Pulliam Farm aka Battleground Hollow

The above tombstones were erected in the 1970's through the efforts of the late Jerry Ponder to honor those who were killed at Battleground Hollow.  The stone on the far left is found in the old Doniphan cemetery, south of the courthouse.  The center stone is at the Old Ponder Cemetery in a field south of Hwy 142 near the old Ponder Store and the stone on the right is at the Union Cemetery on P-1, 1/2 mile south of P Hwy, south of Ponder. 

Two other stones with reference to this battle can be found at the Bloomfield Civil War Cemetery in Stoddard County.  Pvt. Jacob Foster and Pvt. Thomas McKinney have 25 December 1863 death date  at Battlefield Hollow.

      One event, that took place in Ripley County, occurred on Christmas Day, 1863, in the Southwest corner of the county. No other incident, which occurred in Ripley County, has generated as much controversy as this event. The controversy centers around the writings of the late Jerry Ponder, who wrote several books and articles about Ripley County and the Civil War. The biggest controversy is whether civilians were massacred during this incident and if the ultimate fate of US Major James Wilson was because of his actions at Pulliam Farm.

     I take great personal interest in the skirmish at Pulliam Farm. Not only because it resulted in the greatest loss of life in a skirmish occurring in Ripley County, but also its location to our family farm. My great-grandparents were married in New Madrid County, MO in 1876 and appear in the 1880 Ripley County census. The family farm is located a mile down the creek from the Pulliam Farm site. They would have moved there 13-17 years after the skirmish. If we are to believe that women and children had been killed during the engagement then surely they would have heard of the horrors and would have passed stories down to their children and grandchildren of the event. None of those stories have been passed down, at least in my family.

     C.G. Johnston, b 1850, published a series of articles in the Pocahontas Star Herald in 1924, entitled "Oh, For the Good Old Days of the Long Long Ago." Among his articles is this account of the Pulliam Farm skirmish. "Reeves had been up in Missouri on a raiding trip and had retreated across the line to safety, as he thought, after having ridden day and night traveling a road about 4 miles northeast of Warm Springs near Uncle Tom Pulliam's they left the road and went over a high hill and down in the next hollow where they struck camp. To their surprise, Col. Leeper's men were in hot chase and just at daybreak they crept up on the top of the hill, raised the yell and charged down on Reeve's men, kill and wounding quite a number of them, two of the Phelps brothers of Walnut Ridge, John and Fount as I remember and I knew all of them at that time. A number of others were killed and wounded that I do not remember. They utilized Uncle Tom's house as a hospital until the wounded could be moved. I lived for several years within a mile of this battle ground hollow as it has ever since been called. It was not uncommon for these raiding parties to take innocent parties out and shoot them for no offense at all but such was our great and cruel war."  Nowhere does Johnston mention the loss of civilian life.  After reading his entire series and the detail with which he writes, I doubt he forgot or overlooked women and children being killed during this skirmish.

     I have struggled with whether I should include this controversy on this website, however, no one researching Ripley County Civil War can avoid running into it in their research. Although the term "Massacre" generates more interest than a skirmish, the researcher needs to consider the facts.

From the Official Records:

-.-. .-. . .- - . -.. / -... -.-- / -.. .- -. / .... .. .-.. .-.. 

 HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI,

Saint Louis, December 28, 1863.

GENERAL: An entire company of the Third Missouri State Militia was captured at Centreville, Reynolds County, by guerrillas, under Reves, on the 23rd instant. Major Wilson, of the Third Missouri State Militia, followed the party, and, at 3 p. m. Christmas day, he overtook and attacked; killed and wounded 35, captured 150 prisoners (13 officers), all equipage and ammunition, and 125 horses; recaptured all prisoners. Our loss, 1 killed and 8 wounded.

OLIVER D. GREENE,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

-.-. .-. . .- - . -.. / -... -.-- / -.. .- -. / .... .. .-.. .-.. 

Major-General SCHOFIELD,

West Point, N. Y.

Numbers 2. Report of Major James Wilson, Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry.

