Yes, the old two-lane Hwy 50 approximates the old stagecoach road through Cole County, but the newer four-line, divided highway takes a straighter course. In Jeff the old Business Hwy 50 is rather close, I would guess. A rule of thumb about Civil War main roads is that they kept to the ridgetops to prevent the road from getting washed out too bad in heavy rain. That also kept the men of those days from having to build and maintain too many bridges.

I found in the onliine MO Sec'y of State's website at http://www.sos.mogov/archives/soldiers a military service card for a Private J. Y. Simmons who enlisted in Captain Hart's Company K of the Cole County Home Guards on July 31 1861 at High Point. That village is in south-central Moniteau County, but just a few miles west of Russellville, which is along the west border of Cole County. You may already know that. The remarks section of the card states "At hospital having lost an arm by accidental discharged of gun while on Picket Duty," but does not state when this happened. Could that be your man? Does the pension file you have give the name of his commander or of the other men he served with during October 1864? If it does, that may help us figure out what was afoot.

If this shooting accident took place during the brief Confederate seige of Jeff City in early October 1864, then I would guess that some men of the old 1861 Cole County Home Guards answered the call for troops from their three-year old affiliation in that unit because of the extreme situation of having a southern army back at Jefferson City for the first time since the summer of 1861. The Federal authorities disbanded all the Union home guards in Missouri during the winter of 1861/1862 for a variety of reasons, the biggest one being that they were not sure the home guards would answer to authority higher than their own volunteer unit.

I hope that helps. Give us any names of officers or fellow soldiers mentioned in the pension file if you can.

Bruce Nichols