Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/410

 350 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI were not a part of the Confederate ti'oops though the men who formed the various or- ganizations were southern sympathizers, the fact that they were disbanded at the end of their term of enlistment was a confession that the attitude assumed by Missouri was really an impossible one. A state with symijathies as widely divided as Missouri and as closely in touch with the South as well as with the North, could not hope to maintain long any armed neutrality. Men who composed the State Guards, almost without exception, en- tered one or another organization of Confed- erates and took the oath of allegiance, not to the state as before, but to the Confederate government itself. We have now to give an account of the principal ones of these organi- zations. One of the first was a regiment organized at Belmont with John Smith as colonel, Solo- mon G. Kitchen, lieutenant colonel, and H. 11. Bedford, major. Just before the battle was fought at Belmont, the regiment was ordered to New Madrid and took part in the skir- mishes and battles around that place. In 1863 it was sent across the river to Memphis and made a part of Price "s army. It operated un- der Price until the close of the war and took part in most of the battles fought by that command. In the spring of 1862, W. L. JefEers organ- ized a company of cavalry with W. E. Mc- Guire as first lieutenaxit and John A. Ben- nett as second lieutenant. This company took part in the operations in Southeast ]Iissourl and northern Arkansas and became the basis of a regiment organized by Jeif el's and known as the Eighth Missouri Cavalry ; its regi- mental officers were : W. L. Jeffers, colonel ; Samuel J. Ward, lieutenant colonel: James H. Parrott, major, and James Craig, sergeant major. In 1862, Colonel Solomon G. Kitchen or- ganized a battalion of four companies of vol- unteers and reported to Vandorn at Mem- phis. This battalion was then consolidated with troops from northern Missouri. A regi- ment of cavalry was organized with Robert McCuUoch as colonel; S. G. Kitchen, lieuten- ant colonel, and H. A. Smith as major; this regiment was a part of General Price's com- mand during the remainder of the war and participated in all his campaigns. At a later date Colonel Kitchen returned to Stoddard county and recruited another regi- ment of which he was made colonel ; Jesse El- lison, lieutenant colonel, and Captain Walker of Dunklin county, major. This regiment was united with a battalion which Colonel Kitchen organized in Arkansas and was known as the ilissouri and Arkansas Legion ; this legion was also joined to the forces of Price and took part with him in his engage- ments until the end of the war. In 1861 a battalion of cavalry was organ- ized at Bloomfield, composed in part of men from Ste. Genevieve and Madison counties. There were two companies in the battalion, one of them commanded by Captain John J. Casey and the other l)y Captain William Cousins. In the fall of 1861, they were sent to New iladrid and from there were trans- ferred to Pocahontas, Arkansas, and made part of Colonel Lowe's regiment of infantry. In the spring of 1862, this regiment, with the exception of Captain Casey's company, was sent to the east side of the river with Gen- eral Price's army. Captain Casey's company remained at Helena, Arkansas, during the summer of 1862. General Thompson crossed the Mississippi and took a part of the com- panies of Casey's and Cousins' with him and the remainder of these companies was placed under the command of James Surge and or-