Mutiny in Bloomfield

Mutiny in Bloomfield. . On Thursday morning, October 22, 1863, citizens of Bloomfield were puzzled by early morning activity around Union military headquarters. The battalion's four armed cavalry companies, with two artillery pieces, were drawn up in front of the headquarters, then in the former home of physician Thomas W. McDoniel, a Virginian and southern sympathizer. McDoniel's son, William, was serving as a bugler on the staff of Confederate General John S. Marmaduke. The house had been seized by Union Forces and used at various times as a hospital, headquarters and post office. A telegraph office was recently added., A mutiny was taking place. The officers of the 2nd Battalion of the 6th Cavalry Regiment of Missouri Volunteers believed that their commanding officer, Major Samuel Montgomery, supported by his son, Capt. Richard H. Montgomery and the battalion surgeon, Lt. Thomas W. Johnson, intended to turn the post over to Confederate Forces, and they decided to arrest the Major and take control of the post. Although they respected their hard-fighting, duty first, rough-speaking Major, they did not agree with his actions. He had ridiculed his superiors and permitted Rebel soldiers to return to the area without trial or posting of bond., Of great concern was the affection the widowed 52-year-old Montgomery demonstrated for Martha Owen Walker, a young widowed school teacher from a prominent Bloomfield family. The few loyal Union people remaining in the area accused Mrs. Walker of being a Confederate spy and courier. When the Major showed little concern about rumors of an approaching Confederate force, five Union officers arrested Montgomery and took control of the post. They , (Continued on other side). , (Back):(Continued from other side). , refused to obey his order to dismiss the troops, and as he was being escorted into the headquarters, they took control of the telegraph operator and his machine., Major Montgomery met alone with Capt. William Crockett, the senior officer of the mutineers, and after a few minutes, the captain dismissed the assembled troops and ordered them back to their barracks. District headquarters was informed of the situation and dispatched Lt. Col. H.M. Hiller to Bloomfield to take control of the situation. he arrived, arrested four of the five officers and reported the situation quiet and orderly, with no Confederate forces in the area. Hiller's official report concluded with the statement that, "I can learn of nothing having been done that would justify the officers in the course they took. They acted very sillily.", Four of the five officers were court-martialed and dismissed from service. The fifth officer and chief instigator of the mutiny, Lt. Reber, deserted and resigned his commission. , Four days prior to the mutiny Major Montgomery and Martha Owen Walker were married. Following the war Montgomery returned to Bloomfield and served as Mayor, member of the school board, and as a county judge. He lived in Bloomfield to his death and was buired among his friends in the Bloomfield Cemetery., On May 17, 1864, the governor of Missouri was notified by President Abraham Lincoln that the sentences of J.H. Paynter, William H. Crockett, E.J. Burross and Luther Potter were dismissed and that they were eligible to be re-commissioned into the U.S. Army. But none of the four ever rejoined the military., Sponsored by the Montgomery Family.