Okay, I think I've cracked the code on this one. So we have another recent thread on this board, below, discussing how Confederate P.O.W.s who had been identified as being involved in the Centralia Massacre were sent to Tullahoma, Tenn., and were executed by a provost marshal squad from Company B, 42nd Missouri Infantry. And in that earlier thread we discussed in multiple posts, with citations, how the Federal troops in that area were summarily executing prisoners in general.

In studying the correspondence of Gen. Robert H. Milroy archived in his papers, who was in command at Tullahoma, I came across his lengthy May 3, 1865 letter to an unidentified Union Major. In dissecting that letter line by line, at page 5 I came across this entry discussing the summary killings of Confederates: "...The evidence being on file in my Provost Marshals office, and that therefore they come under the order of Maj. Gnl. Sherman contained in his letter of instructions to Genl. Burbirage & adopted as official in the Dept. to treat all such men as "wild beasts" I never recd an official copy of said official letter but saw it in the news papers. When therefore I become satisfied that a man who was killed was a guerilla & bushwhacker I inquired no further & approved the killing."

This entry jumped right out at me. I quickly identified "Gen. Burbirage" as being General Stephen G. Burbridge, who was tagged with the name "Butcher of Kentucky." Operating on the assumption Gen. Milroy did not make up the "wild beasts" comment to the unnamed Major, since it could easily be checked out by said Major, I started combing through the O.R., and I found it--

O.R. Ser. 1, Vol. 39, Pt. 2, pp. 135-136-- June 26, 1864 Major General W.T. Sherman, to General Burbridge, Commanding District of Kentucky. "First. You may order all your post and district commanders that guerrillas are not soldiers but wild beasts unknown to the usages of war." The lengthy communication goes on to discuss how Federal military authorities have to take matters into their own hands to deal with guerrillas, and pretty much gave them free rein to do so.

So...in looking at the area under the authority of Sherman, he was placed in command of the Military Division of the Missisiippi on March 18, 1864, which at the time encompassed the Depart. of the Ohio, the Dept. of the Cumberland, and the Dept. of the Tennessee. Thus bringing Gen. Milroy under the authority of the "not soldiers but wild beasts" instructions.

I would also note that Sherman was not in any chain of command over Missouri. Thus, apparently the impetus was provided for Missouri authorities to ship prisoners in custody over into the Division of the Mississippi, which had unfettered authority. And so the Centralia-connected prisoners were sent to Tullahoma, Tenn., at which post the 42nd Missouri Infantry was stationed.

Now for a little more insight and analysis--sending the Centralia prisoners to Tennesse instead of Kentucky, was likely necessary for any designs of having them executed. The provost guard at Tullahoma, as we know from our previous threads, was Company B, 42nd Missouri Infantry. And when and where was Company B recruited? Well it was recruited in September 1864 in and around Macon, Missouri, in north central Missouri, right in the midst of the exact timeframe and geographic setting of the Centralia Massacre.

For you newspaper sleuths, this wild beasts correspondence was published in at least three dozen newspapers from which Milroy could have seen it, most prominently apparently, in the Chicago Tribune, the New York Herald and the Baltimore Sun. And as far away as Ireland, England and Scotland. But also in the in Chattanooga newspaper, the Chattanooga Daily Rebel. Chattanooga, which was under Union occupation, is 75 miles from Tullahoma, and it appears the newspaper was being published in Georgia at the time, but still distributed (undoubtedly with great difficulty) in its namesake city.