Paulette Jiles , author of Enemy Women, The Color of Lightning, News of the World & Simon the Fiddler, very graciously posted a review of Blood in the Ozarks: Second Edition on her blog. In it she writes: Blood in the Ozarks by Clint Lacy is a much-needed look at the war in southeastern Missouri. In that area things were quite different and this work makes things about as clear as they are going to get.  On Amazon there are a great many books (non-fiction) on the guerillas in Missouri during the Civil War, and almost all of them have to do with the guerillas/bushwhackers in Central Missouri; Quantrell, Frank and Jesse James, Bloody Bill Anderson and others. Blood in the Ozarks by Clint Lacy is a much-needed look at the war in southeastern Missouri. In that area things were quite different and this work makes things about as clear as they are going to get. The geography was different, the terrain and the people and the circumstances were different and other th...

Paperback $24.50 I've gotten a lot of feedback since I released "Blood in the Ozarks: Union War Crimes Against Southern Sympathizers and Civilians in Occupied Missouri Second Edition", most of it has been positive but there is the occasional criticism, some of it from critics who haven't even read the book yet. A select few are triggered by the title alone. I often hear "What do you mean occupied? Missouri was a border state!"  The most popular criticisms by far are, "There were atrocities on BOTH sides!", and  "I wish there was a book that told the other side of the story."  I will try and address these criticisims in order. You have to admit that describing Missouri as "occupied" in the title is an attention getter. An author should  come up with a title and book cover that grabs the attention of would-be-readers but more importantly, it is the truth, Missouri was  occupied. Critics do have a point when they d...

We here it all the time, calls for "balance", in newspapers and television. We've all heard that "one" cable news network's slogan of "Fair and Balanced" but are they? Trick question. The answer is "no" they are not and neither is any other newspaper outlet, television news organization or talk radio host. Everyone has their biases and the only time we really  here about bias is when someone from "the other side" says something we don't agree with. I've recently received a lot of good feedback from the release of my new Kindle eBook "Blood in the Ozarks: Union War Crimes Against Southern Sympathizers and Civilians in Occupied Missouri." There have been a few people who gave some negative feedback upon the Kindle release of the book. One person had some criticism of "What the hell do you mean occupied? Missouri was a divided state." I guess it all depends on how you look at it. Was it ...

This is why I love digging in the archives. The following article appeared in the Confederate Veteran magazine Volume Vol. XXV, Feb. 1917. It was entitled "Suffering on the Southwest Border" and submitted  Mrs. Flora E. Stevens of Kansas City, Missouri. In it she addresses the difference between the atrocities committed by the men of Sherman's "March to the Sea" and the depredations inflicted on Missourians by Kansas Jayhawkers. To illustrate her point Mrs. Stevens states, "...These troops were chivalrous, high-principled men in comparison with the Kansas soldiers and the members of the 2d Colorado in their treatment of the unfortunate dwellers of Missouri on the Kansas border. "   "An article in the January Veteran on “The South’s Suffering” dwells upon the devastation inflicted by Sherman and Sheridan as the greatest endured by the South during the war; but these troops were chivalrous, high-principled men in comparison with the Kans...

The illustration on the left is an artist's concept of a Union soldier. I have to admit, I'm quite perplexed by it. Why? I shall tell you why. First he has a rifle. Second he has a uniform, a canteen a bedroll and a knapsack. In other words, this would-be soldier has all of the supplies and equipment that would ready him for a military campaign / battle. Why does this perplex me?  It perplexes me because recent events have led me to the conclusion that the "War Between the States" never happened. Given the events of recent years it's natural to conclude it didn't happen. Fox news compiled a running list of Confederate monuments that have been removed thus far and while the majority of those were at the hands of Democrats, there are several Republicans behind the removal of them.   Below is the list compiled by Fox News correspondent Christopher Carbone. christopher.carbone@foxnews.com Annapolis, Md. Under cover of da...

Combing through the Ponder papers from the Missouri Historical Society I found another piece of valuable information. In a letter found in the archives, the author reveals that William Leeper burned the Ripley County Courthouse down in May, 1865. I also learned something else. Leeper was a Campbellite preacher. Below is the letter naming Leeper as the arsonist.

I was examining the Jerry Ponder papers (found in the Missouri Historical Society Archives) and found a piece of correspondence from a M. Barnhart of Warm Springs, Arkansas to Jerry Ponder of Ripley County, Missouri. According to Barnhart.. What records were left for Ripley County during the war , were kept by a local militia unit, the 15th Mo Cav Reg, Conf, all records military & civil were burned in May, 1865 before the unit went to Jacksonport, Ark. to surrender.