REPORT OF THE
COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
TWENTY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
STATE OF
APPOINTED TO
INVESTIGATE THE CONDUCT AND MANAGEMENT OF
THE MILITIA
- Published by The State Society of
Transcribed
by Kay Clerc-Fakhar
In
1863 the
- Page 168
A MAN FROM THE BRUSH
MADE LIEUTENANT-COLONEL OF THE MILITIA OF
Some Conservative
Union men Protest against his Appointment. He is not
removed
Hon. C. P. JOHNSON,
Chairman Committee, etc.
Sir: We have a
Regiment of Enrolled Militia in this county commanded by L. J. RANKIN, a
Radical. About a month or two ago, he was commissioned as Colonel; he was before
Lieutenant-Colonel, as the Regiment was not full; but filling the Regiment he
was promoted to Colonel; and soon after Gov. GAMBLE commissioned Jos. P. HESSER
as Lieut. Colonel, with a recommendation for Col. RANKIN, or any of the
Captains, Lieutenants, or privates in the Regiment; and there is not an officer
or private in the Regiment opposed to Lieutenant Colonel HESSER acting.
Judge C. S. RANKIN, a
member of the last Convention and Conservative, also Major J. FLETCHER, a
Conservative, said they would have HESSER removed. They represented the case to
Gov. GAMBLE, and he promised to remove him; he had them to put it in writing
what they said of HESSER, that he was not considered a loyal man; but still
HESSER has not been removed, and I see his name sent in to be confirmed by the
Legislature. I can get all the loyal men in this county to certify that they
consider HESSER a rebel, and have no confidence in his Unionism. I knew HESSER
before the war, and at the commencement of it, and I always considered him a
rebel; he has laid out from home to avoid the Union
soldiers, and he had a brother that died in Jeff. THOMPSON's army. He could not
be elected as a Lieutenant in the Company; he ran for both Lieutenant-ships and
got but few votes. He was at DeSoto at the raising of a secession flag.
With respect,
C. C. FLETCHER.
To Capt. FLETCHER,
Colonel 8th Regiment, E.M.M.
CAPTAIN:
I reply to your enquiries. I can state that I wrote to Gov. GAMBLE
saying, that Jos. P. HESSER was obnoxious to his
Regiment; also stating that I did not consider him loyal. I referred the
Governor to Major J. W. FLETCHER and the Hon. C. S. RANKIN. They, as I am
informed, approved the charges I made against Mr. HESSER.
I also recommended
others for Lieutenant-Colonel and Major, but they were not appointed. I herewith
enclose you a remonstrance prepared to send to the Governor, but did not do so,
supposing the Governor would act after referring to Major FLETCHER and Hon. C.
S. RANKIN.
Respectfully
yours,
L. J. RANKIN
To His Excellency H.
R. GAMBLE,
Governor State of
Missouri
We, the undersigned
officers of the 80th Regiment E.M. M., most respectfully request your Excellency
to revoke the commission of Joseph P. HESSER, as Lieutenant Colonel of the 80th
Regiment E.M.M., for the following reasons:
Charge
1. Disloyalty to the Government;
Charge 2. Being a
prominent man in getting up the secession flag to be raised in DeSoto,
Charge 3. Having
run for several offices in Company E, and being unanimously defeated each
time;
Charge 4. Creating dissatisfaction in the
above named company;
Charge 5. For
hiding out, at the commencement of the rebellion, from United States
soldiers.
Very respectfully, your obedient servants,
L. J. RANKIN,
J. 0. HAMEL, Capt.
Adj.
J. T. DAVIS, Capt. Co. B.
Anton YERGER, Capt. Comp. F.
H. HAMEL, 1st Lieut. Co. D.
George WILEY, 2d Lieut. Co. A.
William A. JACKSON, Capt. Co. A.
John VINYARD, 1st Lieut.
W. H. WASHBURN, Capt. Co. E. 80th Reg.
C.H. LEPP, Capt. Co. D.
Henry C. LAHAY, 2d Lieut. Co. D.