HDQRS. THIRD MISSOURI STATE MILITIA CAVALRY,

Pilot Knob, Mo., December 30, 1863.

SIR: In compliance with your orders of the 23rd instant, I left Pilot Knob, in command of 200 men, about 10 a. m. December 23, 1863, arriving at Patterson at 9 p. m. Left there at daylight on the 24th, and encamped at Long's at 9 p. m., having traveled 35 miles. Marched again at 3 a. m. 25th instant; passed through Doniphan, taking a southwesterly direction toward the Arkansas line. Eight miles from Doniphan, I captured 2 pickets; 2 miles farther I captured one other post, and still 2 miles farther on came upon a rolling picket or patrol, and run them off of the road, capturing 1 and compelling him to lead us to the camp of Reves.* Arriving at the camp, I divided my men into two columns, and charged upon them with my whole force. The enemy fired, turned, and threw down their arms and fled, with the exception of 30 or 35, and they were riddled with bullets or pierced through with the saber almost instantly. The enemy lost in killed about 30; wounded mortally, 3; slightly 2; total killed and wounded, 35. Prisoners captured, 112; horses, besides those of Company C, 75; also all their arms, ammunition, and camp equipage. Not having means of transportation, I was compelled to destroy the bigger portion of the arms and all the tents and other camp equipage.

On the morning of the 26th, I started for Pilot Knob, arriving here about 4 p. m. on the 29th of December, 1863.

I cannot speak in too high terms of praise of the officers and men under my command. There was no loss on our side in killed and wounded.

JAMES WILSON,

Commanding Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry.  

 The known facts are:

 There was a skirmish on Christmas Day, 1863 at the Pulliam Farm.  Thirty-five men were killed and 112 were captured.

 During the battle of Pilot Knob, Major Wilson was captured and turned over to Colonel Reeves who ordered Wilson and five of his men to be executed.

 In retaliation of Wilson and his men being executed, five captured Confederates in Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis were executed by the Union Army in retaliation.  The sixth avoided execution by orders from President Lincoln.

 "Sorrowful Revenge by Firing Squad!"

 The following are links, for those interested, to follow what has been written about the Pulliam Farm incident.  It has also been called the "Wilson's Massacre" or the "Christmas Day Massacre".   Feel free to draw your own conclusions but be sure to read both sides.  I personally believe those at the History-Sites discussion group have done the best job at defending their view, although the stories of a Federal massacre seem to be more abundant on the internet. 

 Official Record - Wilson's Report

Wilson's March - Information about Wilson, Reeves and this event.

 OzarksWatch - The Ponder-Flanders-Bradbury Correspondence Exchanged in the Preparation of "Between Missourians"

 OzarksWatch - "Between Missourians" 

 History-Sites.com - Civil War Discussion Group - Search Wilson's Massacre, Pulliam's Farm or Battlefield Hollow

LETTERS DISCOVERED PROVIDE NEW INFORMATION ON CIVIL WAR IN RIPLEY COUNTY

By Ray Burson

Several letters found by researchers not long ago provide fresh details about the December 25, 1863 skirmish at Pulliam’s farm and other events that took place in our area during the Civil War.  Two of the letters contain eyewitness reports of the skirmish.

Historian Bryce A. Suderow found the following letter under the headline “Ruthlessly Shot” in the February 4, 1915 edition of the National Tribune, a newspaper for veterans published in Washington, D.C., 1877 - 1940.

 “Editor National Tribune:  I give from memory an incident which happened a little over 53 years ago, in December 1863.  My regiment, the 3rd Mo. S.M. and a battalion of the 6th Mo. Cav., and a part of the 2nd Mo. L.A. were stationed at Pilot Knob, Mo, and we had outposts stationed at Fredericktown, Patterson and Centreville, all of these places ranging about 20 miles south of Pilot Knob.  During the latter part of December Co. C of the 3rd Mo. S.M. which was stationed at Centreville, was surprised and captured by Col. Tim Reeves, of Gen. Sterling Price’s army.  The news came from Pilot Knob that they had been captured, and the enemy had started South with them.  Maj. James Wilson was in command of the forces at the Knob, and he mustered in all the able-bodied men of the 3rd Mo. S.M. and started in pursuit.

