Part 11

On reaching Rolla, the author turned over all the prisoners to the commander of the post, and they were sent directly to Rock Island, there to be held as prisoners until such time as they might be exchanged. I again returned to Springfield and reported to my regiment. A short time thereafter, the loyal men of the counties of Howell, Dent, Texas, Phelps, Ozark and Douglas, in Missouri, and of Fulton, Izard and Independence counties, in Arkansas, with a number of the officers and soldiers, including the commander at Rolla, petitioned Gen. Schofield, who was then in command of the western district, to have the author detached from his regiment, then at Springfield, and sent south of Rolla to some convenient place, and given command of a post, as it was almost impossible to send commissaries through from Rolla to Springfield, on what was known as the wire road, on account of the roving bands of rebels, who had complete control of the country, a short distance from the military post.

Capt. Monks Establishes a Post at Licking.

Gen. Schofield at once made an order that Capt. Monks be detached from his regiment and report at Rolla, with his company, for further orders. Gen. Sanborn, then in command at Springfield, informed the author of his final destination; that on reaching Rolla, he would be ordered by Gen. Schofield to Licking, Missouri, to establish a post.

It soon leaked out, and the rebels swore openly that if he established a post at Licking or at any other southern point, they would soon drive the post into the ground and annihilate him and his men. I went to Gen. Sanborn and requested that he send a telegram to Gen. Schofield, and ask him to countermand that part of the order that required Capt. Monks to report at Rolla for further orders, and order him to move directly from Springfield to Licking. The General hesitated for sometime, as to whether it would be good policy, owing to the large numbers of rebels in the country through which I had to pass. He didn't believe that I would be able to reach Licking with the one company, but he finally decided that if I was willing to risk it, he would ask Gen. Schofield to change his order. On Gen. Schofield's receiving the telegram, he made an order that I be detached from my regiment, be furnished two company wagons, be well supplied with arms, and proceed directly to Licking. On reaching Licking I was to report by courier to headquarters for further orders; and in obedience to said order, two company wagons, with tents, commissaries, arms and ammunition were at once furnished, and I set out for Licking, Texas county; passed Hartville, the county seat of Wright county, and struck the waters of Big Piney. There was considerable snow on the ground at the time. I took the rebels by complete surprise. While they were expecting me from Rolla to Licking, I struck them from the direction they least expected. On reaching Piney, I encountered a rebel force of about sixty men. We had a fight, two or three rebels were killed, and the rest retreated south. From that time until we reached Licking, we had more or less fighting every day. We would strike trails of rebels in the snow, where there appeared to be over one hundred men, but they were so sure that it was a large scout from Springfield that they did not take time to ascertain, but retreated south at once. On reaching Licking, I sent a dispatch to Gen. Schofield, telling of my arrival, and immediately received orders to establish a post and erect a stockade fort, and to issue such orders as I believed would rid the country of those irregular bands of rebels and bushwhackers and protect all in their person and property, especially the loyal men. I immediately selected a frame building for my headquarters, with an office near by for the man acting as provost marshal; issued my order requiring all persons who claimed protection from the Federal authorities to come in and take the oath, and bring with them axes, shovels, picks and spades, with their teams, for the purpose of erecting a stockade fort. And further setting out in said order, requiring all persons who knew of any irregular bands of rebels or bushwhackers roaming or passing through the country, to report them at once; and if they failed to report them, they would be taken as bushwhackers and treated as such. In a short time I had erected a complete stockade fort with port-holes, and room enough inside to place all the cavalry horses in case of an attack by the rebels. I had these orders printed and sent out all over the country. In a short time, a man who had been known to be a rebel, but had stayed at home unmolested, but who had been giving aid and comfort to the rebels, came into the office and said: "Captain, I want to see you in your private room." On entering the room he said: "I have read that order of yours. You don't intend to enforce it, do you, Captain?" I said to him that I did or I wouldn't have made it; that the rebels and I could not both stay in that country. He said to me, "Captain, of all the post commanders we have had here, there never was one of them issued such an order as that. You know if I were to report those rebel bands they would kill me." I replied, "Very well; you have read my order, and I have said to you and all others that if you fail to report them I will kill you; and you say if you do report them, they will kill you; now, if you are more afraid of them than you are of me, you will have to risk the consequences; for, by the eternal God! if you fail to report them, I have said to you that I would treat you as a bushwhacker, and you well know how I treat them." He dropped his head for a few minutes, then raised it and said: "Well, it is mighty hard, Captain." I replied that there were a great many hard things now; asked him where all of his Union neighbors were. He said that they had been forced to leave their homes and were around the Federal posts for the reason that they claimed to be Union men. I told him that "a lot of you rebels have lain here in the country and made more money than you ever made before in your lives, and at the same time you have been giving aid, comfort and encouragement to all of these irregular bands--giving them all the information that they wanted, so that they might know just when to make their raids, and now I propose to break it up and stop it, unless they are able to rout me and drive me away. The government proposes to protect all of you who will come in and take the oath and comply with every requirement set out in the order. All I ask of you men is to give me information of these irregular rebel bands and their whereabouts, and you can again return home and your information will be kept a secret; but this much you are required to do." In a short time a large number of them had come in and enrolled their names, took the oath and went to work on the fort like heroes.