W. J. BUXTON, Capt. Co. G.
- Page
182
(From the BROCKMEYER
Committee) Showing how the Militia
were originally intended to be exclusively
loyal-Traitors provided with passes, paroles, safeguards, and thus protected
against arrest.
Mr. Henry
BROCKMEYER
BELEW'S CREEK P.O.,
DEAR SIR:
I have just seen an
advertisement in the St. Louis Democrat, requesting any persons having
information touching certain enquiries embraced in a resolution passed by the
Legislature
In answer to the
first question, "What is the amount of active service rendered by the
same?" I have to state, that it
would be a difficult matter at this time to say; because no proper account of
the time and service rendered was kept, and also because the service may not
come within your definition of the term active." But in order that I may be understood, I
will explain how it was rendered, and confine my remarks to the company of which
I am a member; prefacing, however, by saying that matters were conducted in
nearly the same way throughout the country:
First, then, we were
organized in the month of August last, and were ordered to drill twice every
week, and after a week or two we were ordered to drill three times every week.
This you will admit was a very heavy tax on a laboring man's time, and we were
all, without exception, of that class; and the more so, as some of our men had
to ride twelve to fifteen miles to the place of drill.
But the service, to
which I wish to call your attention, was not drilling, but scouting. It often
happened, say once a week, that we were ordered out to scout, and to watch the
main roads, the necessity for doing which arose from the fact that [Page 183 begins] numerous bands were
about that time making their way through here for the purpose of joining the
Southern army. These trips often kept us from home two days and nights; and on
one occasion resulted in the dispersal of a band under the command of the
notorious Col. BOONE, our men capturing several prisoners, one or two horses and
mules, and some arms, and if our numerous scouting did not produce very great
results, it was not for want of zeal on our part.
But the loss of
time arising from these duties was not all; the results in many cases were that
we did not get our wheat sown, and, in consequence, many fields have to lie idle
the next year. I am aware, sir,
that these services will hardly be thought worth consideration in comparison
with those who went into camp for weeks although it may be questioned whether we
did not do the State quite as much service as they did.
But I will now
proceed to the second query, viz: "In how far and in
what manner is the Enrolled Militia armed?" The company which I have the honor
to command, consists at present of fifty-five men, exclusive of officers, and I
copy from the muster-roll the following statement of the number and description
of arms, viz: two old muskets, sixteen shot guns, and
five squirrel rifles, which leaves thirty-two men who have no guns at all - a
state of things which speaks for itself, and requires no comment from me. There
are in this county, seven companies of Enrolled Militia, and I have not heard of
any of them receiving arms, with the exception of about one hundred muskets
which were sent to the county and distributed among the three first companies.
So that I would respectfully represent the necessity for some provision being
made in order to make the Militia efficient.
There is also
another subject to which I beg leave to call your attention, viz: the great necessity there exists for a uniform
sufficiently plain to enable a person to distinguish a militia man at once; a
jacket and cap would be sufficient for this purpose, and need only be worn when
on duty some such slight uniform might be the means of preventing sad accidents,
one of which I will relate: A company of Militia started from Hillsboro (county
seat) in pursuit of the remnants of BOONE's band, (to
whom I referred in an earlier part of this communication,) and about the same
time a party of Schofield Hussars, M.S.M., also went in pursuit; the E.M.M. came
to the place where the secesh had camped a short time
before and were examining the ground, when the Hussars charged in upon them,
shooting right and left; resulting in one of the Enrolled Militia getting his
leg badly shattered, (since amputated,) and others with bullet holes in their
clothes; all of which would have been prevented if they had had some uniform so
that the Hussars could have recognized them as friends instead of
enemies.
Your third
enquiry, "In how far is the organization complete?" I am not able to answer in
as comprehensive a manner as I would wish, not having access to the proper
source of information; but I may say that there are enrolled in this county
seven companies, averaging, perhaps, sixty or seventy men each; three other
companies are added to these from St. Genevieve county, making in all ten
companies, which comprise the 78th Regiment, E.M. But if your enquiry is put with a view of
ascertaining how many who are subject to military duty have not enrolled, I
answer there are a great many, though chiefly men of doubtful loyalty; as a
general rule, the loyal men came forward with alacrity; those who, by reason of
age or disability could not serve, obtained certificates of exemption, and the
others who could serve joined the Militia.
