Frisby McCullough Frisby McCullough ( March 8 , 1828 – August 8 , 1862 ) was a Confederate States Army soldier in the American Civil War , executed on the orders of Union Colonel ( later General ) John McNeil after the Battle of Kirksville . Early years . Born in New Castle County , Delaware , to James and Delia ( Pennington ) McCullough , he moved with his parents to Marion County , Missouri at the age of 12 . McCullough went to California during the 1849 Gold Rush and remained there for 5 years . On November 26 , 1856 , he married Eloise Randolph in Marion County . They became the parents of three children , including a son who went on to practice law in Edina , Missouri . Military career . At the outbreak of the war , McCullough joined the Confederate forces under General Thomas Green . He took part in the Battle of Lexington , before being sent by General Sterling Price to recruit in northeastern Missouri with Joseph C . Porter in the spring of 1862 . During the guerrilla campaign in Northeast Missouri in the summer of 1862 , McCullough sought unsuccessfully to persuade Colonel Porter to restrict himself to recruiting and not engage the Union forces . According to one of his men , Joseph Mudd ( see references ) , this was because McCullough feared the retaliation Federal forces would inflict upon civilian Southern sympathizers . The observation may accurately reflect McCullough ’ s character , which is universally praised , but it is colored by the author ’ s Confederate perspective . Prior to the engagement at Kirksville , McCullough again urged Porter to decline battle and send his raw recruits to Arkansas for training and equipping behind Confederate lines . Porter refused and McCullough proposed that Porter at least wait in the cornfields outside of town , instead of fighting in the village itself . Again , his advice was ignored . Capture and execution . After Porter ' s disastrous defeat at Kirksville , McCullough became ill . Declining Porter ’ s offer of escort , he rode alone towards Edina to recover and continue recruiting . He was discovered by Federal troops and surrendered . McCullough requested to be sent to Palmyra , rather than to Kirksville , possibly because he had already heard of the executions of prisoners there , but the request was denied . Although he had been treated well in Edina , according to eyewitnesses he was paraded up and down the streets of Kirksville to jeering crowds . He was accused of lacking a military commission , of fighting on his own authority — that is , of being a bushwhacker — and of persuading parolees to return to Confederate service . A drumhead court - martial was convened on Friday , August 8 , by Lt . Col . W . F . Schaffer of Merrill ’ s Horse . McCullough stated that he had been elected second in command of the regiment of Colonel Cyrus Franklin , but had not yet received his commission . He had also previously held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Missouri State Guard , but that commission had long since expired . McCullough was found guilty and sentenced to be shot . The officer who read the death sentence did so with tears . McCullough was given fifteen minutes to write a final letter to his wife . He did so while leaning against a fence . He requested and was granted permission to give the order to fire . His final words were , “ What I have done , I have done as a principle of right . Aim at the heart . Fire ! ” However , the first volley was not fatal . At his request , his executioners straightened out his leg , which was pinned beneath him . It is variously said he was killed by a second volley or a coup de grace with a pistol . Before he died , he said either “ I forgive you this barbarous act ” or “ May God forgive you this barbarous murder . ” Union Colonel McNeil wrote : “ Col . McCullough was tried [ … ] under order No . 2 of General Halleck and Nos . 8 and 18 , of General Schofield . He had no commission except a printed paper authorizing ‘ the bearer ’ to recruit for the Confederate Army . He was found guilty of bushwhacking , or of being a guerilla . He was a brave fellow , and a splendid specimen of manhood . I would have gladly spared him had my duty permitted . As it was , he suffered the fate that would have fallen to you or to me if we had been found recruiting inside the Confederate lines . He met a soldier ’ s death , as became a soldier . ” The intensely pro - Union " Palmyra Courier " was restrained in its criticism of McCullough : “ We have known him personally since he was a boy . He was ever , as a citizen , a high - toned gentleman – really a noble specimen of a man . Brave as a lion , no danger could intimidate him . We doubt whether the rebel ranks contain a more honorable man than he was . Yet his judgment led him to commit the fatal error of taking up arms against his country . He has been one of the most active and vigilant rebels in the Northeast Missouri [ sic ] . Honorable as he was , however , as a gentleman , he justly merited the fate he received , as a rebel , in unlawful and barbarous warfare against the authorities of the land . Had he engaged in the service of his country with the zeal he evinced against it , he would doubtless have risen to a high position of honor and renown . ” Evaluation . While there may have been some technicalities as to McCullough ’ s commission , he was in fact wearing a Confederate officer ' s uniform when captured and was acting under orders from General Price . Reaction to his execution was generally negative . It was viewed by many as neither necessary nor just , and may have done more to galvanize pro - Southern sympathies than to discourage activities of the type McCullough was charged with .