Schoolhouses were closed, and many families evacuated their women and small children to safer areas in other states. Everyone in the town took up arms as the Union flag continued to fly in the town center park, guarded by the townsmen. Those who died or were injured fighting off the guerilla attack were seen as heroes, and the town’s militia began to not only boldly resist but also go on the offense. Though the rebel attack on the Stemmons home was intended to terrorize and intimidate the loyal Unionists in Avilla, it had the opposite effect. The rest of the heavily out-numbered militia withdrew and re-formed near the north edge of Avilla and braced for another onslaught, but it did not occur. Several others were shot and burned, and two were taken as prisoners. Stemmons and another militiaman, Lathan Duncan, were killed.
However, the rebels continued the attack and managed to light the log building on fire. The Confederate assault was met with heavy gunfire. At that time, a number of the militiamen were having a meeting in Stemmons’ house when the guerillas surrounded the two-story log building. However, before the Kansas soldiers arrived, a group of over 100 pro-Confederate guerrillas, thought to have been led by “Bloody Bill” Anderson, attacked northeast of Avilla on the evening of March 8, 1862. Blunt at Fort Scott, Kansas pledged reinforcements. In early 1862, Stemmons and the Home Guard were tipped off that area secessionists planned an attack on Avilla, and General James G. The rebel “Stars & Bars” also flew over nearby Carthage, just ten miles to the west, following an early Confederate victory at the Battle of Carthage on July 5, 1861. Most of the younger men were leaving to join regular military forces.Īvilla’s political alignment was in sharp contrast to neighboring Sarcoxie to the south, where the first regional Confederate flag was raised. The town militia, known as the “Avilla Home Guard,” was one of the first and consisted predominantly of older men citizens. Though Stemmons owned slaves, he had inherited them and kept them for their safety during the Civil War. Stemmons, an early settler, town leader, and staunch Union man, organized a company of local men and neighbors in Avilla to protect their own homes from roaming bands bushwhackers. However, the town leaders and most residents were loyal to the Union cause and newly elected President Abraham Lincoln.ĭr. Like many other Missouri settlements, its residents were initially split over Missouri secession, and some were slave owners. When the Civil War began in 1861, Avilla was called home to about 100 people. Guerilla Raid during the Civil War in Missouri by Thomas Nast, 1862.
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