Robert Rankin Russell was born July 15, 1817 in Jackson, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. His father came from Virginia and settled there about 1799. Robert later moved to northern Missouri and married Sarah Jane Sturgeon 12/11/1845 in Buchanan County, Missouri. About 1848 he obtained some land in Nodaway County, Missouri which became the town of Quitman. He was a farmer with Southern sympathies. During the war he joined the Confederacy 1/29/1862 in Springfield, MO- the service card was posted earlier on this. He was at the Battles of Wilson's Creek, captured Sugar Creek, Elk Horn and Farmington according to that service card. He was discharged in March 1863 because his health was so bad - chronic diarrhea. He remained in the South and after Vicksburg he helped nurse the sick and wounded soldiers. He went with the soldiers to Mobile, Alabama to help the sick there also according to the family story. His wife decided to move down South in Feb. 1864 because her family was so mistreated in Quitman, Missouri. They got a pass to go South and her husband met them there. They finally settled in Port Gibson, Mississippi and Robert died there 1/31/1872. His wife died 9/5/1915 at Port Gibson also. My information said they were buried at the family plot at the family home that was surrounded by a concrete wall. The family later sold this land to some timber company and some of them moved on to Texas to raise cotton.
I have a description written by his wife in 1915 about Robert's capture during the war. She says he had to escape from Quitman because he was being chased by the home guard. "He reached Price's Army just below Lexington, MO. Mr. Russell was put in charge of the Commissary Department. He and two other men were out foraging for food and supplies. Suddenly five of Jim Lane's men had their sharp shooters trained on them and they were taken prisoners and sent to prison at Ft. Worth, Texas. Mr. Russell was an exchange prisoner, exchanged for a Federal. " She mentions also he was next in Corinth, MS and it was after this he was given a discharge because of chronic diarrhea.
I have a question to ask also about the prison that Sarah Russell mentions in her memoirs. If a Confederate soldier was captured at Sugar Creek as I think his service card mentions - would he have been sent to Ft. Worth, Texas to prison? I would think it would be a Northern prison he was sent to. Any suggestions as to where he was sent? Does anyone have a prisoner exchange listing for Robert Rankin Russell? I would appreciate any help on this, thank you.