In "The Annual Report of the Adjutant General of Missouri For the Year Ending December 31, 1865" on page 598 is the roster of the 68th EMM regiment. For Colonel William Lawson it states his date of commission was March 17, 1864 but that his commission was revoked on March 18, 1864. John W. Emerson then took Lawson's place as commander of the 68th from 21 March 1864 until the EMM program was dismantled on 12 March 1865. I don't have any other details to explain what happened here.

In the "Fort Davidson State Historic Site" website I found under "Related Articles" a paper prepared by Jack F. Mayes called "The 68th Enrolled Missouri Militia," which mostly follows the leadership of Colonel James Lindsay who organized and was the first commander of the 68th, made up of men from Iron, Wayne, Madison, and St. Francois Counties, and possibly from Bollinger County. According to Mayes' article Lindsay commanded the 68th from its inception about August 1862 until many of the men joined the new 47th and 50th Missouri Infantry Regiments (six-month regiments--at least the 47th was) in August and September 1864 just before Price's great Missouri raid. Mayes listed six sources at the back of the article, but you would have to examine that list to see if any of them could help explain what happened to William Lawson.

Bruce Nichols