A comparison between
the number of men now in the Militia in this county, and the number of men
subject to pay poll tax, will give you some approximation to the number who
OUGHT to be in the Militia, after leaving a fair margin for those who have
joined the opposing armies, and will show that the secesh element is in a majority in this county. Now these
men seize every pretext to avoid the enrollment; some obtain fraudulent
certificates and some absent themselves altogether. I hear that a better state
of affairs is about to be inaugurated; but, in my opinion, all this only tends
to show the greater necessity for arming the Militia effectively, so as to keep
these traitors in awe, and to show them that the better course is to fall in,
and behave themselves. As matters stand at present, the Militia in this county
is a source of more contempt than fear to the secesh;
for they argue (and I must admit with good reason) “what could these men do in
an emergency, one-half poorly armed, and the rest not armed at
all?"
In regard to the last
enquiry, I will only say, that it is not an evidence of good faith to the loyal
men of this section to see so many open and outspoken traitors at liberty; men
who have been to and from the Southern army several times; who have taken and
broken the oath repeatedly who have been guilty of horse stealing; of tearing
down Union flags; of being with guerrilla bands; and yet when loyal men go to
arrest them, they produce paroles, passes, safeguards, ad lib.; and the
supporter of the Government, from the respect he feels bound to show these
papers signed by officers in authority, feels himself powerless to act, and must
return mortified and leave the traitors jubilant. As I presume, sir that others
more able than myself will respond readily to your call for information on this
subject, I will trespass no further on your patience than to remark, that I hope
this present session of the Legislature will take this matter in hand, and place
the Enrolled Militia in such a state of efficiency as to preclude all hope on
the part of traitors of ever again being able to disturb the peace of our noble
State.
I remain yours truly,
W. J. BAXTON, Captain Co. K, 78th
Reg., E.M.M.
- Page
252
OPPOSITION TO
RECRUITING FOR THE FEDERAL
SERVICE
The Committee have not had
sufficient time to investigate circumstances, which have come to their
knowledge, relative to the obstacles thrown into the way of recruiting for the
Federal service. The officers now in the
Under the fear of this Damocles
sword suspended over their heads, they are very naturally not inclined to give
voluntary information of the misconduct of the same man who can dismiss them
summarily, if they should incur his displeasure. The Committee might have
summoned them to give testimony under oath; but they would, in all probability,
not have obtained a furlough, on the ground that they could not leave their
respective posts "without manifest injury to the service," and the disposition
of the reigning military authorities was decidedly such as to sustain the belief
that this would have been the course adopted by them.
Only in one instance was an
officer "ordered from District Headquarters" to appear before the Committee;
having been summoned by the Conservative member of the Committee for the purpose
of giving a lucid definition of the term "Radical party," we suppose. (Vide testimony of Lieutenant McElwrath.)
The Committee do, therefore, refrain from
publishing any information obtained by them which might result in a removal from
office of men who have done eminent service to the State, and cannot well be
spared for a while yet. Enough can be proved from the official orders to show a
disposition to make service in State troops superior to service in the Federal
Volunteers.
On
Explanatory Order No.
2} HEADQUARTERS,
When any regiment
is organized and the officers commissioned under the State law, and desires to
volunteer into the service of the United States for three years or during the
war, the Commanding Officer will notify the Adjutant General, and a Mustering
Officer of the United
States will be detailed by the proper officer of the
United States service to muster the regiment into service. This will extend to
fifteen Regiments. The troops organized under the call of the Governor which do
not enter the service of the
BY ORDER OF THE
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
Geo. R. SMITH,
Adjutant General
This was decidedly fair on its
face, and could not be otherwise, when General FREMONT would have suppressed
independent "State-Right" troops at once.
[Page 253 begins]
The good faith in which it was
given, and expected to be carried out, will appear from the testimony of Col. D.
Q. GALE, who was ordered to desist from organizing companies under this order
for the Federal service, and was threatened with arrest if he should continue to
be patriotically engaged in thus assisting the General Government. The Colonel
is not quite positive as to the exact time of this occurrence, but it appears
that it took place at a period when the Federal Government had been induced to
contemplate the removal of General FREMONT.
