Saving Major Wolf
An 1864 Report of an Execution
Summer 2013, Vol. 45, No. 2
By Bruce I. Bustard
A special order announces that Confederate Maj. Enoch Wolf, as the first captured Confederate major, will be executed in retaliation for the murder of Maj. James Wilson.
Room 200 in the 威尼斯人娱乐场 Building in Washington, D.C. 鈥攖he Archives鈥� Central Research Room鈥攊s probably not many people鈥檚 idea of an exciting place.
It is dimly lit, wood paneled, with a high, ornately carved ceiling. Visitors and staff speak in whispers, amid the hum of copiers and the clicking of laptop computers. For researchers, however, Room 200 is a special place where you go to solve mysteries and make discoveries. It is where you meet the past close up.
You may have read books and articles about your subject. You may have studied printed reports and memoirs. But in the Central Research Room you can open boxes or crack volumes and look at original documents鈥攖he evidence left by participants in historic events who were there.
You wait for your cart of records to arrive with a tingle of anticipation. When you open the boxes, you are often surprised by the stories you find inside. And the documents lead to new questions about the history you thought you knew.
Just such a moment happened to me in Room 200 one winter afternoon when I was conducting research for the 威尼斯人娱乐场 exhibition 鈥淒iscovering the Civil War.鈥� I was reading letters received by the Union Provost Marshal鈥檚 office in Missouri from 1864.
The duties of the Office of the Provost Marshal were not very glamorous. During the Civil War it tracked down deserters, oversaw drafts, arrested citizens charged with disloyalty, issued passes, and worked with civilian authorities in occupied areas to control saloons, gambling houses, and bordellos.
Like many Civil War records, the letters in my box were wrapped by a sheet of paper that quickly gives tells you the subject of the correspondence. The records I was reading had headings such as 鈥淩eports on Enlistments,鈥� 鈥淟etter regarding saloons,鈥� and 鈥淎rrest for curfew violation.鈥�
A Surprise Account of Six Executions
Then I came upon a heading that stopped me short. It read, 鈥淩eports the execution of the six rebel soldiers held as hostages for Major Wilson and men.鈥� Opening the letter, I found this brief note, dated October 30, 1864, from Lt. Col. Gustav Heinrichs to Acting Provost Marshal Col. Joseph Darr. It read:
"I have the honor to report that the execution of the six rebel prisoners of war mentioned in Special Order Nos 279 and 280 current series from your Office took place near Fort No 4 in this City at the specified time, and was performed to my entire satisfaction by the detail of the Provost guard in command of Capt. Jones, consisting of 44 men of the 10th Kansas and 10 men of the 41st Mo. Inf.
"The men fired at a distance of fifteen paces and five of the six were shot through the heart, and they were all instantly killed. I desire to call your attention, Colonel to the good conduct of the officers and men detailed for this unpleasant duty, and remain your obedient serv鈥檛."
What was this? Why had 鈥渟ix rebel prisoners of war鈥� been held hostage and then executed? Who were these men? And who was Major Wilson?
The execution was at odds with the images of the Civil War I鈥檇 carried with me since childhood: images of huge epic battles fought by gallant soldiers who followed a strict code of principled, if old fashioned, morality. This report seemed to tell a very different story.
The War in Missouri Different from Other Places
And in fact, the war in Missouri was different鈥攐r was, perhaps, an extreme version of events that took place elsewhere around the country. The state鈥檚 population was badly split between supporters of the Union and the Confederacy. Confederates raised irregular or 鈥減artisan鈥� units to resist the 鈥渙ccupation鈥� of their state.
At first, these groups wore uniforms and followed a formal command structure designed to keep abuses in check, but soon the lines between authorized irregular warfare and criminal behavior blurred. Missouri鈥檚 Civil War devolved into a brutal guerrilla conflict.
Prisoner Enoch Wolf wrote to General Rosecrans in November 1864 urging that he apprehend the true perpetrator of the crimes: the "Notaries [notorious] Bush Whacking Tim Reives."
