Looking for info on Captain H. C. Price

OldSarge79

Sergeant
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Location
Pisgah Forest, North Carolina
I am researching an out-of-control company of Mississippi home guards led by Captain H. C. Price. He and his men were arrested for depredations in 1864, and I have all of the information about it from fold3. My ancestors were some of their victims.

My problem is that I can't find this guy anywhere else. Fold3 records group him with a H.C. Price who was a paid teamster in Georgia in the first part of the war, indicating that the two men are the same.

I just can't find anything on Price before or after the war. I've tried census records, slave schedules and familysearch.org.

The other members of his company that I have names for are:

Lt. Julius B. Poindexter. I have determined that he served earlier in the war in the 21st Miss Inf and the 3rd Miss Inf. He was born about 1840.
Lt. Daniel J. Towson (sometimes Lawson). He previously served in 30th Miss Inf, severely wounded, discharged April, 1862. Married Nancy E. Hendon in Aug, 1861 in Sunflower County, Mississippi.
Lee Attley (or Adley). A conscript.

Any other info about these guys before and after the war would be much appreciated.
 
Can you tell me where you found H.C. Price's name? I cannot find anything at all on Fold3 for him. I need some kind of starting point.
 
Okay - I'm going to excuse my own confusion here! I started by looking for a Captain Price, head of a home guard unit in Mississippi. Thank you @Bob Velke for putting up the link to the records on Price's gang.

As my family are from Mississippi I have read quite a bit about life there during the War. Price and his men are a fairly typical group of bandits for the time, masquerading as CSA soldiers. They had a good scam going - they bullied their way into homes under the guise of arrest and/or impoundment and then stole what they wanted. That the records identify Price as the captain of a unit is only because that's how he called himself - but as far as I can find from records of those units, he had no real command or rank.

Was he actually the same man who received pay as a teamster at Dalton, GA? Hard to know - I don't consider that definitive at all as I've seen others misgrouped. Was he even named Price?

I took a look at some of the books I have read about the home front in MS and did not find these incidents listed. There may be some things written about Bolivar and Sunflower during the War that might mention this - my family is from the opposite side of the state so I'm not as familiar with the Delta history. If the men were not caught they may well have crossed the river and headed west.
 
Hard to know - I don't consider that definitive at all as I've seen others misgrouped. Was he even named Price?
I tried to research a guerrilla who went by the alias “Dick Davis”. He was finally captured and executed in Memphis.
I found one account of his capture and trial in the unit history of the Union cavalry regiment who captured him. You may have to resort to Union records or post-war archives of trials, etc.
 
I can understand the doubt as to Price's commission, except that I found a report by Lt. D.B. Smith of the 28th Mississippi Cavalry, who, it appears was detached to the Delta region to report on state troops there, and in particular, to look into complaints about Captain Price and his men. In his report, Smith reported what he had heard of Montgomery's and Evans' companies of state troops, as well as Captain Price's, of whom he said, "The people generally look upon Capt. Price and his men as thieves and robbers." Smith never defined them as non-military, but perhaps that was known and did not need to be stated.
(Military records of 2nd​ Lt. D.B. Smith, Co. B, 28th​ Mississippi Cavalry, fold3)

In Price's file it is stated that in late February, 1864, he and his men accosted a number of citizens and stole from them. Some they arrested, accused of trading with the Yankees or avoiding duty in the Confederate army and took them to Carrolton, where they were all ordered released by General Richardson. It would seem odd that if they were just a criminal gang, they would deliver prisoners to military authorities.

So far, it sounds like Price held some kind of commission. HOWEVER, in his report, Smith refers to Poindexter as "Mr. Poindexter," hardly what a military officer would refer to a fellow officer as. The people seem to have known him as "Lieutenant Poindexter."
Then there is the word, "generally," which could indicate that their reputation was not completely bad. Or I could be over-evaluating that word.

The fact that there seem to be no service records of Price and his men could also lend credence to the idea that they had no official sanction.

@Bob Velke's discovery about a Captain Price from Missouri is very interesting. IF that is the same guy, could he have been using his commission or title from Missouri to operate in Mississippi with at least some claim of authority?
 
Things in Mississippi during this time were so fluid. In some areas the Union technically had control but didn't really control any land outside encampments. Union soldiers went out on patrol expecting danger. In areas still part of the Confederacy CSA soldiers came by with two types of orders - collect materials for the war effort or root out draft dodgers and deserters. This left civilians in bad shape - there's a quote in one of the memoirs from a Mississippi woman who said the Union soldiers were bad but our own men are worse. It would have been easy for them to assume that a unit like Price's was legitimate - what he was doing wasn't all that much worse than what they saw from other groups.

