Information
Sheet
R Crawford, John D., ‑1864.
472 Civil War letters, 1862‑1863.
One folder.
These are Civil War letters by John D.
Crawford, 2nd Missouri State Militia Cavalry, and his brother, H. T.
Crawford. The letters note events in
Adair, Knox, Schuyler, and Scotland
counties in Missouri, and the execution of
prisoners by Union authorities at Palmyra,
Missouri.
The collection consists of three letters,
31 August 1862 – 21 August 1863. The
first, by H. T. Crawford at Bible Grove in Scotland
County, mentions military events in
northeastern Missouri including skirmishes in Schuyler County
and at Newark (Knox
County), and the action at Kirksville (Adair
County). Crawford, who seems to have been a
noncombatant, wrote that he had visited the battlefields and had seen unburied
bodies. He also wrote that the rebels
had threatened him and his neighbors, but “have not yet done anything worth
notice.” The letter is addressed to
“Sister and Cousin.”
John D. Crawford was a soldier in Co. K,
2nd Missouri State Militia Cavalry.
His letters are addressed to “Cousin” Annie M. Baker of Burton, Illinois. Crawford's letter of 24 October 1862, written
at Palmyra,
describes the circumstances leading to the execution of ten captured rebels by
order of Brig. Gen. John McNeil.
Condemned by some, the executions were “just the right thing in the
right place” according to Crawford.
The 2ndMissouri
State Militia Cavalry was assigned to
southeastern Missouri
in July 1863. John D. Crawford wrote
Annie Baker on 21 August 1863 from Camp
Lowry at Cape Girardeau. The letter is devoted to the merits of a
prospective partner for his cousin. Crawford's
nominee was Leonard T. Bragg, commissary sergeant of the regiment. Crawford also wrote that he liked his
situation better than he expected, and that he was getting along well. However, it was a situation which would not
last. John D. Crawford died of “winter
fever” at Cape Girardeau
in January 1864.
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