 “We traveled night and day, stopping only long enough to feed our horses and eat our hardtack and sow belly.  On Christmas Day, 1863, at about 4 o’clock, we charged the enemy camp in the woods in the northern part of Arkansas.  We recaptured Co. C and nearly all of their forces, but Col. Tim Reeves escaped.  He was on his horse instructing a scout that he was going to send back with a flag of truce to Pilot Knob to know what to do with his prisoners.  In this charge there were about 15 of Reeves men killed, and it was reported that Maj. Wilson had them shot after they surrendered, which charge was absolutely false, as the writer stood guard over the prisoners that night and would have known if any of them had been killed.

 “However, Tim Reeves got away and made his way back to Price’s army, and during the Price raid thru Missouri in the Fall of 1864, Price captured Maj. Wilson at Pilot Knob.  When Reeves found Wilson had been captured with six of his men, Reeves asked Price to turn them over to him.  Price turned them over to him and he marched them from the road and shot all of them, the Major and all six men.

 “Before Price reached Jefferson City the whole army that was following him learned that Maj. Wilson and six men of the 3rd Mo. S.M. had been ruthlessly shot after being taken prisoners, and I must say that Price’s men suffered at the hands of the 3rd Mo. S.M. afterwards.

 From S.A. Sombles, Co. G. 3rd M.S.M., Humansville, Mo.”

 In response to this letter, which was posted on the Internet, Civil War historian and researcher Lou Wehmer wrote, “I believe the author is actually Sampson Alexander Wombles who started service at the age of 15, enlisting in the 37th EMM at Warrenton, MO in July 1862.  He was ordered into active service in the EMM in April 1863 and enlisted in Company G., 3rd MSM Cavalry (New), November 1863 at Troy MO.  I have a muster roll that shows him in active service through 1864.  After the war he moved to southwest Missouri and died in St. Clair County in the 1930s.”

 Historian Kirby Ross also commented on the letter, saying “The 1915 Wombles account corresponds with a separate 1863 account that had Reeves with his horse at the time the Federal attack led by Wilson was commenced.  Like the Wombles account, the 1863 account in my possession also mentioned how Reeves was readying a communication to be sent to the Union command relating to the 100-plus Centreville Federals he had captured.”

 Suderow, author of Thunder in Arcadia Valley: Price’s Defeat, September 27, 1864, also found this letter in the National Tribune of December 31, 1925.

 “Routing Tim Reeves’ Gang

 “Campaigning with Maj. Wilson Against Guerillas

“Editor National Tribune:  Co. C 3rd Mo (S.M.) Cav. Under Col. Bartlett left Pilot Knob for Centerville, Mo. late on evening in the early winter of 1863 and went into camp after dark on the main road between Pilot Knob and Centerville.

“We broke camp next morning at 4 o’clock and had not gone more than a mile when we were fired upon from the bushes.  One horse was shot; that was all the damage done.  We arrived in Centerville that evening and went into camp just across the street from the courthouse, and there we were in camp for several days.  A scout was ordered out – six privates including myself under Corpl. James Scroggins.

‘We went 25 miles southeast from Centerville with a prisoner and stayed all night at a farmhouse.  When a call was made for a bucket of water the prisoner went after it with James Gillinwaters as guard.  The upshot of it was that he let the prisoner get away.  That left us in a bad fix, in country full of bushwhackers, as guerillas were locally known.

“A guerilla Country

“The next morning the farmer at whose house we stayed told us that the country was full of Tim Reeves’ men and that he had seen them passing all the day before.  So we took the backtrack for Centerville.  When we got within about a mile of town we discovered the courthouse on fire, with the smoke drifting over the mountain that raised big just back of the courthouse.

“Our corporal was no fool; he was scared.  It fell to Scroggins and myself to bring the little scout thru to safety.  We took the part of advance guard about dark and started up the mountain.

