Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/409

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST :riSSOURI 349 former of these became parts of Wood's bat- talions of State Guards which was organized at Jackson and enlisted for a term of six months. About the same time that this bat- talion was organized a company of cavalry was also formed at Jackson enlisted for the same length of time the captain of this com- pany was W. L. Jeffers ; first lieutenant, Dr. S. S. Harris ; second lieutenant, W. Watkin.s, and third lieutenant, Joel "Wilkerson. Within a short time the companies that were being organized in Southeast Missouri were formed into a battalion, the lieutenant colonel being W. L. Jeffers and Solomon G. Kitchen was ma- jor. The four comijanies which made up this battalion were from Stoddard, Bollinger, Washington and Cape Girardeau counties; the captains were : Solomon G. Kitchen, Ed- ward Wilson, John J. Smith and W. L. Jeffers. The organization saw active service during its period of enlistment, but was disbanded at the end of the six months' term. The officers at once began to recruit independent companies. Lieutenant Harris organized an artillery com- pany which was ordered to Fort Pillow in iIarch. 1862, and took part in the fight, having l)een sent on board the flagship General Bragg. From here this company was sent to Yazoo City on the ram Arkansas and par- ticipated in the ^engagement with Porter's fleet, July 15, 1862. It was then made part of the regiment under command of Colonel ]Iartin Green and served until the close of the war. In February, 1863, Jeffers, who had in the meantime been made a captain, organ- ized a battery composed of Southeast Missou- rians at Camden, Arkansas, and this battery became part of ^larmaduke's brigade. Also in 1861, a regiment of the State Guards was or- ganized in Dunklin county. The regimental officers were : James A. Walker, colonel ; D. Y. Pankey, lieutenant colonel : among the cap- tains were : L. P. Eldridge, Lee Taylor, A. J. Dooley, W. P. Jones and Taylor Pickard. The regimental organization was formed at Clarkton and after preliminary drill it be- came a part of the force under General Jeff Thompson and took part in the battle at Fredericktown ; from there it was ordered to New iladrid and was mustered out at the end of the six months' period. In the summer of 1862 a battalion was formed at Hornersville in Dunklin county, by Andrew Jones, who was soon afterward killed by deserters and was succeeded by Charles Williford. This battalion was com- posed of two companies; Williford com- manded one and Lewis Chandler the other. Another regiment of State Guards was or- ganized at Bloomfield in Stoddard county by William G. Phelan ; it was sent from Bloom- field to Camp Hunter, then to Belmont and Columbus and took part in the battle at Fred- ericktown and was disbanded January 1, 1862. A battalion of the State Guards was or- ganized in Butler county under command of Daniel L. Jennings. There were four com- panies commanded by James M. Jennings, John C. Smart, William Gregory and N. C. Dodson. A company of State Guards was also raised in Bollinger county under command of J. H. Hunter. Two companies were organ- ized in Mississippi county, one by Charles B. Price and another by Captain Taylor. As we have seen the term of service for the State Guards was usually fixed at six months and most of the companies that were organized had disbanded at the end of that period. The organization of these troops was an attempt on the part of the state to be practically in- dependent of both Noi'th and South and they