Osage Tigers * Missouri State Guard * Miller County

This blog post is still under construction, but published now for those who wish to see the roster of men serving in the Osage Tigers.  There is much more information to share and the post will be updated throughout the winter.

Brigadier General Mosby Parsons commanded the Sixth Division of the Missouri State Guard.  Company A of the First Cavalry Regiment in the Sixth Division were known as the Osage Tigers, formed on May 12, 1861, under Captain James Johnston/Johnson.  The Osage Tigers were sent a huge supply of gunpowder and ammunition by Governor Claiborne Jackson.  The supplies were shipped in from St. Louis magazines and storage bases.  The gunpowder and ammunition were stored at the Miller County Courthouse.  Captain Johnston marched into the courthouse and told the county officials that the government of Miller County was part of the Southern States.  Among his group that day were Peter Taylor, Creed Goff, Henry Dixon, David P. Taylor, his brother Samuel Johnston, William Burks, Joseph Stephens, James Simpson, William Wadley ,and Alexander Colvin. In June 1861, Captain Johnston took his men to southwest Missouri to the 15th Missouri Cavalry, Parson's Division. The Company arrived in Boonville too late for the fight there, but went on to fight in the Battle of Carthage and the Battle of Wilson's Creek in 1861, before Sterling Price merged forces with the Confederate Army.

The list of men in the unit was compiled from three sources:  List of Confederate Soldiers of Miller County Missouri compiled by Darrell Maples, pages 79 and 80 of Kenneth Weant's book Missouri State Guard Cavalry Regiments and articles by Peggy Smith Hake in Windows to the Past.  Information beside the names was added by myself.  The men's ranks changed during the course of their service.  The names may reflect misspellings and were subject to the interpretation of transcribers in identifying handwritten letters.  Please comment to correct or add information and I'll update the blog.

Officers of Troop A or Company A of the First Cavalry Regiment, included:

Captain James Johnson/Johnston   Born in Missouri in 1824, he served in the Mexican War under Mosby Parsons in General Alexander W. Doniphan's Regiment.  At the opening of the Mexican War he went into service May 18, 1846, at Fort Leavenworth. He crossed the plains under Gen. Phil Kearney in 1846 as far south as Santa Fe, and then under Col. Doniphan went south to Monterey, and was at Matamoras. He received his discharge in New Orleans in June, 1847, and then returned to Miller County. Before the Civil War he served as Miller County Assessor, Sheriff, and Collector. He also had the job of enumerating the school children in Jim Henry Township. Though born in Missouri, his ancestors immigrated from Kentucky.  He was also noted as Captain of Company A, 15th Missouri Cavalry.  James Johnston returned home and was captured by Captain Daniel Rice's Cavalry unit in August 1861, and taken to Jefferson City.  Johnston declared that Governor Gamble had signed a proclamation which forgave those men who had returned back home. By December 1862 he had signed an Oath of Allegiance supporting the Union and was released to return to Miller County.

First Lieutenant Cyrus McClarty 
Insert info
 Special Order 29, issued on February 12, 1864, at Izard County, Arkansas, ordered Captain McClarty of White River to "report with your recruits to the Confederate States Army immediately or you will be held and treated as enemies to the Confederate States."  In March 1864, Cyrus McClarty surrendered himself to the Assistant Provost Marshal in Missouri and filed a statement.  (During the Civil War, civil law was suspended in Missouri.  All citizens were subject to martial law directed by Provost Marshals.) Cyrus McClarty was acting in response to the President's plan detailed in December 1863 to give a full pardon for and restoration of property to all engaged in the rebellion with the exception of the highest Confederate officials and military leaders. His statement details his service. "I left home in 1861 and went off with Price's Army under General Parsons as a Lieutenant, and afterwards was promoted, and transferred to the Confederate Army by order of Governor Jackson. I remained in this service some two or three months when I was sent to Texas in 1862 in charge of the papers of the Missouri State Guard. I remained in Texas until April 1, 1863, then came back to the Army in Arkansas and stayed with it sometime at Little Rock. I left there and went to Northern Arkansas with a recruiting commission which has been revoked. I was at the Boonville fight but when I got there it was over. I was at Carthage. I was not at Wilson's Creek; I was then in Kentucky. I was at the Battle of Pea Ridge and was a Lieutenant of a Company there. I was at Helena but not in the fight. I have since come back to take the oath and give bond. I have got out of the War and have been for a long time. I have not been with the Army since I had the recruiting commission."

