Good sleuthing for the probable battle site, John.

Neil, I do not have any record for a fight about ten miles southwest of Roanoke at or near a Hackley family home. I looked in the "O.R." in the September 9 through 14 time frame, and could not find General Fisk's direction to Major King to take his force there to look for guerrillas or whatever. We know from an earlier message some months back in this forum that the compilers of the "Official Records" used some editorial license to omit many of the Civil War messages they felt were not as important as others or were rather mundane. I wonder if that is what happened to Fisk's September 11 direction to Major King about sending some of his force to the Hackley's.

I did see a mention that King's force was involved during this period in daily skirmishes and killed about two to four Rebels a day for a while, and I believe that not all of those skirmishes are recorded, since so many other actions, irregular and regular, were going on in the region at that time. King's force was only in Howard County during September and early October, before it was broken up and most of it sent to help form the defense of Jefferson City against General Price's approaching army. After the successful defense of Jefferson City, Major King's patchwork outfit of guerrilla hunters was not reformed, and the 13th Missouri Veteran Cavalry Regiment went on to other duties.

I calculated ten miles SW of Roanoke which placed the Hackley family in either Prairie, Richmond, or Chariton Townships, and, indeed, the index for the 1860 Missouri census shows Hackley households in all three townships, mostly in Prairie TWP (in north-central Howard County containing Roanoke and Armstrong). We have in Prairie TWP the households of F. H. Hackley on page 470, the households of Goodrich, James C., and John S. Hackley all on page 467, and the household of James P. Hackley on page 466. This makes sort of an enclave or community of Hackleys, and this group of Hackleys may have been prominent enough for someone to refer to it as a Hackley farm or hamlet. This is conjecture on my part, of course. In Richmond Township (central Howard County where Fayette is located) we have the John F. Hackley household on page 425, and in Chariton Township (west-central Howard County containning Glasgow) we have the R. S. Hackley household on page 509.

That's about all the help I can give you on this fight you say took place near the Hackley family home about September 12 or 13.

Bruce