It would be really interesting to go through all of the depositions in the file and put together a timeline. Did Price and his men start out as a legitimate group, which would explain the transfer of prisoners, and then transition to complete robbery? Or were they just brazen enough to follow some rules as a way to establish legitimacy. Two of the pages in the file appear to be a sort of confession by a man named Warnock who was in the group and witnessed a lot.
 
I tend to think he had at least some legitimacy. Lt. Smith, I would think, would have known about that, and he reports what he knows of Price's reputation along with the other two state troop companies in the area, and makes no distinction. At this point, it seems that anything is possible. It's a shame that there is no disposition of the case, which was prosecuted in military court. The indictments are in the same form as other courts martial cases I have read. I do know that the civilian courts in Bolivar County were operating during the war, as another of my ancestors was the probate judge.

I just wish I could find some record of Price or any of his men before or after the war. I was hoping there might be something in newspapers. I did also try the Mississippi Dept of Archives and History on-line, but have always had difficulty with that site. I've been there twice and had great luck in person, but on-line....challenging. Maybe there is something there about commissions issued in the state.
 
I did look at records for the other men named in the papers. Like you, I found little in other records. There are a number of other men named as parts of the unit/gang - the surnames I wrote down were Bybee, Holly, Jones, Clemens, and Hill. Somewhere there is info on some of these people - but teasing it out would be tough. I think MDAH is a good idea. And I agree about their website!
 
This thread has really been bugging me. I just kept thinking about it and wishing we had better answers. So this morning I took another dive into the records. I wish I could say that after spending some hours on it I have more to add.

I followed the paper trail to the files listed under D B Smith, the Lt. who had collected the original depositions concerning Price and his men. In D B Smith's files are more clues. Smith had received petitions from the local citizens asking for relief from the "thieves and robbers" in Price's unit and others. Smith asked for permission to investigate and report. He then does so and sends a letter to an unnamed General with his findings. He profiles three local partisan units - Montgomery's, Evans's and Price's. The first two are mostly okay, though hardly anything to be proud of. Price's we already know about.

As @OldSarge79 says above, it is clear that Smith sees Price as being a legitimate Captain with a legitimate unit - simply misusing the authority he has. He details Price failing to take action against some USCT troops when, in Smith's opinion, the men could have been ambushed. The failure of Price to advance war goals seems every bit as problematic as his thefts and robberies.

There is one great (seeming) clue in Smith's letter to the General. He states that Captain James Poindexter is the uncle of Julius Poindexter, the Lt. in Price's company. That seemed like a great gift to our investigation. But - I can't find a Captain James Poindexter.

Another record pointed to within the files are letters from A. Barnett of Sunflower County requesting repayment for stolen goods. Barnett was a tore owner who had troops take everything from his store more than once. It's clear that Price's actions were only a shade worse than what other soldiers and officers were doing in the area.

A look at Poindexter's records is also interesting - he was adjutant for his regiment which in regular CSA service and was frequently reimbursed for items he had gotten. At least one record I found challenged his request for repayment, saying he had not proved the need for his trip to Jackson and the expenses he wanted reimbursed. Poindexter resigned due to an illness which he claimed would forever prevent him from serving. Not long after he seems to have joined Price. Perhaps he was crooked in his financial dealings while adjutant?

All I have ended up with are more questions and no new answers. I do feel like the answers are buried in the files somewhere. No matter what we learn of Price and his men, all that we see in these files brings back how very very hard the War was for the residents of Mississippi. They were treated badly by the Union and Confederate soldiers. Hard times.
 
This thread has really been bugging me. I just kept thinking about it and wishing we had better answers. So this morning I took another dive into the records. I wish I could say that after spending some hours on it I have more to add.

I followed the paper trail to the files listed under D B Smith, the Lt. who had collected the original depositions concerning Price and his men. In D B Smith's files are more clues. Smith had received petitions from the local citizens asking for relief from the "thieves and robbers" in Price's unit and others. Smith asked for permission to investigate and report. He then does so and sends a letter to an unnamed General with his findings. He profiles three local partisan units - Montgomery's, Evans's and Price's. The first two are mostly okay, though hardly anything to be proud of. Price's we already know about.

As @OldSarge79 says above, it is clear that Smith sees Price as being a legitimate Captain with a legitimate unit - simply misusing the authority he has. He details Price failing to take action against some USCT troops when, in Smith's opinion, the men could have been ambushed. The failure of Price to advance war goals seems every bit as problematic as his thefts and robberies.

There is one great (seeming) clue in Smith's letter to the General. He states that Captain James Poindexter is the uncle of Julius Poindexter, the Lt. in Price's company. That seemed like a great gift to our investigation. But - I can't find a Captain James Poindexter.

