Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-05-13
TLLECRAPHY IN WAR TINE
Bzpsrispo-s Of Colonel olOwry a. Military
TslsSraphsT n the Ecu Invest
HOT ZINES IN Missouri AND ARKANSAS
Courage and DaFinE OF Operators and
Linsmen In Region Infested BY
GuerrilIas-ThriIling In
oidents Recalled.

Colonel Robert c. Clowry general man /
ager Of the Western Union Telegraph conf /
pany saw much active service and per
formed important duties as manager OF the /
United States military telegraph lines I'm |
Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas during the |
civil war. serving to the end OF the struggle |
and receiving commissions as major and |
brevet lieutenant colonel from President |
Lincoln. At the last annual meeting ~
the United states Military Telegraph corps /
In New York Colonel Clowry recounted |
some Of his experiences along the firing line |
follows:
When the civil war broke out in the
spring Of 1861, I was superintendent of
the Missouri g. Western Telegraph COM
pany. with headquarters at St Louis. our 1
company had a single wire line. extending
from St. Louis to all points on the Mis-
souri, river as far north as Omaha. and
also had a single wire line from st. Louis
to Fort Smith, via Jefferson City, Syracuse
and Springfield. Nearly all OF these lines
were on the highways The people Of Mis-
sour, in convention assembled. voted
unanimously against secession, but the gov
ernor OF the state, Clayburne Jackson, was
a rank secessionist and, disregarding the
will Of the people, sought to take the state
out Of the union. He seized the telegraph
lines In the state and assembled large
forces OF men near Boonville to drive the
United States troops from the state. In
May 1851 Nathaniel Lyon OF the United
States regular army was appointed briga-
der general in command. with headquar-
tiers at St. Louis. About June 10, 1851, Gen
eral Lyon notified Charles NJ. Stebbins. the
president of the Missouri & Western Tele-
IL
the secession force near Boonville and re-
quested him to send a telegraph officer
with him Iyon9, with sufficient force TO
repair the telegraph line in order to keep
| him in communication with his headquar-
| tiers in ST. Louis, it being und' rstood that
| this telegraph oficial was to have the
| same privileges as the regular army Off
GERS on his STAFF. l was appointed to this
| position and the army took passage on
| steamboats, on June IS. 1861, and arrived at
/ the camp of the secessionists, six miles
below BoonviIle. early In the morning of
! June l6 General Lyon had a force Of
about 1000 men.
Operations in Missouri.
The strength of the secession party was
not known, but was estimated ate about
/ 5000 in a disorganized condition. General
Lyon attacked the enemy Immediately,
/ and after fight of about three hours
completely dispersed them. the loss on
both sides being small. Our army then
/ marched into Boonville and took possession
OF the city and 1 succeeded in getting the
/ telegraph line in operation to st. Louis
without delay. Shortly after our arrival
at Boonville, General Lyon informed me
that he intended to leave that place on
/ July for Springfield. Mo-. distance OF
A,Irfr he roll al
and west Of the highway occupied by the
! telegraph line, and instructed me to have
the line in operation to Springfield, IL pos
sible, on his arrival. 1 started out i'm
mediately and succeeded in getting the
line in operation as far as Warsaw, on
the Usage river, about los miles from Boon
willie, where / found the river crossing
broken. While 1 was repairing this cross
ing, a courier named Barnes, from General
! Lyons army, who was an operator, and
with whom 1 was acquainted, rode up
and informed me that he had dispatches
from General Lyon ordering ammunition
and supplies to be shipped to Springfield
via Rolla, which he desired TO have trans
mitted TO st. Louis Immediately. He
stated that, II necessary, he would send
the dispatches himself 1 informed him
that out Of a population OF several thou
sand persons there were only three union
men in the town, the operator, William
Hixon, a native of Ohio, who was the
proprietor OF the store in which the tele-
graph office was located, and two other
men, and that IL It was known that he,
Barnes. was a courier from General Lyon s
army he could not escape with his life. /
also cautioned him not to pretend that he
knew me and not to compromise our oper-
ator, Hixon. He delivered the dispatches
to Hixon and Immediately returned to the
main army.
safety I'm Flight.
These dispatches were very long and
! they occupied the time of Hixon until late
in the evening. In the meantime there
was much excitement in the town. and
the movements of Hxon were watched
very closely by the people. About dark
, that evening one of the union men in.
formed me that the people were very
much excited and advised me to leave
town Immediately. The only means OF
crossing the river was by a rope ferry, n
charge OF a negro man. was acquainted
with this man. having made use OF his boa
J in stringing a wire across the river. and
Immediately arranged with him to be or
hand at daybreak the next morning 10 talk,
, me across the river. I paid my hotel bill
that night saddled my horse at daybreak
found the negro on hand. and was ferriet
, over southwardly. learned afterward,
that when the people aseertained that
had escaped they sent posse to overtak,
I me- but had such a long start that they
/, failed TO DO so. As soon as HiKon arrived
at his once the next morning he wa,
\ pulled out on the sidewalk by a crow
4 who demanded that he shoyy than the dis