That's a nice little local study you have done there Jeff. Very impressive. I have always thought it would be interesting to put together a computer program that could chart enlistment patterns for Missouri. Put a blue or grey dot on a map for a given area, and see what's what.

That Pike/Lincoln county border area was a hotbed of early-war recruiting activity. The Dorsey boys and Arch Bankhead were the most prominent locals to come out of there. Ironically, the Dorseys were brothers-in-law of James Broadhead, who was credited by one nineteenth century historian as being one of the two men (the other being Frank Blair) most responsible for holding Missouri in the Union at the beginning of the war.

Burbridge was the most prominent Pike to fight for the Confederacy. In the early days of the war, when both sides were literally shouting at each other in the streets of Pike County, Burbridge boldly took a wagon up to the county militia's armory, convinced the guard he was moving the weapons to keep them out of the hands of the Rebel-supporters, and then hauled them off. He then based himself in the county border area, and used those rifles to very good effect as recruiting tools. His Pike and Lincoln boys then ended up playing a key role in the earliest battles of the war. I occasionally run across an account here and there speaking to the effect that 'and then Burbridge showed up with his well-armed recruits....'

After that, the Federals really solidified their control over both counties, and all but shut down Rebel activities and recruiting, with just a handful of exceptions. Those boys who joined the 3rd MSM Cavalry would have been fairly strong Unionists, as would the ones from the 5th MSM (that was Fagg's 6-month militia, not the later version of the 5th MSM). The boys in the 37th EMM would have been a collection of fence-sitters, would-be Rebels who couldn't get out, and family men who might have had Unionist convictions but didn't care to get shot at. Those fence-sitters and family men, and maybe even some of the would-be Rebels, joined up in the Union 49th Missouri Infantry in the latter months of the war. Price's Raid had been disastrous for the Confederates, the war was winding down, the handwriting was on the wall, the enlistment bonuses were pretty darn good, and the prospect of post-war pensions loomed large.