APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE THE CONDUCT AND MANAGEMENT OF
THE MILITIA
- Published by The State Society of Missouri 1998
Transcribed by Kay Clerc-Fakhar
TESTIMONY OF JUDGE JAMES W. OWENS,
Circuit Judge of Franklin County
James W. OWENS, of lawful age, being produced, sworn and examined, states, that he
is Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in the State of Missouri and resides at Washington, Franklin County, Mo.; has resided in said county all his life, and is thirty-three years of age; has been acquainted with Maj. David MURPHY about four years; has known Capt. Andrew FINK, Lieut. RENNER, Geo. BOERGER and John C. HERMAN for about fifteen years all of the above named gentlemen have been, and are yet, unconditionally loyal men; they have been such since the outbreak of the rebellion in Missouri; and all of them have, during the rebellion, served in the military force of the Government in some capacity.
Maj. MURPHY was the first man I heard propose to join the Federal army in response to the call of President Lincoln for 75,000 men, and by his own efforts he recruited in Franklin County, Missouri, about thirty men, and with them went to the St. Louis Arsenal and joined the First Regiment Missouri Volunteer Infantry, then being organized by Col. Frank P. BLAIR, Jr.; they were, I believe, the first men recruited for the Federal service outside of St. Louis County.
Maj. MURPHY was a 1st Lieutenant in that regiment; he participated in the battles of Boonville and Wilson's Creek; at the last named battle he was severely wounded, and received the praise of all his superior officers, as being one of the bravest men on the battle-field.
In September, 1861, his regiment returned to St. Louis and was reorganized as an Artillery Regiment, and Maj. MURPHY was commissioned Captain of one of the companies in that regiment; after that he participated in the battle of Prairie Grove, and for skill and bravery shown in that battle he was promoted to be a Major of Artillery. He then went with Gen. HERRON's command to Vicksburg, in command of Artillery, and took part in the siege and operations in that vicinity; shortly after the fall of Vicksburg, he resigned and returned to Franklin County, Mo., and engaged in the occupation of school teaching.
Sometime about 1st September, 1863, one, James H. BARNES was killed in Franklin County, Mo.; the character of Barnes for loyalty was of the very worst stamp, and in every respect he was considered, by those who knew him, to be a violent and vindictive man; no arrests were made for the killing or other action taken in the matter at the time.
On the 3d Monday in September, 1863, the regular term of the Circuit Court was held in Franklin County, and in my charge to the Grand Jury, in addition to the several laws which it is my duty to call the attention of the Grand Jury to, I called their attention to the fact that it was their duty to make presentments, not only of the matters given them in charge, but of all violations of law which might otherwise come to their knowledge, and this they were bound to do by their oath.
I know of no cause; and am satisfied, from my knowledge of the facts, that there was no cause for fear on the part of any person who desired to give information to do so freely; nor was there so far as I could learn, any attempt to intimidate witnesses from attending and testifying in the BARNES case, or any other case at that term of the court.
On Tuesday, the second day of the term, a Lieutenant belonging to the 11th Cavalry Missouri Volunteers, with a detail of ten men, came to Union; the Lieutenant came [pg. 303 begins] into the court-room during the sitting of the court, and stated to me that he had an order to arrest certain citizens of Franklin County; and among those named was Capt. Andrew FINK, then a member of the Grand Jury, and Lieut. RENNER a member of the Petit Jury then engaged in the trial of a cause in the court.
I discharged Capt. FINK from the Grand Jury and Lieut. RENNER from the Petit Jury, and had others sworn in their stead. On the same day the Lieutenant showed me his authority for the arrest I read the same; it was an order issued by the Commander of the District of St. Louis, Brig. Gen. STRONG; the substance of the order was that he should take ten men, armed, to Franklin County, and arrest David MURPHY, Capt. Andrew FINK, Lieut. RENNER, and George BOERGER, and bring them to St. Louis, "in irons," and deliver them to the keeper of Myrtle Street prison.
He arrested FINK, RENNER and BOERGER; MURPHY was not there at that time, but was on his way to Washington City as one of a Delegation from this State. After his return to this State, he was arrested at Washington, Franklin County, Mo., at the same time John C. HERMAN was arrested; many efforts were made by the friends of these parties, through Hon. Henry T. BLOW and others, to procure their release from confinement on bail, and responsible men offered to give bonds for their appearance to abide a trial, in the sum of one hundred thousand dollars; the Department Commander and Lieut. Col. BROADHEAD, Provost Marshal General, refused to take bail and refused an application to allow the civil authorities to take jurisdiction of the case of Maj. MURPHY; they remained in prison until after the November election, 1863, with the exception of BOERGER, who was previously released on bond of $1,000; FINK, RENNER and HERMAN were released on bond of $1,000 each, conditioned for their appearance when notified to report; they have not yet been ordered to report for trial.
