The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Major Reeder/Mingo Swamp/MSM consoldations

Effective Feb. 4, 1863 there was a massive overhaul of the entire Missouri State Militia cavalry system. Massive.

The MSM had originally been created in late 1861 through an act of the U.S. Congress following direct negotiations between Abraham Lincoln and Missouri Governor Hamilton Gamble.

That initial legislation placed no limits on the number of troops who could be enlisted into the MSM. In quick order 13,000 men enlisted in 14 cavalry regiments, 3 independent battalions, 2 artillery batteries, one independent company of cavalry, one independent company of infantry, and one independent company of sappers and miners. The cost of the MSM, by then, was growing exponentially greater than anyone had anticipated, with no end in sight.

The U.S. Congress once again became involved, and capped the number of troops in the MSM at 10,000. This number was reached by disbanding the independent units (except for the company of infantry, which was raised to a regiment), consolidating the 14 cavalry regiments into just nine regiments, and discharging large numbers of men.

These final consolidations became effective Feb. 4, 1863.

Which, through coincidence, was the same date the Mingo Swamp Massacre took place.

U.S. military regulations allowed only one man at the rank of major for every regiment. At the time of the MSM consolidations the 3rd MSM Cavalry had 2 majors (Richard G. Woodson and Henry L. McConnell), and the 12th MSM Cavalry had two majors (Frederick W. Reeder and George Leighton). Woodson, McConnell and Leighton were politically connected. The 12th MSM Cavalry also had also had a politically-connected surgeon, Henry M. Matthews, who, at the time, was lobbying hard for a major's commission and a command position in the MSM.

All these majors -- and that was just in the 3rd MSM and 12th MSM regiments. With all the consolidations going on, there were certainly an excess of majors throughout the entire MSM system and there simply was no room for Reeder in the MSM, let alone in the 3rd MSM. Consequently, Reeder's resignation, effective as of the date of the consolidations, should not come as any surprise. With the facts before you and if you want a billet elsewhere in the U.S. Army, best that you show what a good soldier you are and resign rather than get fired. Neither should it be surprising that Reeder went ahead and completed a report after February 4. If you want a position in the U.S. military, wherever it might be, then you again show what a good soldier you are by dotting your i's and crossing your t's and not leaving any unfinished business behind when you leave your former military command. Doing so would be a sure way to get blackballed by politically connected men when you try to sign on somewhere else (and the 3rd MSM Cavalry had 2 of the most powerful Missiourians on the national stage as its patrons -- U.S. Attorney General Edward Bates and U.S. Senator John B. Henderson, both of whom were close to Abraham Lincoln).

Regarding the conspiracy theory-type claim that Reeder didn't write the Mingo Swamp Massacre report, the first time I read that I got a bit of a chuckle. As this theory goes, Reeder's commanding officer, Bazel Lazear, actually wrote the report. The proof, according to the theory, is simply that there was a misspelled name or word in the report, and that Reeder would not have misspelled. And that Lazear would have. No explanation regarding why Reeder would not have, and why Lazear would have. That's simply the way it was, according to the theory.

Look at the support for the misspelling theory. And then consider that Reeder was a native German. And that Lazear was a native Virginian -- as well as a postmaster by profession.

Messages In This Thread

Major Frederick W. Reeder, 12th MSM Cav
Re: Major Frederick W. Reeder, 12th MSM Cav
Re: Major Frederick W. Reeder, 12th MSM Cav
Major Reeder/Mingo Swamp/MSM consoldations
Re: Major Reeder/Mingo Swamp/MSM consoldations
Re: Major Reeder/Mingo Swamp/MSM consoldations
Re: Major Reeder/Mingo Swamp/MSM consoldations