Executed Members of the 3rd Missouri Militia - St. John's Lutheran Cemetery - Beaufort, MO - American Civil War Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com

County of monument: Franklin County
Location of monument: Lutheran Church Rd., in center of cemetery, Beaufort
Dedicated: October 4, 2014

Monument Text:

"On October 4, 2014, members of the Department of Missouri and Arkansas, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and members of the Turner Brigade participated in a ceremony to dedicate a marker for the five soldiers murdered with Major James Wilson of the 3rd Missouri State Militia Cavalry on October 3, 1864, near Boltes’ Ford in Franklin County, Missouri, during Prices’ Raid. Local historian David Groenke researched the church records of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Beaufort, Missouri. The story is that after the bodies were discovered, members of the church retrieved them and buried them in the church cemetery after dark, fearing reprisals." ~ The Turner Brigade

Rough History, at the Battle of Pilot Knob (near Fort Davidson) several Union soldiers with a Major Wilson were captured.
Since the Confederates were chasing the Union troops, they marched the prisoners to Leasburg, then Rolla, the Franklin County.

At a site just north of this church were Old State Road crosses St. Johns Creek, the Union prisoners' were executed.

If you wish to read about the details of this War Crime and the Confederate Colonel Reeves, these sites should satisfy your needs.
Major James Wilson, Union Soldiers Killed Near Beaufort - The Missourian,   By Terry O. Wilson Jan 6, 2010
Deep in the Woods is Colo. Reeves Gravesite: Waymarking   my waymark
The Wilson Massacre Ozark Watch Based on Jerry Ponder, "The Wilson Massacre," Vol. IV, No. 4, Spring 1991

There are a few more links in the waymark for Col. Reeves gravesite if you wish more to read.

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