Captain Champion seems to have been quite a striking figure - brave and daring to a fault. His men loved him. I have found quite a few references in St. Louis materials on the web, in old books and old newspaper articles, which tell of his skill and leadership as a cavalryman. However, I can find no biographical material other than he was a big 6'2" Irishman, mid-twenties, had worked as a steamboat mate on the Mississippi before the war, lived in St. Louis and possibly had lived in Illinois earlier. He was one of the young leaders with Price early on.

There are interesting articles on an incident which occurred at Courtland, Alabama, July 25th, 1862, in a raid there in which he, according to which version you read, either killed or captured the leader of the Union Cavalry. By doing so, he unknowingly fulfilled the wishes of the wealthy and beautiful "Belle of Courtland" to revenge the disrespectful treatment of the Courtland folks and herself. She had made a promise to marry whoever would rid the country of the scourge. Champion decided to meet the lady who had made such a promise, and of course, became engaged to her. However, fate stepped in, and he was killed a month later, on Aug. 30, 1862, leading a charge at Middleburg, TN, near Bolivar. Any ideas on who the "Belle of Courtland" might be?

Also, does anyone know who the federal cavalry officer was that Champion either killed or more likely captured, since Ed Bearrs says no high ranking officer was killed that day. A couple of the article say a "Col. Robertson or Robinson" but I find no one of that name or rank. From what I can tell it was likely B. B. Eggleston, who was at the time a captain, but was made a colonel shortly afterward his parole, and who eventually became a general.

Also, is there any record of where Rock Champion was buried? Thanks for any help.