No, that man was probably just where he wanted to be. The 81st and 82nd EMM of that area were "Paw Paw Militia," known to contain many southern men, but enrolled and armed by the Union anyway to fight guerrillas. Earlier that July whole companies of those guys changed sides and joined Confederate recruiter Lieutenant Colonel Thornton in his uprising. Once northern forces in the area finished putting down Thornton's uprising they had little mercy on the turncoat EMM that had joined him and killed many of them. This was a black chapter in Missouri's Civil War history.

Bruce Nichols