860. It is unknown what caused this unification, and beckons further research and investigation. Finally, the bill notes that the physicians will no longer accept payment for yearly family services. The type of services rendered during this plan, and if this type of payment plan was universally rejected throughout the medical profession in 1860 is unknown. The meeting minutes for the Southwest Missouri Medical Society, may provide an interesting comparison for services rendered before and after the Civil War, and should be consulted. This physicians’ bill provides interesting details about the medical profession before the Civil War, and at the same time warrants future research on the topic.

Contributed by the Greene County Archives and Records Center

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1. Few Springfield Civil War era newspapers survive today. They are available on microfilm at the Springfield-Greene County Library Center. Civil War era newspapers from Rolla are available on the Missouri Historical Newspaper Project.