U.S forces used increasingly harsh counterinsurgency tactics, and civilian Union supporters raised their own informal armed groups. By 1864 it was common for roving bandits of armed men to burn homes, murder civilians who supported the other side, and steal food, clothing, and horses. Neighbors turned on neighbors鈥攐ften for reasons that had little to do with the war. And those who were captured by guerrillas, like Major Wilson, could reasonably expect the worst.
While the report in the Provost Marshal鈥檚 file was mysterious, it also gave me several leads. The first lead was the reference to 鈥淢ajor Wilson and men.鈥� If I could work out who this Major Wilson was, I could probably find his military service record鈥攁nd possibly his pension record鈥攊n the Archives. The second clue was Heinrich鈥檚 reference to Special Orders 279 and 280. Finally, knowing that Heinrichs wrote from St. Louis, Missouri, on October 30, 1864, helped to narrow things down.
I quickly located printed versions of Special Orders 279 and 280 in The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. These and other nearby documents gave me the basic facts. In the fall of 1864, Maj. James Wilson and six of his men of the Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry were captured at Pilot Knob, Missouri. A Confederate officer handed the prisoners over to guerrilla fighter Tim Reeves near Union, Missouri. The 鈥渂lood stained outlaw鈥� then 鈥渂rutally murdered鈥� Wilson and his men. In retaliation, Provost Marshal Joseph Darr chose six Confederate enlisted prisoners of war to be 鈥渟hot to death by musketry.鈥� It is these men whose deaths were noted in Heinrichs鈥檚 October 30 report.
But executing six enlisted men did not, in the minds of Union authorities, amount to 鈥渁n eye for an eye.鈥� James Wilson was an officer. Retribution for his execution demanded that a Confederate major die as well. An order was issued that 鈥渢he first captured Confederate Major鈥� be sent to the Union prison in St. Louis to face a firing squad. The unlucky Confederate was Maj, Enoch Wolf, of Major Ford鈥檚 Arkansas Battalion, who had been captured in Kansas on October 26, 1864. My next step was to read Wolf鈥檚 Confederate service record in the holdings of the War Department Collection of Confederate Records.
The uncomprehending Wolf was attached to an iron ball and anvil and told that he was to be 鈥渟hot to death by musketry on Friday next between the hours of nine and eleven o鈥檆lock.鈥� On November 8, the same day he had been informed of his execution, Major Wolf wrote to Gen. William S. Rosecrans, who commanded the Department of Missouri. Wolf asked Rosecrans to demand that his Confederate counterpart, Gen. Sterling Price, turn over 鈥渢his [notorious] Bush Wacking Tim Reives [sic] to Be Executed.鈥�
A Goodbye Letter from Major Wolf
Rosecrans did not reply. On November 10, the day before Wolf was to be executed, Wolf wrote to Rosecrans again. This time he requested a delay 鈥渙f a few days鈥� so he could 鈥減repare for death.鈥� The general agreed. Soon after, according to some accounts, Wolf seems to have been visited in prison by a minister to whom Wolf gave a last letter to his wife. The letter contained a line asking his wife to say good-bye to Wolf鈥檚 Masonic friends. When the minister read this line, he confirmed that the major was a Mason, rushed from his cell, and began to mobilize other Masons to assist Wolf.
Wolf鈥檚 fate became a public cause. Within less than a day, several groups鈥攊ncluding the 鈥淯nion ladies鈥� of the City St. Louis and 鈥渇aithful supporters of the Federal Government鈥濃�攕ent petitions and letters to Rosecrans asking that he stay the execution at least until he had determined that General Price was not going to turn over Reeves. At the same time, two St. Louis civilians telegrammed President Lincoln asking for presidential clemency, 鈥渋n gratitude to Almighty God for our great victory鈥濃�攑robably a reference to Lincoln鈥檚 recent reelection.
President Lincoln sent this telegram ordering a stay in the execution of Wolf and requesting a report on the case.
Later on November 10, in response to the petitions, Rosecrans again delayed the execution until November 25. That same day, Lincoln telegrammed Rosecrans, 鈥淪uspend execution of Major Wolf until further order.鈥� Lincoln also asked the general to explain his actions.
