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Civil
War historian Bruce Nichols mapmaker3@aol.com
– “The year 1863 witnessed far fewer events in Monroe
County than had 1862, but 1864 would bring a renewal of
violence to the county on a scale that would parallel
1862”. Once
again, thanks Bruce!
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Union
Troop Dispositions
Location:
Monroe County area
Date:
28 Feb 1863
Source:
"O.R." series 1, vol. 22, part 2, p. 131
Description:
With the departure of the numerous Confederate recruiting
commands the previous autumn and the degradation of some of
the southern guerrilla bands in northeast MO during the 1862
fighting, there was not as much need for Union troops there,
either.
The
Union military troop report at the end of February 1863
stated that there were only 26 officers, 635 enlisted men,
and two pieces of artillery in the entire District of
Northeast Missouri. Of
these, those closest to Monroe County were only a detachment
of cavalry at distant Palmyra in Marion County and the 2nd
Missouri Cavalry, also known as Merrill's Horse, at
Warrenton, Warren County.
Guerrilla
Depredations
Locations:
in Carroll, Chariton, Howard, and Randolph Counties
Dates:
late April to early May 1863
Source:
Norton, "Behind Enemy Lines," (memoirs of General
Sidney D. Jackman), 1997, pp. 161-5
Description:
Confederate Colonel Sidney D. Jackman disregarded the fate
of most of the Rebel recruiters of the previous year in this
region and returned to carry out a very clandestine but
successful recruiting campaign for many weeks. Jackman's
operations evidently reached only as close to Monroe County
as Randolph County to the west, but he left a profound,
chilling impression particularly on the local Union militia.
To ensure the
security of his recruiting and his very survival, Jackman
intimidated and even recruited many of the officers and men
of some of the Enrolled Missouri Militia in the region. He
protected his plans from detection by establishing an
extensive network of informants who kept him apprised of
every move the Union military made.
Guerrilla
Depredations
Location:
in Monroe County
Date:
11 Jun 1863
Source:
St. Louis's "Daily Missouri Democrat," article of
15 Jun 1863
Description:
In the style of COL Jackman not far away, on 11 June three
daring southern guerrillas kidnapped Monroe County's
commander of the 70th Enrolled Missouri Militia, COL William
B. Okeson, thoroughly frightened him, convinced him how
vulnerable he was to their violence, and forced him to swear
an oath to the Confederacy before they
released
him. The
intimidated colonel allegedly reported the southerners
showed him official Confederate recruiting papers. No
part of the 70th EMM was on active duty at this time and its
members including the colonel were living at home pursuing
their civilian callings.
Union
Troop Disposition
Location:
Mexico, Audrain County
Dates:
19 Jun 1863
Source:
"O.R." series 1, vol. 22, part 2, on pages 329 and
348
Description:
According to this partial Union troop disposition report,
some of the closest troops to Monroe County at this time
were 740 picked members of the EMM detailed into the new 1st
Provisional Enrolled Missouri Militia under command of COL
Joseph B. Douglass garrisoned at Mexico, Audrain County, to
the south. The
Provisional EMM was intended as a sort of "super EMM"
to overcome the obvious shortcomings of the amateur, poorly
funded EMM forces by handpicking the very best of them into
select units. The
experiment lasted most of 1863 with some success, but local
and state politics
particularly
between the appeasement-mindedness of the moderates and the
hard-core attitudes of the radicals spread from the
"regular" EMM into the Provisional EMM and
crippled the new force. Particularly
harmful but invisible to the 1st Provisional EMM at nearby
Mexico was Confederate Colonel Jackman's earlier
intimidation of several of the officers and men. By
the end of the year the Provisional EMM project sputtered to
a stop, and the Provisional EMM members reverted back to
their former EMM assignments.
Union
Regular Troop Disposition
Location:
closest to Monroe County
Date:
30 Jun 1863
Source:
"O.R." series 1, vol. 22, part 2, pp. 342, 343
Description:
This troop report states that near Monroe County were
stationed four companies of 9th Cavalry Missouri State
Militia at Mexico, Audrain County, to the south and two
companies of the same regiment at Sturgeon, north Boone
County, to the southwest. The
9th was an active duty unit experienced by one and a half
years of combat experience in this region. Their
presence in this area shows the renewed Union concern in the
face of returned southern irregular activity in northeast
Missouri.
Presence
of Large Rebel Recruiting Body
Locations:
in Randolph and Howard Counties
Date:
mid August 1863
Source:
St. Louis "Daily Missouri Republican," of 21 Aug
1863
Description:
This newspaper article quotes a letter from Huntsville,
Randolph County, stating that Confederate Major Caleb
Perkins had a command of 80 Rebels in the
vicinity
and was actively recruiting more.
The article also stated other recruiters were active
nearby and had amassed between two and three hundred
southern men in all.
Guerrilla
Raid and Skirmish
Location:
in and near southeast Randolph County
Date:
11 Sep 1863
Sources:
"Daily Missouri Democrat" of 12 Sep 1863 and the
"Daily Missouri Republican" of 13 and 14 Sep 1863,
as well as "O.R." series 1, vol. 22, part 2, p.
526
Description:
Rebel recruiter or guerrilla chief Thomas or Bob Hunter with
eight to ten men shot at a railroad train near Sturgeon,
north Boone County and then raided the village of Renick in
the southeast corner of Randolph County near the Monroe
County line, robbing two stores.
Guerrilla
Depredations
Locations:
near Centralia, north Boone County and in the southwest
corner of Monroe County
Dates:
28 and 29 Sep 1863
Source:
"Daily Missouri Republican," 7 October 1863
Description:
Ten guerrillas or Rebel recruits were seen in the village of
Centralia, north Boone County, the night of 28/29 September
and later took horses, firearms, bedding, and the like in
southwest Monroe County from the farmsteads of J. C.
McBride, Samuel
H.
Brown, a Peru, a Pelsus, and a Goodrich. Such
actions were typical of southern recruits equipping
themselves to go to war in this area.
Union
Depredations
Location:
in Monroe County
Dates:
October 1863
Source:
Farthing, "Chronicles of Monroe County," p. 66
Description:
This account tells about members of 1st Provisional EMM who
came to Paris, county seat of Monroe County, on 23 September
and committed some depredations over the next several days. Particularly,
they forced a local man identified as Ownby to guide them in
the countryside then shot him to death.
Union
Troop Dispositions
Location:
in the Monroe County area
Date:
31 Dec 1863
Source:
"O.R." series 1, vol. 22, part 2, pp. 758-767
Description:
The only Union troops near Monroe County at that time were
various companies of the 9th Cavalry MSM stationed in Boone,
Howard, and Macon Counties. With the advent of winter, most
of the Rebels that had been in northeast MO had ridden
south to warmer weather as they had the previous winter. Therefore,
the Union military did not need as many troops in the region
and could more comfortably garrison them in buildings in the
larger towns. Guerrilla
activity dropped off dramatically but would recur as it had
the year before in the spring with the return of warmer
weather. |
