At the Battle of Pilot Knob, near Bloomfield, Mo., in Sept. 1864, a Union Major (James Wilson) and six of his men were captured by the Confederates. According to Brig.-Gen. Thomas C.
At the Battle of Pilot Knob, near Bloomfield, Mo., in Sept. 1864, a Union Major (James Wilson) and six of his men were captured by the Confederates. According to Brig.-Gen. Thomas C. Fletcher, USA, "they were held for one week, then turned over to Major Tim Reeves, CSA (called a guerilla by the Union Forces) of Marmaduke's command. It has never been determined who gave the order, but Major Wilson was taken out and hung and his men were shot. When word of this murder reached Gen. Rosecrans, commanding the Department of the Missouri, he issued a retaliatory order to the effect that a Major and six enlisted