As ordered, Rosecrans suspended Wolf鈥檚 execution. But he wrote the President a long letter defending his actions and chafing at being contradicted by someone almost 900 miles away who did not understand the war in Missouri. His order to execute Wolf had one goal: 鈥渢o secure our prisoners from murder.鈥� Wilson鈥檚 death had been 鈥渃old blooded murder,鈥� and it was Rosecrans鈥檚 鈥渞ight, and even duty鈥� to 鈥渉old any organized body of men responsible for the actions of their organization.鈥� War, he reminded his commander in chief, required the deaths of 鈥渕en who have done no wrong.鈥� Price had not prevented the 鈥渙fficial murder鈥� of U.S. soldiers. Only a threatened 鈥渟ense of personal security鈥� would make the point that Confederates would be held 鈥渋ndividually responsible for the treatment of my troops while prisoners in their hands.鈥�
Lots of Loose Ends about Major Wolf
We do not know what Lincoln made of Rosecrans鈥檚 justification, but the President鈥檚 telegram did save Major Wolf. Although it stopped Wolf鈥檚 execution only temporarily, Wolf never faced a firing squad鈥攑robably because Rosecrans was relieved of his command in January 1865. The new general, Grenville Dodge, took no further action. Wolf was eventually transferred to the Union prisoner-of-war camp on Johnson鈥檚 Island, Ohio. On February 24, 1865, he was exchanged for other prisoners at City Point, Virginia. There is no record that Tim Reeves was ever held responsible for the deaths of Major Wilson and his men. Enoch Wolf died on October 20, 1910, at age 83 in Myrone, Arkansas.
The murder of Major Wilson and his men, the execution of six innocent Confederate enlisted men, and the saving of Major Wolf, raise several weighty questions:
- Was Major Wolf simply the lucky beneficiary of Lincoln鈥檚 compassion?
- What role did Wolf鈥檚 status as an officer play in how Union鈥檚 military justice played out?
- Was the vicious guerrilla war in Missouri exceptional, or does it point to new directions for Civil War historians?
Whatever the answers to these questions, the records brought to Room 200 in the 威尼斯人娱乐场 Building will undoubtedly be essential to discovering them in the future.
Bruce I. Bustard is senior curator at the 威尼斯人娱乐场 in Washington, D.C. He was curator for 鈥淪earching for the Seventies鈥� and for 鈥淎ttachments: Faces and Stories from America鈥檚 Gates鈥� in 2012. He was lead researcher for the 鈥淒iscovering the Civil War鈥� exhibition in 2010.
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Note on Sources
The initial report of the execution of the six Confederate prisoners may be found in entry 2786, Letters Received, Department of the Missouri, part 1, Records of U.S. Army Continental Commands, 1821鈥�1920, Record Group (RG) 393.
Major Wilson鈥檚 compiled military service record is held in the Records of the Adjutant General鈥檚 Office 1780鈥檚鈥�1917, RG 94. Wilson served with the Third Missouri State Militia Cavalry. Enoch Wolf鈥檚 career with Ford鈥檚 Battalion of the Arkansas Cavalry as well as the campaign to save him is detailed in the , RG 109.
The telegrams to President Lincoln asking him to save Wolf are in War Department records, Telegrams Received by the Office of the Secretary of War, Telegrams addressed to the President. Lincoln鈥檚 order suspending Wolf鈥檚 execution is also among War Department records, but in the series Telegrams sent by the President, RG 107.
General Rosecrans鈥檚 letter to Lincoln is among the Letters Sent by the Department of Missouri in the Records of the Adjutant General鈥檚 Office, Department of the Missouri, November 1864, RG 94. Enoch Wolf鈥檚 son, E Knox Wolf, published an account of his father鈥檚 story in the August 1910 issue of Confederate Veteran.
The most comprehensive study on the war in Missouri remains Michael Fellman鈥檚 Inside War: The Guerrilla Conflict in Missouri During the American Civil War (1989). It should be supplemented by the more recent book by Daniel E. Sutherland, A Savage Conflict: The Decisive Role of Guerrillas in the American Civil War (2009).