HDQRS. ELEVENTH MISSOURI CAVALRY VOLUNTEERS, CAVALRY BRIGADE, SEVENTH ARMY CORPS, Little Rock, Ark., June 5, 1865.

Colonel JOHN LEVERING,
Assistant Adjutant-General, Department of Arkansas:

SIR: In view of the recently reported surrender of Brigadier General Joseph Shelby, rebel army, included in General Kirby Smith's capitulation, and of Captain John Raibon,* partisan leader (lately reporting to Brigadier-General Shaler, at Devall's Bluff), I have the honor to make the following report, and respectfully ask the action of the commanding general upon the facts set forth. In the month of July last a scouting party of the Eleventh Missouri Cavalry (then stationed at Devall's Bluff), consisting of 120 men and officers, under command of Captain Charles A. Williams, was sent northward toward Searcy. On the 27th of July, near West Point, a portion of the command, consisting of Captain George W. Weber (Company M), Lieutenant James S. Bainum (Company C), and twenty men, were surrounded and captured by a party under Raibon. + Three of the men were killed in the fight; three made their escape, and Captain Weber, Lieutenant Bainum, and fourteen men were taken off prisoners. The prisoners were taken to Jacksonport, then held by the forces under Brigadier-General Shelby, and some time after the enlisted men were paroled and forwarded to Benton Barracks, Saint Louis. Captain Weber and Lieutenant Bainum were held for a time in prison at Jacksonport, and it was supposed in this regiment for a long while that they had been transferred to the rebel prison at Tyler, Tex. Later, however, from one of the guard which took the party of Jacksonport (a deserter), from a Mrs. Prince, living between Jacksonport and Batesville, and from information derived from various and numerous sources by our scouting parties, a very different state of affairs has been developed. It is shown so clearly that those most acquainted with the circumstances entirely credit the story, that about the 1st of September, 1864, Captain Weber, Lieutenant Bainum, and Perry Fenlason, orderly sergeant of E. Squadron, Eleventh Missouri Cavalry, were removed from the prison at Jacksonport by order of Brigadier-General Shelby (then having his headquarters about four miles up the White River), were taken up the north bank of the White River by a sergeant in command of guard, and near the house of Mrs. Prince, on Magginni's farm, about eight miles from Jacksonport (a place known as the Island) were shot and killed. I have never learned that there was pretense that these unfortunate men were tried by any proper military tribunal, but it was claimed that the murders were committed in retaliation for some part offense of Captain Weber. The spirit actuating the guard is shown by this fact: On the way up the river, at a house not far from Mrs. Prince's, the prisoners were desirous of obtaining some breakfast, and the women of the house wished to prepare it for them, but this was refused by the sergeant, who said they would "get their bellies full in a short time," or words to that effect. Their bodies lay unburied until the troops under Major-General Mower, passing through, that portion of the country, hearing of the fact, sought them out and gave them a soldier's burial. Captain Weber and Lieutenant Bainum were among the most excellent, reliable, and capable officers in the regiment, possessing the confidence and regard of all who knew them, and always rendering most efficient service for our cause. Frequent efforts have been made to learn directly from the rebel commanders more particulars; personal letters have been forwarded through the lines and official communications sent up for transmittal, but never from rebel sources could any reply be had. Now that these rebel officers are within our power, I ask, in the name of violated laws of war, of the bereaved families of Bainum and Fenlason, and of outraged humanity, that they be held to answer for this offense. No terms of surrender can protect them for previous illegal act such as the crime thus alleged against the perpetrators. At the time the prisoners were sent from Jacksonport to their death Brigadier-General McCray was in command of that post. I do not know where he may be now, but I presume the proper authorities can all in Raibon at any time, and I respectfully request that this be done to the end of examining concerning the affair. I do not understand that he was responsible for the murders, but that they were committed under orders from Brigadier-General Shelby; still, Raibon can doubtless throw much light upon the subject. If further information is needed upon the subject I would respectfully request that some officer of this regiment be ordered to Jacksonport and Batesville and take evidence concerning it. That country has not been occupied by our troops since the murders were committed until recently.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JAMES F. DWIGHT,
Colonel, Commanding Eleventh Missouri Cavalry Volunteers.

*Reference is probably to M. V. Raibon. See Shaler to Levering, May 22, 3. 25 p. m., p. 543.
+See Vol. XLI, Part I, pp. 174,175.

OR V48 Pt. 2 pp. 782/3

There are numerous other mentions of Raibon in V48 parts 1 & 2