Second Lieutenant J. H. Shankland

Second Lieutenant Alexander Anderson 

Second Lieutenant William M. Allen

THird Lieutenant Joseph M. Ulman (Also listed in McCubbin's MSG unit)

First Sergeant Thomas J. Cummins

Orderly Sergeant C. C. Simpson
Sergeant William Balance (Went on to Company A 2nd Reg Cavl, 6th Div, and to Company D 2nd Reg MO Infantry Vols)
Sergeant William M. Brockman (Private Company K 9th MO Inf and Company F 8th Batt MO Inf
Sergeant Phillip Bell (4th Sgt., went onto Company K 9th MO Inf and COmpany F 8th Battn MO Inf)
Sergeant      Etter
Sergeant      Reed
Sergeant Barton N. Bond
Sergeant Joseph H. Bond

First Corporal W. A. Shankland
Third Corporal Joseph S. Adock
Corporal W. G. Adcock (Walter Quincy Adcock enlisted at Versailles on June 1, 1861)
Corporal          Henry
Fourth Corporal James Reed
Corporal D. N./A. Simpson and J. A. Simpson
Corporal     Taylor (Peter or David P.?)
Second Corporal James W. Compton (JOhn W. Compton Private in Company D 2nd Regt MO Inf Vols)


The Privates (ranks changed over the course of service) of the Osage Tigers included:
William Allen
Andrew Bilyeu (It is probable that this man was the Andrew Bilyeu living at Tuscumbia.  There were three young men named Andrew Bilyeu in Miller County in 1860.  One lived near Ulman's Ridge and joined McCubbin's MSG unit, one near Tuscumbia, and the other near Pleasant Farm and joined Union forces.  In a letter written by J.W. McClurg, leader of Union forces in the area, on November 12, 1861, to accompany prisoners he sent to St. Louis, "Andrew Bilyeu - a bad man generally and a rebel in particular.  He was taken on the morning of the 6th just as follows: he was discovered with four others by six of my men, taking corn and going into the woods to camp.  On that morning my men pursued, the rebels showed fight. The father of this Bilyeu was killed, he was taken prisoner and the others escaped.  He has been in the area aiding in plundering."  The men listed as witnesses to this event included William Salsman, John Martin, James S. Watson, and George Martin, all of Ulman's Ridge. Andrew and his father, John Richmond Bilyeu, were members of Captain McCubbin's MSG unit.)
G. G. Birdsong
W. T. Bobters
J. M. Bolton (G. W. Bolton was cornetist of the Cole County Dragoons led by Parsons in the Mexican War.  William Bolton also served under Parsons.)
B. N. Bond (B. S. Bond was appointed as Captain of Company B, Clark Township Southern Guards on July 12)
J. H. Bond (Listed as a member of both Company A and B, he was Fourth Sergeant of Company B, promoted to Lieutenant on July 12, and taken prisoner at the Battle of Monday's Hollow in Camden County on October 13, 1861. see history of Cole co. 254-257
H. Clay Breedlove (Returned to Miller County with Capt. Johnston and took the Oath of Allegiance by December 1862)
William B. Brown
Wilbin Burks
W. A. Burks (Willis A. Burks listed on John Still's Company)
William  J. Burks
Andrew B. Carley
Smith Carley
William N. Cotton
James W. Compton
Pleasant J. Davidson (ON to Capt. Green's Co)
Lemuel J.. Davis
Logan A. Davis
J. W. Dooley
Daniel Duncan
James Dunlap
T. B. Elliott
John M. Evans (Joseph Evans served under Parsons in the Mexican War)
James Ferree
W. T. Franklin  (From Gerard Schultz A History of Miller County:  "William Franklin was Captain of a party of men tracking stolen horses after the war.  Others in the party included Benjamin Locke, William Lumpkin, James Johnson, Alex Spalding, and Wayne Stepp.  When the posse surprised the men with the stolen horses, Locke was shot and died the same day, April 18, 1866.)
Allen Gardner
James C. Glass
John C. Goans
Samuel S. Greenup
T. A. Greenup
T. G. Greenup
Martin Hayes
J. J. Hedrick
Joseph B. Hinds
G. M. Houston
H. C. Houston
J. M. Houston
Frank Howard
George J. Howard
Berry Humes (ON to Company D 2nd Reg. MO INf Vol)
F. E. Hummel
Henry Job
J. J. Kindsman
James Lawson (John Still's COmpany 1st Batt Inf, then COmpany K MOorre's 10th MO Regt. Inf. Vols.  Died at Little Rock on March 23, 1863))
Lewis J. Lawson
Edmund M. Leright
Nicholas P. Loveall
Iverson A. Lumpkin
S. D. McCasland
T. B. McCaslan
John H. McClain
Samuel G. Newell
James W. Noell
C. L. Orvis
D. Ward Reed (also listed in McCubbin's MSG unit)
John Reed
Lewis C. Reed (also listed in John Still's Co. 1st Batt Inf)
William Shankland
John SHeridan
Joseph A. Simpson
G. A. Stephens
Franklin A. Taylor (On to Company D 2nd regt MO INf Vols)
David Trimble
John O. F. Ulman (Also listed in McCubbin's MSG unit)
Samuel Ulman (Also listed in McCubbin's MSG unit)
Andrew K. Vaughan
Marcus D. Vaughan
James M. Vernon (On to 2nd REgt. MO INf Vols)
Francis M. Wadley
John D. Wadley  Returned from Lexington in September 1861 The men rode up, dismounting. They were armed, and presented revolvers. Nancy, frightened, ran over to her father, standing by his side. She recognized four of the men, “Jack Wadley, Edward A. Henry, David Wadley, and Little Bill Wadley.”