Another record pointed to within the files are letters from A. Barnett of Sunflower County requesting repayment for stolen goods. Barnett was a tore owner who had troops take everything from his store more than once. It's clear that Price's actions were only a shade worse than what other soldiers and officers were doing in the area.

A look at Poindexter's records is also interesting - he was adjutant for his regiment which in regular CSA service and was frequently reimbursed for items he had gotten. At least one record I found challenged his request for repayment, saying he had not proved the need for his trip to Jackson and the expenses he wanted reimbursed. Poindexter resigned due to an illness which he claimed would forever prevent him from serving. Not long after he seems to have joined Price. Perhaps he was crooked in his financial dealings while adjutant?

All I have ended up with are more questions and no new answers. I do feel like the answers are buried in the files somewhere. No matter what we learn of Price and his men, all that we see in these files brings back how very very hard the War was for the residents of Mississippi. They were treated badly by the Union and Confederate soldiers. Hard times.
Thanks for the extra effort. I had already tried finding James Poindexter. Same result.

I would really love to find a descendant of one of Price's men and contact them. It's really wonderful the few times I've been able to do something like that.

If I ever get back to Mississippi, I'll try to spend some time at the state archives again. Like you said, maybe there is something buried in the files there. Their website may be difficult, but I remember the staff being very helpful.
 
There is one great (seeming) clue in Smith's letter to the General. He states that Captain James Poindexter is the uncle of Julius Poindexter, the Lt. in Price's company. That seemed like a great gift to our investigation. But - I can't find a Captain James Poindexter.
You may have already looked here but I found this record that references the personal papers of Lt. D B Smith (B/28th MS Cav)
1614485574303.png

And this one
1614485854903.png

1614485879208.png

And another referencing the case of A Barnett Sunflower MS
1614485958858.png
 
That's a good find. I remember seeing Lt. Poindexter's first name as Junius somewhere in the documents I had found, but it's pretty consistent on these. I did check for Junius in census reports but nothing there.

Are the contents of those documents available?
 
All of the documents that @lelliott19 shows links to are at Fold3. Basically what I read and referenced in my summary above. There may be more things that touch on the local situation that we are not seeing because they are linked to other people.

I think the missing piece would be something that shows Price forming the company. If that exists it would be a state document. I did a fair amount of digging trying to learn more about the late War partisan units because my gr-gr-grandfather joined one. You can find lists online of the various units and muster rolls for a few of them. But the information on them - that I have seen - is incomplete. It may be that MDAH has some things that are not online.
 
Okay, I think I've got it. All evidence suggests our Captain is Henry Clay Price of Missouri (hat tip to @Bob Velke). Just look at the note below -

HCPrice.png


Henry Clay Price born about 1830 in Kentucky, was a farmer in Monroe County, Missouri. In the 1860 Census he's married to Ann (records show Henry married Ann Louisa Hickman in 1850) and has two children, Sterling age 7 and Lavena age 3. He's prosperous with real estate worth $2,000 and personal property worth $3,800. That likely includes the 9 slaves linked to him in the slave schedule. He puts together a cavalry unit in 1862 which he names Captain Henry C. Price's Company. It becomes Company M of the 1st Regiment of Northeast Missouri Cavalry. There's a long string of records for him as Captain.

In 1863 the CSA reorganizes the Missouri cavalry units (I didn't look into this in detail but I bet someone on CWT can give us the details). Price is elected Captain of the new Company G, 3rd Battalion Missouri Cavalry. Again we have records that he's doing this job. The battalion is sent west and - for whatever reason - Price goes off and turns rogue. He had been on a recruitment drive before that - maybe his family needed money? For whatever reason, we get the note above stating that he stopped at the Mississippi and turned to "freebooting" i.e. plundering.

So - what happens next. Well, in 1870 wife Ann and the two children are on the farm in Monroe County. And one Henry Price, age 39, born Kentucky, is in the penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri! After that I lose him.

The say the tour of the old penitentiary is lots of fun - you might really enjoy it @OldSarge79 if you can gloat about the guy who raided your family locked up there!
 
THAT'S FANTASTIC!!! Can you provide sources on that? I would love to read it all.

That's twice now in the last few months that you have seemingly dug up answers for me from the depths of impossibility. Without intending to offend anyone else on these threads, you, @lupagluga are the best in my book. Can't thank you enough, as well as everyone else who contributed bits of evidence.

And I might just visit the penitentiary like you suggested. Or better yet, the grave of the low-down, yellow bellied scoundrel and poltroon, if I can find it. He owes my family a mule and $650 in Federal greenbacks, plus 156 years worth of interest.
 
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