Frisby Henderson McCullough | |
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| Born | March 8, 1828 New Castle County, Delaware, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 1862 (aged 34) Kirksville, Missouri, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Allegiance |
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| Service | |
| Battles / wars | Siege of Lexington |
Frisby Henderson McCullough (March 8, 1828 – August 8, 1862) was a Confederate army soldier in the American Civil War, executed on the orders of Union Colonel (later a general) John McNeil after the Battle of Kirksville.
Born in New Castle County, Delaware, to James and Delia (Pennington) McCullough, he moved with his parents to Marion County, Missouri at the age of 12. McCullough went to California during the 1849 Gold Rush and remained there for 5 years. On November 26, 1856, he married Eloise Randolph in Marion County. They became the parents of three children, including a son who went on to practice law in Edina, Missouri.
At the outbreak of the war, McCullough joined the Confederate forces under General Thomas Green. He took part in the Battle of Lexington, before being sent by General Sterling Price to recruit in northeastern Missouri with Joseph C. Porter in the spring of 1862. [1] [2]
During the guerrilla campaign in Northeast Missouri in the summer of 1862, McCullough sought unsuccessfully to persuade Colonel Porter to restrict himself to recruiting and not engage the Union forces. According to one of his men, Joseph Mudd (see references), this was because McCullough feared the retaliation Federal forces would inflict upon civilian Southern sympathizers. The observation may accurately reflect McCullough's character, which is universally praised, but it is colored by the author's Confederate perspective. Prior to the engagement at Kirksville, McCullough again urged Porter to decline battle and send his raw recruits to Arkansas for training and equipping behind Confederate lines. Porter refused and McCullough proposed that Porter at least wait in the cornfields outside of town, instead of fighting in the village itself. Again, his advice was ignored.
After Porter's disastrous defeat at Kirksville, McCullough became ill. Declining Porter's offer of escort, he rode alone towards Edina to recover and continue recruiting. He was discovered by Federal troops and surrendered. [3]
McCullough requested to be sent to Palmyra, rather than to Kirksville, possibly because he had already heard of the executions of prisoners there, but the request was denied. Although he had been treated well in Edina, according to eyewitnesses he was paraded up and down the streets of Kirksville to jeering crowds. He was accused of lacking a military commission, of fighting on his own authority — that is, of being a bushwhacker— and of persuading parolees to return to Confederate service.
A drumhead court-martial was convened on Friday, August 8, by Lt. Col. W.F. Schaffer of Merrill's Horse. McCullough stated that he had been elected second in command of the regiment of Colonel Cyrus Franklin, but had not yet received his commission. He had also previously held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Missouri State Guard, but that commission had long since expired. McCullough was found guilty and sentenced to be shot. The officer who read the death sentence did so with tears.[ citation needed ]
McCullough made two requests before his execution: that he be allowed to write a letter to his wife, and for permission to give the firing squad orders to fire. Both were granted. After being taken west of Kirksville to be executed, he gave the order to the firing squad "What I have done, I have done as a principle of right. Aim at the heart. Fire!" Of the first volley, only one shot hit McCullough, and he survived. He requested for his leg, which had been pinned under him, to be straightened, and was then executed via pistol shots. McCullough's final words were "May God forgive you this cold-blooded murder." [4]
Union Colonel McNeil wrote: "Col. McCullough was tried […] under order No. 2 of General Halleck and Nos. 8 and 18, of General Schofield. He had no commission except a printed paper authorizing 'the bearer' to recruit for the Confederate Army. He was found guilty of bushwhacking, or of being a guerilla. He was a brave fellow, and a splendid specimen of manhood. I would have gladly spared him had my duty permitted. As it was, he suffered the fate that would have fallen to you or to me if we had been found recruiting inside the Confederate lines. He met a soldier's death, as became a soldier."
The intensely pro-Union Palmyra Courier was restrained in its criticism of McCullough: "We have known him personally since he was a boy. He was ever, as a citizen, a high-toned gentleman – really a noble specimen of a man. Brave as a lion, no danger could intimidate him. We doubt whether the rebel ranks contain a more honorable man than he was. Yet his judgment led him to commit the fatal error of taking up arms against his country. He has been one of the most active and vigilant rebels in the Northeast Missouri [sic]. Honorable as he was, however, as a gentleman, he justly merited the fate he received, as a rebel, in unlawful and barbarous warfare against the authorities of the land. Had he engaged in the service of his country with the zeal he evinced against it, he would doubtless have risen to a high position of honor and renown." He was interred at the Ashbury Methodist Church South of Steffenville Mo. The church is no longer there but the cemetery still exists today.
