Summary of a recent trip to Mo.
On the week of 10-12-98 Shirley and Ron Cato (descendants of
the NorthEast Ark--formerly Mo Cato's), His Father D W Cato and
Mom Flora, Adruain (myself) and wife Vi went to South East Mo for
a Tour and hunt for family history. Some pictures were taken and when
they are developed I will try to send them over the computer but they
may be too large of a file for the parameters of the messages to accept.
If you are not familiar with the story of the Battle of Mingo swamp I
will refresh you memory before I start my journey.
On 2/3/1863 The Union army rode into Simeon Cato's farm where
Daniel McGee (nephew of Simeon) were holed up according to the
Union officer's report (F W Reeder) to his commanding officer B F
Lazear. He wrote and I quote" We suddenly came to the house of S.
Cato, a man who had been harboring these outlaws for a long time,
and perceiving a considerable number of men feeding their horses, we
dashed upon them before a single one of them had a chance to escape.
They were at once recognized McGee's band and as our approach was
as sudden as it was unexpected , they fled in confusion across the large
cornfield in the center of which the house of Cato stood. My men were now
in their element, and whilst others quickly tore down the fence of the
cornfield,
the rest surrounded it, and within 15 minutes we had exterminated the
whole band. We took no prisoners from amongst them, as I had previously
given the order not to do so. We counted 9 killed, amongst them McGee;
20 mortally wounded, and three slightly, the latter of whom we brought in."
He went on to say that they left them for the friends and neighbors to bury
because there were plenty close by.
On the internet from Rosecity net on the war in South East Mo. on the
Bollinger Co. site last paragraph reads---
Greenbriar cemetery, in southern Bollinger Co, contains a mass grave
discovered
many years ago. An investigation of the grave determined the plot contained
the remains of Confederate soldiers. Uniforms, Buttons,and skeletal remains
were found. The remains are thought by some to be those of Confederate troops
under the command of Captain Daniel McGee who were killed by Union troops
in the Mingo swamp on Feb 3 or 4, 1863. Although accounts may vary, over 20
confederates were killed in the encounter, while no Union soldiers were
injured.
Although McGee is documented in the National Archives as being a Confederate
officer, Union troops at the time considered him an outlaw.
I said all of this to set the tone for the summary of our visit which I
will send in my next message.
Adruain