Bushwhacking -- a system of warfare and execution

Much has been written in this column about "bush-whacking" and "bush-whackers," both of which were very common in Missouri during the Civil War.

However, for the benefit of any new readers and a refresher for the faithful, I thought it would be best for Mr. Webster and the Union blue-bellied hounds to provide a definition, perception and reaction to the "bushwhackers" (partisan rangers, if you are of the Southern persuasion) and what "bushwhacking" was.

According to Mr. Webster's dictionary, the military definition of "bushwhack" is as follows:"to engage in guerrilla fighting, attacking from ambush or to ambush."

This type of warfare of course did not originate in Missouri during the Civil War.

It has been practiced in almost every war from ancient times to the present day. In North America it was used very successfully by the American Indians against the Euro-Americans in the "Indian Wars" from the 17th through the end of the 19th Century. However, the "Southern partisan rangers from Missouri refined or elevated "bushwhacking" or guerrilla fighting into an excellent system of warfare. The blue-bellied hounds were never as good as the Missouri Confederate foxes at bushwhacking, but by 1863 they were almost as good. Late in the war, both sides used bushwhacking in deadly earnest with a fatal killing effect.

The Civil War was just over a year old, in June of 1862, when the Union authorities decided to fight fire with fire and hoped to eradicate the Missouri guerrillas. The preferred course of action was to kill and not capture any bushwackers, but if any suspected bushwhackers were captured they had to be disposed of and it didn't take long for the Yankees to come up with a solution for doing so!

The Union commanders of the Department of Missouri and the Department of Kansas issued similar orders which described the an immediate and fatal way of disposing of a convicted bushwhacker or bushwhackers.

The following order from the Department of Kansas is located on Page 451 in Series I, Vol. 13 of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion:

Headquarters, Department of Kansas,Fort Leavenworth, June 26, 1862

General Orders No. 13:

Where as a system of warfare has been inaugurated known as bushwacking, in which all the rules of governing belligerents among civilized nations are discarded and whereby rebel fiends lay in wait for their prey to assassinate Union soldiers and citizens:

It is therefore ordered, and all commanders of troops and detachments in the field are especially directed, that whenever any of this class of offenders shall be captured they shall not be treated as prisoners of war, but be summarily tried by drum-head court martial (Note: This was a quick military trial in the field or camp) and if proved guilty be executed (by hanging or shooting on the spot), as no punishment can be to prompt or severe for such unnatural enemies of the human race.

By order of Brigadier General James G. Blunt:

Thomas Moonlight,

Captain and assistant Adjutant General.

The following order describes the sentence and manner of execution of three convicted Confederate guerrillas / bushwhackers at Mexico, Missouri on Sept, 5, 1862. There is no record of what they did, but die they did, all but one! This order is located on Page 66 in Series I, Vol. 13 of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion:

Headquartersm Northeast Missouri Division, Macon City, Mo. Sept. 2, 1862

Major Caldwell:

You will dispose of the prisoners as below directed in each case.

The execution will be by shooting to death and I desire that it may be done Publicly and with due form and solemnity, inasmuch as I wish the necessary effects produced without being compelled again to order an execution:

1st. John Gastemee, to be shot to death on Friday, the 5th of September, between the hours of 10 o'clock a. a. and 3 p.m. at Mexico, Mo.

2nd. William M. McFarland, to be shot to death on Friday, the 5th of September, between the hours of 10 o'clock a. m. and 3 o'clock p.m. at Mexico, Mo.

To be taken to the execution ground and the following order then read to him:

In consideration of the noble stand taken for the right by your brother, Captain McFarland, of the 9th Missouri State Militia, the commanding general is pleased to order that your life be spared and your sentence commuted to confinement during the war. This is a tribute to the patriotism and sense of duty of your brother and not out of consideration for a man who has not only committed the crime of unlawfully and in violation of all rules of civilized war taking up arms against his government, but who has added to that crime the fearful offense of blackening with perjury a soul already stained with crimes which no right-minded man can view except with horror and disgust. Let the awful example before you teach you the lesson you evidently so much need and show by your earnest repentance of your crimes that you are again worth to be called brother by an honest man.

3rd. Solomon Donaldson, to be shot to death on Friday the 5th of September, between the hours of 10 o'clock a.m. and 3 o'clock p.m. at Mexico, Mo.

Lewis Merrill

Brigadier General, Comdg. Northeast Missouri Division.

Well, now, an act of clemency given to a Confederate guerrilla/bushwhacker! This was very rare and unusual and it may have been done as a way to help convince other bushwhackers to give up bushwhacking. Did the public execution of two out of three bushwhackers and offer clemency for the third assist in eliminating bushwhacking?

No, not at all, because the brutal, barbaric killing that was our Civil War and the "system of warfare known as bushwacking" continued with a vengeance until the war officially ended in 1865 and then the murderous blood feuds that were spawned in Missouri during the war continued for generations to come!