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Welcome to the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi! This is a place where all who share an interest in the Civil War fought west of the Mississippi River can gather to ask questions, share information, and announce news.
First off, a person needs to question why Jerry Ponder neglected to footnote his book. There might be a good reason.
Personally, I feel Ponder's book on the 15th Missouri Cavalry is a bit of an insult to the brave men of that regiment and those of us that had ancestors that served the Stars and Bars. Ponder goes into great detail about a man he claims was the first commanding officer of the regiment, William Righter. To say William Righter served in the 15th Mo. Cav. is like saying that William Clinton served in the 1st Marine Division.
Ponder also claims that William Righter was captured with Gen. Jeff Thompson at Pocahontas, Ark. in August 1863 and then was taken as a captive to St. Louis along with Jeff Thompson. Only trouble is, Righter's own obituary says he DID NOT serve during the Civil War--his physique would not permit it! Not only that, that same obituary has Righter traveling from Ripley County, Mo. to St. Louis in October 1863. Things were apparently too hairy for him there.
There is nothing in Jeff Thompsons memoir about Righter. Righter's name does not show up on the Gratiot Prison lists like Thompson's does, and for that matter it does not show up on any other prison lists.
There is NO mention of Righter in the O.R. and NO military file for Righter at the National Archives and he is listed no where--no where--in any muster roll compiled independently of Jerry Ponder.
I would challenge those supporting the veracity of this book to produce one single non-Ponder primary reference of Righter having served during the Civil War. Should be simple for a colonel of a regiment.
If none can be produced and documented on this message board, I would challenge the book's value.
It appears we have a common problem. Ponder has deliberately printed a great deal of false information about Mj James Wilson. He generates a false paper trail to substantiate his story of the fight at Pulliams. His version of that fight is as incorrect as the statements he makes about James Wilson and William Righter. It has become obvious that he did no research in the Lincoln County courthouse at Troy Mo. on Mj James Wilson's divorce. I consider it very unlikely that he did any significant or original research on him at all.
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Replying to:
First off, a person needs to question why Jerry Ponder neglected to footnote his book. There might be a good reason.
Personally, I feel Ponder's book on the 15th Missouri Cavalry is a bit of an insult to the brave men of that regiment and those of us that had ancestors that served the Stars and Bars. Ponder goes into great detail about a man he claims was the first commanding officer of the regiment, William Righter. To say William Righter served in the 15th Mo. Cav. is like saying that William Clinton served in the 1st Marine Division.
Ponder also claims that William Righter was captured with Gen. Jeff Thompson at Pocahontas, Ark. in August 1863 and then was taken as a captive to St. Louis along with Jeff Thompson. Only trouble is, Righter's own obituary says he DID NOT serve during the Civil War--his physique would not permit it! Not only that, that same obituary has Righter traveling from Ripley County, Mo. to St. Louis in October 1863. Things were apparently too hairy for him there.
There is nothing in Jeff Thompsons memoir about Righter. Righter's name does not show up on the Gratiot Prison lists like Thompson's does, and for that matter it does not show up on any other prison lists.
There is NO mention of Righter in the O.R. and NO military file for Righter at the National Archives and he is listed no where--no where--in any muster roll compiled independently of Jerry Ponder.
I would challenge those supporting the veracity of this book to produce one single non-Ponder primary reference of Righter having served during the Civil War. Should be simple for a colonel of a regiment.
If none can be produced and documented on this message board, I would challenge the book's value.
Willard & Mike,
I sense that Clark is uncomfortable with further discussion about some of the southeast Missouri Civil War controversies since this stretches the purpose of this forum. Would one of you kindly bring up your points in either the Missouri in the Civil War Message Board (http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/boards/mocwmb) or the Rootsweb Missouri Civil War forum ((MO-CW-L-request@rootsweb.com)? I would like to see if other researchers can add to proofs about COL William Righter and the December 1863 "massacre" of women and children in Ripley County that allegedly led to the fall 1864 field execution of Major Wilson and six other POWs by Rev/COL Tim Reeves. As a researcher and writer of this topic I will do my own digging too, but let's move this discussion where we may obtain more answers and advance the body of knowledge. This is the first I have heard of the COL Righter question.
Bruce Nichols
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Replying to:
First off, a person needs to question why Jerry Ponder neglected to footnote his book. There might be a good reason.
Personally, I feel Ponder's book on the 15th Missouri Cavalry is a bit of an insult to the brave men of that regiment and those of us that had ancestors that served the Stars and Bars. Ponder goes into great detail about a man he claims was the first commanding officer of the regiment, William Righter. To say William Righter served in the 15th Mo. Cav. is like saying that William Clinton served in the 1st Marine Division.
Ponder also claims that William Righter was captured with Gen. Jeff Thompson at Pocahontas, Ark. in August 1863 and then was taken as a captive to St. Louis along with Jeff Thompson. Only trouble is, Righter's own obituary says he DID NOT serve during the Civil War--his physique would not permit it! Not only that, that same obituary has Righter traveling from Ripley County, Mo. to St. Louis in October 1863. Things were apparently too hairy for him there.
