Request for Question Clarification by
digsalot-ga
on
15 Dec 2002 22:39 PST
The battle I'm thinking of took place in Boone County, Missouri. It
resulted in the deaths of all Union forces with the exception of one
who was removed from a train and spared in an earlier attack. That
could be the 'leader' from another area you are speaking of. He was a
sergeant in the Union Army, Thomas Goodman, and he wrote of the
events.
The southern forces included both Frank and Jesse James. These
southern forces were more on the order of guerrilla forces, with only
a loose attachment to the Confederate Military.
The Union Force involved was a unit of the Thirty-ninth Missouri
Infantry. It's headquarters were at Benton Barracks, but Benton
Barracks is in St Louis County. However a large number of them were
from the section of the state which includes Jackson County. There
might have been some confusion there. Paul H. has been known to make
errors (and he has always corrected them when he found out about
them.) He can only be as good as his staff researchers. So, I guess
that leaves the Jackson County thing up in the air. A reading of the
history of Jackson County doesn't mention the 39th or any other
military establishment at all.
The battle involved is the Battle of Centralia, Mo. The Union forces
were eliminated.
" The inexperienced Federal troops, with their single shot riles
followed the traditional warfare practice of advancing on foot,
leaving their horses tended by a few soldiers. They marched into a
three-sided formation of several hundred hidden guerrillas, each armed
with several Colt revolvers, and within minutes, the Union troops were
nearly annihilated. The few soldiers that were not killed on the first
guerrilla vollies, ran back to their horses, but the guerrillas with
their faster horses, overtook the fleeing troops and within the hour,
over 120 soldiers were killed. Some nearly reached the sanctuary of
Sturgeon some ten miles from the battle- ground, before the guerrillas
completed the rout." - Quote from an official publication by the City
of Centralia.
So much of this comes so close to what you are asking, but doesn't
quite meet the mark. Could there be the possibility there was some
error in the Paul H. report which throws things off a tad? Or (and I
hate to ask it), since it has been a couple of years since you heard
it, could there possibly be a memory error?
Cheers
digsalot
