The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Bingham's Order No. 11 Painting

Keith,

You are probably referring to what the Yanks called "the Warder Church Fight" of 10 July 1864 when Captain Marlin C. Henslee with a patrol of about 50 7th Cav MSM troopers caught one of the Wilhites (Jeff, I think) with seven or eight guerrillas at church near Wellington, northwest Lafayette County. The bushwhackers were there because one of them was to be married there immediately after the service. The church was on an exposed bluff and was hard for the Federals to approach unnoticed, which is probably why Wilhite chose it. I think someone informed on the guerrillas. Captain Henslee sent a sergeant with an advance of six riders dashing across a little bridge to hold the guerrillas in place, and then the rest of the Union riders would come in from another direction to finish the job. Of course, when the advance came thundering in over the bridge the southerners fired a few shots and some dispersed to escape through the brush. Some of the Rebels remained at the building to make a fight of it, and Captain Henslee told the noncombatants to squat and shot down those bushwhackers. The Federal cavalry ran down one or two of those escaping through the brush and killed them, too. When it was over five guerrillas were dead or mortally wounded (including Wilhite and Alvis Estes) and one Union trooper was wounded. I don't have any southern versions of this.

Sources for the above include:
--Dyer's, "Compendium," vol. 2, p. 810 (just bare facts);
--"O.R." series 1, vol. 41, part 1, pp. 65-7;
--"Lexington Weekly Union," 12 or 14 July 1864;
--"Kansas City Daily Journal," 20 July 1864, quoting the Lexington paper;
--"Missouri Statesman," Columbia, 12 August 1864, quoting the Lexington paper;
--1937 Cooper County history, p. 95 (which I think tells me this was Jeff Wilhite instead of all the other Rebel Wilhites from that region.).

Bruce Nichols

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Bingham's Order No. 11 Painting
Re: Bingham's Order No. 11 Painting
Re: Bingham's Order No. 11 Painting
Re: Bingham's Order No. 11 Painting
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Re: Bingham's Order No. 11 Painting
Text of Bingham's Address
The "Border Ruffians" Painting