Information
Sheet
R Sitton, John James, 1842‑1915.
377 Civil War memoir, n.d.
One folder,
photocopies.
This is a memoir of service with the Oregon County
company of the 2nd Regiment, 7th Division, Missouri
State Guard, 4 July ‑‑ 1 December 1861. The narrative also includes biographical
data on selected Oregon
County soldiers.
John James Sitton was born in 1842 at
Palmer, Washington County, Missouri.
He fled to Arkansas
when the Civil War began, enlisting there in the 4th Arkansas Infantry. He served only briefly with the unit. When Arkansas
troops moved into Missouri
in August 1861, Sitton joined the Missouri State Guard under Gen. Sterling
Price. He was with the 1st
Regiment of the 7th Division at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. In December 1861, Sitton and many of the Oregon County
guardsmen joined the 4th Missouri Infantry (CSA). He was elected second lieutenant, and later
captain, of Co. G, and was with the regiment at the battles of Pea
Ridge, Arkansas, Corinth,
Iuka and Hatchie Bridge, Mississippi,
and in Price’s 1864 raid into Missouri. During the latter campaign, he was seriously
wounded and captured.
Sitton moved to Illinois
and then to Oregon County, Missouri, following the war. He was a teacher and superintendent of schools,
1866‑1874, and held various county offices, 1874‑1884. He also operated a general store and was
postmaster at Garfield. When he died in 1915, Sitton was one of the
most well‑known citizens of Oregon
County.
Sitton’s memoir concerns the campaign of
the Oregon County company of the Missouri State
Guard during the early months of the Civil War.
The company was organized on 4 July 1861 and R. O. Tribble was elected
captain. After incorporation into the 2nd
Regiment and assignment to Gen. James H. McBride’s 7th Division,
the Oregon County
guardsmen began the marches which led to battles at Wilson’s
Creek, Dry Wood, and Lexington. The unit was mustered out at Springfield on 1
December 1861. Sitton’s account consists
of brief entries in journal form which provide a chronology and itinerary for
the Oregon County soldiers. The entries are short but useful for research
on the Missouri State Guard, especially Gen. McBride’s division. Although Sitton is circumspect about his own
service, mentioning himself only once, he included notes on the later military
and postwar careers of some of his fellow soldiers. The memoir is undated, but internal evidence
suggests that it was written after 1900.
The Oregon County Genealogical Society holds a typescript of the
memoir, the original of which is no longer available.
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