THE MYSTERY OF
WALNUT SPRINGS
A few fragments of stories and bits of history are all that is left of the mysterious secluded camp site once known as Walnut Springs. Walnut Springs provided plenty of good drinking water as well as a shady hide-out in the low hills along Osage Creek in Benton County.
Robert Mecklin wrote about Walnut Springs in July 1863 following a particularly brutal raid made by Federal soldiers through northwest Arkansas. Mecklin said the soldiers were stealing horses and mules and taking civilians as prisoners as they worked in their fields. They also searched private homes and they were blamed for the callous murder of an old man. Robert Mecklin was told “the southern troops” had gone after the Federals and finally caught up with them and killed five Union soldiers at Walnut Springs.
It is difficult to know if that is the truth because there is another version of the story about who killed the five Union soldiers at Walnut Springs. The Union Army was under constant attack by Confederate Partisan soldiers. One particular group was led by Major Buck Brown. Union officers called Buck Brown a bushwhacker, a guerilla fighter, and other names not suitable to use in mixed company of the day. Buck Brown and his family were operating a successful mill business at the beginning of the Civil War. Buck Brown’s family was targeted many times by the Union Army during the Civil War. Southern sympathizer Robert Mecklin believed the aggressive behavior toward civilians by the Union Army was why Buck Brown and his men (were) “rendered desperate by the cruelties inflicted on their families by Federals.”
During this time, Union supply wagon trains were under constant attack and telegraph wires were cut time and time again in northwest Arkansas. The Union Army decided to spend no more time trying to find who was responsible. Instead, the soldiers were ordered to burn the homes of the people living nearest the cut telegraph wire.
The neighbors were naturally angered by the new order from the Union Army. They could lose everything they owned whether they had anything to do with the cutting of the telegraph wire or not. According to this version of the story, the neighbors decided to fight back, so they killed the five Union soldiers and buried the bodies at Walnut Springs.
In 1864, Robert Mecklin reported “the business of killing men still goes bravely on. Scarcely a day passes during which we do not hear of one or more bushwhackers being killed or that some Federals have been killed by them.”
Also in 1864, Mecklin reported violence and torture suffered by Benton County civilians, “A few nights ago, the robbers went to Dr. Talifero’s and robbed his house and burned his feet with a hot shovel till he gave up his money. They did old Johnny Rich the same way till they got his gold and silver.”
Another violent scene in 1864 happened the day Union Army Captain James L. Powell and the Second Arkansas Cavalry discovered tracks leading to Walnut Springs where several of “Buck” Brown’s men were camped. Brown’s men were surprised and tried to get away but Powell and his troops killed one and wounded two or three others. Captain Powell confiscated the horses, found some stolen Federal overcoats, blankets and other provisions.
It is often difficult to separate fact from fiction from so long ago but official Union Army reports on Walnut Springs help tell the story and there used to be visible graves at Walnut Springs. Near the graves there was a marker with information about the murdered Union soldiers. But, unfortunately, teenagers vandalized the cemetery, removed the marker and destroyed important details of what actually happened at Walnut Springs.
Many years later, a Civil War period gun was found in the field not far away from Walnut Springs. The gun was found buried in the ground where it apparently had been for over one hundred years. Who owned the gun or why it was left behind will probably never be known. Was the gun dropped by a rebel, a federal or a bushwhacker?
Who killed the five Union soldiers that day and buried the bodies at Walnut Springs? Was it rebels, bushwhackers, or angry neighbors?
One thing known for sure from the official records, Union Army Colonel Marcus LaRue Harrison reported his troops had killed 18 bushwhackers and one of them was “Buck” Brown. It’s a mighty good guess “Buck” Brown knew a lot about what happened at Walnut Springs during the Civil War.
Robert Mecklin wrote about Walnut Springs in July 1863 following a particularly brutal raid made by Federal soldiers through northwest Arkansas. Mecklin said the soldiers were stealing horses and mules and taking civilians as prisoners as they worked in their fields. They also searched private homes and they were blamed for the callous murder of an old man. Robert Mecklin was told “the southern troops” had gone after the Federals and finally caught up with them and killed five Union soldiers at Walnut Springs.
It is difficult to know if that is the truth because there is another version of the story about who killed the five Union soldiers at Walnut Springs. The Union Army was under constant attack by Confederate Partisan soldiers. One particular group was led by Major Buck Brown. Union officers called Buck Brown a bushwhacker, a guerilla fighter, and other names not suitable to use in mixed company of the day. Buck Brown and his family were operating a successful mill business at the beginning of the Civil War. Buck Brown’s family was targeted many times by the Union Army during the Civil War. Southern sympathizer Robert Mecklin believed the aggressive behavior toward civilians by the Union Army was why Buck Brown and his men (were) “rendered desperate by the cruelties inflicted on their families by Federals.”
During this time, Union supply wagon trains were under constant attack and telegraph wires were cut time and time again in northwest Arkansas. The Union Army decided to spend no more time trying to find who was responsible. Instead, the soldiers were ordered to burn the homes of the people living nearest the cut telegraph wire.
The neighbors were naturally angered by the new order from the Union Army. They could lose everything they owned whether they had anything to do with the cutting of the telegraph wire or not. According to this version of the story, the neighbors decided to fight back, so they killed the five Union soldiers and buried the bodies at Walnut Springs.
In 1864, Robert Mecklin reported “the business of killing men still goes bravely on. Scarcely a day passes during which we do not hear of one or more bushwhackers being killed or that some Federals have been killed by them.”
Also in 1864, Mecklin reported violence and torture suffered by Benton County civilians, “A few nights ago, the robbers went to Dr. Talifero’s and robbed his house and burned his feet with a hot shovel till he gave up his money. They did old Johnny Rich the same way till they got his gold and silver.”
Another violent scene in 1864 happened the day Union Army Captain James L. Powell and the Second Arkansas Cavalry discovered tracks leading to Walnut Springs where several of “Buck” Brown’s men were camped. Brown’s men were surprised and tried to get away but Powell and his troops killed one and wounded two or three others. Captain Powell confiscated the horses, found some stolen Federal overcoats, blankets and other provisions.
It is often difficult to separate fact from fiction from so long ago but official Union Army reports on Walnut Springs help tell the story and there used to be visible graves at Walnut Springs. Near the graves there was a marker with information about the murdered Union soldiers. But, unfortunately, teenagers vandalized the cemetery, removed the marker and destroyed important details of what actually happened at Walnut Springs.
Many years later, a Civil War period gun was found in the field not far away from Walnut Springs. The gun was found buried in the ground where it apparently had been for over one hundred years. Who owned the gun or why it was left behind will probably never be known. Was the gun dropped by a rebel, a federal or a bushwhacker?
Who killed the five Union soldiers that day and buried the bodies at Walnut Springs? Was it rebels, bushwhackers, or angry neighbors?
One thing known for sure from the official records, Union Army Colonel Marcus LaRue Harrison reported his troops had killed 18 bushwhackers and one of them was “Buck” Brown. It’s a mighty good guess “Buck” Brown knew a lot about what happened at Walnut Springs during the Civil War.
Narration by Robin McClanahan
