The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Allison murders, Benton Co. 1863

Sherry,

Yes, changing the location to Benton County makes a lot of difference. Further, Gay's Benton County Probate Courth Case Index showing the date of 3 August 1863 for Hugh Allison's estate helps, too. Does that date match the time you had for these murders?

Individuals of the Union 7th Cavalry MSM who were stationed in and near Benton County and who also lived in this area prewar went beserk in the early days of August 1863. On their own they murdered several men of southern sympathy and burned several homes in the Warsaw area and in north Benton County. Federal authorities investigated the atrocities in October 1863, but witnesses were reluctant to give out much information for fear of retaliation. The investigation revealed that the drunk soldiers also committed crimes against northern sympathizers, too. The Allison name does not appear in the lists of victims, however.

Further, there was a small but determined southern guerrilla band headquartered along the Osage River in Benton County during this time known to murder travelers along the roads. Little was documented about their activities during August 1863.

I wrote of these events in Chapter 12 "Summer 1863 in Southwest Missouri" of my recent book in a section entitled "General Mayhem in Hickory, Benton, Henry, and Morgan Counties During August."

My sources for the Union atrocities include:
--the "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," series 1, vol. 22, part 2, several entries;
--Miles, "Bitter Ground," pp. 39-63;
--Britton's "The Civil War on the Border," vol. 1, pp. 40-46; and
--Goodspeed's old history of Benton County, pp. 493-495.

My sources for the guerrilla atrocities in this area about this time include:
--the old Goodspeed history of Benton County, p. 497; and
--Miles, "Bitter Ground," pp. 199-201;

All of the victims of both these groups were men and older boys to my knowledge. In my research I have not seen that either group murdered women at this time, but maybe I missed something.

Can you tell us exactly where the Allisons were living in Benton County when this happened? Do you have any other details of the murders? Are we to assume that the murder victims included Hugh, his wife Sarah, James, and two of the daughters?

Bruce Nichols

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