Stoddard Countians Aboard the C.S. Arkansas

Stoddard Countians Aboard the C.S. Arkansas. The Death of Captain Tom Walker. (Front): , Stoddard Countians Aboard the C.S. Arkansas , In 1861 President Abraham Lincoln requested General Winfield Scott to submit a plan to suppress the outbreak of the Civil War and reunite the Union. Scott devised "the Anaconda Plan" to blockade Southern ports and control southward flowing rivers. The Confederacy sought to counter this with the construction of ironclad rams which could keep Southern rivers open. One such vessel was the Arkansas, a ram constructed on the Yazoo River just north of Vicksburg., As The Arkansas neared completion in June of 1862, commanding officer, Lieutenant Isaac Brown, sought to build a crew of 100 sailors and 100 artillerymen. As the day of launching approached, 126 field artillerymen from Jeff Thompson's Missouri State Guard arrived to help man the cannon. For two days the Missourians drilled and practiced on the larger and unfamiliar naval guns., On Saturday, July 12, 1862, sixty-four of the Missourians were selected to board the ironclad and sent into action against the Union fleet. Three youngsters from Stoddard County were among the ranks of these new navy cannoneers: Josiah Dowdy, Smith Minton and his 17 year-old brother Stephen Minton. Dowdy and Smith Minton survived the first engagement, but young Stephen Minton did not. He was beheaded by a cannon ball. His body fell onto the deck and an officer immediately directed the nearest cannoneer, "Throw that body overboard." A shocked Smith Minton replied, "I can't Sir, that's my brother.", Sponsored by the Kenneth Minton family of Stoddard County, Missouri, (Back): , The Death of Captain Tom Walker , Early Saturday morning, January 5, 1863, two farmers followed a team of oxen along the Bloomfield Road in Stoddard County, Missouri. Suddenly a tall man stepped out into the middle of the road and stopped to face them. In a strong and determined voice he stated: "You tell those men in town that if they want me, to come after me. My name is Tom Walker.", These were Civil War times and Tom Walker had been the commander of Company "C," a part of the 12th Missouri State Cavalry Militia [Union]. Walker had been the strong and respected leader of his company, but had recently been accused by his commanding officer, Captain Lindsay Murdoch of Dallas [Marble Hill], Missouri, of accepting bribes from Confederate sympathizers. Angered by the accusation, Walker resigned his command and returned to his home near Bloomfield, and challenged any man to come after him., On this day in January of 1863 his challenge was answered. Fifty armed Confederate soldiers came after him. Walker may have fired the first shot, killing Captain Reuben Barnes, the leader of the armed group. Walker was immediately hit by a shot to his forehead, falling dead a short distance from the home of his parents, the Reverend and Mrs. Sanders Walker., His beautiful young wife, Lavina Kitchen Walker, quickly ran to him and hugged his lifeless body. Thus, it was written, "Such was the end of Captain Tom Walker.", Sponsored by the Walker Family decendants and Mr. Kenneth Minton