Part 13

We trailed them about two miles and came in sight of a house that belonged to old Mr. Newberry, a Union man. He and his family had been run off from home. I saw a horse hitched to the side of the door, and supposed there were more inside of the house; there was a skirt of timber that enabled us to get within about sixty yards of the house. I ordered my men, when we reached a given point, to charge upon the house, dismount and reach the wall of the house and demand the surrender of all persons that might be within. We were about fifteen feet from the door when Hawkins came out and attempted to mount his horse. The author demanded his surrender, but he drew his pistol to fire, the author having his pistol already in hand and presented, fired on him; the author was sitting in his saddle when he fired on him.

The men examined the house and found he was the only man in it. The horse he was riding was the one he had taken from his cousin, Washington Hawkins, a short time previous, with a government rig complete. Washington Hawkins resided at Bakersfield, Mo., and got his horse and rig again. We took the trail again, but dark came on us and we lost it. These are the facts surrounding the whole case, the killing of Hawkins, one of the worst bandits and guerrillas that ever roamed through South Missouri and led the worst band of men in the state. I had previously taken him prisoner and he took the oath of allegiance, went right back and joined his command and, if possible, he was worse than before. I must say that there are few men in Howell county that claim to be Confederates, who tell strangers that Monks shot Hawkins down in the lap of his family and that he, Hawkins, was a good man. The writer wants to say that no truthful Confederate will tell any such a thing; they will tell you that Hawkins was a bad man. Ask such Confederates as Capt. Howard, Mark Cooper, Judge Dryer, John Ledsinger, Harvey Kelow, Daniel Galloway, P. N. Gulley and a number of others, if Hawkins was a good man.

The writer wants to say that he don't believe all the Confederates were in favor of killing and driving out the families of Union men, but the most bitter element got in power and being backed by the order of Gen. McBride, to force all the Union men to join the Confederate service, or hang them, those Confederates who were opposed to such treatment were afraid to open their mouths for fear they would receive the same treatment. You don't hear these same men, that talked about Monks shooting Hawkins, say a word about Hawkins and his bushwhackers shooting Union men all over Howell county. There never were but two houses burned in Howell county by the Union men during the Civil war, and houses owned by these men had been previously burned by the Confederates. The town of West Plains was burned by the Confederates to keep the Federals from holding a post at West Plains.

The writer wants to say that on his return after the war, in the spring of 1866, he met the rebels, both those that had been officers and soldiers, and never spoke a harsh word to them, asked them if they thought both parties could now live together; their answer was, that they thought they could. All that they asked was that they be protected. The writer assured them that both Federal and Confederates would be protected by the civil laws and all they would be asked to do would be to aid in a strict enforcement of civil laws, which they readily promised to do. The Union men who had returned to their homes and the late Confederates joined together and went to building and repairing old church houses and school-houses and soon were found worshiping together in the same church and sending their children to the same school-houses and the old ties that had existed before the war were being re-united. The country appeared to be prosperous and the old war spirit appeared to be fast dying out among the people.

I suppose the writer holds more commissions than any other man in the state, both military and civil and there never was a charge preferred against the writer of any failure to discharge his duties by the government or state. While in the military service thousands of dollars passed through the hands of the writer for forage and commissaries and ordinance stores and clothing, every dollar was accounted for and all contraband property was turned over to the government. I never converted, to my own private use, five cents of any man's property or money, before or after the war, in the war, nor since the war.

The writer is now residing within about twenty-five miles of where his father located in the year 1844 and there are several persons yet living that have been intimately acquainted with the writer since his boyhood up to the present time, namely James Kellett, Sr., Marion Kellett, present county treasury of Howell county, Washington Hawkins of Bakersfield, Mo., and quite a number of others that have been acquainted with the writer from forty to fifty years. The writer wants to say right here that he is not ashamed of anything he did before the war, in the war, nor since the war, and on his return home to Howell county on meeting the late rebels; he never spoke a harsh word to one of them, but received them kindly and said to them that the civil laws should be strictly enforced against all alike, Confederate and Federal.

