Captain Bob Rucker, James Rucker, and Captain Jim Matlack rode past Glasgow, Howard County, where they were trailed between April 8-10, 1865 by Union Lt. James McKinsey and seven local militiamen eventually to Alexandria, Clay County, and were captured as they crossed to the Illinois side of the Miss. River. McKinsey and his men turned the three prisoners over to the provost marshall's office at Macon City, Macon County. The provost marshall's office turned the trio over to unidentified northern troops to transport them to higher authority, but somewhere along the way shot and killed all three allegedly while they were trying to escape. (Yeah, I know, that part stinks to me, too.)

I have listed sources for this story as:
--"Official Records," series 1, vol. 48, part 1, pp. 178-9;
--"Liberty Tribune," Clay County, 5 May 1865;
--"Daily Missouri Republican," St. Louis, 6 May 1865.

I haven't reviewed those sources for some time, but I will and get back to you if they reveal anything about the dead men's burial place. The "O.R." gave no information about what happened to the trio after Macon City, so that part I must have found in the two newspaper accounts.

Bruce Nichols