Occasionally one would come in and say "Captain, I want to procure a pass for me and my family through the Federal lines; I want to leave." I would ask him; "What's the matter now? You have stayed here all through the war, up to the present time, and now I have come among you, and offered to protect every one of you who will take the oath and comply with orders." He would reply with a long sigh, "Yes, Captain but that order that you have made." I would ask him "what order." "You require all citizens, especially we people who have been rebels, and stayed at home, to report all of the roving bands of rebels and bushwhackers; if we don't do it, you will treat us like bushwhackers; if we were to report them, they would kill us." I said, "Now, you must chose between the two powers; and if you are more afraid of the rebels than you are of me, you will have to risk your chances. You say if you report them, they will kill you. Now, by the Eternal, I am determined to enforce everything that I have set out in that order. This day you must settle in your own mind whom you will obey. As soon as the first roving bands of rebels and guerrillas reached the country for the purpose of raiding the wire road between Rolla and Springfield, the night never was too dark but that this same class of men would come in and report them. I would at once make a detail, send these men right out with them. As soon as they would get near to the rebels, they would dismiss these men and let them go home."

The rebels, for several years, had been sending out a large scout from North Arkansas and the border counties of Missouri and when they would reach Texas and Pulaski counties they would divide into small squads and travel the byways and ridges; on reaching the wire road they would then concentrate and lay in wait until the wagon trains and non-combatants who were merchants, were moving through from Rolla to Springfield under the protection of an escort; and all at once they would make a charge upon them from their hiding places, rout the escort, capture the train and all others that might be in company with it, cut the mules loose from the wagon, take all the goods that was not cumbersome, especially coffee, sugar, salt and dry goods, place them on the backs of the mules, travel a short distance, divide up again into small parties, take byways and mountains, travel fifteen or twenty miles, go into camp; on reaching the counties of Oregon and Shannon, Fulton and Lawrence, of Arkansas, they would concentrate their forces, go into camp, eat, drink, and be merry. As soon as their supplies would run short, they would make another scout of a similar nature. The commanders of the post, as soon as they would attack the trains, would order out a scout to pursue them. They would strike their trail and follow them a short distance to where they would separate and take to the mountains. They would abandon the pursuit, return and swear that the country wasn't worth protecting. In that way they completely outgeneraled the Federal forces and held complete possession of the country almost in sight of the post.

On one occasion, when the weather was very cold and bleak, I knew of their capturing some of the Federal soldiers within one mile of the fort, kept them until the coldest part of the night, just before day, stripped them naked, turned them loose, and they were compelled to travel a mile before they could reach a fire, and they were almost frostbitten. Every Union man was driven away from his home and moved his family to different posts.

The author had declared that he and the rebels could not both remain in the country together; that he would either rout them or they would have to rout him, and for that reason every man that remained in the country would have to aid him in the work. So, in every instance, when he would send a force in pursuit of those raiding bands, he would order the scout to follow them, and when they divided to still continue pursuit of the most visible trail, and when they came in sight to not take time to count noses, but charge them and pursue them until they were completely annihilated. They would go into camp and move at their leisure, but not so when my scouts got in pursuit of them. In a number of instances they would overtake them from twenty to twenty-five miles from the wire road, in camp, having a jolly good time, and the first intimation they would have would be the boys in blue charging in amongst them, shooting right and left, and they would scatter in all directions.

