In the latter part of December many refugees from the Southwest began to arrive in St. Louis.  In most cases they were of the poorer class of the inhabitants of Missouri and Northern Arkansas, and had been driven from their homes by their wealthier and disloyal neighbors.  Their stories varied little from each other.  Known or suspected to be loyal, they were summarily expelled, generally with the loss of every thing, save a few articles of necessity.  There were many women and children among them, whose protectors had been driven into the Rebel ranks, or murdered in cold blood.  Many of them died soon after they reached our lines, and there were large numbers who perished on their way.

Among those who arrived early in January, 1862, was a man from Northern Arkansas.  Born in Pennsylvania, he emigrated to the Southwest in 1830, and, after a few years’ wandering, settled near Fayetteville.  When the war broke out, he had a small farm and a comfortable house, and his two sons were married and living near him.

In the autumn of ’61, his elder son was impressed into the Rebel service, where he soon died.  The younger was ordered to report at Fayetteville, for duty.  Failing to do so on the day specified, he was shot down in his own house on the following night.  His body fell upon one of his children standing near him, and his blood saturated its garments.

The day following, the widow, with two small children, was notified to leave the dwelling, as orders had been issued for its destruction.  Giving her no time to remove any thing, the Rebel soldiers, claiming to act under military command, fired the house.  In this party were two persons who had been well acquainted with the murdered man.  The widow sought shelter with her husband’s parents.

The widow of the elder son went to the same place of refuge.  Thus there were living, under one roof, the old man, his wife, a daughter of seventeen, and the two widows, one with two, and the other with three, children.  A week afterward, all were commanded to leave the country.  No cause was assigned, beyond the fact that the man was born in the North, and had been harboring the family of his son, who refused to serve in the Rebel ranks.  They were told they could have two days for preparation, but within ten hours of the time the notice was served, a gang of Rebels appeared at the door, and ordered an instant departure.

They made a rigid search of the persons of the refugees, to be sure they took away nothing of value.  Only a single wagon was allowed, and in this were placed a few articles of necessity.  As they moved away, the Rebels applied the torch to the house and its out-buildings.  In a few moments all were in flames.  The house of the elder son’s widow shared the same fete.