Certainly the O.R. tells us the answer to your question about Milks' orders in this regard, and clearly tells us on a broader scale that a chain of command was optional in Missouri during the Civil War.

Gen. Clinton B. Fisk was in direct contact with Captain Milks, and was giving him direct orders to hunt down Sam Hildebrand and those associated with him, and to kill them. And John Highley, who was found by Milks at Prairie du Rocher, was very closely associated with Hildebrand. Based on this, it seems to me that Milks was following orders in his actions.

In this regard as it relates to Hildebrand and his associates (read Highley), Fisk was directly ordering Milks: "Strike swiftly." "Don't stop until you kill these rascals." "Go at once." "Kill them as you find them." "Press every man, horse and gun you can find, and let the hunt, pursuit and extermination be sure and swift." Given these words--i.e., go find them and kill them--it's not suprising that Milks did not feel the Mississippi River and Illinois state line to be a hindrance to the mission he was given.

Milks receiving his orders in regard to Hildebrand and his associates outside the chain of command was no aberration. Look through the O.R.---it happened all the time. No reason for Milks' chain of command to come up to him, and say, "yeah Milks, what he said goes for me too." Clearly Fisk wanted Milks directly reporting to him on this--therwise Fisk's orders would have gone down the chain.

The carte blanche Fisk gave Milks partially played out at Prairie du Rocher, and Milks was given the equivalent of a ticker tape parade after he got back to Missouri. And the two men who afterwards complained about Milks' actions at Prairie du Rocher and, in essence, tried to rain on Milks' parade, were dealt with swiftly and aggressively. A rogue Captain Milks could not have initiated the type of retaliation against those men two men--but general officers out of St. Louis sure could have.