Information Sheet
R Scott, David S.
634 Letters, 1862-1863
One folder.
These are Civil
War letters of David S. Scott, Co. H, 8th Indiana Infantry, written
to Kate Missimer in Lycoming County,
Pennsylvania. The letters, from Pilot Knob, Black River,
Van Buren, and Oregon County,
Missouri, concern camp life and
the campaign of the Army of Southeastern Missouri.
David Scott’s
family hailed from Greenfield,
Indiana. Scott enlisted early in the war in the 8th
Indiana Infantry. After three months
service with General George McClellan in West Virginia,
the 8th Indiana
was mustered out. The regiment was
reorganized at Indianapolis
under Colonel (later Brigadier General) William P. Benton for three years
service. Scott was among the veterans
who reenlisted. The regiment was sent to
St. Louis and
served successively with John C. Frémont’s Army of the West, and Samuel
Curtis’s Army of Southwest Missouri.
Serving with the latter, the 8th Indiana was engaged at the Battle of Pea
Ridge in March 1862.
From the Pea
Ridge battlefield, the army drifted across southern Missouri
and northern Arkansas, ultimately winding up
at Helena, Arkansas,
on the Mississippi River. However, two divisions of the army,
including the 8th Indiana Infantry, were sent by river back into Missouri and then to the
railhead of the Iron Mountain Railroad at Pilot Knob. Here they served under General John W.
Davidson in the force styled the Army of Southeastern Missouri. Beginning in October 1862 from a base at
Pilot Knob, the army embarked on a mid-winter campaign. The men marched several hundred miles
through Patterson, Black River, Van Buren,
West Plains, and Eminence, before being recalled to Pilot Knob in March 1863.
Scott’s letters
begin in October 1862 after the army had reached Pilot Knob from Helena. His correspondent was Kate Missimer of Jersey Shore
in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. The correspondence was suggested by her
brother, an army acquaintance of David Scott’s.
The letters concern the campaign of the Army of Southeastern Missouri,
the hardships endured during the winter march, and the eventual return to Pilot
Knob.
Shelf List for this collection
Index cards for this collection
Questions? Use our Researcher Registration Form
Return to
WHMC-Rolla's home page.