In late May, 1865, seven Confederate soldiers from Wayne County, Missouri, were en route home following their parole from service at Jacksonport, Arkansas. Enountering Federal troops, the Confederates were summarily executed. In 1870, their families and friends erected a monument to their memory in the Cowan Cemetery in Wayne County. It reads as follows:

"In memory of our fallen brothers. Murdered May 28, 1865. Tied, Blindfolded and Shot by U. S. Troops after they had surrendered. Erected 1870."

On the other three sides of the monument are engraved the names of the slain men:

Michael S. Barnhart, b. Nov. 5, 1843
Rufus Holmes, b. June 27, 1827
Hugh McGee, b. Aug. 3, 1844
Jonas Myers, b. July 15, 1820
Thomas Raney, b. Sept. 19, 1844
George R. Smith, b. Dec. 20, 1844
Nick Taylor, B. 1845