Expeditions from Pilot Knob, Missouri, to Oregon County, Missouri, and Pocahontas, Arkansas (September 29 to October 26, 1863)

A pair of expeditions by men of the Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry (US) resulted in the capture of dozens of Confederate soldiers in Arkansas.

On September 28, 1863, Brigadier General Clinton B. Fisk ordered two detachments of the Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry (US) into southern Missouri and north-central Arkansas for the “extermination of bushwhackers, guerrillas, thieves and murderers, and the restoration of good order and quiet in the regions through which they operate.”

One expedition involved Captain W. T. Leeper, who led 150 men from Companies D, M, and L into Arkansas. They were involved at skirmishes in Buckskull (Randolph County) on October 1 and 10 before returning to Patterson, Missouri, on October 12, 1863, having killed several guerrillas and captured fifteen prisoners, thirty-six guns, and twenty horses and mules.

The second group was led by Major James Wilson and consisted of 200 men of the Third Missouri. After leaving Pilot Knob on September 29, they rode to Alton, Missouri, which would be their primary base of operations against guerrillas and Confederates in the Oregon County area.

They made one significant foray into Arkansas. Wilson led 140 men into Randolph County on October 5, first going to Jaynes’ Creek before riding west to the Spring River, then southeast to the Strawberry River. At Evening Shade (Sharp County), “we captured 35 prisoners, including 1 captain and 3 lieutenants, as well as all their horses, arms, and equipments.”

The detachment returned to Alton on October 9, sending their captives to the Union base at Pilot Knob. Wilson’s men continued patrolling the Oregon County area for a few weeks, finally riding back to Pilot Knob on October 26, having “killed 1 captain, 4 men, and wounded 2 others. Captured 1 captain, 3 lieutenants, and 76 men, as well as about 70 horses, a lot of arms of various kinds, horse equipments, &c.” One Union soldier was captured and paroled, and one suffered an arm wound during the expedition.

For additional information:
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series 1, Vol. 22, Part 1. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1888, pp. 680–685.

Mark K. Christ
Little Rock, Arkansas