Captain David Guitar, Confederate or Federal?

A Look At the Facts

Much discussion has surrounded the renaming of the David Guitar Mansion in the 1940's to "Confederate Hill" by Mr. Ward Dorrance when he was the owner of the house located in the northeast corner of Columbia on the east side of Oakland Gravel Road.

	Home of Captain David Guitar in Columbia, Missouri circa 1910. The mansion is on the National Register and is being restored as a Bed and Breakfast and Guitar Family Museum by the author and his wife. It is one of only two antebellum that exist in Columbia. The mansion is sometimes referred to as "Confederate Hill" alluding to the service in the Confederate Army by Captain David Guitar.

Although he was a French instructor at the University of Missouri, Mr. Dorrance was best known for his literary works such as the novel, "The Sundowners." He was an avid supporter of the Confederate cause and enhanced the mystique of the property by referring to it as "Confederate Hill," thus, also alluding to the original owner's service in the Confederate Army.

Local historians have questioned the authenticity of this claim, stating no hard evidence exists regarding David's service, and point to Switzler's entry in the History of Boone County that clearly shows David as a Captain in Company B of the Sixty-first Regiment Enrolled Missouri Militia as a factual basis for denying the claim. However, David's military records indicate that his commission was vacated by Special Order 126 in 1864 after he served only 79 days.

The establishment of the facts concerning the Guitar brothers' service and their respective loyalties during the Civil War in Missouri is a priority, since this significant brother-against-brother story enhances both the value and validity of this historical landmark in Columbia. The accurate restoration of the family history is an important aspect of the restoration of the antebellum home. The following facts and conclusions drawn from written history are furnished to document the verbal rendition of this "unique Missouri story."

	Orders of Brig. Gen. Odon Guitar (David Guitar's older brother) to all able bodied men in Boone County, Missouri to be mustered into Federal service.

There cannot be any doubt as to the military background of the older brother, Odon Guitar. He was an avid and open supporter of the Union cause long before the outbreak of hostilities between the states in 1861. Odon Guitar's most memorable speech occurred at a "Union" 

Brig. Gen. Odon Guitar

meeting in May, 1861, at the Courthouse in Boone County where he rose to ask, "Are we for our country or against it? Shall Missouri abandon the Union and range herself under the rattlesnake and pelican or will she rest under the shadow of the glorious stars and stripes?" Odon was later commissioned as a Colonel by Governor Gamble and authorized to raise a cavalry regiment of Missouri State Militia. The regiment became known as the Ninth Missouri State Militia Cavalry.

Following his successes in local skirmishes such as Moore's Mill, Little Compton, and Yellow Creek, Colonel Guitar was commissioned a Brigadier General in the State Militia by order of President Lincoln. He held this rank until he resigned on August 18, 1864 "citing that his views differ from those of the commanding General"  He was referred to as General Guitar throughout his remaining years as a civilian.

David Guitar, the builder and original owner of the Guitar Mansion, is a very different matter. Most local historians refer back to the service record previously mentioned in Switzler's "History of Boone County" as the definitive document concerning David's military service. However, a closer examination of David Guitar's background starts to shift the circumstances.

First, a review of David Guitar's personal life reveals some very different and interesting civil circumstances. David's wife was Harriet Herndon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Martha Herndon, a well-known Fredericksburg, Virginia family and an ardent supporter of the Southern cause. David was also a slaveholder, buying and selling slaves as late as January, 1864 at a sheriffs sale in Boone County as recorded in the slave sale of John W. Rollins. At that sale, Guitar purchased a boy, Jerome, age 8, for $70.00. Although these two facts alone do not a Confederate make, they can be a strong foundation for Southern political sympathies.

Captain David Guitar

There cannot be any doubt as to the verbal and written family history concerning David's Civil War record. His granddaughter, Miss Helen Guitar, who knew him intimately, was quoted in several first hand interviews as stating that her Grandfather told them when discussing his and his brother's Civil War service, "A Confederate Captain always outranks a Union General."

Additional clues are found by looking deeper into David's Civil War record which also states as published, "He served as a Captain with distinction under General Sterling Price." David originally became acquainted with Colonel Price while serving in Price's regiment known as the Santa Fe Battalion of Missouri Mounted Volunteers during the Mexican War in 1846, making a life-long connection between these two men. His brother, Odon, served in Doniphan's Regiment, 1st Missouri Mounted Volunteers. David had joined later in the year and served under Price.

A close examination of the records of Company B, 618th Enrolled Missouri Militia (The unit most commonly referred to when discussing this issue.), clearly indicates that William T. Anderson and Sanford T. Connelly served as 1st Lt. and 2nd Lt. respectively under Captain Guitar's command. However, in the 1925 Edition of the "Confederate Veteran's Magazine," William T. Anderson is shown in his obituary as having served in the Confederate Army under General Price and was memorialized by the John S. Marmaduke Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Here is an actual documented example of a member of Company B, 61st Enrolled Missouri Militia serving in both the Militia and the Confederacy.