“Scroggins and I dismounted and went to the brow of the mountain.  By the light of the burning courthouse we could see that the guerilla camp was in confusion and making hasty preparations to depart.  Following a blind trail we did not go far till we ran into a priler.  He told a straight story, but we pressed him into service.  We told him that if he led us into trouble we would shoot him.

“So with him in lead, we followed up and down the steep mountain.  We had to dismount.  The horses would slide as much as 10 feet at a time before they would catch their footing.  It was pitch dark.  We traveled for four hours and came out onto the Pilot Knob–Centerville road.

“We then pulled out for Pilot Knob as fast as our fagged out horses allowed.  We found that our prisoner, George Hollin, of Louisiana, Mo., who had got away, had reported the capture of us.

“Spilled Beans

“Maj. Wilson, we found, was ready to start after the guerillas, so we went along.  We captured their pickets 10 miles from their camp and made them tell where the next post was.  We took them in and captured their last picket post, only half a mile from the camp.

“The guerillas had made big preparations for a good time that Christmas – had two barrels of whiskey.  But we ‘spilt the beans’ for them.

“We charged the camp immediately with the result that 43 of their men were killed and three mortally wounded.  The three later died before we got them to a house about half a mile away.  There was not a shot fired after Maj. Wilson gave the word to stop.  Maj. Wilson gave orders to not mistreat the prisoners, and we did not.  Neither did we take anything from them.  We landed the whole bunch of prisoners in the guardhouse at Pilot Knob – some 125 of them.

“I was born at Louisiana, Mo., Oct. 25, 1848 and enlisted Feb. 1, 1862.  I was not fourteen years old till October 25, 1862.  We formed a company of boys from 14 to 18 and had drilled with wooden guns in the evenings of the Summer and Fall of 1861.  In 1862 most of us enlisted in the 3rd Mo. (S.M.) Cav.  I reenlisted at Pilot Knob a few days before the battle with Price’s army.”

William C. Billmyer, Co. C, 3rd Mo. (S.M.) Cav.

and Co. B. 14th Mo. Cav. Pilot Knob, MO

Ken Jarrett, whose family has been living in the Maynard, AR area since the early 1800’s, provided a draft of a letter that William Jarrett of Little Rock, AR wrote to Edith Foster on November 21, 1928.   The letter tells the story of Confederate soldier Jake Foster who was in Co. A, 15th Mo. Cav. The following excerpt tells of his capture on Christmas Day 1863:

“Then Jake’s real troubles began.  First was a dash to Paterson where they killed and captured some prisoners there, a capture of 300 near Devil’s Bluff and December 1863 on a raid to Centreville which was the most disastrous of all their raids.  They captured the whole 200 men, hurried then back to Arkansas – got back Christmas eve where Jake kindling fires when the feds who had pursued them from Iron Mountain captured and killed most of the company and released all the prisoners.  To make matters worse a sleet and snow came and they were marched on foot to I.M. [Iron Mountain], wet feet___ tired out, a little green wood was thrown to them in an old stockade and a little salt meat and corn bread.  They were starved and almost frozen but loaded into stock cars and taken to St. Louis to prison…”

(Note:  The Official Record showed about 35 Confederates killed and over 100 captured.  All 100 Union prisoners were freed and there were no Union or civilian casualties.  Pulliam’s farm was located about 17 miles southwest of Doniphan just north of the Arkansas state line.)

Researcher Terry Justice has transcribed letters to Confederate General Marmaduke from his subordinates such as Burbridge, Kitchen, Gordon, etc.  Justice placed the following on the Civil War in St. Louis Internet Message Board on July 25, 2005:

“In transcribing these documents for August of 1863 I have come across a number of letters to (Colonel) Kitchen from Capt. Timothy Reeves.  One document is of particular interest and I enclose it below to get a reaction from those who know about this man.  This letter clearly is in his handwriting and in his excitement or anger it becomes hard to read at the end.  Additionally this message indicates that at the time Reeves was part of Kitchen’s command…”

“Camp Near Batesville

August 21st, 1863

“Col.