In the year 1861, sometime in the month of September, after the Federals retreated from Springfield, Mo. and the Confederates had taken possession of Springfield, there was one Capt. Brixey who was captain of a company of home guards residing in the edge of Webster County, Mo.; soon after the Confederates took possession of the post, they ordered a captain belonging to a Texas regiment to detail one company and proceed to the residence of Capt. Brixey and arrest him. Capt. Brixey having no notice of the approach of the scouts, he and one of his men were sitting in the house; the first they knew they had a line within thirty yards of his door, hailed them and presented their guns and demanded their surrender. Capt. Brixey said, "The ---- you say." Both parties fired on each other about the same time, the man with Brixey fell dead, Brixey shot and killed the Confederate captain and wounded one or two other Confederates; he retreated through his house and into his orchard and made his escape; one of his arms was broken by the shot from the rebels from which he entirely recovered and lived many years afterwards, and has a son residing in this county at the present time.

Colonel Freeman's Second Raid.

Sometime in the Spring of 1862 Col. Freeman, not being satisfied with his first raid on the Federal troops at Salem, planned the second raid to attack the troops then stationed at Salem, Missouri; he organized his scout and compelled one Robert Bolin, who now resides in Howell County, to pilot him through the lines, as he, Bolin, had lived near Salem before the war. On reaching Salem, Col. Freeman halted his troops and planned his attack.

The Federal troops had no knowledge of the approach of any rebel forces; they were in squads around Salem. Freeman divided his forces and gave them a countersign and selected a spot near a deep ditch in the road and instructed them, if they were defeated and got scattered to concentrate at that ditch which was beyond the Federal lines a distance of some miles; on reaching the ditch they were to remain until they all were collected. After the first ones reached the place, it being dark, if they saw others approaching they would halt them and demand the countersign, and if they couldn't give it they were to fire on them without any further delay, knowing they were enemies. On reaching the public square they encountered a bunch of the Federal troops in a building; fired on them, wounded a few, a man by the name of Jacob Shoffler now residing in Howell County was in the house at the time, and they cut his clothes in about twenty different places with bullets and never drew blood; Maj. Santee was commanding, with one other officer. After they had rallied, all being in disorder, Maj. Santee ordered a charge on the rebels. Armed with an old pistol he met Col. Freeman of the Confederate side. Freeman had just shot out; Maj. Santee ordered his surrender. Col. Freeman started to run, Maj. Santee in close pursuit, snapped his old pistol, which failed to fire. He then threw the pistol at Col. Freeman, struck him somewhere between the shoulders, drew his sabre, and still continued the pursuit. There was a creek near by and a stone fence had been built along the side of it; the creek had been frozen over and a skiff of snow on it at the time. Just as Freeman reached the stone fence Maj. Santee made a thrust at him with his sabre, inflicting a slight wound; about that time, for the purpose of escaping, Col. Freeman sprang over the stone fence and lit into the creek. Maj. Santee, being on horseback, could not pursue any further. The rebels by this time were scattered in all directions, started to retreat. It being very dark, the first ones fifty or sixty in number reached the ditch, halted to wait for the remainder of them to collect. In a short time about thirty or forty more of them appeared in sight, retreating with considerable speed; they were halted, the countersign demanded. They had become so excited in the fight they had forgotten the countersign and failed to give it. So those who arrived first opened fire and wounded several of them, scattering them to the woods. They failed to concentrate until they had retreated south about 30 miles where they learned of the mistake they had made and that they had fired upon their own men. Maj. Santee being of the opinion that he had seriously wounded Freeman with his sabre, concluded to investigate. On reaching the stone fence where he made his leap they looked over into the creek on the ice and (Col. Freeman being a large man) it looked like a large ox had been thrown over from the hole that he made in the ice. They saw that he had crossed the creek and reached the other side and saw no signs of blood. In the engagement there were about five or six wounded and killed.

In the summer of 1863 there was a Federal scout organized at Springfield, commanded by Col. Holland. It was ordered to move by way of Douglas county, get reinforcements then stationed at the fort, and from there march through the county of Ozark. They entered the county of Fulton, Ark., where they had several small engagements. After considerable fighting and capturing a number of prisoners, they returned to Springfield; loss, killed and wounded, very small.

In the fall of 1863, Col. Tracy, with a force of rebels, made a raid from Fulton county, marched up through Ozark county, and on reaching the Union settlement in Douglas county, he shot and killed nearly every man he captured, robbed houses, took everything in the house and out of doors, and burned the houses as he went. After raiding and pillaging a number of houses, he came to a house where a Union man by the name of Mahan and one by the name of McCarty were working in the blacksmith shop, with their arms near them. They were members of the home guard. The rebels demanded the surrender of the two men, and as it was generally believed that if a man surrendered to those irregular forces that it was sure death, they refused to surrender. When the forces of Col. Tracy commenced firing through the cracks of the shop, the men returned the fire. Mahan killed one rebel, and they wounded two or three others. The rebels shot McCarty down, shooting him eight or ten times after he fell, knocked the door down and rushed upon Mahan, disarmed him, took him prisoner and then continued their retreat. After reaching Fulton county, near the bayou, they took Mahan into the woods, stripped him naked and shot him, leaving his body lying on the ground unburied. Strange to say, in regard to McCarty, after he had been shot eight or ten times and left for dead, he recovered from the wounds and became hearty and stout.

