THE FARM
COLONY PROJECT
The civilians of northwest Arkansas endured years of suffering and sorrow during the Civil War. Their homes, barns, and farms were ravaged and burned. Bushwhackers intercepted military supply wagons, cut telegraph wires, while soldiers from both armies confiscated massive amounts of wheat, corn, and rye from the farmers. Many starving citizens asked the Federal Army for help but as the war continued, it became impossible to procure enough food to feed the soldiers, hundreds of horses and the hungry refugees.
In early 1864, Robert W. Mecklin scribbled in his journal, “The geese and cranes are going north, reminds me that spring is approaching and that it is time to be preparing grounds and fences for crops. But when this is done we have no teams to plow our grounds, and if we had the teams no forage for them.”
As food supply problems increased, Union Army Colonel Marcus LaRue Harrison devised a plan to organize farm colonies for loyal citizens to live and plant crops. Living in groups, the colonies would be better able to protect themselves from the bushwhacker attacks. Colonel Harrison called for meetings in Benton County and Washington County and presented the plan to large groups of citizens who agreed to join. They elected officers and proceeded to organize the armed militia units in each colony. The people who chose to join a farm colony Colonel Harrison said “were to have nothing in common but defense and obedience to law.” Every person who joined had to swear to be loyal to the Union.
Captain A. H. Alfrey was appointed to oversee the Bentonville Union Militia Colony located two and one half miles east of the town square. Oliver Young was sworn into the Bentonville colony after his home and farmstead was destroyed by fire in November 1864. Oliver was allowed to carry a gun to protect the colony members as they planted crops in the fields. Oliver also worked to build a Union sponsored mill which was very important since many the Confederate mills had been shut down or destroyed by order of Colonel Marcus LaRue Harrison, who believed, “The disabling of mills causes more writhing among bushwhackers than any other mode of attack.”
Captain Joseph Rutherford was in charge of a farm colony located on property confiscated from southern sympathizer William Wilson. The Wilson House served as headquarters for the Colony at Union Valley in Washington County. Apparently, Rutherford liked the place so well that after the war, Mr. Wilson was forced to hire an attorney to regain ownership of his family home which still stands today.
The Civil War officially ended when General Robert E. Lee surrendered April 9, 1865. Notification of Lee’s surrender arrived in Fayetteville, Arkansas four days later on April 13. The news was celebrated with prolonged gunfire apparently heard as far away as the Union Valley Colony. The Colony residents were afraid the constant gunfire meant another battle was underway. The Federal Army sent a dispatch to Captain Rutherford, “the firing you heard is in honor of General Lee’s surrender…We fire(d) today 200 guns in honor of this long hoped for event, the termination of this Rebellion.”
“The grandest attempt at a nation’s destruction, you see, is a complete failure, having by bitter experience learned the sad consequences of Civil War.”
The news of Lee’s surrender reached the people at Union Valley Colony on April 14, 1865. It would be another 4 or 5 days before the Union Valley people would hear about another bitterly sad consequence that occurred the same day hundreds of miles away. It was the evening of April 14, 1865 when President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D. C.
In early 1864, Robert W. Mecklin scribbled in his journal, “The geese and cranes are going north, reminds me that spring is approaching and that it is time to be preparing grounds and fences for crops. But when this is done we have no teams to plow our grounds, and if we had the teams no forage for them.”
As food supply problems increased, Union Army Colonel Marcus LaRue Harrison devised a plan to organize farm colonies for loyal citizens to live and plant crops. Living in groups, the colonies would be better able to protect themselves from the bushwhacker attacks. Colonel Harrison called for meetings in Benton County and Washington County and presented the plan to large groups of citizens who agreed to join. They elected officers and proceeded to organize the armed militia units in each colony. The people who chose to join a farm colony Colonel Harrison said “were to have nothing in common but defense and obedience to law.” Every person who joined had to swear to be loyal to the Union.
Captain A. H. Alfrey was appointed to oversee the Bentonville Union Militia Colony located two and one half miles east of the town square. Oliver Young was sworn into the Bentonville colony after his home and farmstead was destroyed by fire in November 1864. Oliver was allowed to carry a gun to protect the colony members as they planted crops in the fields. Oliver also worked to build a Union sponsored mill which was very important since many the Confederate mills had been shut down or destroyed by order of Colonel Marcus LaRue Harrison, who believed, “The disabling of mills causes more writhing among bushwhackers than any other mode of attack.”
Captain Joseph Rutherford was in charge of a farm colony located on property confiscated from southern sympathizer William Wilson. The Wilson House served as headquarters for the Colony at Union Valley in Washington County. Apparently, Rutherford liked the place so well that after the war, Mr. Wilson was forced to hire an attorney to regain ownership of his family home which still stands today.
The Civil War officially ended when General Robert E. Lee surrendered April 9, 1865. Notification of Lee’s surrender arrived in Fayetteville, Arkansas four days later on April 13. The news was celebrated with prolonged gunfire apparently heard as far away as the Union Valley Colony. The Colony residents were afraid the constant gunfire meant another battle was underway. The Federal Army sent a dispatch to Captain Rutherford, “the firing you heard is in honor of General Lee’s surrender…We fire(d) today 200 guns in honor of this long hoped for event, the termination of this Rebellion.”
“The grandest attempt at a nation’s destruction, you see, is a complete failure, having by bitter experience learned the sad consequences of Civil War.”
The news of Lee’s surrender reached the people at Union Valley Colony on April 14, 1865. It would be another 4 or 5 days before the Union Valley people would hear about another bitterly sad consequence that occurred the same day hundreds of miles away. It was the evening of April 14, 1865 when President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D. C.
Narration by Matt Slaughter
