The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division

Tim,

Thank you for correcting me regarding LTC Cundiff's fate. I did not know he served as a private in COL Poindexter's recruiting command in 1862, and, Tim, I have problems accepting that we are talking about the same man.

Cundiff had an amazing life, since he was pre-secession editor of "The Gazette" in St. Joseph, MO. Oddly, Harrison Trow's book "Quantrell" published in 1923 (by John Burch to whom Trow related his memories, I suppose) had Colonel (or Lieutenant Colonel) James H. R. Cundiff as one of the Confederate recruiters operating in Clay and Ray Counties, MO in October 1864, and was one of several other area recruiters who united briefly with Bill Anderson's band for security. Harrison Trow was a former Quantrill guerrilla, and I suppose was part of Anderson's bushwhackers, since he was writing about this. One of the recruiters was Major Ai Asbury who mentioned this adventure in his 1892 memoir, as one of about 30 or 40 in the recruiting group. He did not mention Colonel Cundiff, but Asbury only named the overall leader, Colonel George S. Rathburn (sometimes called "Rathbun"), and a couple of others. Harrison Trow's account has some accuracy problems. Now, Asbury's book is accurate in what he mentions, but he didn't happen to mention James Cundiff as part of this autumn 1864 recruiting command.

I looked at the Cundiff entry in the Union POW ledger in Joanne Eakins' "Missouri POWs" book, taken from the microfilm records of the National Archives and Records Administration. These Union ledger records are chock full of errors of all kinds. I readily admit that. But, the account they have shows William H. L. Cundiff, a private of Poindexter's command was captured at Columbia, MO on 15 October 1862 as part of the Union dragnet that scooped up lots of Poindexter's recruits of NE MO and other recruiters from NE MO. Yes, Private William H. L. Cundiff is on the Union ledger as dying of Typhoid Pneumonia on 15 December 1862. I just thought it was odd that James H. R. Cundiff was recruiting outside of his familiar region of NW MO, since he was from Buchanan County way west by the Kansas border. Most of those behind-Union-lines Confederate recruiters returned to their home areas to recruit, but some did not. I more readily accept James H. R. Cundiff was recruiting in October 1864 in his home region, even though Harrison Trow's memoir, as dictated to Mr. Burch in 1923, had accuracy issues. Mr. Cundiff's name is individualistic enough that even an error-strewn memoir such as Trow's would name such an unusual name such as Cundiff's to be in Colonel Rathburn's large recruiting group in autumn 1864. It is just unfortunate that Major Asbury did not mention very many of the names in his postwar book to clarify this for us. If indeed, James H. L. Cundiff was recruiting in NW MO in autumn 1864, most of those recruiters survived the war in MO, and it would be likely some of them could end up fighting in Tennessee a few weeks later. Well, too many "coulds," "shoulds," and "woulds."

To me, this whole thing has problems at both ends. I just wish I had better documentation to buttress my version. I cannot argue my point with such a thin case to make. I conclude that I don't know. I don't know if the man captured in Columbia on 15 October 1862 named William H. L. Cundiff is the same as the pre-war newspaper editor, James H. R. Cundiff. Those two Irish names are very similar, especially with the use of two middle initials.

I mean it. Thanks for telling me about this. I put my version in a book, but my documentation is thin on this point.

Bruce Nichols

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Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
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Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
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Re: Battle of Wilson's Creek MSG Fifth Division
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