The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Engagements? 60th Regiment EMM Co C

Stemont,

Since the EMM operated as an emergency force whose members remained home at civilian pursuits until a threat approached their area, your best bet would be to look for old county histories and consult local period newspapers or other such local records.

It seems that Company C, 60th EMM was a Hickory County outfit according to the 1889 Hickory County history that listed some of the officers and little else. This source did not identify any of Company C's activities. There was no local newspaper published during the war in or anywhere near Hickory County. There may be some mention of the 60th in Hickory County in postwar newspaper accounts, but researching for those may be a tall order.

I know of some actions of the 60th EMM Regiment that was scattered by companies over a number of counties of southwest Missouri, and two or three of those companies were from Hickory County. I should warn you that much of the 60th EMM was a "shoot first and ask questions later" type of outfit, which was typical of both sides of the bitter style of guerrilla war fought in that part of Missouri.

That being said, a good source for information about your ancestor and his service in the war is the Missouri Secretary of State's website at http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/soldiers/ using his name or an approximate spelling. This should at least give you an idea of his military service record and when he was on active duty. Then, you may share that information with this forum, and some CW nuts such as me could apply your ancestor's time of active service against records to estimate what devilment his portion of the 60th got into. If you do that, please give us your ancestor's full name and the location where he lived down to county and township in that county, if you can. That information may assist us to determine what you ancestor may have experienced.

The Company C officers included company commander Captain William H. Leggitt, First Lieutenant William A. Pitts, and Second Lieutenant Hiram Dixon, according to the "Annual Report of the Adjutant General of Missouri For the Year Ending December 31, 1865.". The 60th was organized at the beginning of the EMM program in summer of 1862, although some companies were not organized until late that year. The region where the 60th EMM operated had a large population of southern sympathizers, so some counties there could only enroll one or two companies whose men were of northern sympathy. Company C was organized on 1 August 1862 and the three officers were placed in their positions on that date, probably by election of their own men, which was customary in the EMM program. First Lieutenant Pitts and some men of Company C were detailed during 1863 into sort of a "super EMM" called the 5th Provincial EMM that operated for some months that year on active duty and saw some action mostly fighting guerrillas. Company C and the rest of the 60th remained in place until March 1865 about when martial law ended in Missouri and civil rule was re-established in March 1865.

There. Clear as mud, right?

Bruce Nichols

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