In reviewing this particular Unit, one sees several examples of the officers resigning their commissions early in 1864. Those familiar with these Enrolled Missouri Militia Units recognize that the Units were formed under the authorization of Governor Gamble to replace the Missouri State Militia. The original members of the Missouri State Militia had sided almost to the man with the Confederacy and left the service of the State to fight under General Sterling Price in answer to the Confederate "call to arms." Therefore, many of the volunteers who joined the Enrolled Missouri Militia were more concerned about defense of their communities and property from both sides. It was the federalization of these Units late in 1863 and early in 1864 that caused the majority of the resignations by many of their appointed officers.

Another case in fact reveals that John, David and Odon's younger and little known brother, also enlisted and served briefly in the Enrolled Missouri Militia being commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in Company C, 13th Regiment. He was discharged by Special Order No. 204, November 4, 1864. He did later join the Confederacy serving in Col. Robertson's regiment part of the old Missouri State Guard, also under the command of Gen. Sterling Price. John was captured during Price's second invasion of Missouri in 1864 and was held as a prisoner of war until the war's end. He then moved to Carrolton, Missouri where he owned and operated The Guitar Mercantile Store and died an unrepented Confederate. It would appear then that not one, but two of the Guitar brothers served both in the Enrolled Missouri Militia, and also in the Confederacy

In the case of David Guitar, his relationship with both Connelly and Anderson continued long after the war in terms of their business relationship as partners in the Columbia Milling Company. This was hardly an act of men who had opposing views concerning the politics of Columbia shortly before the war's end.

Additionally, when reviewing the records of the voters who were disenfranchised in Boone County immediately following the War, Odon is shown as being registered to vote, but not David. This fact would not support service as a Federal officer or the taking of the required loyalty oath.

The following published excerpts are hard to discount in the defense of David having been a Confederate. The obituary of David's son, James' in 1925 stated, "His father was a Confederate Army officer." In the book, "Mother of the Old West," David is mentioned thus, "He raised a Company for the service in the Confederate Army under General Price and commanded it with the rank of Captain." Local historian, Frank Tull, lists him as "seeing service in the Confederate Army" citing as his source, "family papers." The obituary of Sarah Guitar, David's granddaughter, listed in the January, 1864, Vol. 58, No. 2, Missouri Historical Review, states, "Her grandfather, David, served in the Confederate Army under General Sterling Price." And maybe the most compelling form of first hand source information is the obituary of Harriet Guitar, David's wife, as published in the University Missourian, November 4, 1914, stating, "Her late husband, David, was an officer in the Confederate Army."

The final argument results from a fight reported by a Columbia newspaper on September 27, 1867 between David and E. L. Ripley over a political matter. Mr. Ripley was a professor at the University of Missouri, and he was known as an ardent Union supporter. The disagreement was so strong that David Guitar stabbed Mr. Ripley resulting in Mr. Ripley's loss of the use of his left arm and a subsequent civil suit filed in Boone County District Court.

The facts as demonstrated in this paper would seem to support a scenario as follows. David married into a family with strong Southern sentiments. Early in his marriage, David supported the Southern lifestyle and political views, both as a States Rights issue and because of his prosperity gained in ownership and commerce of slavery. David had served under Price during the Mexican War and admired him as a leader and military figure. When Price invaded Missouri in 1864, David and his brother, John, along with several other officers resigned from the Enrolled Missouri Militia and joined the Confederate invasion forces keeping their former ranks.

The war ended shortly after the failed invasion and these men returned home to be disenfranchised in Boone County due to their political choices. Finally, David's lifetime membership in the Democratic Party as opposed to his brother's participation in both the Whig and, later, the Republican Party, clearly indicates a division between their political beliefs.

As late as 1920, the local Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy published in the Columbia Tribune a list of men whose graves were decorated in remembrance of their Confederate service. Among those listed was Captain David Guitar.

The final note in this matter is that David Guitar's military record on file in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. states he "served as a Captain in the 618t Enrolled Missouri Militia, but there is additional evidence to indicate he served also in the Confederate Army."

Therefore, we could conclude that these three brothers held opposing political and social views. When forced, David chose the Confederacy over the strong Union views held by his brother. The preponderance of evidence indicates that David served for a brief period in the Confederacy during Price's second invasion into Missouri in the Fall of 1864. It further indicates that following the War's end, David refused to take the loyalty oath, was disenfranchised, and not allowed to vote in Boone County.

As submitted, the facts support the verbal historic presentation that David Guitar was in fact A CONFEDERATE.

* WebMaster Note: The article was recently presented to the Mid Missouri Civil War Round Table by Dr. Noel Crowson, author and local historian, who also owns the historic Baker Plantation House in Danville, Missouri.

History of Boone County Missouri, 1882; William F. Switzler  
History of Northeast Missouri; Volume II  
Missouri: Mother of the Old West; Volume 3, Williams and Shoemaker; 1930

Missouri Historical Review; January, 1964; Volume 58, No. 2

Boone County Criminal and Civil Court Records, 1867
Boone County Probate Records
Western Manuscript Section; Missouri State Archives

Columbia Globe Democrat
Columbia Tribune
Columbia Missouri Herald; January 5, 1912
Missouri Intelligencer
Military Records Section, 1860-1865; National Archives
University Missourian; November 4, 1914
University Missourian; September 28, 1925

PRIVATE PAPERS

          Frank Tull Papers; November 1, 1953

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