Mexico weekly ledger., 1920-11-25
R. S. Mckinney, Coun-
tySurveyor,T Tells of Elk
) periences In Civil War
Was in Army 3 Years and 5 Months and Was Wounded
Only once and Then But Slightly; Went in
When Sixteen as a Private and Came Out a
Private Though Was Once Arrested
For Refusing to be an Officer

R. S. Mckinney, county surveyor of
Audrain County, loves to tell Of his
experiences in the Confederate army
during the Civil War. Only he insists
that it was not a civil" war, but a
war between the states, and should be
called that. He was in the army for
three years and eight months, and Ia
all that time was only wounded once,
and that was very slightly. He enter
ed the army when he was sixteen
years old, finishing the wal as a priv
ate, though he had been made a ser
geant, and was arrested and brought
before the colonel for refusing to take
the Office. He is now seventy-fve
years old. Mr.. Mckinney was at
Shreveport when the Confederate
Army surrendered. He was in a com
pany made up principally of men from
Galloway County. The only one he
knows of nov living is Tom Ford of
Auxvasse. At that time, mothers we're
proud to give their sons to the cause
of the South, he said, three widow wo-
men at McCredie, Mrs. Ford, Mrs.
Dolan and Mrs. Rogers each having
five sons in the army.
The biggest battle | was in, said Mr..
Mckinney, as far as the number of
men vas concerned, was at Mansfield
and Pleasant Hill in Louisiana. Dick
Taylor was the Confederate general,
and General Banks the head of the
Yankee forces. We captured 1900
wagons, 80 pieces of artillery, and
killed, captured and wounded more
men than we had, about $4,000 in all.
Tn other side had 4 1000 men, and
was aiming to form n junction at
Shreveport with another general. But
we whipped all of them.
But the hottest battle | was in
was on Red River. We had only about
thirty men in our company to start
with, and when we had finished, and
whipped the other side, there were
only three men left, not killed or
wounded, the captain, the order scr.
geant and myself. We got all of their
Kd artillery and took all of
4 Fded prisoners. When we
Vie wagons we had captured
what was in them, the first
I'VE saw was n load of white
fHper collars, the first | ever saw"
Mr.. Mckinney tells of one exper-
fence in coming back home just after
the surrender. They got on a boat at
Rieksburc, and there was a young fell
Ea Misscurian, who began to tell
of all he had done during the a
He said that they had never been in
or seen any big battles, but he had
been in all of them. Ever time any
of the officers were killed, they would
fall in his arms, and he would carry
them off the field. One man with Mr.,
Mckinney said that he had been in a
big fight, and would show him wheth-
er or not he knew anything about
fighting. So he said that the Confed-
crates and Yankees started a battle
with 1000 men on each side. At the
end of the first day, there were five
hundred left on each side, and as
neither had gained any advantage
they had TO keep On fighting. A. the
end OF the second day, there were
fifty men left on each side, 80 they
had to keep in fighting. At the END
of the third day, there was one MAJ
left on each side, himself and the
other fellow. So they fought it out the
next day, and both Of them were kill
ed.
Mr.. Mckinney was adjutant-gen-
eral and chief of staff at the national
Confederate reunion this fall.