Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Strongly Southern in sympathies, Callaway County was occupied much of the war by Union Troops; the latter increasingly included young men with kin serving with the South. At best, there was a truce between locals and soldiers, frequently shattered by small-unit actions, bushwacking or vigilantism, or violent atrocities---bloody examples of Missouri's "war of 10,000 nasty incidents." These are but a few:

1.) While Callaway was yet unoccupied, on July 16, 1861, there was a running fight from New Bloomfield to Fulton between seven companies of U.S. Reserve Corps Infantry (German Home Guards) and elements of a large mounted force under General Thomas Harris, augmented by local Southern sympathizers. The Unionists declared victory in this action dubbed Overton Run, occupying Fulton briefly but failing to prevent the transit of Harris' force.

2.) On July 28, 1862, a fierce four-hour battle occurred about 4.5 miles southeast at Moore's Mill (Calwood) when Union cavalry under Col. Odom Guitar --riding through here from the west --were ambushed by Col. Joseph C. Porter's 1st Northeast Missouri Cavalry, partisan rangers recruited in this region intending to cross the Missouri River.

3.) In the wake of General Sterling Price's failed expedition into Missouri, on Nov. 4, 1864, Union militia from Wellsville chased unarmed Confederate recruits onto Ham Brown's farm nine miles northwest of here, executing seven of them. The atrocity placed an exclamation point on the brutality and futility of fighting in the area only five months before Lee's surrender.

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment