Michigan Mounted Militia Service Debt

[Larry Koschkee]

IS THIS BELIEVABLE?

"The war being terminated, the different military divisions were discharged, with the exception of Capt. Clark's and Capt. Gentry's companies, which were held in reserve. When the treaty of Rock Island was concluded, the miners were notified of their discharge from the Federal service, the Government having no further need for their services.

By an infamous arrangement of the commanding officer of the forces, Col. Dodge, the two mining companies known respectively as Capt. Clark's and Capt. Gentry's men, were forced to assume the expenses of their own corps during the campaign. The sum of over $4,000 was accordingly deducted from the pay of the men by the Paymaster, acting under orders from Col. Dodge."

Source: Richard H. Magoon's Memoirs, History of Grant County, WI, 1881 C. W. Butterfield

(R. H. Magoon was a 2nd Lieutenant in Capt. Clark's company)

[Robert Braun]

Larry... you asked the question... "Is this believeable?"

According to war veteran and eyewitness Peter Parkinson, Magoon's statements in this matter are not believeable.

Parkinson, in the August 18, 1881 edition of Darlington's The Republican newspaper reported that he had solicited written accounts of several other members of Dodge's companies, each of whom adamantly refute that such a financial sitation took place.

Additional proof came from a letter (quoted by Parkinson) dated May 4, 1881 from Secretary of War Robert T. Lincoln. Lincoln enclosed a letter from Adjutant General R. C. Drum, dated April 30, 1881.

Drum stated:

It is not seen , in view of the instructions to the Paymaster making the payments, how an injustice could have been done to nay of the men of these companies. There is no record of any complaints having ever been made to the War Department in the matter of payment of the troops.

Parkinson skillfully refuted the "remarkable, unjust, and untruthful statements" of Magoon in the "pay incident," and several other Magoon fabrications found in Butterfield's History of Lafayette County.

Among these are Magoon's "sour flour" story; his claim of nine men that "fell back" or acted the coward during the pursuit of the Kickapoo war-party to the Pecatonica, and the thoughts that the murmurings of Dodge's men influenced him in several instances. All of these issues Parkinson-- an eyewitness to most of the incidents-- flatly and emphatically denied.

[Larry Koschkee]

Bob, many thanks for the discerning statements refuting Mr. Magoon's claims of having to pay to serve his country...

Any information that would lead us to believe 2nd Lieutenant Magoon had an "axe to grind" with Col. Dodge? It would seem Magoon risked harsh criticism to come forward with such a preposterous indictment of Dodge at the time. Evidently he felt very strongly about the issue.

[Robert Braun]

Larry... I can't speak to Magoon's motives for his writings. Speaking strongly on an issue does not necessarily equate to truthful, fact-based commentary. We see daily examples of such rhetoric emanating from Washington D. C. and media sources.

Such recollections like Magoon's are, of necessity, human constructs of actual events. They may or may not be representative of actual events or the sequence of events. His comment, without the tempering inputs of Parkinson's comments, have been quoted as fact by several investigators... despite the observation that the "pay" and the "sour flour" incidents are quite contrary to Dodge's nature, and the recollections of Dodge generally preserved by his men. Such remembrances are almost always favorable to/toward Dodge.

We are left to compare and contrast the comments and ask: "which commentator is more credible, Magoon or Parkinson?"

Once the evidence and the commentary is examined, for me the answer is clear.

As for Magoon exposing himself to criticism, the question as to WHEN Magoon drafted his recollections needs to be examined. Butterfield's history came out in 1881... and by then most of the participants in the BHW had "crossed the river to the great beyond." I suspect, but do not know, that Magoon's commentary MAY not have been published until Butterfield came out with his History of Lafayette County. By then most of the participants were gone... who was left to criticize? It could be argued that any criticim might well be limited and localized at best. The practice of presenting personal opinion and criticism in altered historical accounts published long after the fact is well-established among Civl War veterans. A few of these published patently absurd accoutns years after more thoughtful and knowledgeable commentators had passed on or moved on.

As for Magoon's detractors, even Dodge had passed away nearly a generation before Butterfield's publication. Persons not eyewitnesses to the actual events would have a difficult time disproving some of Magoon's more critical comments without contrasting evidence with which to compare.

As it stands, Magoon's comments are preserved and reprinted to the present hour, while Parkinson's supplementary comments are generally unknown.

[Peter Shrake]

I would also add to Bob's commets that Butterfield's history ought to be taken with a grain of salt.

This is not to say that Butterfield's history is bad or that it is not a useful resurce, but consider to overall picture. Butterfield was a compiler or editor, for the Western Historical Company out of Chicago. Over a period of about 4 years he oversaw the production of histories of nearly every county in the State of Wisconsin. Thats a lot of histories in a very short time.

My own personal experience with Butterfield is the 1880 history of Sauk County. In terms of Sauk County History it is the second oldest history of the region and does contain much useful information. However, it has been discovered that he often collected info quickly, and used resources that often sounded more like modern advertisements than actual historical fact. We have for example a great description of Devils Lake that had to have been written by someone who was running one of the major hotels on the lake at the time.

I guess my point is, that were Butterfield produced a series of important histories, histories with useful, and rare information, it is still a history produced by an editor, gathering stuff as fast as he could, from anywhere he could. I am not saying that he did a bad job, I only reccomend that his work not be taken as gospel.

Pete