From The 11th Iowa Regiment

FULTON, MO., Feb. 15.

EDITOR OF THE GAZETTE. – Dear Sir:  A sad shooting affair occurred at the Post office in this place last evening – the parties, a Mr. Overton and a Mr. Williams – two prominent citizens, and both good Union men.  They were in the inner room of the Post office, when an altercation took place concerning the position of the Postmaster, and some other local matters.  Revolvers were drawn by both at nearly the same instant, and both fired – one twice and the other once.  Mr. Overton was shot through the groin, and Mr. Williams through the breast.  Two men of our regiment were present – waiting for the mail – and assisted instantly in seizing the combatants, but too late.  Both men are alive today, but neither is expected to recover.  One of the balls passed through the glass of the boxes and seriously injured a colored man in the outer room.  No one else was hurt, though quite a number of persons were present. – This sad occurrence causes great rejoicing among the secessionists.  First intimation some of us had of the affair, was the shouting and cheering of the prisoners confined in the third story of our quarter[s], to whom the news was foolishly reported by one of our officers.  It was nearly 11 o’clock, and most of the prisoners were asleep, but all were aroused, and so great was their joy that they actually rolled on the floor and jumped over each other.  The killing of two such men – each by the hand of the other – is an event, in their estimation, of almost as great importance as a rebel victory.  To the Union people of this city and county, scarcely any event could have been more sad that the mutual destruction of two such men.

Speaking of our prisoners, we have now twenty-six among whom are one merchant, one minister, three doctors, and one major formerly of Price’s army and wounded at the battle Wilson’s Creek.  Some of them are desperate men, who would kill every one of us if they could.  Others are mild, and would shrink from shedding human blood, but all probably have aided rebellion in some way.  Arrests are made almost every day, but when there is no clear proof of complicity with rebels, the oath is administered, heavy bonds required in doubtful cases, and the prisoners are discharged.  A military commission has been appointed, whose duty it will be to examine and decide the fate of those held in confinement.  This board consists of five officers of the 11th Iowa and the 3d Iowa cavalry and will be in session next week.

This week two brigades from Sedalia and Otterville have passed through this place, on their way to St. Louis.  The traveling was terrible and the progress very slow – not more than ten or twelve miles per day, and men and animals giving out at that. – The first cavalcade was two hours passing a given point, and the last two and a half.  What could have been the motive for sending these troops on such a march, when a railroad and a river were both at hand, and when their destination would seem to demand dispatch, is a mystery.  Major Generals ought to know what they are about.  Perhaps they do.

This week two of our men died in one day with small pox – the first deaths by this disease in the regiment – and on the same day another man died very suddenly of laryngitis.  One of our number also died at St. Louis last week making thirty in all.  The names of the four above mentioned are Wm. Sheets and Marcelon Smith, of Co. G; Sylvester Britt, of Co. C; and Richard Garland, of Co. I.  We have three men very sick, two of whom have been in the hospital a long time, and are thought to be gaining slowly.  The other is in a critical condition, but may recover.

SABBATH EVENING, Feb. 15. – Overton and Williams are both dead – a sad, very sad result of passion, and of carrying deadly weapons.  A thick gloom has settled down on this community, as both these men were highly respected in this city and county. – Mr. Overton was a druggist, and Mr. Williams a hardware merchant.  The former was an elder in the Presbyterian church.

This afternoon, by invitation of several of the prisoners who are Methodists, the Chaplain of the cavalry – who is also a Methodist – preached in the prison room.  He gave them a very good discourse on the character of Daniel, and closed with some pretty strong Union sentiments.  A majority, perhaps, received the exhortation with apparent meekness, but some raved.  One of them – a doctor – remarked to me at the close, bitterly, that “if the Nebuchadnezzar of this country” – naming President Lincoln – “could be sent to eat grass like the ox for seven years, the trouble of the nation would be at an end.”  I might have replied that Jeff. Davis more nearly resembled the tyrant king than does our good President, but not choosing to hold any discussion with such men I did not.

We have heard the report of heavy guns this afternoon in the direction of Jefferson City, and the presumption is that Fort Donelson is captured.  But as we are 25 miles from telegraph we must wait for the news till to-morrow.  Our isolation is a serious drawback to the comfort of our otherwise comfortable position.  But if Uncle Sam needs us here, we must try and be contented.  Inactivity and want of excitement are in some respects harder to bear than fatigue and danger, but if the former are to be our allotment – as now appears probable – in sustaining our most excellent Government, we will endeavor to endure and bear patiently.  The glory of this endurance will be less than that of the battlefield, but the service may not be less important, while the agonizing suspense of friends at home will be far less.

Yours truly,

CHAPLAIN,

11th Iowa.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, February 21, 1862, p. 2