Some time in the early part of the spring of 1864, a man by the name of Mahan deserted from the 11th Missouri cavalry, stationed at Batesville, and on reaching Howell county, about two miles from where Valley Star school house is now located, a bunch of bushwhackers commanded by B. F. Hawkins and Thomas Yates captured him, took him into the woods a short distance, stripped him naked and shot him, leaving his body lying on the ground, unburied. After he had lain there nearly a week, a man now residing in Howell county took a hoe and shovel and raked up some rocks and pitched them upon the decomposed body and threw a few shovels of dirt on him. As it was but a short distance from the road, the stench from the decomposing body was offensive to persons who traveled by.

Col. Monks Enforces the Civil Law.

In the month of July, 1865, the author was ordered to declare the civil law in force in the counties of Texas, Dent, Shannon, Oregon, Howell, Ozark and Douglas and report to his regiment again at Springfield for the purpose of being discharged. The long-looked-for and final result of the war had come with victory couched upon every man who had borne his flag to the breeze of his country, and to those who had lain themselves on the altar of their country and died that it might live.

There was general rejoicing among the loyal people, that there was not a foot of territory on American soil but where the stars and stripes once more floated unmolested, either by foreign or domestic enemies, and while the Confederates had fought manfully for what they conceived to be right, and had laid many of their sons on the altar and sacrificed them to a cause that they believed to be right, yet a large majority of them rejoiced when they learned that the cruel war was over. Although their cause was forever lost, yet the country that they had loved so well and the flag still floated and invited them back as erring sons.

The 16th regiment, with a large number of other regiments, was discharged at Springfield. Then a scene ensued that Americans had never witnessed before; the blue and the grey began to meet and greet each other as friends and seemed to forget that just a few months previous they had been meeting each other armed, for the purpose of slaying one another. A general amnesty proclamation had been granted by Gen. Grant to all the rebels who had surrendered. Their officers and commanders should discharge them and they should be allowed to retain their side arms for their own protection and return home for the purpose of again building up and establishing their homes; again meet their wives, their children, fathers and mothers, neighbors and friends, and once more be united in all the ties of love; to again reinstate churches, and instead of studying and practicing the art of war, they should beat their swords into pruning hooks and aid in establishing and building up society and good government.

But, lo! one of the most sad and heartrending scenes confronted many Confederates and Federals on returning to the places where they had once had happy homes and sweet families, they were not found. During the terrible war, many of the loved ones that they had left behind had been called from time to eternity. The home had disappeared and nothing was left but the soil; all of the improvements being entirely destroyed. But they, with the courage of heroes, gathered the fragments of their families, went to work improving and building houses, refencing their farms, reerecting church houses and school houses, and in a short time the men who had lately been enemies and borne arms against each other, were again neighbors and friends, associating together, sending their children to the same school, becoming members of the same church; all experienced the difference between a civil war and peace and fraternity. Many of them expressed themselves that they had read of civil wars, but never realized the effect of civil war until after they had passed through the present one: but they could not understand why they called it "civil" war, for if there was anything civil about the war they never experienced that part of it.

The author's family had been residing at Rolla during most of the time of the war. He commenced making preparations to return to his home in Howell county in the fall of 1865. He began to organize an immigration party of men who wanted to locate in Howell county and a number of men who had left their homes in that county. Just a short time before the parties were ready to leave Rolla for Howell county, he was met by several men who asked: "Why, Monks, ain't you afraid to go back to Howell county? You have fought the rebels so bitterly and contested every inch of ground during the whole war, and some of them hate you so badly, that I would be afraid that they would kill me." The author replied that he felt like Gen. Putnam, when the British attempted to bribe him and said that the colonies never could succeed in gaining their independence, and that he had better return and renew his allegiance to the Crown. The General's reply was, "D--n a man that is not for his country." Now, my reply to you is, that I have forfeited almost all of my means and shattered the happiness of my family in contending and fighting for the preservation of the government; besides, myself and family have been exiled and banished from our home, and if the rebels had succeeded, all would have been gone. But now the government has been victorious in crushing the rebellion, liberty and protection have been once more guaranteed to every citizen, high or low, rich or poor, and, in the language of Gen. Putnam, I say, "D--n a man that is afraid to go back and enjoy the fruits of his victory."

