I don't usually do regular military stuff, because my area of study is guerrilla or "irregular" warfare, but I think I figured this one out. I did it for fun.

I discovered early on that Company C, 1st Mo Cav acted as bodyguard for BG James Totten during December 1862 and January 1863 while that company was stationed at Rolla, MO. This from Broadfoot Publishing Company, "Supplement to the 'Official Records,'" Part 2, Records of Events (actually individual unit itineraries), vol. 34, 1st Missouri Cavalry, pp. 434-5. Why was General Totten wandering all over southwest Missouri those weeks away from his command? This puzzled me because of what I read about General Totten in the below sources:

1. The "Official Records" in series 1, vol. 22, part 1, p. 805 simply said that BG James G. Blunt with the 1st Division, Army of the Frontier on December 2 wanted BG James Totten, as commander of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions to move them to Fayetteville, AR to counter Confederate Generals Hindman and Marmaduke with 25,000 soldiers heading that way.

2. Frederick Dyer's "Compendium of the War of the Rebellion," vol. 2, p. 1301 in his thumbnail history of the 1st MO Cav mentioned that the 1st Battalion of that regiment (evidently Companies A, C, and D) "joined Herron's Division in September" and remained at Rolla through June 1863. "Herron" is Union BG Francis J. Herron. I wonder if Dyer may have meant General Totten instead of General Herron, but let's allow that to lie still, as that question takes us off our original track.

3. BG James Totten does not appear in Warner's "Generals in Blue."

4. Boatner's "Civil War Dictionary" on page 843 says BG James Totten commanded a division in the Army of the Frontier between October 1862 and 21 March 1863.

So, what's Totten doing riding around the Rolla district away from his division during December 1862 and January 1863?

If this so far has confused you, I apologize, but that's just what it did to me until I remembered something.

I don't often refer to Jay Monaghan's 1955 "Civil War on the Western Border 1854-1865" for reasons I don't want to explain here. But, I recalled from reading Monaghan years ago that he enjoyed making fun of "bottle-nosed" Totten and Totten's fondness of strong drink all through the book. Sure enough, on page 257 Monaghan cleared up this mystery for you. On that page he explained that early that winter BG James Totten was in command of a Union division that was camped on or near the Wilson's Creek battlefield near Springfield. I quote: "Other divisions camped at Pea Ridge battlefield and at Wilson's Creek, where 'Bottle-nosed' Totten, a division commander now, was in charge but temporarily absent on court-martial duty." If Monaghan is correct, then Totten was traveling to various Union garrisons in the area with a company of cavalry as escort conducting courts martials.

That's your answer. BG James Totten was away from his division on official orders accompanied by Company C, 1st MO Cav (US) during December 1862 through January 1863 going from garrison to garrison in south-central and southwest Missouri trying accumulated courts martials. Basically, he was detailed away from his command during the early winter, which higher Union authority probably figured would be a safe time for him to be away from his troops, in order to handle the courts martial backlog in that region. In hindsight, the Confederates did not behave as higher Union authority expected, and Totten was evidently needed back with his troops. But, orders are orders! I would imagine that those Company C troopers had some interesting experiences escorting General Totten around those weeks, but we will probably never know.

Bruce Nichols