There is nothing in Jeff Thompsons memoir about Righter. Righter's name does not show up on the Gratiot Prison lists like Thompson's does, and for that matter it does not show up on any other prison lists.
There is NO mention of Righter in the O.R. and NO military file for Righter at the National Archives and he is listed no where--no where--in any muster roll compiled independently of Jerry Ponder.
I would challenge those supporting the veracity of this book to produce one single non-Ponder primary reference of Righter having served during the Civil War. Should be simple for a colonel of a regiment.
If none can be produced and documented on this message board, I would challenge the book's value.
Actually, the CPB forum is a fine place to discuss matters like this, as long as things don't get out of hand, and they haven't so far. I was just reluctant to use the CPB website itself to post controversial articles. But it's also a good idea to bring the subject up on some other forums, especially those mentioned by Bruce.
Clark
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Replying to:
Willard & Mike,
I sense that Clark is uncomfortable with further discussion about some of the southeast Missouri Civil War controversies since this stretches the purpose of this forum. Would one of you kindly bring up your points in either the Missouri in the Civil War Message Board (http://history-sites.com/cgi-bin/boards/mocwmb) or the Rootsweb Missouri Civil War forum ((MO-CW-L-request@rootsweb.com)? I would like to see if other researchers can add to proofs about COL William Righter and the December 1863 "massacre" of women and children in Ripley County that allegedly led to the fall 1864 field execution of Major Wilson and six other POWs by Rev/COL Tim Reeves. As a researcher and writer of this topic I will do my own digging too, but let's move this discussion where we may obtain more answers and advance the body of knowledge. This is the first I have heard of the COL Righter question.
Bruce Nichols
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Replying to:
First off, a person needs to question why Jerry Ponder neglected to footnote his book. There might be a good reason.
Personally, I feel Ponder's book on the 15th Missouri Cavalry is a bit of an insult to the brave men of that regiment and those of us that had ancestors that served the Stars and Bars. Ponder goes into great detail about a man he claims was the first commanding officer of the regiment, William Righter. To say William Righter served in the 15th Mo. Cav. is like saying that William Clinton served in the 1st Marine Division.
Ponder also claims that William Righter was captured with Gen. Jeff Thompson at Pocahontas, Ark. in August 1863 and then was taken as a captive to St. Louis along with Jeff Thompson. Only trouble is, Righter's own obituary says he DID NOT serve during the Civil War--his physique would not permit it! Not only that, that same obituary has Righter traveling from Ripley County, Mo. to St. Louis in October 1863. Things were apparently too hairy for him there.
There is nothing in Jeff Thompsons memoir about Righter. Righter's name does not show up on the Gratiot Prison lists like Thompson's does, and for that matter it does not show up on any other prison lists.
There is NO mention of Righter in the O.R. and NO military file for Righter at the National Archives and he is listed no where--no where--in any muster roll compiled independently of Jerry Ponder.
I would challenge those supporting the veracity of this book to produce one single non-Ponder primary reference of Righter having served during the Civil War. Should be simple for a colonel of a regiment.
If none can be produced and documented on this message board, I would challenge the book's value.
Mike and Willard,
I know next to nothing about these incidents in this region during the war. If you are inclined, please do add a discussion to the Missouri CW board that Bruce mentioned below. I would observe with great interest as there are likely people there who have definite views on the subject. I was also wondering if Mr. Ponder has ever responded in print or otherwise to those that have questioned his research. thanks.
Drew
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Replying to:
First off, a person needs to question why Jerry Ponder neglected to footnote his book. There might be a good reason.
Personally, I feel Ponder's book on the 15th Missouri Cavalry is a bit of an insult to the brave men of that regiment and those of us that had ancestors that served the Stars and Bars. Ponder goes into great detail about a man he claims was the first commanding officer of the regiment, William Righter. To say William Righter served in the 15th Mo. Cav. is like saying that William Clinton served in the 1st Marine Division.
Ponder also claims that William Righter was captured with Gen. Jeff Thompson at Pocahontas, Ark. in August 1863 and then was taken as a captive to St. Louis along with Jeff Thompson. Only trouble is, Righter's own obituary says he DID NOT serve during the Civil War--his physique would not permit it! Not only that, that same obituary has Righter traveling from Ripley County, Mo. to St. Louis in October 1863. Things were apparently too hairy for him there.
There is nothing in Jeff Thompsons memoir about Righter. Righter's name does not show up on the Gratiot Prison lists like Thompson's does, and for that matter it does not show up on any other prison lists.
There is NO mention of Righter in the O.R. and NO military file for Righter at the National Archives and he is listed no where--no where--in any muster roll compiled independently of Jerry Ponder.
I would challenge those supporting the veracity of this book to produce one single non-Ponder primary reference of Righter having served during the Civil War. Should be simple for a colonel of a regiment.
If none can be produced and documented on this message board, I would challenge the book's value.
