Our Family and the Civil War

Growing up around all my cousins from Missouri, they all called me a Yankee and claimed a right to the confederate ideology of ‘rebel’. This is kind of funny for two reasons. First is Missouri’s role in the civil war. Missouri sent almost four times the number of troops to fight for the Union versus the Confederacy (@109,000 versus @30,000). In addition, while the Confederacy considered Missouri its twelfth state, Missouri never did leave the Union. Missouri voted against succeeding on March 1, 1861.

Secondly our family history claims no known rebel soldiers, only Union.

Our family's tie to the Union can be traced back to my great-grandfather George William Rogers.

William Rogers, a native of Osage County, Missouri, enlisted in St. Louis on April 9, 1864, as a private in Company I, 10th Missouri Cavalry. During his service with the regiment, the 10th fought at the battles of Brice’s Crossroads and Tupelo, and pursued General Sterling Price during his 1864 Missouri raid.

On July 25, 1865, Rogers was transferred to “Merrill’s Horse” (2nd Missouri Cavalry). He was mustered out of service on September 19, 1865.

George (b: December 6, 1842 d: 1889) was my grandmother Richard’s father. He married Missouri Angeline Mullinax on August 23, 1868.

See the posting titled Earl’s Cousins to see more in-depth about the Rogers influence on the family.Roy Richard