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| Notes for Jesse Cunningham McNEILL | ||||||||||
| Obituary, Champaign County (Illinois) News, March 5, 1912: "<Soldier of Note Goes to Reward><Captain Jesse McNeill, Who Won Distinction By Daring> . . . "Captain Jesse McNeill died at 4:30 a.m., Monday at his home in Mahomet. he had been ill for a year. "Captain McNeill was born in Bourbon, Ky., in September, 1841. At the age of one year his parents moved to Virginia. In 1848 they moved to Missouri and remained there until the war when he joined General Price's command, confederate army. He was captured soon after and placed in prison in St. Louis, but escaped and returned to Virginia, where he enlisted with the army again and was appointed captain and remained until the close of the war. While captain he won national distinction by the successful capture of Generals Cook and Kelly at Cumberland, Va. With sixty-five picked men he rode twenty-six miles within federal lines and escaped without the loss of a man. After the war he came to Illinois, where he resided on a farm near Mahomet several years, afterwards moving to Mahomet. Captain Jesse Takes Command of Mc Neill's Rangers (The following is excerpted from "The McNeill Rangers: A Study in Confederate Guerrilla Warfare" by Simeon Miller Bright The McNeill Confederate Partisan Rangers rose to their greatest heights after the passing of their founder and leader, Captain John Hanson McNeill. They attained this zenith under the leadership of his son, Jesse Cunningham McNeill, not yet twenty-three years of age. Lieutenant Jesse carried on in the tradition of his father. The last six months of the momentous Civil War struggle found the McNeill Rangers under a man who was little more than a youth, and had no preparation for leadership. The Rangers immediately proclaimed Lieutenant Jesse McNeill their new leader, although with some apprehension. Jesse was a chip off the old block, much like his father in his earlier days. An excellent shot with both pistol and rifle, a good rider who always was on his father's heels in previous engagements, and a good fighter, was Jesse. His 165-pound frame constantly yearned for a good fight. The youngster never forgot one thing his father told him, and he constantly retold it to the Rangers. This was the well-known thesis that in leading a raid, one should always look well for a getting-out-place before going in. This principle the Rangers scrupulously followed. The greatest flaw in the character of the new Captain was his quick temper and impetuous manner, bordering at times on rashness. As his father stated, Jesse was, "a hairbrained daredevil if there ever was one." On his deathbed the old Captain gave his son "hell that day but the younger man was to reflect in later years that the final lecture was the greatest favor his father ever did him." More than once the elder McNeill lashed the boy with his tongue for his "cussedness and damn foolishness." Only one point remained in doubt; would the responsibility now placed on his shoulders sober his impetuousness and cause him to measure up to the exigencies of the hour? In light of subsequent events, it can be said that Captain Jesse Cunningham McNeill accepted and successfully coped with the responsibilities thrust upon him. He not only inspired confidence in his own men, but by his ceaseless vigilance, swift action, and audacious daring, it became evident to the enemy that they had a foeman to reckon with of more than ordinary skill. His campaign was one of incessant activity and was as brilliant as it was brief. As the year 1865 began, it was becoming increasingly clear that the Confederate bid for victory was doomed to failure. But Jesse and his Rangers were heedless of that fact, and they continued their raids against Union forces. With the surrender of General Lee and his army at Appomattox in April of 1865, the Civil Was essentially over. Captain Jesse McNeill and his Partisan Rangers, loath to admit defeat, nevertheless asked for an armistice on April 24, to last for a short period. This was rejected by General Hayes, the Federal Commander at New Creek. He then ordered a company of cavalry into the South Branch Valley with orders to present the liberal terms of surrender that General Lee had accepted. If these were rejected, General Hayes had the authority to hunt them down and give no quarters. Captain McNeill then decided, after hearing his lieutenants voice their opinion, that surrender was the wise course of action. The Partisans took into account the fact that the Federals would have a very difficult time tracking them down, and that in three years the Federals had failed to capture any large numbers of Rangers. Ultimately, however, they made arrangements for their capitulation. The majority of the McNeill Partisan Rangers met a company of Federals a mile west of Romney on May 8, 1865.The Rangers remained on one side of the South Branch River and the main body of Federals on the other. Two or three officers and a half dozen men crossed the river and came face to face with Captain McNeill and his men. No unnecessary ceremony followed. The Rangers threw down their arms and were paroled. The Federal officer in charge then observed that the implements of war before him were museum pieces at best and not the excellent captured Federal rifles that most of the Rangers were known to possess. "A competent Judge who saw the arms piled on the ground declared they were not worth ten dollars a ton." The Federal officer accepted them with reluctance. A controversy that could have had disastrous results then followed. The terms of surrender between General Lee and General Grant had allowed the Confederates to keep their horses, but required them to surrender their arms and equipment. Almost every Ranger had captured his equipment on the field of battle. This included everything from new federal saddles to Federal blankets. The Rangers considered this equipment spoils of war and steadfastly refused to give them up. The Federal officers were just as insistent that they be surrendered along with the antiquated rifles. A stalemate ensued, and Captain McNeill declared that he would not surrender at all unless permitted to keep the equipment. The Federal officers began to fear for their safety. They realized that the bulges under the coats of McNeill's men were revolvers and that the main body of their forces were across broad South Branch River. A small boat was the only means of crossing the river, and the Federal officers had no illusions as to who had the upper hand at this particular time. Without delay, the officer in charge gave permission to keep the Federal equipment and the Rangers immediately left the scene.Upon reaching Moorefield, they held their final meeting as Confederate soldiers, disbanded, and returned to the status of loyal and peaceful citizens.172 They had embraced a cause that failed, and now they accepted their defeat proudly. Some thirty years after the war, the surviving Partisans extended an invitation to their former bitter enemies, the 22nd Pennsylvania regiment known as the famous Ringgold cavalry, to attend a friendly reunion. The remaining veterans of the 22nd Pennsylvania accepted the summons of their ancient foe, and the resulting reunion was marked by much revelry and evocation of legendary exploits. A tremendous quantity of food was consumed and vast amounts of mountain wine and whiskey were imbibed. The former McNeill Partisan Rangers were truly congenial hosts. Tributes were paid to fallen heroes by all present in the two-day reunion, and many shamelessly shed tears. The founder of the McNeill Rangers of the extinct Confederate States of America was eulogized in an atmosphere of almost sacred reverence. "A most touching tribute to Captain John Hanson McNeill was pronounced at the foot of the monument which marks his grave by the Federal Colonel who had once been his prisoner and was treated with such magnanimity that he had ever since cherished a felling of love and admiration for his captor and wished that he might call his noble spirit back to earth again." The Partisan Rangers of McNeill had passed into history, as had the "War of the Rebellion" itself. | ||||||||||
| Last Modified 12 Aug 2004 | Created 23 Oct 2006 using Reunion for Macintosh |