Prologue
“Rise, then and drive out ignominiously the invaders who have desecrated the soil which your labors made fruitful and which is consecrated by your homes.”
Claiborne Jackson (Missouri Governor 1861)
South-Eastern Missouri 20 April 1863
In spite of the fact that many will say this is nothing but another myth borne out of ‘The War Between the States’, America’s bloodiest war... that is not the case. It is rooted in fact, although the details of which are shady at best. I am here to tell you, conduct some research and then you’ll see enough supporting evidence to substantiate the facts about the authenticity of this alleged tale.
General Marmaduke‘s second raid into Missouri was still on the verge of being able to reach a success the South desperately needed. First Bloomfield then Patterson had fallen to the Confederates when the Union troops, under the command of General John McNeil, retreated to Gape Girardeau.
It took several days for McNeil to reach Cape Girardeau all the while being hounded by General Shelby. They passed through many a homestead and small town on that forced march. Besides Bloomfield and Patterson there was Fredericktown, Mill Creek, Independence, Bridge, and finally Cape Girardeau ... where Marmaduke squandered his potential victory and instead he was forced to retreat back to Arkansas.
But that isn’t where this story took place. No, not on some glorious battlefield, and not during some heroic or fool’s mission. But this event occurred even before McNeil ever arrived at Cape Girardeau. It happened on some long forgotten and lost to history small rural homestead in the middle of nowhere Missouri.
This is not only the story of what happened to that small band of brothers this is the true story of what war really is…
“In war, truth is the first casualty.”
Aeschylus (Greek playwright 525 – 456 B.C.E)