It was but a short time until they remarked to some of the rebel sympathizers that they had never seen such a change in the movements of the Federal scouts; that they used to consider themselves safe from a Federal scout as soon as they left the main road and divided into small squads; but now they were in as much danger in the most secluded spot in the mountains as they were in the traveled roads; therefore, their commanders would have to change their tactics in regard to the scouts, and abandon that part of the country, as almost every scout that they had made to the wire road had proved disastrous since "Old Monks" had been placed in command of the post. In a short time, the Union men, who had been driven from the country, began to return and go onto their farms, and about five months after I had been placed in command of the post, the civil authorities came and held circuit court, Judge Waddle, of Springfield, then being circuit judge.

Skirmishes with the Rebels.

Some time in the summer, Col. Freeman, who was commanding the rebels in northeastern Arkansas, whose headquarters were near the Spring River mill, made a raid and threatened to capture the Federal forces that were then at the Licking post. I soon gained information of his intention, made every preparation to repel the attack, also informed the commander at Rolla of the intended raid. Col. Freeman, accompanied by other rebel commanders, concentrated all of the available rebel force then at his command, raided the country, came within about five miles of the post, learned that reinforcements had been sent to the post, countermarched and retreated to his headquarters near the head of Spring river.

A regiment of Federal troops, known as the Fifteenth Veterans, was sent as a reinforcement, with a part of the Fifth Missouri State Militia that was then stationed at Salem, with orders to remain at the post. I received orders to organize all of the available troops and pursue the rebel forces, and, if possible, to reach the Spring River mill, in Fulton county, Arkansas, and destroy the mill, which Freeman was using at that time for grinding meal. The Federal force composing the scout, aggregating about three hundred and fifty men, moved from the post at Licking. The author divided his forces, ordering one wing of them to move through Spring Valley, in Texas county; the other wing to move directly in the direction of Thomasville, with orders to form a junction about seven miles from Thomasville, where there was a rebel force stationed. On reaching the Wallace farm, in Oregon county, we came onto a force of rebels, commanded by James Jamison, who had met for the purpose of receiving ammunition which had been smuggled through from Ironton. After an engagement, the rebels fled, leaving one man dead; James Jamison received a flesh wound in the thigh. The Federal force which had been ordered through Spring Valley had had an engagement near the head of the valley, which had delayed them. The plans of the author had been frustrated by coming in contact with the rebels sooner than he expected. As they had retreated in the direction of Thomasville, where the main force was said to be stationed, I continued my march, and in about one mile came onto a rebel camp, where the rebels had cabins erected for quarters; here another spirited engagement took place, the rebels retreating in the direction of Thomasville, the Federal forces still pursuing.

Just above Thomasville the command encountered a strong picket force, fired upon the command, intending to halt it, but being satisfied that there was a trap laid I ordered a charge. The picket force retreated to the left, up a steep hill, and at once the whole rebel force opened fire from the side of the mountain; the bullets flew just above our heads like hail, one ball passing through my hat. We still continued the charge and on reaching the top of the hill, routed the whole rebel force and they again retreated. The author marched into Thomasville, selected his camping ground inside of Captain Olds' barn lot, giving us the advantage of the barn, in case we were attacked by a superior rebel force. I at once dispatched a forage train with strong escort to gather in all the forage possible, as it was very scarce in the country. After we had been in camp about an hour I inquired of Captain Olds if he knew of any corn. He said he did not. In about a half hour my attention was called by one of the captains pointing to a large smokehouse, and on looking, saw the soldiers taking down any amount of first-class corn. I informed the captain that Captain Olds had claimed that he had no corn; to take the quartermaster and let him place a guard over the corn, to see that it was not wasted, and that it was properly apportioned. In a short time the author saw Captain Olds coming. He went to one of the other captains and inquired who the commander was. He was informed that it was Capt. Monks. He came to the author laughing and remarked: "You found my corn, did you? I told you that I had none; I had to secrete it in that building to keep it so that the rebels could not find it." I just remarked to Captain Olds: "You needn't try to hide anything from these lopeared Dutch, for I don't care where you put it they will find it." The men who discovered the corn were all Germans and belonged to a German company. He asked us to feed just as sparingly as possible and leave him a part of the corn, which we did. He then attempted to warn the author of his danger and asked him if he intended to camp there for the night; said that Colonel Freeman had over one thousand men which he could concentrate within five or six hours and that he would cut the author's command all to pieces. The author replied to the captain that that was his business, that Freeman had come up on the scout and claimed that he was wanting a fight; the author prepared for him and expected to accommodate him but he changed his notion and retreated, devastating the country as he went, and now the author was hunting him and his forces and wanted to fight. If he came up that night and attacked the author's command that it would save any more trouble hunting him.