I understand that Maj. MURPHY has been tried by a military commission, and acquitted without offering any evidence whatever in his defense. I never heard or knew what charges, if any, were preferred against HERMAN; nor do I yet know for what he was arrested; he, as well as the others, was known as a Radical emancipationist; they were all active in urging the policy of immediate emancipation.
Capt. FINK, BOERGER, RENNER and HERMAN belonged to the 55th Regiment E.M.M.
The following part of the testimony refers only partly to the case, but cannot well be detached on account of the cross-examination:
I am acquainted with Col. Daniel Q. GALE, Henry C. EITZEN, Amos W. MAUPIN, and John T. VITT; have known them for twenty years or upwards; they are known as among the most loyal men of Franklin County; are men of influence and have been active in sustaining the Government and were, from the beginning of the war, known and recognized as the leaders and advisers of the unconditional Union men of their county. Daniel Q. GALE was Colonel, and Henry C. EITZEN Lieut. Colonel of the 64th Regiment E. M. M.; Amos W. MAUPIN was Colonel and John T. VITT Lieut. Col. of the 65th Regiment E. M. M. until the latter part of September, 1863, when they were all removed by the Governor.
I never heard of any complaints or dissatisfaction with them on the part of the loyal men of Franklin County; on the contrary, all were perfectly satisfied with them in their respective positions in the Militia, and there was universal dissatisfaction among both officers and men of the Militia at their removal; they, too, were immediate emancipationists, and freely spoke their opinions on that subject; their successors, appointed by the Governor, voted and acted with the party called Conservative.
August KRUMSWICK, who was appointed to succeed Col. MAUPIN, was not a member of the Militia in any capacity. M.D. REESE, who was appointed to succeed Henry C. EITZEN, did not belong to the regiment to which he was appointed, nor to the 55th Regiment. In the spring of 1861, both REESE and KRUMSICK had bad reputation for loyalty among the unconditional Union men of the county.
Cross-examination by Mr. DAVIS.
I further state, that these Colonels and Lieut. Colonels urged immediate emancipation after the passage of the Ordinance of July 1st, 1863, by means of the calling of a new Convention. To my best knowledge, I never heard of these men advising, counseling or urging that slaveowners should be deprived of their property, except in a constitutional and legal manner. I never heard of these men expressing a doubt as to the legality of the Provisional Government; as politicians, they were opposed to the policy followed by the Provisional Government.
As to Col. GALE, I did not think that he was as outspoken as he (in my judgment) ought to have been; I never heard him denounce the Provisional Government.
I participated in the Jefferson City Radical Convention and endorsed the resolutions; I was one of the committee drawing them up; I was present at the signing of the John BROWN song at that meeting, and joined in the chorus.
The last of April, 1863, an order called out the 64th and part of the 55th Regiment E.M.M.; the officers and men complied with eagerness, and in twenty-four hours they were ready to march. [page 304 begins]
As far as my knowledge goes, in the Ninth Judicial Circuit quiet is comparatively restored. The only dissatisfaction among the people is the appointment, now and then, of disloyal men to office. I have no knowledge of any charges made against Cols. GALE and MAUPIN, and Lieut. Cols. VITT and EITZEN. Amongst the loyal men of Franklin, it was generally believed that the cause of their removal was their being Radicals.
Question: At the time of the arrest of Maj. MURPHY, was there not martial law declared over all the State?
Answer: At this time there were Provost Marshals established in many counties of the State who arrested civilians, had them tried, and in some instances shot, by court martial.
Question: What were the charges against Maj. MURPHY?
Answer: I understood that MURPHY, FINK, RENNER and BOERGER were charged with the killing of the man BARNES; do not know for what HERMAN was arrested.
Question: State whether if your Grand Jury had indicted them, would you have arrested them?
Answer: I should have issued a writ of habeas corpus in their cases; I have in similar circumstances done it, and the writ has been obeyed by the military authorities.
Question: Has the Governor appointed, with his knowledge, disloyal men to office?
Answer: I do not know what the Governor's knowledge was. If he had enquired of loyal men he could have easily found out the standing of these appointees as to loyalty.
Question: State some such appointments.
Answer: In the counties of Perry and Ste. Genevieve, the loyal men there are universally dissatisfied with the appointment of one D. C. TUTTLE, as Major and Paymaster; and also Mr.
LEAVENWORTH, of Ste. Genevieve County, as Colonel; M. D. REESE and August KRUMSICK, of Franklin County, and Lewis JOHNSON; Lieut. Col. HESSER, of Jefferson County.
- Jas. W. OWEN.
Present, Messrs. DAVIS and O'BANNON
---------------------
It amazes me the difference of opinion of character that Broadhead and Stafford bring regarding Vitt, Maupin, Murphy, Fink and Gale. These folks were stringent Radicals, abolitionists, and emancipationists. And yes they abused their position of power within the militia structure for ther own ends IMHO. John R