Cape Civil War battle topic of Genealogical Society meeting

Sixteen members of the Cape Girardeau County Genealogical Society and their guests were treated to a special presentation on the history of the Battle of Cape Girardeau by Cape Girardeau County Archive Center director Steve Pledger during their regular quarterly meeting Tuesday night.

"Most of you know that we're celebrating the anniversary of the Civil War for the next few years," Pledger said to the audience. "Next month will be the 149th anniversary of the Battle of Cape."

The battle left Cape Girardeau in the hands of the Union Army, maintaining its existence as an important port along the Mississippi River, Pledger said.

Pledger detailed the events of April 26, 1863, using modern street names in the descriptions of the layout of the battle.

"Fort B was located where Kent Library on the campus of Southeast University is," Pledger said. There is a monument to that fort on the top of the hill between Kent Library and Academic Hall, he said.

Pledger also spoke of the Union commander, U.S. Brig. Gen. John McNeil.

"He was known as ‘the Butcher,' because of his alleged brutality to Confederate citizens and prisoners," Pledger said.

In addition to laying out the details, Pledger also showed the place the battle has in the history of Cape Girardeau's genealogical tree, as his great-grandfather, Christian Jager-Yaeger, served in Company A, 56th EMM, and fought at the Battle of Cape Girardeau.

Pledger showed a picture of his great-grandfather that hangs in his office at the archive center. Pictures of his Confederate family members hang on the opposite side of his office, he said.

Pledger also discussed a firsthand account penned by a reporter with the New York Tribune who was on site to cover the battle.

"On Friday, May 3, the newspaper had his version of the Battle of Cape Girardeau," Pledger said. "It is interesting to see the Union-sided coverage:

"‘On passing over the battleground afterward, I saw one fellow lying with a ghastly wound from a cannonball in his left breast, cold and stiff, with clenched hands and a horrible expression of ignorance and depravity on his countenance, and nearby, two fine white horses lying dead, the latter with far more innocents in their faces than their human companion.'"

The Cape Girardeau County Archive Center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. the last Saturday of the month. For more information, visit www.capecounty.us/ArchiveCenter/Archive Center.aspx.

Pertinent address:

112 East Washington, Jackson, Mo.