In September, 1861, General Sterling Price planned an assault on Fort Scott to prevent Kansas Jayhawkers from raiding into Missouri. Union troops from Fort Scott under Major James H. Lane met Price’s troops in Vernon County, Missouri on Drywood Creek. Largely outnumbered, the Union forces quickly retreated back to Fort Scott. Price marched north and laid siege to Lexington, Missouri. Niggins noted the number of soldiers and violence in a letter to Mr. A. Baker.

All Eyes in this Country are turned to Lexington there are said to be about 40,000 secessionist there have been fortifying Maj [Samuel D.] Sturgis comeing in on the north side of the River Siegel [Franz Sigel] from below and [James H.] Lane from the South their combined forces it is said and thought to be true from 40 to 50,000 the word here is that Raines and Price will certainly be hipped out it is said that they are in a condition that they are bund to fight there was Last Thursday 14,000 union troops from Hudson to St. Joseph they have taken Platte City Weston and Liberty at Liberty there was a fight on Friday and the Town was burned 15 or 20 union troops killed and 30 wounded 50 killed on the other side there was 15 secessionist killed at Platte City the union troops were on their way to Lexington the Steamer Majors went down from Kansas City Friday to Cross over Maj Sturges command at some point near Lexington
B. L. Niggins Letter to A. Baker, February 27, 1863

After the Price and the Missouri State Guard left the region, Lane led raiders across the border into Missouri and burned Osceola a month later. Realizing that no town was safe from attack and that a military base was actually rather well fortified, many refugees elected to move closer to Fort Scott. Mr. Niggins, however, did no want to move back to the region. In an attempt to close his accounts and settle his debts, Niggins contacted Baker to sell his property in Bourbon County.

Money was scarce and many individuals like Mr. Niggins, needed to liquidate their assets to have funds to survive. Money though was not the only concern pressing on Mr. Niggins mind. The violence in the Northern region of Kansas and Northwest Missouri was increasing daily and Mr. Niggins and his wife were burned out of their house in Kansas City in November 1862. Niggins and Baker continued to conduct business together until Baker was murdered in early 1865. Niggins was then left trying to collect the $1,500 Baker sill owed him from the sale of his property.

The Missouri-Kansas border was infamous for the bloody violence that ensured years before the Civil War began. Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers constantly fought and terrorized civilians. The violence from the war and guerrilla warfare forced many families like the Niggins to move to safer locations while trying to conclude their business affairs long distance.

Contributed by the Bushwhacker Museum and Jail

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Introduction
Louisa Cheairs McKenny Sheppard

A Confederate Girlhood, the memoir of Louisa Cheairs McKenny Sheppard, reflects upon the life of a young lady raised in the Ozarks during the Civil War. While her reminiscence is decidedly sentimental, it is a compelling representation of wartime and economic struggles and refugee life. Louisa wrote the memoir many years after the events took place. Researchers are reminded that the validity of the events recorded, as with any memoir, may be embellished and should be thoroughly researched.

Louisa Cheairs McKenny Sheppard, “Lou” or “Lulu,” was the fourth child of Talitha and E.D. McKenny. Talitha died during Louisa’s birth in 1848, and she was raised by her grandmother Louisa “Lucy” Terrell Cheairs. Lulu was twelve when the War began, and she recalled impact it had on Springfield and her family. Eventually, they were forced to flee Springfield, and her family left for uncle’s plantation in Mississippi. Over time the family moved to Arkansas, and did not return to Springfield until after the War. A Confederate Girlhood is a recollection of Louisa’s youthful adventures and a tribute to her beloved grandmother.

Contributed by the The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County

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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.

