157th Anniversary of Brutal War Crime Which Occurred on Christmas Day in the Ozarks of Southeast Missouri
Members of the Third Missouri State Militia (Union) slaughtering women, children in Ripley County, Missouri on Christmas Day 1863 as portrayed in this sketch by artist Rocky Medley. Christmas , 2020 marked the 157th anniversary of the Wilson Massacre which occurred in Ripley County, Missouri on Christmas Day, 1863, part of a bitter rivalry between members of the 15th Missouri Cavalry, CSA (commanded by Col. Timothy Reeves) and the 3rd Missouri State Militia Cavalry, USA (commanded by Major James Wilson).. The massacre was "payback" for an event that happened just days before on December 21, 1863 when men from Reeves' command captured 102 Union soldiers in Centerville, Missouri. They were taken back to Confederate Colonel Timothy Reeves' encampment where (as some say) they were going to be used to exchange for Confederate prisoners. It wasn't an ordinary Confederate encampment. On Christmas Day it was the site of a Christmas gathering which included not only Conf