10
James and William Spencer, 76th Missouri Militia
October 1862 to March 1863
The next members of our families to enter the war were James and William Spencer, from Jasper County, Missouri. We know very little about their service or their unit, due to the lack of records on militia units.
James Francis and William Jamison Spencer were both born in Franklin County, Missouri. Their parents, Abraham Spencer of Virginia and Nancy Jamison of Kentucky, had moved to Missouri in the early 1830's. Abraham was a wagon-maker; we have no occupation for either of the sons. James enrolled in October 1862; he was single, age 21. His brother William enrolled a month later, at age 28. William had been married to Elizabeth Carter for three years when he joined, and they had a two-year-old son.
The Spencers’ enlistments were related to the same events that we looked at in the previous section on the Vinings. When T.C. Hindman took over command of Confederate activities west of the Mississippi, he instigated guerilla raids and warfare all over Missouri. His objective was to inspire a general uprising to take over the state or, failing that, simply to harass the Federal troops and force them to separate into small units and dash about from one place to another.
The guerillas operated mostly in small groups to cut telegraph lines, ruin railroad tracks, burn loyalist properties, and attack small Union detachments or isolated, undefended towns. Sometimes they joined up with regular Confederate army units for short periods. Jasper County and many other areas were desolated by this constant raiding. By the end of the war the entire western part of Jasper County was depopulated and ruined.
The government of Missouri responded to this crisis in the summer of 1862 by ordering all loyal men of military age to enroll in militia units.
Missouri did raise some regular infantry and cavalry regiments during the war just as the other states did, and these served throughout the army in all areas of the war. Elijah Spencer served in one of these regiments. But most of the troops raised by Missouri were specifically for the defense of their own state and never left Missouri, or even their own counties. Kentucky operated the same way. These two border states were slave states, most of the population was sympathetic to the Confederates, and they were just barely kept in the Union – the Federal government tried to leave them alone as much as possible so as not to drive them into seceding.
War Department General Orders 96, 7 Nov 1861, states that "Authority to raise a force of state militia, to serve during the war, is granted by the President to the Governor of Missouri. This force is to cooperate with the troops in the service of the United States in repelling the invasion of the State of Missouri and in suppressing rebellion therein. It is to be held, in camp and in the field, drilled, disciplined and governed, according to the Regulations of the U.S. Army, and subject to the Articles of War. But it is not to be ordered out of the State of Missouri..."
As far as I have been able to discover, the militia units were raised by companies and were kept stationed in their own local areas. Their main purpose was to guard each town and the immediately surrounding area. The Regimental structure was apparently very loose, more for administrative purposes than military – the militia is hardly ever seen operating in more than company strength, 75 to 100 men. It also appears that an individual regiment might not have all of its companies active at any time. It seems that the men were enrolled, but were called into active service only for short periods of time when needed, then released when the emergency had passed. They did not interact with regular army forces very much, so they hardly ever appear in the Official Records.
Jasper County raised two companies of militia. The organization of the militia moved slowly in this area, because many of the residents were Southern sympathizers – much of that was a reaction to the oppressive actions of people like General Blunt.
Company C of the 76th Enrolled Missouri Militia was formed in the late summer of 1862 by Captain Stotts. Made up of men from eastern Jasper and western Lawrence Counties, they were based at Cave Springs. Company G, 76th E.M.M., was formed in the early fall by Captain Henry Fisher. This company was formed entirely from Jasper County and was based at Bowers Mill. The Spencers joined this second company.
The only records we have are two muster cards on James (one of which is incomplete), and one on William. With this lack of data, it is impossible to be sure about their dates of actual service.
James F. Spencer enrolled in Company G, 76th E.M.Militia, on October 6, 1862. The location is given simply as Jasper County. There are no dates on this card to indicate if or when he was called into active service at this time, but he probably was – his brother definitely was. William J. Spencer enrolled in Company G on November 19, 1862. The company was already formed and in place at Bowers Mill at the time William joined. He was ordered into active service at Bowers Mill on November 25, and served for the next four months. I therefore think that James was on active service at least from mid-October, though there are no records to prove it.
There is nothing at all in the Official Records concerning the creation of the 76th E.M.Militia or any engagements it may have been in. Based upon what the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry was doing in the area during this time, we can guess they probably had some minor run-ins with small guerilla bands, but no major fights – those would have been in the records. Schrantz’s history of Jasper County does not mention any specifics, but talks about acts of sabotage, small ambushes and generally lawless conditions. Dyer’s compilation likewise does not list any single battles or skirmishes, but says the 3rd Wisconsin spent the winter of 1862-1863 operating in Jasper County against guerilla bands under Quantrell, Patty and Livingston. The Spencers in Company G probably did the same.
Guerilla activity increased in March with the coming of warmer weather. Other units recorded minor skirmishes around southwest Missouri at this time. Again, we see nothing specific involving the 76th E.M.Militia, but sometime during the month William Spencer was captured by the Confederates.
We don’t know when this happened, or whether it was in a skirmish or an individual kidnapping. The only record we have is his muster card, which says that William was released from service on March 31, 1863, listed as a prisoner in the hands of the enemy. We are not certain what happened to him afterward. There is a family story that he was executed without trial by the Confederates – that did happen sometimes, and there are some cases of this in the Official Records. However, we also have other records showing William’s death as February 1868, several years after the war. It is possible that the 1868 is an error and should be 1863; it is also possible that 1868 is when the family finally found out what had happened. But we just don’t know at this time.
The record on James Spencer is a blank at this time. There is no evidence to say whether Company G was active or not during the next year. We don’t see anything definite on James until October 1864.
Go to Next Chapter Go to next James Spencer Chapter Return to Index