I would strongly recommend you obtain a copy of James F. Thoma's 2003 "This Cruel Unnatural War," published by him, which is a detailed, well-researched history of the Civil War in Cooper County. I seem to recall that it is online someplace. Thoma was living in Kingsport, TN when he wrote this book, but I haven't heard from him lately. Since there is considerable spillover from Moniteau County CW events into east Cooper County, I think this book should help you a lot.

The 12 September 1864 event you mentioned is actually part of a chain of "circle of violence" events in which one side performs some dastardly deed, and the the other side has to retaliate, and so forth.

Some of the mobile guerrilla bands discovered in spring of 1864 that Cooper County was a good target and excellent source of horses, leading to a whole series of raids by Confederate Colonel Caleb Dorsey, Bill Anderson, George Todd, and a few others. The "Cliff Notes" version of this story is that a bunch of Bill Anderson's men idling in Howard County came over to NE Cooper County to raid mostly for horses about 10 September 1864. This is poorly sourced, but that is my take on it. Parts of the 4th Cavalry MSM were sent from Sedalia to chase them out, and 1LT John T. Kerr and most of Company A, 4th Cav MSM, were sent to garrison Boonville to prevent that from happening again. All Cooper County had in the way of Union troops at this time (after Captain Parke's disaster with his company of the 4th Cavalry MSM on 28 August 1864 across the river near Rocheport that led to his resignation) were some well-meaning companies of citizen guards manned mostly by former members of the 52nd EMM. Some of Kerr's men discovered that Cooper County had a large southern population (also a large population of northern sympathizers, too) and probably suspecting that some of them in NE Cooper County may have fed and sheltered some of those bushwhackers, engaged in murder and mayhem on September 12 to teach the rest a lesson. Editor Anderson only printed a portion of the total death toll, but some sources state that the Yanks actually looked up and murdered six southern men in all, most of these at home. I can only account for four dead by name, and they were also well-known, respected, citizens, and some had wealth, too. One of the dead was a miller at Gooch's Mill, and I seem to recall from my research that some lived near Pisgah (You get extra points if you can give the local pronunciation of this town name. I had to learn it from a California, MO native.).

General Sterling Price's staff officers had the guerrillas so stirred up from earlier behind-Union-lines councils of war with the bushwhackers in August that by September so much guerrilla stuff was happening all over the place that both the guerrilla raid for horses and the revenge killing by the 4th were hardly mentioned in the press and mostly local sources documented these twin events. You will recall that Price's troops crossed the state line and invaded Missouri on September 19, only about a week later. The guerrillas were raising cain in many parts of MO to keep the Union troops tied down to enhance Price's chances.

Bruce Nichols