County of cemetery: Callaway County
Location of cemetery: Location of site: MO-Z, about ¼ mile S. of MO-JJ, Calwood
Marker erected: 2014
Erected by: Elijah Gates Camp 570; Sons of Confederate Veterans, Fulton, MO
Number of graves: 1 - with 23 known bodies - 1 body on Monument [Captain Penny] is not in the mass grave, but somewhere in the field between here and the Ravine of the Mill
Text on Monument:
IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
AT THE BATTLE OF MOORE'S MILL JULY 28, 1862
USA
9th MO Cavalry MSM
PVT. JOHN RICHARD BAKER
Co. F, 9th MO Cavalry MSM
PVT. LEWIS SNOWDEN
CO I, Merrill's Horse
PVT. JOHN H. TAYLOR
CO K, Merrill's Horse
SGT. ROBERT B. CANEERON
PVT. JOH HOEY
PVT. LUDWIG STEGE
PVT. JAMES McBRIDE
1ST LT. JOSEPH V. MYERS
PVT. PETER WALTERS
CO E, 3rd Iowa Cavalry
PVT. JAMES M. CROSS
PVT. BENJAMIN F. HOLLAND
PVT. JOHN J. MORGAN
CO G, 3rd Iowa Cavalry
PVT ROBERT M. BARKER
3rd Btry. Ind. Lt. Artillery
PVT. JAMES E. NORTHROP
Loiuisiana Red Rovers
PVT. ALEXANDER B. McCANS
PVT. GEORGE W. STEVEYCSA
Blackfoot Rangers
PVT. PERRY D. BROWN
PVT. HENRY PIGG
1st NE MO Cavalry
PVT. JAMES FOWLER
CAPT. SYLVESTER L PENNY
PVT. J. W. SPLAWN
UNKNONW
UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN
"After 150 years and multiple attempts at finding the elusive unmarked site, the mass grave that holds eight Confederate and 16 Union soldiers who died in the Battle of Moore's Mill has been uncovered.
"Thanks to the efforts of members of the Elijah Gates Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the remains of those killed in Callaway County's largest Civil War battle were confirmed in Calwood - just one foot from where initial speculation had placed it - following an underground sonar investigation that began April 5.
'"I think obviously all of us are excited about the success of finding it, but I think what we're more excited about is that all of these soldiers on both sides will finally have their final resting place located and marked for the future to see," said Elijah Gates camp commander Noel Crowson.
'"I think we all believe that no matter if you're Union or Confederate, if you die in combat in service to your country, you deserve to have your final resting place marked."
"The Elijah Gates camp focused its finances and manpower toward finding the burial location following the dedication of the final Gray Ghost Trail panels last year, the project they had been previously dedicated to. Crowson said efforts to find the grave site began July 2012." ~ News Tribune, Jefferson City, April 20th, 2013
The Battle of Moore's Mill Mass Grave
Due to the heat and decomposition of the bodies the day after the battle, Union Col. Odon Guitar ordered a mass grave dug.
Elijah Hopper of Co. F, 9th Missouri Militia, stated in a 1908 letter, "We collected our dead -- both sides -- after the fight ad buried them near a store on the 29th".
A member of Porter's 1st NE Missouri Cavalry, Capt. Sylvester Penny was mortally wounded and died the day after the battle. He was buried in an orchard on the Strother Farm in an unmarked grave.
Jones Tanyard is now Calwood, and Moore's Mill is lost in the shrubs and brush of its original location northeast of the store, another casualty of history and time.