William,

You asked about the commander of Company C, 24th MO Infantry Regt. Evidently, this was a position that brought bad luck, based on the men who stepped into the officer ranks of this company.

Yes, Captain William F. Martindale took the Company C command slot in August 1861, with the reputation he brought to the position from being a captain in the Ozark County Home Guards from late June 1861 until 13 October 1861, when the company disbanded. You see, the Federal authorities ordered all the Missouri Union home guard units disbanded, because they tended to be self commanded, and did not always respond to Federal commands. Also, these home guards felt no need to join the official Federal units, while they maintained membership with their own home guard unit with their buddies, and etc. Disbanding the amateur home guard units freed up thousands of loyal Union men to join the federally-approved outfits, where their earlier home guard experience probably helped.

Martindale resigned his commission on 15 June 1863 or 17 January 1863, depending upon how your read the script on his service record. No reason given.

Uriah P. Johnson took the captaincy of Co. C 1 March 1863, and served as skipper until he was KIA at Pleasant Hill, LA 9 April 1864.

James Denny was first lieutenant of Co. C from 1 Nov 1861 until he resigned 2 Nov 1864. Possibly, Denny acted as Co. C commander after Captain Johnson was killed. As was customary in such resignations, no reason was stated in his service member record.

1LT E. J. Bennett took that position n(of first lieutenant) 10 Nov 1864, but the Company C officers' roster says in remarks only that Bennett was "not mustered" into the unit, whatever that means. I think that means that perhaps the Missouri General Assembly refused him the position, but not sure.

2LT R. C. Hoggins took his position (as 2nd LT) 1 Mar 1862, later transferred to Co. D at some point, was transferred back to the 2LT slot at Company C later, then was discharged under Special Order 215 and dismissed from the service by order of the President. No other details given, and I don't know if the S.O. was a regimental s. o., brigade order, or whatever, but Lincoln reviewed Hoggins' case and signed off on the dismissal. Lincoln commonly examined the files for derogatory orders of the Union army, and gave each one a yes or no based on his reading of the paperwork, especially if a citizen appealed to the commander-in-chief regarding the individual's case.

I hope this helps.

Bruce Nichols