The Callaway Guards - A History The 1884 History of Callaway County states there were three full companies of men who entered the Union Army and one partial company. The Captains were William T. Snell, Henry Thomas, J.J.P. Johnson, and Benjamin Sharp. For the Confederacy there were thirteen companies with the following officers: D.H. McIntyre, I.N. Sitton, David Craig, Milton Scholl, Henry Burt, Thomas Holland, Jefferson Gibbs, Robert M. Berry, Preston Wilkerson, and George Law. The Callaway Guards - A History by Mark C. White The Callaway Guards were organized and commanded by Capt. D.H. McIntyre & Commissary Sergeant Joseph S. Laurie, two graduating seniors left school before formally receiving their degrees with Guards to answer the call of Gov. Jackson & Gen. Price to defend the State against invading Union troops. In response to the provocations at Camp Jackson, Gov. Claiborne F. Jackson called for volunteers to fill the ranks of the MO State Guards. During mid-May, 1861, Jefferson City was inundated by more than 1,000 young men eager to serve, including McIntyre and his men. As the story goes, the two Seniors were having lunch in a large room at the west end of the first floor of Westminster Hall, when word arrived that McIntyre & Laurie were wanted at the town square where the Guards were organized. According to another eye witness "partisan" on the scene by the name of Lamkin, the two Westminster men "Without closing their books or finishing their lunch these two chivalrous young men hurried from the College and rode away to the war." By College commencement in late June, 1861, tensions had gone beyond the breaking point in the state. Union troops had just driven Gov. Jackson and his administration from Jefferson City because of the refusal to cooperate with the military command in St. Louis. McIntyre, Laurie and the Callaway Guards were among those defending the State officers. Callaway County was a part of the 2nd Division-Military District as designated by Gov. Jackson & Gen. Price. The 2nd Division-MO State Guard (MSG) was commanded by Brig. Gen. Martin Edward Green. Ultimately, the 2nd Div. MSG, including the Callaway Guards, followed Gen. Sterling Price into Confederate Service. McIntyre and Laurie never returned to Westminster to receive their diplomas. Joseph A Mudd in his book With Porter in North Missouri, mentions a brief contact with the Callaway Guards as he rode with his own, new Company. "About three miles from Fayette, Howard County, we came up with a strong company from Fulton, commanded by Captain D.H. McIntyre...It was clad in gray uniforms and armed with Enfield rifles. It was drawn up in a line, awaiting an expected attack from Federal force in Fayette." A scout eventually reported that the force had changed directions. Westminster College President Laws proceeded to present the diplomas at commencement in Latin, which was the manner of the day, even though they were off defending their state. Pres. Laws intoned: "Haec duo (diplomata) absentibus in agro tentoriis of centero, legato Lt. Joseph Scott Laurie et centurioni Daniel H. McIntyre" ("These two diplomas are conferred on Lt. Joseph Scott Laurie and Capt. Daniel H McIntyre, absent in the field crowded with tents.") These remarks among others in the following year were used to secure Laws' detention at Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis for eight weeks as a Confederate sympathizer. McIntyre and the Callaway Guards were with the MSG at the Battle of Wilson's Creek. Capt. McIntyre was wounded at the battle near Ft. Scott, Kansas. According to the Missouri Telegraph, he was shot through the lower jaw by a musket ball, which knocked out six of his teeth and slightly injured his jaw bone. Although the right side of his face, below his mouth was badly swollen at the time, he soon recovered. He was captured along with six other Missourians, including two other Callawegians during the battles of Ft. Donelson. D.H. McIntyre and his fellow Missourians were eventually sent to prison at Johnson Island near Sandusky, Ohio in April of 1862. After the war, McIntyre went into politics and became Attorney General for the State of Missouri. Sources: Missouri Telegraph, 1861-1862 Westminster College: An Informal History, 1851-1969; by William E. Parrish, page 23-24 "A Short History of Callaway County" - Bell With Porter in North Missouri - Mudd, page 394 Borderland Rebellion - Ingenthron |