While there may have been some technicalities as to McCullough's commission, he was in fact wearing a Confederate officer's uniform when captured and was acting under orders from General Price. Reaction to his execution was generally negative. It was viewed by many as neither necessary nor just, and may have done more to galvanize pro-Southern sympathies than to discourage activities of the type McCullough was charged with. [5]
Scotland County is a county in northeastern Missouri. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,716, making it Missouri's seventh-least populous county. Its county seat is Memphis. The county was organized on January 29, 1841, and named for the country of Scotland.
Kirksville is the county seat and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri. Located in Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 census. Kirksville is home to three colleges: Truman State University, Moberly Area Community College, and A.T. Still University.
Florida is a village in Monroe County, Missouri, United States. It is located at the intersection of Missouri Route 107 and State Route U on the shores of Mark Twain Lake. In 1910 the population was 200, per the census data in the 1911 Cram's World Atlas. As of the 2020 census, however, the reported population was five. The Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site is located in Florida, with Mark Twain State Park nearby.
The Battle of Kirksville took place during the American Civil War and was fought in the town of Kirksville, Missouri, on August 6, 1862. The Union victory helped consolidate Federal control over northeastern Missouri.
The James–Younger Gang was a notable 19th-century gang of American outlaws that revolved around Jesse James and his brother Frank James. The gang was based in the state of Missouri, the home of most of the members.
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The First Battle of Independence was a minor engagement of the American Civil War, occurring on August 11, 1862, in the city of Independence, located in Jackson County, Missouri. Its result was a Confederate victory, continuing the Southern domination of the Jackson County area for a few days while the recruiters completed their work.
The Battle of Lone Jack took place during the American Civil War on August 15–16, 1862 in Jackson County, Missouri. The battle was part of the Confederate guerrilla and recruiting campaign in Missouri in 1862.
The Palmyra massacre is an incident that took place in Palmyra, Missouri on October 18, 1862, during the American Civil War, when ten Confederate prisoners of war were executed in reprisal for the abduction of a local Union supporter, Andrew Alsman. The officer who ordered the execution, Colonel John McNeil, was later known as the "Butcher of Palmyra". He left the army in 1865, after receiving the customary promotion to brevet rank of Major General of Volunteers in recognition of his faithful service to the Union.
Bushwhacking was a form of guerrilla warfare common during the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War and other conflicts in which there were large areas of contested land and few governmental resources to control these tracts. This was particularly prevalent in rural areas during the Civil War where there were sharp divisions between those favoring the Union and Confederacy in the conflict. The perpetrators of the attacks were called bushwhackers. The term "bushwhacking" is still in use today to describe ambushes done with the aim of attrition.
Joseph Chrisman Porter was a Confederate officer in the American Civil War, a key leader in the guerrilla campaigns in northern Missouri, and a figure of controversy. The main source for his history, Joseph A. Mudd is clearly an apologist; his opponents take a less charitable view of him, and his chief adversary, Union Colonel John McNeil, regarded him simply as a bushwacker and traitor, though his service under General John S. Marmaduke in the Springfield campaign and following clearly shows he was regarded as a regular officer by the Confederacy.
John McNeil was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was most noted for his role in the Palmyra massacre and other acts of alleged brutality, as well as his participation in the Battle of Westport, the largest battle west of the Mississippi River. For his role in the Palmyra massacre, he was given the nickname "Butcher of Palmyra".
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USS St. Clair was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
The Skirmish at Blackwater Creek, also known as the Skirmish at Milford, was an American Civil War skirmish that took place in central Missouri on December 19, 1861 near present-day Valley City. It was a victory for the North.
Odon Guitar was a general in the Union Missouri State Militia during the American Civil War. He was noted for his successful campaign against Joseph C. Porter and John A. Poindexter's recruiting commands in northern Missouri.
The Battle of Moore's Mill was an American Civil War battle that took place in Central Missouri on July 28, 1862 along Auxvasse Creek near modern-day Calwood. This engagement, the Battle of Kirksville a week later, and the Battle of Compton's Ferry would drive the main Southern recruiters from northern Missouri. The Moore's Mill Battlefield was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
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Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1891). Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography . New York: D. Appleton.
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