There were actually fewer skirmishes than normal in south-central Missouri between Union and Confederate forces in the spring and summer of 1864 because Confederate General Shelby ordered all units then in southern Missouri to assemble under his command in northern Arkansas. Shelby wanted to bring these units, including Freeman's, up to full strength with conscripts and captured deserters in anticipation of Confederate General Sterling Price's great Missouri invasion later in the year. However, small groups from these units slipped across the Missouri border to see families and catch up with a little farming from time to time. Also, Rebel officers sent some patrols to keep an eye on the Union troops back in Missouri, too.

Sadly for our purposes, many of the local Union and Rebels carried out their own fighting that was not recorded--personal type of warfare. This went on through the entire war and for some time after the war, too.

One official expedition through this area was conducted by Major James Wilson and a large patrol of 100 troopers of the 3rd Cavalry MSM between March 16 and 25 in which your William L. Campbell may have been killed. Union authorities sent Wilson's patrol to find out what all the Rebels were doing in the area and especially all those gathering on the Arkansas side of the border. Major Wilson's report is skimpy on details, but you can read it in "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies" series 1, vol. 34, part 1, pp. 642-3. He mentions fighting scattered southern troops belonging to Colonels Freeman, [Timothy] Reeves, [Solomon]Kitchen, and Joseph B. Love. Some of the actions during this patrol took place on the Eleven Points River and Spring Creek, not too far from the Campbell's homes in Dent and Texas Counties. Colonel Freeman's mid-May 1864 letter seems to indicate that he was at hand when William L. Campbell was killed, so perhaps he was killed fighting Major Wilson's patrol in March. It appears from my research and replies to your queries by others that Campbell's death is not reflected in official sources.

You mentioned a fight at "Martin Creek." I checked with both Ramsay's and Moser's online Missouri gazeteers of Missouri place names, but failed to find a Martin's Creek in the region where Colonel Freeman's command operated [which included Howell, Oregon, Texas, Shannon, Dent, Phelps, and Pulaski Counties and maybe others along with a few counties in Arkansas]. Perhaps somebody was describing a fight that took place near a creek near where a Martin lived. Anyway, I did find a Martin's Spring in northeast Benton Township of southwest Howell County. This would be southwest of West Plains which is in this same region. I have no knowledge of a fight at this location, but then, many of the fights in this region were not well recorded, as I indicated. Since Union Major Wilson does not give specific locations, one of the fights on his patrol could have taken place here.

I did a 1860 census check on the names in the civil court case, and nearly all are from Spring Creek Township in central Dent County (in the Salem area) and Sherrill Township of northeast Texas County (in the Licking area), which are not far apart. The census tells me that Jasper and Jefferson Brown (Thomas J. and Andrew J. Brown in the census) were sons in Squire Brown's economically poor household. Squire Brown was 62 in 1860, and I would guess that he died before the civil case was filed in January 1865. His death may have had something to do with Jasper and Jefferson's filing the suit. The Brown brothers mentioned they were taken to Little Rock and jailed. I would guess that they were conscripted by Rebel forces--maybe even Colonel Freeman--and refused to serve. Sometimes Confederate authorities jailed conscripts who failed to see the southern point of view of things. My own ancestor who lived near the Cumberland Gap in southeast KY was jailed by Confederate General Braxton Bragg's army down in Tennessee probably in 1862 for the same reason before he escaped and went home.

I regret that I failed to find very much specific information for you about William L. Campbell's death.

Bruce Nichols