Just about that time the author saw the other part of the command approaching and called the attention of Captain Olds and asked him if he thought that was a part of Freeman's command. After looking a few minutes he said to the author: "They are Federal troops." I asked him if he thought we would be able to remain there until morning? He said that he thought we would and invited me to come into his house and eat supper. While at supper asked if we intended to march any further south. The author informed him that if his information was correct in regard to Freeman's forces we were about as far away from home as we ought to get and that we had better move back in the direction of the post. The author ordered the command to be ready to march by early daylight, next morning broke camp and moved in the direction of Spring river. On reaching the head of Warm fork of Spring river, we encountered another rebel force; had a short engagement, and they again retreated. On reaching the head of Spring river about the middle of the afternoon, we again met a rebel force; after considerable firing they retreated.

The author moved up near the mill and went into camp. The mill was grinding corn with quite a lot of corn on hand, but the miller left and retreated with the rebels. The author soon placed a substitute in his place and the boys had a fine time baking corn cakes.

After supper, some of the men had just retired to rest, when the rebels again made a fierce attack; after fighting for twenty or twenty-five minutes they retreated a short distance and went into camp, the river dividing the two forces. During the night the two pickets would dare each other to cross the river. During the night there came a heavy rain and made the Warm fork of Spring river swimming; there was no way to cross except on the mill dam.

The next morning about daylight the author ordered them to take the millstones and break them up and destroy the machinery so it would be impossible to grind; dismounted about one hundred men, placed them in hiding and marched away a short distance, thinking the rebels would cross over and we would surprise and capture them. But on seeing the Federals break camp and marching up on the west side of the river, they broke camp and marched up on the east side of the river. The author then mounted his men and marched up the Warm fork to where he effected a crossing, marched about ten miles, went into camp for the purpose of getting breakfast. Just after breakfast, the author noticed the advance of a rebel force march out on another road; as soon as they discovered that the Federals were in camp, they fell back and the author at once mounted his men. On the other road, as there was a considerable hill that hid them from sight, he formed his men in two lines in a V; detailed a strong advance force, ordered them to move onto the rebels and charge them, and in case they found that they were too strong, to retreat back between the lines for the purpose of drawing the rebel forces in between the lines. After a fierce conflict, lasting but a few minutes, the rebels again retreated, leaving a rebel Major dead upon the ground. We then marched into Thomasville and had another running fight with the rebels, went into camp and the next morning marched back in the direction of the post at Licking, reaching the post about 10 o'clock that night. The author again took command at the post and the Fifteenth Veterans returned to Rolla.

Ridding the Country of Bushwhackers.

It soon became very rare to hear of a rebel scout north of the mountain. Both rebel and Union men who claimed protection by the Federal authorities began to repair and improve their farms again. During the time that the author was in command of the post, which continued up to the time that peace was made, his command had routed and completely driven from the country all irregular and roving bands of rebels and bushwhackers and had had numbers of small engagements in which there had been from eighty to ninety of the most desperate class of men that ever lived, killed, which was shown in the adjutant general's report. After they had been driven out of the county, they located in the counties of Oregon, Shannon and Dent, and at once commenced pillaging and robbing all classes of citizens, irrespective of their political adherence. Col. Freeman sent a courier through the lines with a dispatch, stating the condition of affairs, and asking that an armistice be entered into between Col, Freeman's scouts and the scouts which might be sent out from the post, with an understanding that they were going to aid each other in routing and driving out these irregular bands.

While engaged in that work they were not to fire on each other, but to co-operate. The author was to enter into the agreement if it could be effected. Col. Freeman sent Capt. Cook into Oregon and Shannon counties to locate those roving guerrilla bands, and in some way, unknown to either Col. Freeman or myself, they gained the information, and while Capt. Cook was in Oregon county locating them, they waylaid him and killed him. Col. Freeman, realizing the fact that they had come into possession of the whole scheme, came to the conclusion that we had better abandon the agreement. He organized scouts and captured and shot some of the most desperate characters that were leaders, while the author kept a vigilant watch to keep them from crossing over into Texas or adjoining counties. At the time peace was made, it was admitted by the law-abiding people, irrespective of party, that the command of Col. Monks had completely rid the country of all irregular bands of rebels and had made it safe, in a short time after he had taken command of the post, for forage trains and all other classes of citizens to pass on the wire road from Rolla to Springfield unmolested, and that very often they passed through without an escort.

Battle at Mammoth Spring.