Before the Committee,
Daniel Q.
GALE, of
I am
United States Assessor for the 2d District of Missouri. I have resided in
Question: Do you know of any means used, or
orders given, by the Provisional Government, to interfere with or prevent
enlistments of Missouri Militia into the service of the
Answer: I was acting Adjutant General under John
W. NOELL, immediately after the order appeared to organize the six months' men.
I was to organize
Question: (by Mr.
DAVIS) Did the order apply to a particular
District?
Answer: It was general.
Question: (by Mr. DAVIS) When was that?
Answer: In the Fall of
1861.
Question: Do you know of any
orders or acts of the Provisional Government requiring the assistance or use of
the E. M. M., or other State military organizations, to re-capture runaway
slaves?
Answer: Lt. Colonel WARMOUTH was appointed
Brigadier General commanding the E.M.M. of my District, and he issued an order
requiring the E.M.M. to assist in executing such writs. A gentleman by the name of SMITH came to
me from
In the summer
of 1862, when the President made his call for three hundred thousand more
Volunteers, under date of July 2,1862; and when Congress limited the number of
the " peculiar military force organized by the Provisional Governor of Missouri
" (vide General Order No. 1, 1863, cited under the lead of "M.S.M.") to ten
thousand, there appeared to be an excess of nearly three thousand men already
mustered into service, and the following order was issued at the instance of the
Federal Government [Page 254
begins]
General Orders No.
29}
Adjutant General's
The following
communication from the War Department is published for the information of all
concerned:
"Adjutant General’s
Office,
"His Excellency,
The GOVERNOR OF MISSOURI,
SIR: It having been
represented at this office, that some three regiments of State Militia have been
raised for service in your State in excess of the numbers authorized by
Congress, I am instructed to inform you, that these extra troops will be
received into the general service of
the United States, provided such is
their wish: if they do not desire to come into the general
service, they will
be disbanded.
I am sir, etc.,
L. THOMAS, Adjutant General."
To enable the Governor
to comply with the above requirements, the officer commanding each company of
Militia now in service will, without delay, ascertain and report to the Adjutant
General of the State, through the commanding officer of his regiment or
battalion, the officers and the number of men of his company who are willing to
be mustered into the service of the United States as Volunteers for " three
years or during the war."
By order of the Commander-in-Chief.
WM. D. WOOD,
The latter part of it
instructed each commander to obtain the sense of his company, battery or
regiment, as to their willingness to enlist in the Federal service. It is true
the order does not state what course would have been pursued by the State
Executive in the event of a company declaring for entering the Federal service:
the order calls simply for information, without pledging the Commander-in-Chief
to any policy at all. The people, however, believed it to be meant as a promise
to transfer such companies as desired it into the Federal Volunteer service; and
under this impression an entire regiment of the Missouri State Militia applied
for this privilege.
The answer returned by the Acting Adjutant General was
positive and short --a flat denial. The regiment is in the State service at this
hour. The Committee is not aware
that any one company has ever been transferred from the State service into the
service of the
Adjutant General's
Office,
Hon. C. P.
JOHNSON,
Chairman of Committee on
Militia.
SIR: -The letter
from your committee to me, signed by Geo. Smith on your behalf, dated the 6th
inst., was received yesterday. You inquire "which companies, battalions or
regiments of the M. S. Militia have availed themselves of the benefit of Order
29,
In reply I would
state, that so far as I can ascertain from a hasty examination of the records of
my office, which were made prior to my assuming charge of it, and from my
personal knowledge since that time, no companies, battalions or regiments have
intimated their desire to be transferred to the regular Volunteer service of the
United States.
Many officers in
command of such divisions have at various times expressed their desire to have
their commands transferred, but nothing like unanimity of opinion among the
enlisted men could ever be obtained, and as the act was necessarily to be a
voluntary one upon the part of the latter, but few discharges have been made for
that purpose.
I am at a loss to
understand what is meant by the closing sentence of the quotation which I make
from your letter, as I was not aware that any limit as to the time of such
transfer has been made at these Headquarters.
