I apologize for any offense. I haven't looked into the burning of Dallas in anywhere near the detail that I'm sure you have, and undoubtedly the facts that you've provided are correct. Do you think it's possible that Dallas may have been attacked or even burned more than once? David Allan, who indeed was in a Missouri regiment, implied that Hecker might have come through Dallas in the spring of 1864, not in the fall. So maybe he did at least destroy some "seccessioner" property at that time, if not the whole town. His cited memoir strikes me as unclear on that point.

As for Geraldine Sanders Smith, here is what she cited from "History of the Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry Regiment (1888)":

On “Sept. 2, 1862, a small detachment was sent to Fredericktown. …Several skirmishes occurred, in which the rebels were worsted and prisoners taken. On Sept. 28, a raid to Dallas resulted in a like manner and ended with the burning of the town, of which only two houses were left standing, as a kind of warning.”

I do not pretend to have done the research necessary to confirm or deny any of these claims; I've only been collecting what, to me, appear to be reasonably well documented statements about events in Dallas. Certainly, if SEMO Press decides to publish my grandfather's historical novel, I'll include in the appropriate appendix your information about the burning of Dallas.

Incidentally, I understand you are from Puxico. That is where my grandfather first established a practice after graduating from dental school back around 1918.

Best wishes,

George Williams