Mark--

As Bruce Nichols outlined previously, the 37th EMM was a Lincoln County outfit. Being sandwiched between the Unionist strongholds of Pike County and St. Louis, Lincoln County remained relatively quiet during the war. As Bruce also states, the 37th EMM was reported to be one of the best EMM regiments in the area. One or two companies of the 2nd Provisional Enrolled Militia were recruited out of the 37th EMM in mid-1863, as were a couple of companies of the 49th Missouri Infantry in late 1864.

Perhaps the most significant engagement involving the 37th EMM occurred in the spring of 1863. The following is excerpted from a manuscript I have written relating to Major A.V.E. Johnston and the evolution of his politics and mindset that resulted in him leading his men to slaughter at Centralia on 27 Sept. 1864 (Johnston’s unit in the spring of 1863 was the 2nd Provisional Enrolled Missouri Militia; his unit at Centralia was the 39th Missouri Infantry)--

“After spending six weeks organizing and equipping, the 2nd PEMM saw its first action when a Confederate force became active along the entire length of the Lincoln/Pike County line from Louisville to the Mississippi River. As rumblings of a band of ‘horse thieves’ operating in northern Lincoln County reached Troy, the Lincoln County Provost Marshal, 1st Lt. John M. Reeds of the 3rd Missouri State Militia Cavalry, cobbled together a force consisting primarily of inexperienced men from Co. C, 37th EMM.

“On April 30, Reeds took his fifty-man force to Auburn, where a large number of horses had been stolen. From there the trail led north to the farm of a noted local secessionist, Captain Arch Bankhead, between Louisville and Prairieville (now Eolia). While Bankhead was off serving the Confederacy at the time, Drury Pulliam, assistant adjutant to Colonel Sidney D. Jackman, was making the site his headquarters as he was aiding local resident Charley Wren in recruiting a Rebel company.

“Still thinking he was pursuing simple bandits, Lt. Reeds led his men straight into Pulliam and Wren. Fired upon from the brush, a dozen mounts were shot out from under the Union troops in a brief skirmish during which five militiamen were wounded.

“In addition, during the ambush one Federal, Sylvester Milsap, was shot in the forehead, killing him instantly. In the election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln had received but three votes in Lincoln County (which was named for a Revolutionary War general, not the president). With the death of Milsap, fully one-third of the 1860 Abe Lincoln electorate had been eradicated.

“Reaction to the attack came swiftly. Word that 500 Confederates were operating in the area (the actual number probably never exceeded 32) was sent to Hannibal, resulting in Major A.V.E. Johnston being detailed down along with a battalion of the 2nd PEMM. Exhibiting the mindset of at least part of the 2nd PEMM under Johnston’s leadership, one trooper in the unit, Private Joseph Garver, wrote of the purpose of this particular mission -- ‘we have come to defend the innocent and punish the guilty ones only; and they may rest assured they will get it before we leave here; for we have found to our sorrow, that leniency to traitors and cowards is now played out, and severe and summary measures must be adopted....’”

And adopted they were.