I remain very
respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN B. GRAY,
Adjutant Gen. of
- Page
302
TESTIMONY OF JUDGE JAMES W. OWENS,
Circuit Judge of
Franklin County
James W. OWENS, of
lawful age, being produced, sworn and examined, states, that he
is Judge of
the Ninth Judicial Circuit in the State of Missouri and resides at Washington,
Franklin County, Mo.; has resided in said county all his life, and is
thirty-three years of age; has been acquainted with Maj. David MURPHY about four
years; has known Capt. Andrew FINK, Lieut. RENNER, Geo. BOERGER and John C.
HERMAN for about fifteen years all of the above named gentlemen have been, and
are yet, unconditionally loyal men; they have been such since the outbreak of
the rebellion in Missouri; and all of them have, during the rebellion, served in
the military force of the Government in some capacity.
Maj. MURPHY was the first
man I heard propose to join the Federal army in response to the call of
President Lincoln for 75,000 men, and by his own efforts he recruited in
Franklin County, Missouri, about thirty men, and with them went to the St. Louis
Arsenal and joined the First Regiment Missouri Volunteer Infantry, then being
organized by Col. Frank P. BLAIR, Jr.; they were, I believe, the first men
recruited for the Federal service outside of St. Louis
County.
Maj. MURPHY was a 1st
Lieutenant in that regiment; he participated in the battles of Boonville and
In September, 1861,
his regiment returned to St. Louis and was reorganized as an Artillery Regiment,
and Maj. MURPHY was commissioned Captain of one of the companies in that
regiment; after that he participated in the battle of Prairie Grove, and for
skill and bravery shown in that battle he was promoted to be a Major of
Artillery. He then went with Gen. HERRON's command to
Sometime about 1st
September, 1863, one, James H. BARNES was killed in Franklin County, Mo.; the
character of Barnes for loyalty was of the very worst stamp, and in every
respect he was considered, by those who knew him, to be a violent and vindictive
man; no arrests were made for the killing or other action taken in the matter at
the time.
On the 3d Monday in
September, 1863, the regular term of the Circuit Court was held in Franklin
County, and in my charge to the Grand Jury, in addition to the several laws
which it is my duty to call the attention of the Grand Jury to, I called their
attention to the fact that it was their duty to make presentments, not only of
the matters given them in charge, but of all violations of law which might
otherwise come to their knowledge, and this they were bound to do by their oath.
I know of no cause;
and am satisfied, from my knowledge of the facts, that there was no cause for
fear on the part of any person who desired to give information to do so freely;
nor was there so far as I could learn, any attempt to intimidate witnesses from
attending and testifying in the BARNES case, or any other case at that term of
the court.
On
Tuesday, the second day of the term, a Lieutenant belonging to the 11th Cavalry
Missouri Volunteers, with a detail of ten men, came to Union; the Lieutenant
came [pg. 303 begins] into the
court-room during the sitting of the court, and stated to me that he had an
order to arrest certain citizens of Franklin County; and among those named was
Capt. Andrew FINK, then a member of the Grand Jury, and Lieut. RENNER a member
of the Petit Jury then engaged in the trial of a cause in the court.
I discharged Capt. FINK from
the Grand Jury and Lieut. RENNER from the Petit Jury, and had others sworn in
their stead. On the same day the Lieutenant showed me his authority for the
arrest I read the same; it was an order issued by the Commander of the District
of St. Louis, Brig. Gen. STRONG; the substance of the order was that he should
take ten men, armed, to Franklin County, and arrest David MURPHY, Capt. Andrew
FINK, Lieut. RENNER, and George BOERGER, and bring them to St. Louis, "in
irons," and deliver them to the keeper of Myrtle Street prison.
He arrested FINK, RENNER and
BOERGER; MURPHY was not there at that time, but was on his way to
I
understand that Maj. MURPHY has been tried by a military commission, and
acquitted without offering any evidence whatever in his defense. I never heard
or knew what charges, if any, were preferred against HERMAN; nor do I yet know
for what he was arrested; he, as well as the others, was known as a Radical
emancipationist; they were all active in urging the policy of immediate
emancipation.