“I just received horrible news from Missouri, by one of my scouts, viz. Lt. Bledsoe who has just returned from there after seeing his house committed to flames on Friday last by the inhuman hands of the enemy.  They also said that his was the thirteenth (13) home they had burned that day & they barbarously fell on one man by the name of Mitchell & shot him five times.  They also said he was the eighth citizen they had murdered that day.  This work was done by a scout of about four hundred in the vicinity of Poplar Bluff as they marched through from Bloomfield by way of Ash Hill.  To the best account we have heard from them, they were at the Bluffs.  They also had two pieces of small artillery which they fired four salutes on their arrival at that place.

“Their numbers supposed to be about four hundred (400)!  Is this to be the fact that such a party as this shall be allowed to remain to ruin and devastate the whole of north east Arkansas to south Missouri when there are hundreds of men lying idle, armed mounted & ready to rescue their country at all hazards, but instead of this be compelled to stay fifty or one hundred miles from where they might be of use to keep the Federals in check & to provide comfort and repair ______ while their feet lie upon the necks of our old fathers, women & children.   I say No. Never!!

To. Col. Kitchen, Remaining yours

Obedient Servant

Timothy Reeves, Capt.

Kitchens, Co. of Mo. Scouts”

PRIOR RESEARCH BY A CONFEDERATE VETERAN CALLS INTO QUESTION THE STORY OF THE CHRISTMAS MASSACRE

Proudly descending from early Lincoln County pioneer stock, I am also an avid student of Civil War Missouri generally, and Lincoln and Pike County military units specifically. With great interest I have been keeping abreast of the ongoing and evolving SEMO controversy involving Union Major James Wilson and Confederate Colonel Timothy Reeves. Having seen the recent accounts that have appeared in both the book review pages and letters to the editor pages in SEMO, it occurs to me that in the clamor everyone is overlooking the fact that a Confederate veteran already researched the Reeves/Wilson matter in a quite thorough manner over a century ago. 

First off, quickly discarded must be Paulette Jiles' misstatement in her book, Enemy Women, that the Federal militia of which she spoke was some sort of irregular band of pseudo-pirates from the St. Louis riverfront. Wilson's unit, a full-time three-year enlisted regiment, was made up primarily of Pike County farm boys, with a few more companies added in for good measure from adjacent counties as well as Southeast Missouri (but none from St. Louis). A chief patron of Wilson's regiment was none other than Abraham Lincoln's Attorney General, Edward Bates, whose cousin, and law partner Col. Richard Woodson was its senior commanding officer at the time of the Christmas Skirmish. The lieutenant colonel was James O. Broadhead, who went on to become U.S. Congressman; law partner of prominent Missouri Confederate Colonel Alonzo Slayback; United States Ambassador to Switzerland; and founding member/first president of the American Bar Association. Also, a patron and founder of the Wilson's regiment was United States Senator John B. Henderson, personal friend of Abraham Lincoln and author of the Thirteenth Amendment-that's the one that freed the slaves. If any of these three prominent men had been associated with a band of ethnic cleansers Ms. Jiles and Mr. Ponder would not be having so much trouble documenting, it and it would have been noticed a very long time before Jerry Ponder first mentioned it in 1987. 

Having cleared up that preliminary misconception, one of the erroneous central premises of Paulette Jiles' book will now be addressed as well as her acknowledged embracement of Jerry Ponder' s self-published uncited writings. As mentioned, there does exist a quite compelling and reliable source that speaks of the Tim Reeves/James Wilson controversy. Clarence Cannon, professor of history at Stephens College in Columbia before serving Missouri as a United States Congressman for over forty years, collected documents relating to various aspects of state history and ultimately donated them to the Powell Memorial Library in Troy, Mo. These donated items include historical notes compiled by Dr. Joseph A. Mudd. 

