The guerrilla warfare in Missouri during the Civil War was characterized by raids, sabotage, and occasional atrocities. Most of us know about the big massacres, like the one at Lawrence, Kansas, carried out by Quantrill, and the one at Centralia, Missouri, carried out by Bloody Bill Anderson. However, there were numerous smaller massacres, occasionally involving civilians but more often involving soldiers who had surrendered or were attempting to surrender. In fairness, it should be noted that Federal soldiers as well as Confederate-allied guerrillas were guilty of such atrocities, but in honesty, it should also be admitted that the bushwhackers were guilty of more than their share. (Given the desperate situation the Missouri guerrillas found themselves in late in the war, their occasionally resorting to extreme actions can perhaps be somewhat understood, if not condoned, but let us save that argument for another day.)
One minor atrocity of the guerrilla warfare in Missouri occurred in Maries County when about ten men of the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry under Sergeant Legrand Carter went out on a scout from Rolla on May 26, 1864. Northwest of Rolla on the Waynesville to Vienna road near Maries Creek, the soldiers met a party of about twenty guerrillas dressed in Federal uniforms. According to civilian reports after the fact, some heated words were exchanged between the two parties as the soldiers apparently tried to ascertain the identity of the blue-clad strangers. The witnesses said the two parties then moved off together (the soldiers apparently being herded as prisoners) into some nearby woods, where the guerrillas opened fire on the Federals. Some of the soldiers broke and ran and made their escape, but the sergeant and four of his men were shot dead.
A second Union scout went out from Rolla the following day and found the corpses of Sgt. Carter and his four comrades still lying in the woods, minus their weapons. In addition, Carter's body had been stripped of his pants and boots, and someone had put a pair of old worn-out shoes on his feet in place of the stolen boots. The second scouting party ascertained that the guerrillas had left in the direction of Waynesville after killing the Union soldiers, but nothing was discovered to indicate who their leader was. So, on the 18th, the second scouting party gave up its hunt after the culprits and returned to Rolla.
3 comments:
Trying to figure out where the crime took place. There is no river or creek in or near Lanes Prairie. Story location states "On the Waynesville to Vienna Road near Maries Creek" (I assume Route 28 or 42), Route 42 crosses the Maries River but that's 16 miles from Lanes Prairie. Is there a more accurate position? Long. and Lat. would be great! My new email address is mjh65401@outlook.com
To Anonymous above: Maries Creek (not Maries River) is just west of Vienna. Route 28 goes to Waynesville, so it's probably the approximate location for the road mentioned. Lane's Prairie is not just a town, it's a prairie area with plenty of creeks, but it still doesn't extend all the way to Vienna. It sounds like the crime occurred west of Vienna, so the troops could have come up from Rolla on/near what is now Hwy 63, skirted the Lane's Prairie area to the east, and crossed the Gasconade to connect up with the Waynesville Road. The narrative says nothing about re-crossing the Gasconade going east, so you are right--calling it the affair on Lane's Prairie is a stretch. There are battles in the Civil War that have two names, depending on which side is telling the story. Somehow this event got named after a geographical feature that was in the vicinity but maybe not exactly where the crime occurred.
Anonymous II, your assessment of the where the skirmish occurred is basically what I said to Anonymous I in an email exchange we had. Calling the skirmish the Affair on Lane's Prairie is a little confusing, because people tend to think it occurred close to the community of Lane's Prairie, but as you point out, it actually occurred well west of the community of Lane's Prairie on or near the geographical feature known as Lane's Prairie.
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