State Historical Society of Missouri publishes Civil War journal of Confederate soldier

John James Sitton was a Confederate soldier from Missouri in the Civil War who kept a detailed journal of his adventures and misadventures.

They're now in a book published by the State Historical Society of Missouri.

Even in what was termed the '"dead room" of a makeshift hospital after being seriously wounded in battle, Sitton wrote in his journal.

"My Own Commander: The Civil War Journal of J.J. Sitton 1863-1865" was edited by John F. Bradbury, a Civil War author and former director of the State Historical Society's Rolla Research Center. He worked to finish the book before he died of cancer, said John Brenner, managing editor of the State Historical Society.

"I think he worked for a good five, six years before we got to the point this last summer where it was ready to go into print production and he passed away," Brenner said.

Bradbury called Brenner last spring to tell him about the diagnosis and that he was told he might have six months to a year to live, Brenner said.

'He skipped straight from that to we have to get this book done," Brenner said. "Anyway, the six months didn't happen. It was just less than two weeks later and I actually got an email from him the day before he died."

Bradbury had reviewed the captions for illustrations, Brenner said.

Brenner called Bradbury an archivist and a scholar.

"He was just really passionate about Missouri's history," Brenner said of Bradbury.

Bradbury had acquired Sitton's journal from his descendants around 2011, Brenner said.

Sitton, from Washington County, was 18 in 1861 when the war broke out. He told an Iron county resident his reasons for siding with the South despite loving the institutions of the Union and being taught to hold it sacred.

"I had but little sympathy for the slavery of the South but was much opposed to putting the negro on equal footing with the white people so much that if a spat ever came I would cast my destiny with the South,"

Sitton first joined the pro-Southern Missouri State Guard, fighting in the Battle of Wilson's Creek in Springfield on Aug. 10, 1861. Appointed the prestigious position regimental color sergeant, Sitton carried the regiment's flag. Sitton led attacks up Bloody Hill before falling back.

"Once the federals retreated, Sitton and a detail escorted women searching the corpses for their men folk," Bradbury wrote in commentary.

Sitton enlisted in the Confederate army in early 1862. He was a recruiter on the Missouri-Arkansas border in January 1863, with no commander but himself. Sitton boarded with a mill owner in Fulton County, Arkansas, who he also helped out at the mill.

Not all journal entries are exciting. Here's one from from Feb. 10, 1863: "I spent the day loafing about the city. There was a grand ball here tonight and a great many present and the dance was kept up all night."

Sitton didn't like the Southern guerilla fighters, Brenner said. He described them in his journal as outlaws, spelling it as two words.

He disliked them but he had to make peace with them and even made deals with the guerillas, Brenner said.

He also had to make peace with the father of a teenage girl at one point.

The war ended for Sitton at the Battle of Byram's Ford on Oct. 23, 1864.

"I arose to my feet to see better what was going on," Sitton wrote. "I saw the enemy climbing the bank on our right and at that moment felt a ball pierce my right shoulder and it hurt me dreadfully."

A lieutenant who took Sitton's place also was shot immediately, he wrote.

"The shot killed him dead," Sitton wrote.

Taken to a house that served as a hospital, Sitton was placed in the dead room and given less than 48 hours to live, doctors told him.

"This news to me was sad indeed but since I am not suffering much and have good use of my hands I will take notes," he wrote.

The predictions were wrong.

"I awoke this morning feeling much better," Sitton wrote on Oct. 25, 1864. "I called the surgeons to examine me again as my time for dying was about up. After a careful examination, they told me I was out of danger and with reasonable care I would now get well."

He had a cup of tea, a buttered biscuit and a piece of chicken for breakfast.

"I was very hungry and it did taste excellent," he wrote.

He was transported to Kansas City, then by steamboat to a prison in St. Louis. He wrote on Dec. 6 of the boat passing Boonville and Arrow Rock on the Missouri River. He later was sent to a military prison on Johnson's Island on Lake Erie in Ohio.

His final years were in Garfield, where he was the postmaster for 16 years. He died on July 16, 1915.

The journal represents a particular Missouri perspective, Brenner said.

"It's a unique source of information on this particular location," Brenner said, acknowledging he was trying to channel Bradbury. "There's just not a lot of writing about this part of Missouri or that part of Arkansas. It's this interesting place that nobody had control over."

There's a wealth of detail of the people and places and events and local histories of the region, Brenner said.

The 354-page paperback is available for $30 at the State Historical Society of Missouri or online at Shop.SHSMO.org.

The original journal is in the archives of the State Historical Society.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on X at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Civil War journal published through efforts of the late John Bradbury