THE CIVIL WAR: THE TRUE STORY BOOK 1

Palmyra Masscare: A massacre that ACTUALLY DID HAPPEN

The Palmyra Massacre is an incident that took place 150 years ago today in Palmyra, Missouri. On October 18, 1862, during the Civil War, ten Confederate prisoners of war were executed in reprisal for the abduction of a local Union supporter, Andrew Allsman. The officer who ordered the execution, Colonel John McNeil, was later known as the "Butcher of Palmyra". On the evening of October 17th, 1862, ten prisoners were selected. Five were from the jail in Hannibal and five from the jail in Palmyra. None of them had any connection with the disappearance of Allsman.  All ten were executed on October 18th by a firing squad of thirty soldiers from the Second Missouri State Militia.

The Palmyra Massacre attracted nation-wide attention and was the subject of discussion in the cabinet of President Lincoln. The Palmyra Confederate Monument Association erected a granite monument on the grounds of the Palmyra Courthouse on February 25, 1907. The monument lists the men executed who were Capt. Thomas A. Sidenor, of Monroe County; Willis J. Baker, Thomas Humston, Morgan Bixler, John Y. McPheeters and Hiram T. Smith of Lewis County; Herbert Hudson, John M. Wade and Marion Lair of Ralls County and Eleazer Lake of Scotland County.

The Farewell Letter of a Victim of the Palmyra Massacre

There is no doubt that this letter is one of the most heartbreaking ones I have ever read from the Civil War era. On October 17 and 18, 1862, from the cells of the Palmyra Prison, Captain Thomas A. Sidner of the First Northeast Missouri Cavalry penned a letter to his friends and family, notifying them of his pending execution. In command of the District of Northeast Missouri, Col. John McNeil sentenced to death ten random Confederate prisoners from the Palmyra Prison in retaliation for the supposed murder of a local Union sympathizer. With no ties to the murder, Sidner was told that he was to be executed the next day for a crime he was not guilty of. Later known as the Palmyra Massacre, this act became one of the most infamous war crimes of the entire Civil War.

Back in the summer of 1862, McNeil was ordered by Brig. Gen. John Schofield to eliminate the growing threat of irregulars in northeastern Missouri, including around and near Palmyra. Following their defeat at Kirksville, Col. Joseph C. Porter and his Confederate cavalry brigade captured the town of Palmyra. Not only was their goal to capture and defeat Union occupiers there, but also to liberate Confederate prisoners and clear the region of Union soldiers in order for recruits to reach Rebel lines south of the Missouri River. While they were successful in seizing Palmyra, albeit temporarily before surrendering the town back to McNeil, they captured an old Union sympathizer named Andrew Allsman.

Becoming more of a liability than an asset, Porter ordered a detachment of his men to escort Allsman to Union lines or to Palmyra. Unfortunately, there is no record of what happened to Allsman, but many speculated he was murdered by Porter's men. Nearly one month after the capture of Palmyra, Allsman was no where to be found. On behalf of McNeil, the Provost Marshal of Northeast Missouri issued a notice to Porter on October 8, stating that "unless said Andrew Allsman is returned unharmed to his family within ten days from date ten men, who have belonged to your band and unlawfully sworn by you to carry arms against the Government of the United States and who are now in custody, will be shot, as a meet reward for their crimes, among which is the illegal restraining of said Allsman his liberty, and, if not returned, presumptively aiding in his murder."

Porter never received the notice and by October 17, ten Confederate prisoners were ordered to be executed – including Sidner.

In his letter, Sidner took time to reflect upon the injustice of his and his fellow Confederate prisoners' deaths. He believed in God's righteousness and everlasting justice that would ultimately prevail in heaven. However, nothing is more revealing in this letter than Sidner's anger, frustration, and broken heart.