     Joseph Mudd is best known as being a Confederate veteran, newspaperman, and author of the Civil War memoir With Porter in North Missouri. In Porter Mudd clearly comes across as being a very proud ex-Rebel and pulls no punches as he bitterly speaks several times about Federal atrocities committed during the war. Mudd's Confederate credentials are impeccable, and it is unlikely he would have been inclined to cover up any atrocity committed by a Yankee soldier, especially one of field officer rank such as Major James Wilson. 

     Had Ms. Jiles and Mr. Ponder chosen to conduct any research in the home region (a profound oversight) of the man they paint as being a psychopathic killer they may well have found their way to the Mudd notes in the Powell Library and discovered that from at least 1866 through 1906 the somewhat obsessed good doctor researched Tim Reeves' execution of James Wilson and ultimately reported his findings: "In spite of persistent effort, extending over many years and involving, in the last few months, much correspondence, I have been unable to determine whether the execution of Major James Wilson was a murder or an act of retaliation .... " 

Noteworthy commentary given that 140 years after the fact Jiles and Ponder say they know what Mudd did not know. While they cannot seem to be able to produce any primary or even secondary source material supporting their thesis, both Jiles and Ponder present the notion that Wilson led a massacre of dozens of women and children at Pulliams Farm in Ripley County on Christmas Day, 1863, and that was the reason Reeves later took prisoner of war Wilson into the woods, shot him, and left his body to be eaten by the hogs. Strange, given that Mudd spent decades poking around and came up with not one single hint of a massacre of women and children even though he lived in the very era the event supposedly took place and had ready access to the people involved. 

Given Mudd's credentials it seems he would have run across a few of those 100+ Confederate soldiers that survived the Christmas skirmish {a number which begs the question as to why Wilson would slaughter the women and children and let most of the men live). Imagine seeing someone kill your wife and child and then keeping it a secret. Or not putting up one single stone marker over the grave of at least one of the sixty plus women and children supposedly murdered. If the killing of women and children had happened, one of those surviving Confederates would have told the story to somebody, and Joseph A. Mudd would have been a pretty handy person to tell it to. 

It should also be noted that Mudd felt compelled to report a discussion Wilson had with his nephew wherein Wilson predicted he would be executed if ever captured by Reeves because he had broken up Reeves' operation three times. Apparently, this was as close to a motive for Reeves' actions that Mudd could locate and found it credible enough to write about it. 

Mudd did state his opinion the execution "left a dark stain" on Reeves' record. Joseph A. Mudd also had an interesting opinion about James Wilson-the man Paulette Jiles and Jerry Ponder accuse of having engaged in ethnic cleansing. Said Mudd, " this execution ended the career of the best Federal soldier Lincoln County produced; a man of courage, resolution and the strictest integrity." Now does that sound like a tribute a die-hard Confederate could in good conscience give about a mass murderer. 

     Who was in a better position to know, Joseph Mudd or Jerry Ponder? Answer that question and you answer many others.

Kirby Ross, via the internet CivilWar@Missouri.USA.com

Wright's real story, and Ponders "Wilson Massacre"

By:Kirby Ross

Date: 8/31/2005, 7:15 pm

Here is the real T.L. Wright story entitled Ripley County--No Man's Land in the Civil War. Note that it was published within his lifetime, and that he cites his sources: The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion; Shelby and His Men by John Edwards; and Pilot Knob: the Thermopylae of the West by Cyrus A. Peterson and Joseph Mills Hansen.

Now if Wright had interviewed local citizens in the 1920s, including a raised from the dead William H. Righter, why on earth did he not include those interviews in the story that he went through the trouble of having published.

And with this published account of the document in question, if Jerry Ponder's version of the Wilson Massacre is to be accepted, one must also accept that Wright participated in part of the massive cover-up of the massacre that Jo Shelby and Jeff Thompson would have also been a part of. But, once again, Shelby and Thompson were not part of a cover-up, nor was Wright. And note Wright's reference in this article regarding who it was that was the publisher of the newspaper this story appeared in. BUD PONDER. Jerry's first cousin. Imagine your grandmother and aunts being killed in a massacre and not pointing that out to a writer you are publishing (who supposedly was already aware of that fact and let it slip his mind, also). So we had Jean Ponder failing to make mention of the Wilson Massacre, and now Bud Ponder failing to mention it.

