The following letter was written by Joseph Horace Eaton (1815-1896) who served as aiide-de-camp and military secretary to Ma. Gen. John C. Frémont in 1861. He was later stationed in Washington D. C. where he was assistant U. S. Paymaster. He wrote the letter to Sterling Price (1809-1867), the former congressman and Missouri Governor, who commanded the Confederate militia in Missouri in 1861.

The substance of this brief missive pertains to the exchange of prisoners. The Union officer held by Price’s Missouri Militia was Thomas A. Marshall, a graduate of the Transylvania University law school, and a practicing attorney soon after in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Two years later, Marshall moved to Coles County, Illinois, where he continued to practice law, and by 1841, he lived in the county seat of Charleston. As early as 1846, Marshall began a law partnership with Usher F. Linder. In 1853, Marshall became the cashier of a bank in Charleston, and he remained in the banking profession through 1860. He won election to the Illinois Senate, serving from 1858 to 1862. In 1861, he served as president pro tem of the Senate and as acting lieutenant governor. When the Civil War broke out, Marshall became colonel of the First Illinois Cavalry, serving from July 1861 until he mustered out in July 1862. [Source: Papers of Abraham Lincoln Digital Library] Col. Marshall was taken prisoner on 20 September 1861 when he and others in his command were surrendered at Lexington, Missouri, after a 52 hour siege. Most of the other officers in the command were not exchanged until December 1861.

The prisoner held by the Union army in St. Louis was Prince Lucien Hudgins (1810-1872)—a civilian lawyer and a Christian preacher from Savannah, Andrew county, Mo., who had been arrested for conspiring against the U.S. Government. (See the Pardon of Prince L. Hudgins)

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

Headquarters, Western Department
St. Louis [Missouri]
September 24, 1861

General,

I am instructed by Major General Fremont to say in reply to your proposal for the exchange of Col. Thomas A Marshall, 1st Regt. Illinois Cavalry for Mr. Prince L. Hudgins, that it is accepted and the latter will be released and delivered over to his son, the bearer of your letter. Please on receipt of this, give to Col. Marshall facilities for reaching the nearest station of our troops. Respectfully Sir, your obedient servant, — J. H. Eaton, Col. & Military Secretary

[to] General S. Price, commanding Mo. State Guard, Lexington, Mo.