A Small Hold In Missouri

The Battle of Clark’s Mill was fought November 7^th 1862 in Douglas County, Missouri.

Union Captain Hiram E Barstow the commander at Clark’s Mill received intelligence that there were Confederate troops in his area.  He sent a unit toward Gainesville, while he moved with another unit toward the southeast.  Barstow’s group met a small Confederate force led by Colonel John Q Burbridge and they had a short skirmish.  Learning another Confederate unit commanded by Colonel Colton Greene was approaching from the north Barstow moved his men back to Clark’s Mill.  The Union troops opened up artillery and began a five hour fight with the approaching Confederates.  After five hours of fighting, the Confederates demanded Barstow surrender.  As the Union Captain was out numbered he accepted the terms.

After paroling the Union troops the Confederates burned the blockhouse at Clark’s Mill.

If you’re interested in reading more about the Battle of Clark's Mill is a good place to start.

The Tenth Texas Governor

Pendleton Murrah became the tenth Governor of Texas November 5^th 1863; he served until the end of the Civil War.

Pendleton Murrah was born about 1826 South Carolina or Alabama, he may have been the illegitimate son of Peggy Murrah or was an orphan.  Murrah received his early education through the charitable society of the Baptist Church.  He graduated in 1848 from Brown University.  Murrah moved to Texas where he started practicing law in Marshall, Texas.  He was elected in 1857 to the Texas State legislature.

When the Civil War started Murrah was a great supporter of the Confederate cause.  He served with the 14^th Texas as their quartermaster in 1862, but had to resign due to poor health.  He became the Governor of Texas November 5^th 1863.  Murrah and the Confederacy had issues over the impressment goods, conscription of soldiers, frontier defenses, and finances.  Even after Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered Murrah continued to encourage Confederate troops to fight.  In May 1865 when Union troops entered Texas Murrah went to Mexico with other Confederate leaders.

Murrah’s health was not good and shortly after reaching Monterrey, Mexico he died of tuberculosis on August 4^th 1865.  He is buried in Panteon Municipal Cemetery, Monterrey, Mexico.

Diseases Took There Toll

The 38^th Iowa was mustered in for three years of Union service November 4^th 1862, they were known as the Martyr Regiment.

The 38^th Iowa Infantry was recruited from Bremmer, Chickasaw, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek Counties.  They received their initial training at Camp Franklin in Dubuque, Iowa and mustered into Union service on November 4^th 1862.  The Regiment moved on January 2^nd 1863 to Fort Thompson in New Madrid, Missouri where they performed garrison duty, until June 6^th 1863 when the men left for Vicksburg as part of Union Major General Francis Herron’s Division.

The 38^th arrived near Vicksburg on June 11^th 1863.  Union General Ulysses S Grant moved the Division to the southernmost part of his line to protect against Confederate Cavalry thought to be moving in from Yazoo City, Mississippi.  The 38^th crossed the river on June 14^th 1863 and went into camp at Warrenton, Mississippi.  The 38^th and 34^th Iowa Infantry consolidated on December 12^th 1864.  During the Battle of Fort Blakely in Alabama on April 9^th 1865; one of the last battles of the war, men from the old 38^th charged redoubt #4 loosing 1 man killed and 8 men wounded.

The 38^th had a total of 1037 men in its service.  Two men were killed, and 315 died from diseases.  The 38^th lost more men to sickness than any other Iowa Regiment during the war.

If you’re interested in reading more about this Regiment A Brief History of the 38th Iowa is a good web site.

Over A Railroad

The Cavalry Battle at Collierville November 3^rd 1863 was a move against the Memphis & Charleston Railroad.

There were four minor battles in the Collierville, Tennessee area in 1863.  On November 3^rd 1863 Confederate Brigadier General James R Chalmers was leading a raid up from Mississippi to break up the Memphis & Charleston Railroad which Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman was using for supplies and troop movements.  Chalmers learned that there were only two Union regiments defending Collierville, so he decided to attack.

Union Colonel Edward Hatch was in command at Collierville, but he also had men located at Germantown, Tennessee just five miles to the west.  Hatch got intelligence telling him of Chalmers’ approach.  Hatch sent to Germantown for Union Cavalry.  As Chalmers attacked the Union troops at Collierville, the Union Cavalry from Germantown attacked the Confederate flank.

Surprised by Union troops on his flanks, Chalmers brook off the battle and withdrew his soldiers back to Mississippi.  The Memphis & Charleston Railroad remained opened.

A Doctor, A Politican, A Soldier

Confederate Colonel and former United States Congressman Henry Marchmore Shaw was killed November 1^st 1864.

Henry Marchmore Shaw was born November 20^th 1819 in Newport, Rhode Island.  He graduated in 1838 from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia with a medical degree and opened a practice in Indiantown, North Carolina.  As a politician he ran as a Democrat and was elected to the United States Congress, surviving from 1853 to 1859 with a gap during 55 -57.

When the Civil War started Shaw enlisted in the Confederate Army.  He was made a Colonel in the 8^th North Carolina, and commanded them at the Battle of Roanoke Island in September 1861.  When Union General Ambrose Burnside attacked the Island in February 1862, Shaw captured.  During a battle near New Bern, North Carolina he was killed on November 1^st 1864.  Shaw was buried in Shawboro Cemetery in Shawboro, North Carolina.

Part Of Memphis' Defenses

The Memphis Battery Light Artillery which would be part of the Union 1^st Tennessee Battery was mustered into service on October 31^st 1863 at Memphis, Tennessee.

The Memphis Battery Light Artillery was made up of black men and was organized in Memphis, Tennessee.  They mustered into Union service for three years under the command of Captain Carl A Lamberg on October 31^st 1863.  The Memphis Light was attached to the 1^st Tennessee Heavy Artillery Regiment as Battery M.  A part of the 5^th Division of the XVI Corps until January 1864, when they became part of the 1^st Colored Brigade.

The regiment performed garrison duty in Memphis until April 1864.  One section of the Memphis Light was sent to Fort Pillow on February 15^th 1864 where during the assault on the fort they manned two 6 pound James Rifles.  Almost every man from the 35 man detachment was either killed or listed as missing after Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest took the fort on April 12^th 1864.  The next action the Memphis Light saw was in the Battle of Brice’s Cross Roads, where the unit had to abandon a section of guns that they spiked before leaving the field.

They were still part of the defenses of the city of Memphis, Tennessee until December 1864.  The men of the Memphis Light mustered out of service on December 11^th 1865.

A Golden Town

Helena, Montana got her name and became an organized town on October 30^th 1864, after being founded by “Four Georgians”.

Helena, Montana became a place when gold was discovered by “Four Georgians” in a gulch near Prickly Pear on July 14^th 1864.    The camp they created was known as “Last Chance”.  The town grew quickly and by early fall there were 200 souls, more or less living there.  A group of seven men met on October 30^th 1864, to name the town, lay out streets and elect a governing body.

After several suggestions of names, a Scotsman; John Summerville offered Helena in honor of the town of Helena, Minnesota, with a northern sound to the name.  This caused southerners in the room to insist that it be pronounced like the southern town of Helena, Arkansas.  It wouldn’t be until 1882 that name settled into what we know today.