Frisby
McCullough was born in New Castle County, Delaware March 8th 1828
the son of James and Delia [Pennington] McCullough. When he was 12 the family moved to Marion
County, Missouri. When the California
gold rush started in 1849 McCullough caught the fever and moved to California,
living there for the next five years.
Upon returning to Marion County he married in 1856 to Eloise Randolph.
When the
Civil War started McCullough joined the Confederates serving under General
Thomas Green. He saw action at the
Battle of Lexington before moving on to recruit for Confederate General
Sterling Price in northeastern Missouri in 1862. McCullough became sick after the Battle of
Kirksville, riding alone he was caught by Union troops and he surrendered to
them. He was moved to the town of Kirksville
where he was accused of fighting as a bushwhacker without a military
commission.
A court was
convened by Lieutenant Colonel W F Schaffer.
When asked McCullough admitted to lacking a commission at that time as
his rank as Lieutenant Colonel in the Missouri State Guard had expired. He was found guilty, and given 15 minutes to
write a letter to his wife. McCullough
asked to be allowed to give the order to shot, and as such his last words, “What
I have done, I have done as a principle of right. Aim at the heart. Fire!” He was not killed by the first volley and
history has come down saying that either he was killed by the second volley or
dispatched by a pistol shot.
