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.