May 16, 1861Dear Jaris,I hope this letter finds you well. I decided to wait a few days before writing to you because I wasn’t sure how long it would take for you to meet up with your unit and get settled. And, until today, I really couldn’t bear to think that you were gone. The town has changed in the last few days. It seems all the young men are gone, all the old men are politicking, and all of the women are trying to keep their minds preoccupied with something other than the fact that their sons or their sweethearts are off fighting. Rumor has it that your side is planning an attack soon, that Gov. Jackson has decided to take the state back from Union hands. I pray that you will be safe, no matter what lies in the future. I hope that you will find some solace in thoughts of me and of your home, which awaits your safe return.Your fiancée,CordiaCordia sighed, rereading the letter

Army life was not at all what Jaris Adams had thought it was going to be. He had been in camp now for just over a week, and he hated every minute of it. Though he was raised on a farm, he could not get used to sleeping on the ground, using a latrine, eating hardtack. And he hated the noise. The men all seemed to be in high spirits, which he knew was a good thing. But they were up playing music, gambling, carousing, until all hours of the night. As an officer, one of his duties was to try to enforce curfews, but it was damn near impossible at this point in the war effort. They had word that Franz Sigel’s men were headed toward them and that there could be a skirmish, maybe even a full-blown battle, any day. That was enough to keep morale—and noise—at an indescribable high.His days consisted mainly of drilling the troops. As a lieutenant, he was in charge of a certain number of men. Of course, he had officers above him as well. A good portion of the day was s

On the night of July 4, 1860, Franz Sigel’s men found themselves in camp north of the city of Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri. Unbeknownst to them, Gov. Claiborne Jackson’s men, under his own command, lay in wait, just over a ridge further north. Though the Confederate forces had Sigel’s men grossly outnumbered, almost six to one, nearly a third of Jackson’s forces were not armed. Still, the Confederate soldiers who had weapons and were ready for battle had a great advantage on the Union Army. On the dawn of July 5, Jackson drew his men into formation along the ridge. Sigel had been chasing him across the state. Jackson wondered if Sigel would take this opportunity and attack. It did not take long for the governor to receive an answer.Will’s regiment had been part of the encampment that settled down in Carthage the night of July 4. There were plenty of rumors going around that Confederate soldiers were in the area. Of course, they had heard th

On July 7, Jackson decided not to follow Sigel’s men on their retreat toward Springfield. There were Confederate soldiers, under Gen. Ben McCulloch and Gen. Sterling Price, already stationed there. However, with the growing call to arms from the Confederate Army, a number of men decided to detach from the Missouri State Guard, and enlisted with the Confederate troops, officially becoming part of the Confederate Army. Jaris Adams was part of that regiment. He made the long, slow trip toward Springfield, along with a few hundred other men, many of which were also from Barton County. He had hoped to find time along the trip to send word to Cordia and his mother that he had survived his first engagement, but free time was hard to come by. Eventually, they found the Confederate Army and were enlisted. Jaris retained his rank of lieutenant and was soon drilling with a whole other set of men.Throughout the rest of July, both armies were relatively quiet as far as fighting was

The heat of the August sun was blazing. It was only a short walk from the large two-story house on Broadway Street up to the town square, but even with a sunbonnet on, Cordia could feel the sweat running down the back of her neck. Maybe it was just because there had been rumor of another fight, a big one near Springfield, but she felt like she was being burned alive.Her heart was pounding as she neared the courthouse. She could see a crowd forming there. News had just made it to her father at the bank, who had sent word by one of the young boys who worked at the newspaper to go tell Cordia. Yet, already, there must have been close to fifty people standing around, staring at the courthouse door. Nothing was posted yet, and most likely nothing would be that day—nothing that really supplied any pertinent information. Nevertheless, Cordia did not have the best of feelings this time. Her stomach was tight, her palms sweaty, her heart raced, ready to burst out of her chest.