Nancy A. Gier said, “Mr. Henry came into the field and told my father if he did not give up the horse he would shoot his brains out!”

Nancy stated her “father just stood there until Ed Henry knocked him down. The men then ungeared his horse, and threatened father to say nothing about it, to save his life. They led the horse off by the mane.”

William F. Wadley (MSG hospital after Wilson's Creek)
B. L. Wilks (researching L. B. Wilkes, brother of Peter Singleton Wilkes)
John Wilks/ John Wilson
Benjamin Flemon Willis (Also listed in McCubbin's MSG unit.  On to 2nd reg MO Inf Vols)

Wood, David, Pvt.

Wood, George V., Pvt.

Wood, Henry T., Pvt.

Wood, James, Pvt.
Woods, David (David C. Woods also listed in John Still's Company where Rankin Wright was 2nd Lt.  Rankin Wright went on to be Capt of Company E fo the 3rd MO Battl Cav VOls)

Woods, D.C., Pvt.

Yoant, J.C., Pvt.

According to the Missouri State Archives database, additional members include:  Reuben T. Alsop Enlisted August 25, 1861

At Ulman’s Ridge, the State Guard company, Captain William McCubbin, commanding, included, among others, Henry McDowell, Arty Bilyeu, Jr., Hiram Whiningham, John Bilyeu, John Cross, Samuel Steward, Reuben H. Stewart, William Cross, John Bowlin Ripley Wilson, Edmund Hawks, Ewing Barnett, Samuel Caulk, Barnabus Reed, Ward Reed, John Ulman, Samuel Ulman, Joseph Ulman, John Davidson,  Jacob Davidson, Flemon Willis, and William Hoskins, Jr.

Gen. GRANT, reporting August 22, 1861, gives a good idea of the disorganized condition of affairs at Jefferson City. He says:

Most of the troops are without clothing, camp or garrison equipage; ammunition was down to about ten cartridges, and for the artillery none is left. The artillery consists of four six-pounders without artillerymen, and one twenty-four-pounder howitzer, too heavy for field use. The quartermaster and commissary have not been here since my arrival. There are no rations to issue. The mules sent some time since are guarded in a lot, no effort being made to get them into teams, and a general looseness prevailing. I have fitted out 350 men to scour the country where the cars were fired into day before yesterday, who will subsist off the community through which they will pass.

On August 27, 1861, he speaks of spies bringing information of the Southerners' march north to concentrate about Linn Creek. On the Sunday before date of his report he sent out some Home Guards, who brought in J. JOHNSON, of Miller, and B. BARND, of Cole, two secession captains. They claimed to have returned home under the proclamation of GAMBLE; but William MATTHEWS, John HICKS and Aaron BELL related that BARND often declared that the sword was the only settlement of the slave question, and Gen. GRANT accordingly ordered the prisoners to be held. Gen. GRANT further says: "I have not been able to learn head nor tail about them. * * * I know there are many of them. * * * I would recommend that an officer be sent here to organize them."

The field officers of the First Cavalry, Missouri State Guard, with time of appointment, are Col. W. H. BROWN,⁶ June 28; Col. Robert MCCULLOCH, October 14; Lieut.-Col. Robert MCCULLOCH, June 30; Lieut,-Col. George BUTLER, October 21; Maj. Samuel WOODS, June 28; Maj. T. F. LOCKETT, October 13; Adjt. E. C. THOMPSON, June 26; Q. M. Thomas HENDERSON, June 26; Q. M. Geo. B. HARPER, August 10; Com. E. H. CLONES, July 15; Com. J. P. ELLIOTT, July 20, Com. Nat. MITCHELL, December 1; Surgeon J. T. JAMES, June 28; Surgeon J. H. KING, October 7; Asst.-Surgeon E. M. JAMES, July 10; 

of Company A (Osage Tigers), Capt. James JOHNSON and Lieuts. Cyrus MCCARTY, Alex. ANDERSON (all May 12); J. N. SHANKLIN, July 20, and J. M. ULLMAN, May 12; 

Company B, Clark Township Southern Guards, Capt. F. M. MCKENZIE, February 6; Capt. B. S. BOND, July 12; Lieuts. J. H. BOND, July 12; L. P. CRABTREE, September 3; Nelson MARTIN, February 6; Jacob HALE, February 6; of Company G, Capt. Robert MCCULLOCH, May 16; Capt. R. A. MCCULLOCH, September 4, and Lieuts. James BOSWELL, May 16; W. A. THORNTON, September 4; J. E. KERRICK, September 4; Charles QUARLES, May 16; and F. M. GEORGE, September 3.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mocole/military_history.htm

Bonds oaths dec. 62 James Johnson Daniel Cummings

F1653

1388

20085

Peter Taylor, Creed P. Goff, Henry E. Dixon, David P. Taylor, Samuel Johnston, William Burks, Joseph Stephens, James Simpson, William Wadley, and Alexander Colvin.