The only known account of the actions of the 43rd EMM against Colonel Jo O. Shelby's raid are contained in Major R. H. Brown's (of the 12th Missouri Cavalry Regiment) report written back in St. Louis at quieter times on 25 October 1863, as found in US Gov't "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," (called "O.R." for short), series 1, vol. 22, part 1, pp. 664-8. I suppose Major Brown was a man of action and not letters, because being so far from the scene when he wrote his report about two weeks after the fact, he confused some of the names of the militia units that rode with him--namely elements of the 43rd EMM from Moniteau and Morgan Counties, which he erroneously called the 35th EMM, because those units had to remain at home when the excitement was over. And, if you tell me that the U.S. Army never makes mistakes....well, just don't.

Let me fill in more of the blanks in order to properly credit these two units, citing as reference State of Missouri, "Annual Report of the Adjutant General of Missouri for the Year Ending December 31, 1865," pages 560-1 for the 35th EMM and pages 567-8 for the 43rd EMM. That and my own research has shown me that the 35th consisted of miliitiamen from Chariton and Randolph Counties, while the 43rd contained men from Moniteau and Morgan Counties and also distant Buchanan County (whose county seat is the city of St. Joseph). The Enrolled Missouri Militia apparatus, in the case of counties containing lots of southerners, was forced to combine men of northern sympathy from a number of different counties in order to constitute a full regiment. In some cases what resulted were what I call "split regiments," such as the 43rd where hunks of the regiment were actually in widely different parts of the state. I suppose this happened when parts of the regiment were set up not knowing how many counties were needed to make up a full regiment, and by the time this was calculated some of the adjoining counties were already set up in different regiments and the apparatus had to go far afield in order to complete the necessary companies, but that is just my guess.

Now, back to facts about the 43rd EMM. Major Brown several times in his "O.R." narrative wrote of "Colonel Hickox," who the above State of Missouri reference cited above clearly states on page 567 that Colonel F. W. Hickox was the commander of the 43rd, and this is supported by Moniteau County historic accounts, such as county histories, and the like. In his report Major Brown also mentions Colonel Hickox associated with California, county seat of Moniteau County, which I believe was his home or near it.

Now, this business greatly confuses lots of readers of Major Brown's report, and it evidently also confused Frederick Dyer, because in Dyer's landmark reference work of Union units of the war--"A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion,"--in Volume 2 pages 1336 and 1337 he credited both the 35th and the 43rd with actions against Shelby. Now, maybe that is correct, and maybe that is not, but I have studied a few references about the 35th EMM, and, no offense to that unit, I don't think they got into that fracus, although they got into lots of other stuff.

If you would kindly share the name of your hard-fighting ancestor with us as well as what county he called home, and, if you can, the letter of his company, one of us could also supply you with the names and some details of his company officers, under whom he served. Further, someone reading this can also probably find your ancestor's online record with the MO Secy' of State's Office in the Missouri State Archives, unless you have already uncovered that little treasure trove of information.

Further, perhaps some who also read this can come forward with other narratives of the 43rd EMM's actions against Shelby in those exciting days of middle October 1863. I hope so.

What do you say?

Bruce Nichols