Freeman Barrows was born in Middleboro, Massachusetts and with his brother moved to New Bedford to establish a wholesale grocery business. With poor business Freeman decided to head West and arrived in Harmony Mission, Missouri in 1838.1 When Bates County was formed 1841, Freeman was elected County Clerk and Recorder and later became probate judge. Freeman was also a member of the AF&AM Masonic Osage Lodge No. 29 and was listed as a Junior Warder in 1853. After only knowing each other for a year, Freeman married Asenath Vaill on August 25, 1842. The Barrows lived in a log cabin two miles east of Papinville and had nine children.

Barrows enjoyed living on the frontier and tried on numerous occasions to convince his brother to move to Missouri. However, as Missouri continued to grow, the tension between Missourians and Kansans intensified. The violence in the area arose from Kansas’ admission to the union as a free or slave state. Missourians crossed the border and casted fraudulent votes to usher Kansas in as a slave state. Furthermore, both sides raided, threatened and killed opposing settlers to scare off their political competition from Kansas. The escalated violence earned the time period the name “Bleeding Kansas,” and in the late 1850s, a northern politician dubbed the Missouri raiders crossing into Kansas “Border Ruffians.”2 Barrow’s resented the label “Border Ruffians” stating,

I am aware that my Eastern friends are disposed to Brand our State with the Opprobious name of Border Ruffianism, but we are not such Ruffins after all. we have a peculiar way of defending our rights when invaded by outsiders, and like evry other community we have some indiscreet men within our borders, whom we do not acknowledge as good members of society. so have you, and such Genii will be found in all the States of the union, but a Pure Son of Missouri or one of Missouri adoption will be found as gentlemenly and as much of a law abiding man as can be found in any clime or country.
Freeman Barrows Letter to John Barrows May 7, 1857

Although Freeman Barrows was not heavily engaged in politics he was never shy about expressing his concerns and opinions regarding the state of the Union. In 1850 after the death of President Zachary Taylor, Barrows was optimistic that the growing tensions between the North and the South would soon subside.

our Noble President is dead. we have been peculiarly unfortunate in our Whig Presidents, but I think Mr. Filmore [Millard Fillmore], will administrator the government faithfully, upon the plan of our early chief Magestrates, and that he will be enabled to do much towards the Settlement of the conflicting questions, now agitating the country. I am extremely sorry that Mr [Henry] Clay and others, of a conservative character in the Senate of the United States, have thus far been unable to settle these questions, and heal these difficulties. when will the Ultras of the North and South cease to distract the union with these abstract questions….
Freeman Barrows to John Barrows, August 31, 1850

Even though Freeman Barrows was a native of Massachusetts, he did not support the actions of the Northern legislatures trying to abolish slavery. He firmly believed that states’ rights were to be protected as guaranteed in the Constitution. “there is much to complain of from the acts of the New England people, and of New England’s Legislature. The principle of non interference with the rights of the States is the only, Just, fair, honorable, and prudent, course for all the States. those alone that reside on the Southern and South Western States can Judge of the extent of this interference with the property of the South.”3

By 1858 Barrows’s health was declining and he had to quit working. He died of tuberculosis on April 26, 1861, leaving his wife and nine children to run the family farm. Anseth expressed her concern of being the head of family to her brother-in-law John, “It only remains to be seen whether we can carry out his plans by keeping our stock together, and raising enough for ourselves and some to spare. And now that these perilous times are upon us, when the din of strife, and misrule is heard abroad in the land trouble and fear is added to grief.”4

The Civil War was very trying on the Barrows family. Jayhawkers stole their livestock, equipment, and everything movable.5 The Barrows left their family home in August 1863 after General Thomas Ewing issued Order No. 11; forcing all citizens of Bates County to leave their homes within 15 days. Asenath and the children went to Osceola and stayed with her sister, Elizabeth Waldo until the war ended.6 The family was able to survive through the conflict and rebuilt the farm but had incurred large sums of debt. Freeman Barrow’s sons John and William died when they were in their early teens, leaving his next eldest son, John to run the farm. John Barrows married Lizzie Badger, the daughter of Albert Badger, who was a prominent citizen of Vernon County Missouri. Badger fought in 7th Missouri Cavalry, 8th Division, Missouri State Guard and later worked in a Union shipyard towards the end of the War. After the war, Albert Badger requested reimbursement from the United States Government for property and livestock taken during the conflict.7