By the way, note that Wright doesn't refer to William H. Righter as being one of his sources in this article, or of having interviewed him when he was four years old.

Anybody who wants the scanned version of the actual article that T.L. Wright and Bud Ponder saw fit to publish, let me know. In the meantime, here is a transcription of it:

Doniphan Prospect-News

Doniphan, Missouri

Thursday, April 2, 1970

page 7

Ripley Recalled

RIPLEY COUNTY--NO MAN'S LAND IN THE CIVIL WAR

By T.L. Wright

In Missouri, the Civil War was neither lost nor won. In fact, neither the Confederate nor the Union Government considered activities west of the Mississippi River of any significance. However, to those thousands who gave their lives at Wilson's Creek, Pilot Knob, Westport, and at many unnamed skirmishes, those encounters were most significant.

Missouri had more participants in the great conflict in proportion to her population than did nay other state in the nation, North or South. One hundred thirty thousand men, or sixty percent of the eligible Missouri males, were in service. They favored the Union almost four to one.

Throughout the four years of the far [sic], the vicinity of Doniphan and Ripley County was a virtual no man's land. There were no major battles--only skirmishes. Both Union and Confederate troops operated in and around the area, since Doniphan and Pitman's Ferry were vital geographic locations because of their necessary Current River crossings: Pitman's Ferry on the Nachitoches Trail, presently known as the Old Military Road, and Doniphan on the Greenville-to-Pocahontas road. These roads were Southeast Missouri's main highways.

The Official Record of the War of the Rebellion contains many items of local interest to Ripley County residents.

Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson organized and commanded the Ripley County Battalion of the Confederate Army. This unit was active for the most part at Bloomfield, New Madrid, Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Fredericktown, Pitman's Ferry and at Pocahontas, Ark.

In the Battle of Fredericktown, October 21, 1861, Col. Aden Lowe of Doniphan was leading an assault with his Confederate Infantry Regiment on a large force of Union troops when he was hit in the head by musket fire. He was killed instantly. Col. Lowe was the great grandfather of Chester "Bud" Ponder, current publisher of The Prospect News. Also mentioned for gallant action in this battle were Colonels Waugh and Hedgepeth of Doniphan. After this battle, the Rebels withdrew to Pitman's Ferry.

During the winter of 1861-62, numerous skirmishes occurred over the occupation of Doniphan. The area was stripped of all produce, and many families suffered for the lack of the necessities of life. Doniphan inhabitants, mostly Rebel sympathizers, feared the Federal troops would destroy the town (a catastrophe which later happened), though Captain W.T. Leeper had promised destruction would not take place so long as the townspeople remained loyal to the Union.

General Jeff Thompson, in writing of the severe winter of 1861-62, mentioned men with names familiar today, such as Kelley, Peterson, Wise and Brannon, as patriotic gentlemen who are willing to serve anytime, anywhere, and who had remained with him though others had left for their homes when the regiment disbanded at the end of their original enlistment.

On April 1, 1862, a skirmish of considerable size took place at the Doniphan Ford on Current River. This engagement lasted for two days, and many men on both sides were killed, wounded or captured. This action followed an order from Major General H.W. Halleck of St. Louis to Col. W.P. Carlin at Pilot Knob to occupy Doniphan and capture Pocahontas. A month earlier, Col. Carlin had reported that the Rebels had removed all ferries on the Current River.

Forces led by Capt. Leeper, a Union officer from Wayne County, and Col. Timothy Reeves, a Rebel from Ripley County, were often engaged in battle. It is reported that one cold, wintry night Reeves caught Leeper above Doniphan and made the Captain and his troops swim across the river in their underwear, despite the cold.