Within a few days about twenty-five families left Rolla for West Plains, and on arriving at West Plains, went into camp. There was not a single building left in West Plains, as the Confederates had burned the whole town in time of the war, with the exception of one store building, which was burned by the Federal troops. The Confederates' object in burning the town was to prevent the Federals from establishing a post. The author procured some clapboards, built an addition to an old stable about two hundred yards south of where James' livery stable is now located.

Soon after we had reached West Plains and gone into camp, Capt. Howard, Capt. Nicks and a number of other rebels who were residing in the county, came in, met the author and said to him: "Captain. I am proud to meet you." The author replied, "I am proud to meet you. What do think now in regard to the two parties living together?" They said that they were satisfied that both parties could live together, that all they wanted was protection. The author remarked that the rebels had been in control of the country for several years, but the loyal men were going to take charge of it and run it now, and as the loyal men had been contending for the enforcement of the law and claimed that every American citizen was entitled to the protection of the law, the author could promise them that, if they would fall into line and help enforce the law, they should receive equal protection with any other class of citizens; to which they replied that they were willing to do so, but there were roving bands of rebels and guerrillas which had not been subject to the control of the Confederate authorities, and still refused to lay down their arms, and might yet cause some trouble.

The author was appointed sheriff of Howell county, W. Z. Buck circuit and county clerk and Peter Lemons, Judge Alsup and ---- were appointed county judges. There had been an old school house about a quarter of a mile east of West Plains that was still standing. They met at that school house, organized and set the civil government of the county in working order. Soon after, Governor Fletcher ordered an election and the author was elected to the state legislature, tendered his resignation as sheriff, which was accepted and W. D. Mustion was appointed to the vacancy. In a few weeks the author went to Jefferson City, tendered his credentials and was sworn in and became a member of the legislature.

Everything, so far as Howell county was concerned, appeared to move off quietly, while the counties of Oregon and Shannon, with a few of the border counties, were entirely controlled by irregular bands of late rebels, who openly declared that the civil law should not be enforced in those counties; that the Confederacy was whipped, but they were not and they intended to live off the government; they were armed to the teeth.

During the winter of 1865 and the year 1866, Howell county settled up faster than ever it had at any period before the war; the men who had homes in it and had been forced away on account of the war, mostly returned and commenced to improve their farms. Their houses, outhouses and improvements, generally, having been destroyed, the soil was the only thing left. The town also built up rapidly and in the year 1866 the inhabitants had increased to six or eight hundred.

In the fall of 1866 at the general election the author was re-elected to the legislature and Capt. Alley, who had been a Confederate all through the war, was elected to the legislature from Oregon county. The author again qualified and was present in the legislature during the whole time, when the great question was brought up before the legislature, as to what disposition the State would make of the first liens held by the state on the different railroads for aid that had been given to the railroad corporations in the way of state bonds in 1850. In 1855 the state issued her bonds, delivered them to the companies and they went east and put them upon the market in New York and Boston to procure money to construct roads, and the bonds with all the accruing interest, were due the state.

Then for the first time the author learned that many of the men who had been selected to represent the people's interest in the State Legislature, failed to discharge the duties that their constituents had imposed upon them, betrayed their trust, and, through money, were entirely controlled in the interest of the railroad corporations. The author believing that it was one among the greatest duties that were imposed upon men of a representative government, to strictly contend and do all in his power to enact legislation in the interest of the people, therefore took a strong stand in favor of closing out all of the state liens against the different roads, held by the state. During the session of the winter of 1866 what was then known as the South Missouri Pacific, which terminated at Rolla, Missouri, was ordered to be closed out and the road declared forfeited. A resolution passed through both houses of the legislature ordering the Governor to seize it, and that said road be run by the state. In the meantime the Governor was to advertise and sell it. The Governor by authority of law advertised it and sold it for $550,000. Sometime in April the legislature adjourned, to meet in an adjourned session in December, 1867. The author returned home.

The immigration into the country rapidly increasing, prosperity appeared to be on every side; people had plenty of money, good crops, wheat was worth $1 to $1.50 per bushel, stock of all kinds brought first-class prices, peace so far as Howell county was concerned, prosperity and the bettering of the condition of society were moving hand in hand, and the author felt thankful that the war was over.

Outlaw Rule in Oregon and Shannon.