We had a post series recently talking about the 13 Confederates tied to the Centralia Massacre who were transferred from Missouri to Tulahoma, Tenn., where they were executed, apparently without trial.

I seem to have come up with the individuals, with names for five of them. A dozen years ago Bruce Nichols and Terry Justice had an exchange on this board regarding a "Captain West" who had made a into Iowa with some men and committed robberies and a couple killings. At that time they had the man identified as a "John West."

Actually his name was Francis Marvin West, aka F.M. West. Given the naming conventions from the era, I'm thinking more precisely it might have been Francis Marion West, but for now I'll go with what ended up being published in an 1869 issue of the St. Louis Democrat newspaper--Francis Marvin West.

It seems Capt. F.M. West was arrested that year, 1869, in Audrain County, Missouri, for the 1864 murder of one William Wallace in Davis County, Iowa. Tagged with the label as being "one of Bill Anderson's murderers and ruffians," the sheriff from Davis County came down and hauled him back to the scene of the crime. The newspaper expanded upon the Anderson connection, stating that West "appears to have been a terrible desperado, who had committed various thefts, robberies and outrages, as well as helping Anderson in his murderous raids. One by one these murderers seem to get their desserts."

Tracking the bread crumbs, in the 1882 History of Davis County Iowa I found a very lengthy and detailed account of a raid into Davis County beginning on October 12, 1864 (very shortly after the Centralia Massacre) and lasting until around November 7, 1864. They indeed were named in the History of Davis County as having murdered William Wallace, but also a number of more men, as well as committing a number of robberies. One of the murders included the killing of one "Capt. Bence," who afterward had the a note "James Jackson, Lieut. commanding, Oct. 12, 1864" pinned to his jacket. A not tying this raid not only to Capt. Francis M. West, but to the notorious Jim Jackson.

Anyway, ultimately a number of these men were rounded up. Jackson and West got away. Those readers of this post who are current on your NOMO history, know that next spring Jim Jackson famously surrendered in Missouri, took the oath, was granted parole, headed for Illinois, was waylaid en route, and was summarily executed days later.

As for West, he disappeared into the sands of time. Disappeared, that is, until he was spotted in Audrain County four years later. The History of Davis County Iowa doesn't discuss his having been apprehended, but there is an oblique reference in another part of the very lengthy book, in a section on the history of murders in the county, "The next murder case is State vs. F.M. West, in May term 1869, and in November changed to Van Buren county." So there was a change of venue, understandably. But I haven't found any more on what happened next.

So you might be asking, what does this have to do with Tulahoma? Which brings me back to the History of Davis County Iowa. So as the tale of this raid starts winding down in the book, it talks about six of the men being captured at the time of that raid--late 1864. With this narrative, published in 1882 but dating back to January 1, 1865, continuing, it then states "Other arrests were made from time to time, until we had in jail at once, thirteen as villainous looking scoundrels as ever went unhung. Two U.S. detectives came along, and being arrested and confined with the prisoners, obtained much information of value to us in regard to the future movements in contemplation by the bands of scoundrels who have infested northern Missouri since the rebellion. The narrative then goes on to say the 13 prisoners were all sent to Missouri, and placed in the hands of the proper authorities.

Notice that number -- thirteen? And the two undercover detectives who got them talking? And the Bill Anderson connection? And the date they appeared in Davis County 15 days after Centralia 120 miles away? Now recheck our earlier posts regarding the provost guard from the 42nd Missouri Infantry at Tulahoma talking about being detailed to execute 13 prisoners connected to Centralia, with the evidence against them being certain. Other than catching them in the act, there's nothing more certain than a confession telling undercover cops "we were at Centralia."

Anyway, better still, the History of Davis County Iowa gives up five names of those prisoners (West and Jackson don't count--they weren't captured at that time). So five out of the 13 prisoners were:

Bob Clark
Zach Poor
Zach's brother -- Poor
Mark Sharon
William Mason