The reemergence of violence in the post war years caused many refugees to question the safety of Missouri and the Ozarks. Once civilians returned home they faced the new challenge of rebuilding their lives and the Barrows were no exception. Bad weather and the Panic of 1892 ruined the family and the bank foreclosed on the farm. The family then moved to Rich Hill where they lived the remainder of their lives. While many were able to reconstruct their homes and farms, their lives and the Ozarks were never the same.

This collection contains letter from relatives of both the Barrows and Badger family, and highlights the difficulties families in Southwestern Missouri faced trying to survive the war and the years that followed.

Contributed by the Bushwhacker Museum and Jail and Missouri State University Special Collections and Archives

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1. Robert Barrows, Sr, Descendants of Asenath Colt Vaill and Freeman Barrows (Rochester, NY, 1996), pg 15.
2. Don Coldsmith, “Jayhawkers and Border Ruffians” The Emporia Gazette, Monday, March 16, 2009, http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2009/mar/16/jayhawkers_and_border_ruffians/
3. Freeman Barrows, Letter to John N. Barrows, 2 Aug. 1855, M31, Special Collections, Missouri State University, Springfield.
4. Asenath Barrows,  Letter to John Barrows, 1 May 1861, M31, Special Collections, Missouri State University, Springfield.
5. Robert Barrows, Sr, Descendants of Asenath Colt Vaill and Freeman Barrows, (Rochester, NY, 1996), pg 15.
6. Robert Barrows, Sr, Descendants of Asenath Colt Vaill and Freeman Barrows, (Rochester, NY, 1996), pg 20.
7. Albert Badger, Letter to the Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army, 12 Jul. 1874, M31, Special Collections, Missouri State University, Springfield.

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 collection does not contain any of Margaret’s letters, but it appears she may have been a secessionist. Elizabeth’s passionate belief in the Union and graphic news from home may have caused a rift among her family. It is unknown how Elizabeth’s letters were received, but through their context it becomes clearer Margaret did not always feel loved by her family’s correspondence. Despite Margaret’s political thoughts, Elizabeth remained adamant about her feelings; she believed the suffering of her family, friends and neighbors was the fault of the Confederates and their deplorable tactics. The Hunter-Hagler letters are a powerful collection depicting the hardships many families faced in a politically torn region as neighbors and even families turned on one another.

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

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Introduction
Christian Isely
Marie Elizabeth “Eliza” Dubach Isely

The Isely Family Papers contain correspondence and other documents dating from the late 1850s through the 1930s. A significant portion of the collection consists of letters written during the Civil War between Christian H. Isely and his wife, Marie Elizabeth “Eliza” Dubach. Christian served in the 2nd Kansas Cavalry and they traveled throughout Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma; which was then Indian Territory. The Isely’s were a profoundly religious family and their correspondences depict the deeply rooted connection between religion and political convictions and how their beliefs often divided their family.

During the war, Eliza went to live with Christian’s parents in Ohio, rather than stay with her father in Willow Dale, Kansas, due to the unstable conditions in the Kansas-Missouri border region. Eliza’s in-laws did not share the same religious or political views as she and Christian, so they often belittled and berated her in German. She expressed to Christian in her letters the difficulties she faced living alone in such a hostile environment and her desire to return to the life they had prior to the war.

The collection also consists of Christian’s correspondence with other prominent individuals, such as, Edmund R. Colhoun, U.S.N., and William H. Smallwood, who became Kansas’ Secretary of State from 1871 – 1875.

Only a portion of the correspondents have been digitized, and researchers are encouraged to contact Wichita State University to view the entire collection.

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

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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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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