Yes it is odd and caught my eye early on but I have no doubt this is our guy. 11th Iowa was one of the first regiments put together under Lincoln's call and the first to finish organization in Iowa. Moved to St Louis then central Missouri early in the war and was definitely part of Grant's command when Grant was in Mexico Missouri as a Colonel. Co A was detailed to Fulton MO where the slave issue popped up and Snedicor first ran afoul of Gardner.
Here is his pension card:
https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/10555831?mark=7b22746f6b656e223a227254744c31414d3554652b334e383172744e6d7442376a304732566f6c526d3050377730525573422b71633d222c22746f6b656e5f76657273696f6e223a225632227d
His obit says he was carried on the roles of his Company but spent most of the war on detached duty with the Telegraph Corps and serving as PM Mexico Mo. mustering out in St. Louis.
It is strange particularly for a private from Iowa who was a carpenter and musician.....
MEXICO — Confrontations over an attempt by Callaway County militia to take a runaway slave back into captivity played out in the office of Provost Marshal O.A.A. Gardner and the quarters of the Audrain County militia.
Col. Joseph Douglass of Columbia, who had arrived to take command of the post the previous day, refused to use his Boone County men to stop the Callaway militia. When Capt. Isaac Snedecor of Callaway County refused a direct order to release the “contraband,” Gardner had turned to Douglass for support.
The use of soldiers to return a runaway slave violated the Articles of War, Gardner told him.
“I shall give no men either to keep the negro or take him out,” Douglass replied.
The slave, called “Jim” to hide his identity while a fugitive, had run away from Peyton Stephens, a landowner in northern Callaway County. Gardner had hired one of the slaves to serve in his office. Jim was employed at the military hospital.
Mexico was unusually crowded for a Wednesday, with all the known rebel sympathizers on the streets. Sheriff Amos Ladd, Deputy H. Hall, a squad of 20 Callaway militia under Lt. George Burdett and a group of about 20 Audrain County citizens marched to the hospital with a writ to arrest a slave as a runaway.
“Rebels from the countryside came to town, everybody out enjoying watching the negro brought out,” Gardner reported later.
Under the Missouri slave code, a fugitive slave was to be arrested and held until the master could retrieve his property. If the slave was not claimed in 90 days, the sheriff could sell it at auction.
The writ was not for Jim, but they took him, anyway, post surgeon James Martien reported later. “We could do nothing. We had troops, the provost marshal asked for aid but was refused by the commander of the post, Col. Douglass.”
Before the mob went to the hospital, Lt. William McClintock of the Audrain County militia attempted to pull a revolver on Pvt. Wendall Kreiter when he refused to help with the capture of runaway slaves.
McClintock “made an attempt to draw his revolver for that purpose. He also called me a ‘God damned Dutch son of a bitch,’ all of which I maintain was done without provocation on my part,” Kreiter reported.
Eventually, members of the Audrain County militia formed a counterdemonstration that changed the balance in the streets. “I then went down stairs and called the negro, who was holding one of their horses in the crowd, to come with me upstairs,” Gardner reported. “He obeyed and the Callaway militia desisted from further interference.”
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Order from the Office Assistant Provost Marshal, Mexico, Audrain Countyreferring to General Order No. 35, declaring James Wilson, an African American boy, to be considered a captive of war and entitled to the protection of the United States.OFFICE ASSISTANT PROVOST MARSHAL, AUDRAIN CO. Mexico, Mo., March 17th 1863 In pursuance of General Order No 35, of the Provost Marshal General, Department of the Missouri, dated St. Louis, Dec 18th 1862, and in obedience to the order of the War Department, made 24th September 1862, I have ascertained that James Wilson a negro boy, dark color, medium size, aged about 16 years is to be considered and treated as a captive of war, and as such is entitled to the protection of all officers of the United States. Given by me at Mexico in the county of Audrain, State of Missouri the 17th day of March 1863. O. A. A. Gardner Asst Pro Mar Witnesses Patrick Mc[Gannatt/Garnatt] James James Mexico Mo
Original here: https://cdm16795.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/hgleim/id/41
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