This unit was organized on February 20, 1862 by consolidating the Black Hawk Cavalry with several unattached companies. The Black Hawk Companies appear to have been recruited mostly in Illinois. Much of the recruiting was done in Hancock Co., Illinois with some of the men coming from surrounding counties, northeastern Missouri and some from Iowa. Five companies of the regiment were involved at Lone Jack as follows:
Company A (Commanded by Captain Milton Brawner) included many men from the Warsaw, Benton Co., Missouri area. At Lone Jack, Capt. Brawner commanded the detachment.
Company C (Commanded by Captain Henry P. Spellman) included many men from the Warsaw, Hancock Co., Illinois area. At Lone Jack, Capt. Spellman commanded the detachment.
Company E (Commanded by Captain George Rockwell) included many men from Carthage, Nauvoo, Warsaw and other communities in Hancock Co., Illinois. At Lone Jack, Lieut. John Schee commanded the detachment.
Company F (Commanded by Captain Thomas C. Miller) included many men from Warsaw, Hancock Co., Illinois. At Lone Jack, Capt. Miller commanded the detachment.
Company I (Commanded by Captain Foster R. Hawks) included many men from the Macon Co., Missouri area. At Lone Jack, Lieut. Samuel M. Baker commanded the detachment.
To add a bit of geography to this article, Hancock County is just across the Mississippi River in that bulge in Illinois that sticks out between Hannibal, Mo. and Keokuk, Ia.
For statistics: The average age of these men was 26. Of those present at the battle, more were born in Ohio (21%) than in any other state. Next came Missouri (10%) followed closely by Indiana and Kentucky (9% each), then Germany (8%) and Illinois (7%). Almost 3% of the men came from Ireland. There were six men born in England, three in France, three in Canada and one born in Russia. In all, there were 19 states and 6 foreign countries represented. Of the men who were born in Pennsylvania, one was from Gettysburg. Most of the men lived in Missouri at the outbreak of the war, but many were living in Illinois, some in Iowa and some in Kansas.
The most common first name, as might be expected, was John (12%), then William (10.9%), followed closely by James (6.7%), George (5.6%) and Henry (5.4%). Among the more interesting first names, there was Champion, Commodore, Barrack, Reader, Reason, and Duty.
Based on the information I have been able to gather regarding the 7th Missouri Cavalry, the average soldier present for the battle was 26 years old, with blue eyes, brown hair, a light or fair complexion, was 5 feet 9 inches tall and (surprise, surprise) he was a farmer from Ohio. 53 men, or almost 12% of the men, had enlisted during the month of August 1862, several of them on August 9; a couple enlisted as recent as August 14. In addition, there were at least 13 who enlisted in July.
The tallest man among those from this unit at the Battle of Lone Jack was 6 foot 5 inches. He was wounded in the battle but survived. He did not survive the war. The shortest men were 5 foot even; both survived the battle and the war.
The youngest member of the 7th Missouri Cavalry engaged in the fighting was George Matthes of Company E. He was 14 years of age. The oldest man, James McKee of Company F, was 59. Both of them survived the battle and the war. In keeping with the notion that the Civil War was a “rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight”, the occupational makeup of the group certainly reflects this. While most were reported as farmers (41%), there were several blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, masons, engineers and butchers. In addition, there was a printer, an editor, a druggist, a pilot, a book binder, a student and a “fidler”. Finally, several simply listed themselves as laborers.
Within the companies of the regiment which fought at Lone Jack, there were twelve sets of brothers. Of those, six brothers were killed in the battle or died of wounds received there.
Of those men present in the battle, a little over 22% of the men died, from all causes, at some point during the war, including being killed at Lone Jack. For most, the cause was a disease of some kind, but many were killed in others fights. In the Battle of Lone Jack, the average age of the men who were killed outright or died of wounds was 25. At some time after the battle, about 6% deserted. Not surprisingly, many left within a week or two after the fight. Some did return to their company later. I found that one of the men who deserted shortly after the battle joined Quantrill’s men and served through the rest of the war on the Confederate side.
After the battle the slightly wounded and the men taken prisoner and paroled were assigned to the hospital to assist with the more severely wounded. Many of those paroled were simply discharged from the regiment shortly thereafter. I suspect this was thought to be the easiest way to deal with the parolees so that no one had to keep track of who had been exchanged. As time went on, this practice appears to have been stopped.
Although not at Lone Jack, but within the 7th Missouri Cavalry as a whole, and thus these men would have been aware of them, I found that there were at least five women who were members of the unit. Four of the women, Phebe H. Greenfield, Mary Handford, Mary McCord, and Elizabeth Worden were hospital matrons and each served in the early part of the war. Phebe Greenfield was born about 1830 in New York and in 1860 was living in Sweet Home Township, Clark Co., Missouri, as the head of the household, with her three children. She seems to disappear after that. Elizabeth Worden was possibly the wife of Henry S. Worden as he was on duty as a cook at the hospital for many months. Without more identifying information, I could not find any information on the other two women who were listed as matrons. The fifth woman, Mrs. Mary Wood, was listed as a regimental nurse. As such, she filed for a pension on March 2, 1887 in Missouri. On a form dated October 10,1863, which authorized her to travel from St. Louis, Mo. to Helena, Ark., she was listed as the Laundress for Co. C.
There was also at least one black cook. Listed as an “under cook”, Calvin Butler, served in Co. M from December 3, 1863 until his death on August 29, 1864 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Otherwise, I did not fine anything on him.
Also not at Lone Jack, the regiment had a Chaplain for about one year, from April 1, 1862 to January 5, 1863. His name was Rev. William Theodore Van Doren. He was born in New York in 1819, appears to have lived much of his life in New York, and was an 1837 graduate of Rutgers University. He managed to catch the attention of the governor of Missouri and was commissioned by Governor Hamilton Gamble.
As the war was drawing to a close, the 7th Missouri Cavalry was consolidated with the 1st Missouri Cavalry on February 22, 1865. At least 67 men who fought at Lone Jack survived and were transferred into the 1st and eventually mustered out of service.
After the war, the men settled back into civilian life, went to work, and helped raise families. According to the information I was able to find, the last three veterans of the companies which fought at Lone Jack died after 1930. One, Charles Horner of Company C, was 90 years old, dying on December 3, 1932, another, William Saunders of Company I, was age 88, dying on April 16, 1932, and the third was Nathaniel Pangburn McKee of Company F, was age 87, dying on October 16, 1933.
Including those who died during the war and after the war, my research developed that 40% of the men are buried in Missouri as one would expect. Further, 15.5% are buried in Illinois, 10% in Iowa, almost 9% in Kansas, 7% in Arkansas and 3.25% in the state of Washington. The others are buried in 15 other states across the country.