For the November Election of 1863, Federal troops were dispatched to Poplar Bluff, Doniphan and Alton for the express purpose of guarding the polls and stopping the bushwhacking in and around Doniphan. The worst incident of bloodshed in Ripley County during the entire war followed this order.

On Christmas Day, 1863, Major James Wilson and 200 Union troops from Fort Davidson passed through Doniphan traveling on a southwesterly course toward the Pulliam Farm, 17 miles from town near Warm Springs, Ark., where Confederate Col. Reeves and his cavalry were celebrating the holiday. Major Wilson's forces surprised the Confederates at dinner, killing 35 and taking 112 prisoners.

Almost a year later, Major Wilson met his fate while defending Fort Davidson against Confederate troops during Col. Price's Rebel invasion of Missouri. The Major became trapped in a ravine on the east slope of Sheppard's Mountain. Moments later, when his identify became known, he was summarily shot by a hastily formed Rebel firing squad. In the squad were some of the survivors of Price's [sic] Christmas Day assault on the Pulliam Farm.

By the summer of 1864, the Confederate Army had suffered defeat on all fronts. In desperation, Lt. Gen. E. Kirby Smith, Commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate Army, issued orders to Maj. Gen. Sterling Price to invade Missouri and take possession of the State.

In Southwest Arkansas, Price organized his army of 12,000 men and 14 pieces of artillery, and left Camden on August 28 to rendezvous at Pocahontas in two weeks with three Confederate Divisions commanded by Major Generals James F. Fagan, John S. Marmaduke and Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelby.

After three days in war-torn Pocahontas, repairing more than 300 wagons and shoeing cavalry horses, the Rebels began their invasion of Missouri. They advanced in three columns, intending to junction at Fredericktown.

Marmaduke entered the State at Pitmat's Ferry near Current View and traveled North along the Old Military Road. By September 19, he was encamped at Poplar Bluff.

Gen. Price's Headquarters Column, with Fagan's Division, moved up the center, camping that same night on the old Indian Ford, six miles downstream from Doniphan. Today, this place is known as the Ruff's Ferry area.

Gen. Jo Shelby's Cavalry Division took the left route, the old Doniphan-to-Pocahontas road. They arrived in Doniphan via the Current River Ford at 3 p.m. on September 19 to find the town in flames. Only the Methodist Church, which had been converted into a hospital, and the residence of Col. Aden Lowe's widow had been spared. The town had been fired that morning by a scouting party of 100 Union troops of the Third Missouri Militia Cavalry led by a Lt. Pape who had been warned of the Rebel invasion.

Gen. Shelby dispatched 150 cavalrymen under Lt. Col. Johnson to pursue the vandals. Early next morning the Rebels came upon the Union scouts encamped at Ponder's Mill on Little Black River. They attacked, and killed or captured all but ten of the Federal troopers.; The dead of that fight are buried in the old military Cemetery northeast of Fairdealing.

Two days later, Shelby's forces destroyed the Union fort at Patterson.

On September 24, Shelby's Cavalry was dispatched from Fredericktown toward Farmington and Potosi with orders to destroy the railroad from St. Louis to Pilot Knob. Meanwhile, the Divisions under Fagan and Marmaduke made an assault on Fort Davidson near Pilot Knob. During the brief 20 minutes of battle, 1500 men were killed. Most were Confederates.

The remaining Confederates regrouped and prepared to attack again at dawn. That night, Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing, Commander of the Union Fort, quietly withdrew, leaving behind only a small detail of horsemen to blow up the ammunition magazine before daybreak.

The Pilot Knob battle marked the beginning of the end of Price's invasion of Missouri. Conditions worsened until Price was literally chased back into Northwest Arkansas. He reached that state only through the gallant protection afforded him by Gen. Jo Shelby's Cavalry, the same Unit which had avenged the destruction of Doniphan a few weeks earlier.

This account is based upon the 'War Of The Rebellion', Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, published in 1885 by Government Printing Office, as well as the following books: "Shelby And His Men" by John Edwards, and "Pilot Knob, The Thermopylae of the West" by Cyrus A. Peterson and Joseph Mills Hanson.