Capt. FINK, BOERGER,
RENNER and HERMAN belonged to the 55th Regiment E.M.M.
The following part of
the testimony refers only partly to the case, but cannot well be detached on
account of the cross-examination:
I am acquainted with Col.
Daniel Q. GALE, Henry C. EITZEN, Amos W. MAUPIN, and John T. VITT; have known
them for twenty years or upwards; they are known as among the most loyal men of
Franklin County; are men of influence and have been active in sustaining the
Government and were, from the beginning of the war, known and recognized as the
leaders and advisers of the unconditional Union men of their county. Daniel Q. GALE was Colonel, and Henry C.
EITZEN Lieut. Colonel of the 64th Regiment E. M. M.; Amos W. MAUPIN was Colonel
and John T. VITT Lieut. Col. of the 65th Regiment E. M. M. until the latter part
of September, 1863, when they were all removed by the Governor.
I never heard of any
complaints or dissatisfaction with them on the part of the loyal men of Franklin
County; on the contrary, all were perfectly satisfied with them in their
respective positions in the Militia, and there was universal dissatisfaction
among both officers and men of the Militia at their removal; they, too, were
immediate emancipationists, and freely spoke their opinions on that subject;
their successors, appointed by the Governor, voted and acted with the party
called Conservative.
August KRUMSWICK, who was
appointed to succeed Col. MAUPIN, was not a member of the Militia in any
capacity. M.D. REESE, who was appointed to succeed Henry C. EITZEN, did not
belong to the regiment to which he was appointed, nor
to the 55th Regiment. In the spring of 1861, both REESE and KRUMSICK had bad
reputation for loyalty among the unconditional Union men of the
county.
Cross-examination by Mr.
DAVIS.
I further state, that these Colonels and Lieut. Colonels urged immediate
emancipation after the passage of the Ordinance of
As to Col. GALE, I did
not think that he was as outspoken as he (in my judgment) ought to have been; I
never heard him denounce the Provisional Government.
I participated in the
Jefferson City Radical Convention and endorsed the resolutions; I was one of the
committee drawing them up; I was present at the signing of the John BROWN song
at that meeting, and joined in the chorus.
The last of April, 1863, an
order called out the 64th and part of the 55th Regiment E.M.M.; the officers and
men complied with eagerness, and in twenty-four hours they were ready to march.
[page 304 begins]
As far as my knowledge
goes, in the Ninth Judicial Circuit quiet is comparatively restored. The only
dissatisfaction among the people is the appointment, now and then, of disloyal
men to office. I have no knowledge
of any charges made against Cols. GALE and MAUPIN, and Lieut. Cols. VITT and
EITZEN. Amongst the loyal men of
Question: At the time of the arrest of
Maj. MURPHY, was there not martial law declared over all the State?
Answer: At this time there were Provost Marshals
established in many counties of the State who arrested civilians, had them
tried, and in some instances shot, by court martial.
Question: What were the charges against
Maj. MURPHY?
Answer: I understood that MURPHY, FINK, RENNER
and BOERGER were charged with the killing of the man BARNES; do not know for
what HERMAN was arrested.
Question: State whether if
your Grand Jury had indicted them, would you have
arrested them?
Answer: I should have issued a writ of habeas
corpus in their cases; I have in similar circumstances done it, and the writ has
been obeyed by the military authorities.
Question: Has the Governor appointed, with his
knowledge, disloyal men to office?
Answer: I do not know what the Governor's
knowledge was. If he had enquired
of loyal men he could have easily found out the standing of these appointees as
to loyalty.
Question: State some such
appointments.
Answer: In the counties of Perry and Ste.
Genevieve, the loyal men there are universally dissatisfied with the appointment
of one D. C. TUTTLE, as Major and Paymaster; and also Mr.
LEAVENWORTH, of
Ste. Genevieve County, as Colonel; M. D. REESE and August KRUMSICK, of Franklin
County, and Lewis JOHNSON; Lieut. Col. HESSER, of Jefferson County.
- Jas. W.
OWEN.
Present, Messrs. DAVIS
and O'BANNON