Yes, the regulations specify that Union soldiers were to leave behind their weapons while away from post on furlough. Soldiers familiar with events in Missouri often managed to take along something for self defense, even if it was a privately owned pistol, or something similar. If they were coming from afar, and many of them were on furlough home from northern Georgia, they had to pass through too many sentries and military police (called provost marshals back then) to be seen toting a firearm. Those traveling from a Missouri-stationed unit did not have it as strict as that, especially the Missouri State Militia units, who knew the score.

Not to split hairs, but in reading some accounts of the Centralia train shooting event, two of those 23 ill-fated men had revolvers, but when they say the large number of guerrillas in town, they wisely dumped them before leaving the cars. I imagine they hoped they might have a chance, although on the face of things it didn't look good for them even before they got off the train.

There are in Missouri's folklore of Civil War stories several based on fact where guerrillas singled out furloughed soldiers while traveling on riverboats or trains. In several of these cases they never had a chance and their lives ended suddenly on the spot. The killing at the Centralia train station stands out since the death toll was so high. By the way, local accounts at Centralia indicate one or two Yanks actually escaped with help from townspeople when the shooting started and they were able to run through the crowd, but such tales are not well corroborated by other accounts.

Bruce Nichols