Great article. Thanks for sharing it with us. I like your reference to "real people, real places." Stories like this do make the obscure combatants become less abstract.

Note the article's reference to James H. Virgin--"On April 8, 1862 in an engagement near Jackson, he was wounded...." and its reference to his brother Enoch Virgin--"While on picket duty, during a skirmish, Enoch's horse was killed on April 8, 1861. The terseness of military records do not give further details of this action."

While "the terseness of military records" might not provide us with details of what happened on that day, postwar first-person personal accounts do. In great detail. James Virgin was blasted at very close quarters with a shotgun by Confederate John Craig. Virgin's horse took most of the load, but Virgin caught enough of it that it took him out of the fight. That action that occurred near Jackson on April 8, 1862, was a very rousing affair that I wrote about a few years back under the title "The Fight At Jackson Fairground." This story even provides a great deal of detail on how James Virgin was wounded, and how his horse was killed (the 1975 Banner-Press article said it was Enoch Virgin's horse that was killed; a personal memoir of the battle which was found in a Craig family bible said it was James's horse that was killed).

Anyway, you can find that story here: http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/JacksonFairgrounds/index.htm It also provides a bit of information on the Fremont Rangers and the 11th Battalion, Mounted Riflemen (aka 11th Missouri State Militia Cavalry).