Benjamin M. Ely (1830-1912) The following has been transribed from an official document and is a statement given by Benjamin M. Ely in an attempt to recieve his parole.////////



I have lived in Ralls county all my life and up to the time the war broke out was engaged in farming. In July 1862 I joined Col Js Porters command who was then camped within six miles east of Paris. Porter had about 700 men with him at the time I joined him. I had 86 men from Ralls county when I went into service and after we joined Porter we were sworn in into service 12 months & I was elected captain of the company. We were called the 1st Missouri Calvary & My company was Numbered 'F.' We were sworn into service by Capt Jim Porter. The company was armed with rifles & Shotguns. We remained in this camp only one day after the company armed. We marched from there to Newark Knox county Mo. & captured after a slight resistance; 80 odd men who were posted. I was in the fight of another regard my company being on attached service from Newark to Kirksville my company was generally the rear guard of the column. Col Franklin joined us with some 500 men before we got to Kirksville and when we were attacked at Kirksville we had some 1200 men. I was in the fight at Kirksville with my company. We occupied the center of the line. The fight lasted some 3 or 4 hours when we retreated to Panther creek across the Chariton river & were again attacked by the Federals. After skirmishing some 3 hours the Federals fell back when we recrossed the Chariton. In crossing, the rear guard was attacked & a skirmish lasting some 20 minutes ensued. We then were disbanded into companies. My company marched down to the edge of Ralls county. On the way we were subsisted by those who Sympathized with us. We disbanded reaching Ralls county & I went near home sometimes living in the brush & sometimes in the homes of friends. We were not bush-whacking but simply keeping out of the way of the Militia. About the 1st of September 1862 I received an order from Col Js Porter who was then in Calloway Co to collect my men & report in Calloway to him. I did so collecting some 68 or 70 men. When I reached the Aux Vausse a creek in Calloway Porter was not there. I remained within 15 miles of Fulton about 4 weeks when Col Porter joined me & ordered me to cross the Missouri river. I moved to Portland Co Missouri county & captured the 'Emily' going up the river. She was loaded with Salt & had a few passengers. We made the captain unload the salt & put it on the bank & we then crossed over the river & allowed the captain to proceed. We molested no one & took nothing but two or three Federal overcoats. We marched from here to Fort Smith, Arkansas. During the march we molested no private individuals nor soldiers our object being to get through as soon as possible. We took nearly all our commissary stores with us & did not force those along the route to feed us. At Fort Smith the Company was reorganized & put into an infantry regiment under Col Jas B. Clark. I then reported to Gen Marmaduke & was ordered by him to report to Col Porter I was then in charge of a Brigade encamped on White river. I reached him about the last of December 1862 & was put in charge of a detail of some 40 to 50 men who worked at blacksmithing for the brigade. I retained charge of this detail some two or three months. I was not during this time in any battles or skirmishes. I was relieved from this duty in May 1863. I remained in Jackson Port Arkansas until last August. I was not engaged in any business during my stay in this town. In August 1863 I came to McDonough county Illinois & was taken sick. I remained with a man named Jas Taylor in Middletown McDonough county Illinois during my sickness which lasted some 7 weeks. On the 17th of October 1863 I reported to Lt. Col Wm P Harrison, Provost Marshall as a prisoner. I went into the Southern army on account of Gov Gambles order enrolling the Militia & I preferred that army to the other. I regret my past course & am willing to become a loyal citizen. I expect to obey the laws of the United States & of the State of Missouri & all those in authority under these laws. I will remain at home & attend to my own business & in no way give aid & comfort to the enemies of the Government.

I have not at any time taken the oath or given bond.

B M ELY

Subscribed & sworn to

before me, this 3rd day of

November 1863

George C Shields

Under Lt Col Wm P Harrison P.M.

David Allen Ely (1840-1927) The day after the battle of Moore's Mill the company organized at Glenn's Mill on the Middle Fork of Salt River where David was elected corporal of Captain Benjamin M. Ely's Company. Information comes from the book 'With Porter In North Missouri'. The book written in 1909 by Joseph A. Mudd comes from his memoirs with help from both Union and Confederate Soldiers that answered his add in the Confederate Veteran Magazine.

James Knox Polk Ely (1844-1921). Sargeant/ Captain Benjamin M. Ely's Company 1 Reg't Northeast Missouri Cavalry. James was taken prisoner and served time in Alton Prison. After the war he and the rest of his brothers would become prominant business men in Missouri.

Stephen Decatur Ely (1838-1913)Was elected orderly Sergeant of Captain Benjamin M Ely's Company The day after the battle at Moore's Mill.

this name is my 2nd great uncle John McGoldrick he was a Capt. with THE 1ST NE MO CAV

Braxton D. Pollard (1823-1882) was a Sergeant in the Captain Worton P. Wills Company. On all of his POW documents he is listed as being in Captain Porter's Regiment or Captain Porter's Band. He is listed on a roll of Bushwackers and U.S. deserters confined to military prisons.Braxton was taken as a prisoner after suffering a severe chest wound. He is listed as a prisoner at Alton Prison, Gatriot Street Prison and finally Fort Delaware. The first report of imprisonment was on 3 August 1862 and by December of 1862 had been transfered between the three prisons. I have no idea why a person in his condition would have been moved so many times. There are multiple letters written by him pleading for his release with doctors stating that if he was not released he would most certainly die. He was finally released on 22 April 1863 in a prisoner exchange. He obviously recovered from his wound since he died on 24 August 1885 in Missouri.

Jr 2Lt, Cpt Pollard's Co, Gen Porter's Command, MSG
& Jr 2Lt, Co D, 1st Northeast MO Cav Rgt
& Cpt, Co B, 1st Northeast MO Cav Rgt.


'Captain Marmaduke joined the State Guards in 1861, and was Lieutenant in Captain Pollard's Company under General Porter. He was in the latter's raid through North Missouri and he (Marion Marmaduke) fired the first gun at the battle of Kirksville. He was afterwards in Kentucky with General Bragg, and through Tennessee and Arkansas. He also recruited for the Confederacy.'