Okay, this one was pre-Palmyra Massacre. During the the early part of the career of John McNeil of later Palmyra Massacre infamy, he was colonel of the 2nd Missouri State Militia Cavalry. Prior to the Battle of Kirksville, perhaps in July 1862, there was supposedly an incident in Paris, Missouri. I say supposedly because I have only been able to find one report on it published in 1913, and nothing yet that corroborates that 1913 report.

So the story goes, some 500 southern sympathizers cut the U.S. flag down near the Glenn House in Paris that month. The next day McNeil and his notorious sidekick Strachan come into town with a thousand troops and threaten to burn the place down if a new pole and the flag are not back up by sundown. As this is going on, McNeil sends 1st MSM Cavalry Major Samuel P. Cox (of later Bill Anderson killing fame) out to pick up a couple of secessionists, Ake Johnson and Armstead Ragland. Cox pulls them in, and when he returns to town finds McNeil in a state of drunkeness, discussing with Strachan shooting the two men with Cox, when he took on the duty, having "had no idea of the contemplated murder. He despised McNeil, his superior, and hated Strachan as he did a viper, and determined to save the young men."

So Cox confronts to two men, at which "McNeil started in to curse and abuse his inferior, but the look in the eyes of Cox deterred him." The two separated from the instigator Strachan, which allowed Cox to calm McNeil down. McNeil then went to bed to sleep it off, and the executions were stopped. "It was the one real day of terror for Paris and many live who recall it yet with a tremor in their voices."

Does anybody have any sources for anything involving this series of ca. July 1862 events, besides the 1913 History of Northeast Missouri?