4
Elijah Spencer, 23rd Missouri Infantry
1861 to June 1862
Elijah Spencer is a first cousin to our line, the grandson of Aaron Spencer and Rachel Daugherty of Virginia. His parents were John Spencer from Lee County, Virginia and Henrietta Harris of North Carolina. Elijah was born in Lee County, Virginia in 1837, but the following year his family moved to Kentucky. They continued on to Missouri in 1843, so Elijah spent most of his life there. His father was a schoolteacher, but we don’t know what Elijah’s occupation was – all we know of him was that he was a Baptist and a Democrat (which was the Conservative party at that time). Elijah had married Nancy E. Jones, and they are listed in the 1860 census as living in Sullivan County at the start of the war.
We do not have any official records yet for Elijah’s Civil War service, and I cannot give accurate dates for his presence. The events that are mentioned in family notes correspond exactly with actual events in the history of the 23rd Missouri, so I am assuming he was with the Regiment throughout its service. Elijah Spencer enlisted in Company A, 23rd Missouri Volunteer Infantry Regiment, probably in September 1861.
The 23rd Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, was organized in September 1861. This regiment was mustered “at large”, which means it had men from the entire state. Colonel Jacob D. Tindall was the first commander. They were moved to Macon, Missouri on October 15, 1861, and probably went through some training there or at Chillicothe, where they moved on November 1. They became part of the District of North Missouri under General Prentiss, involved mostly in operations against guerilla bands.
The District of North Missouri was part of the Department of Missouri. General H.W. Halleck was in command of the Department of Missouri, and Brig. General Benjamin M. Prentiss was appointed to command the North District on November 26, 1861. They were faced with widespread attacks by small guerilla bands, destruction and depopulation in loyal areas, and bridge burning. Also, starting November 23, they began getting reports of a large Confederate army moving into Missouri under General Price. In the end this turned out to be greatly exaggerated, but for weeks there are several reports of sightings every day from widely separated places. Halleck ordered Prentiss to station his troops along the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad and the Northern Missouri Railroad, especially at bridges.
The 23rd Missouri receives no mention in the Official Records until December. A report from Prentiss to General Halleck on Dec 4, 1861 gives the disposition of his forces holding the railroad line between Hannibal and St. Joseph. He says that Tindall’s Regiment [i.e. the 23rd Missouri] is at Grand River Bridge [near Utica, just west of Chillicothe]. Between December 1 and December 16, small mobile groups under Prentiss and Pope broke up and drove out most of the guerilla groups north of the Missouri River, and Pope found and destroyed Price’s main army on December 19. The 23rd Missouri was probably not directly involved in any of this.
Reports from December 24 say that the camps are under 6 inches of snow, and that a measles outbreak is spreading through the camps.
The family history says that he was at the Battle of Shiloh, at Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee, on April 6 and 7, 1862. This was a Union victory, but Elijah was taken prisoner by the Confederates during the battle. Elijah was then supposed to have been held at Corinth until paroled on June 1, 1862.
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