Ummm, we have a problem.

I see that Private John Y. Lamasters enlisted at age 28 at Buffalo, Dallas County [which got walloped rather badly by a tornado just a few days ago, I may add.], on 2 August 1862 in Company I, 8th Missouri Cavalry Regiment. Unfortunately, the online card for him in the Missouri Secretary of State's Office, Missouri State Archives, only has that information on him on the card from that source. I do not have online his entire record or any mention of his death.

I mentioned at the start that this seems to be a problem because the Union troops defending against Quantrill's band on November 5 were Captain Martin Breeden of Company L of the 8th Cavalry Regiment Missouri State Militia and some of his troopers of that regiment-not any part of the 8th Missouri Cavalry Regiment.

I glanced in Frederick Dyer's "A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion," vol. 3, page 1308 to see what Dyer's thumbnail history of the 8th MO Cav says they were doing in early November 1862. Dyer says at that time "Blount's Campaign in Missouri and Arkansas October 17-December 27." Dyer erred calling the Union commander "Blount" because it was actually Union Brigadier General James G. Blunt, commanding the Army of the Frontier.

Now, not all of the 8th MO Cav was with Blunt. I read in "Official Records" series 1, vol. 13, pages 554 and 808 that BG Egbert B. Brown was complaining that he was having difficulty arming all of the 8th MO Cav, so that he kept a detachment of the 8th MO Cav with him at Springfield, Missouri until he could properly arm them before sending them out in a war zone with General Blunt's Army of the Frontier. Unfortunately, I don't know which part of the 8th MO Cav went down into Arkansas with Blunt and which part remained in Springfield, MO with Brown.

You should be able to discover where Company I of 8th MO Cav was located on 5 November 1862 by going to a large library that has the about 100 volumes of Broadfoot Publishing Company's "Supplement of the "Official Records" part 2, Records of Events in Volume 35 to read the itinerary of both the regiment and Company I. I don't have that [or any place to keep it, either].

That's about the best I can do about determining where Private Lamasters or Company I, 8th MO Cav was located on November 5, 1862 when you say he died. I am rather certain he was not in Lamar that night fighting off scores of guerrillas. Besides, Captain Breeden wrote that only three men of his command of 8th Cavalry MSM were killed or mortally wounded that night. I think that if PVT Lamasters died in battle his card would show that. I wonder if he died of something else in either Springfield or down in Arkansas with General Blunt.

Jason, I hope that helps.

Bruce Nichols