The story of one of the most notorious events occurring near Cape Girardeau during the Civil War began in St. Louis in the early summer of 1863. The Western Sanitary Commission, somewhat equivalent to today’s Red Cross, assembled medicines and other needs for General John W. Davidson’s army occupying Bloomfield. The army assembled a wagon train to transport the sanitary and additional military supplies in St. Louis. The resulting train totaled over 120 wagons. After a cavalry escort assembled, the wagons left St. Louis in late July.
Upon arriving in Cape, H. J. Waterman, Agent for the Western Sanitary Commission, learned that Gen. Davidson’s command had gone on to Arkansas. Davidson left wounded and sick men at Bloomfield, so Waterman decided to proceed and distribute part of his stores there. The train assembled for the trip included three with stores from the sanitary commission, and twenty-seven filled with other supplies. An escort of 10 or 12 mounted soldiers from the 6th Missouri Cavalry and 2nd Missouri State Militia Cavalry guarded the train.
The trip by wagon took two days one way, so the train left Cape early Saturday morning, August 1, intending to camp one night on the way. Waterman left later that afternoon, and stopped at Whitewater bridge, guarded by troops of the 8th Provisional Enrolled Missouri Militia.
A usual camping site for trains was Round Pond, three miles from Whitewater Bridge and southwest of present-day Allenville—a good water source for travelers on Bloomfield Road. Despite some reports, the escort posted guards for the night. In any event, a contingent of eight men under the command of Capt. John McWherter attacked from the swamp. Numerous other sources attribute the attack to the “Bolen Gang,” and almost certainly John Fugate Bolen was there according to his later confession. The attackers came in quietly, killing the guards. Then they called the wagon master and his assistant from their tent, placing the muzzles of their pistols to the men’s chests and shooting them. They continued shooting teamsters who were still asleep or half awake, and some of the teamsters escaped into the swamp. The final toll was 10 killed outright and four wounded, two of whom died later.
The wagons were set afire, telegraph poles and wire cut down, and about twenty of the best horses taken. Fleeing teamsters reached Whitewater Bridge about 3 a.m. and sounded the alarm. Waterman saddled up and rode to the site. Waterman checked his three wagons of goods, and found one was entirely burned and two were considerably damaged. He salvaged much of the sanitary stores from the two damaged wagons, amounting to about half of the initial amount, and proceeded on to Bloomfield.
Some 10 or 11 days after the ambush, Capt. Adolph Tacke of the 8th Provisional EMM led a detachment of volunteers to disinter the bodies of the dead at Round Pond and move them to Cape Girardeau. As might be expected in August, the bodies were in bad condition. It is likely the dead lie in Old Lorimier Cemetery in unmarked graves, and two are on a list of Union soldiers interred at Cape Girardeau.
As for Round Pond, over the years it gradually disappeared. Drainage of the area altered its hydrology, and farming in the area resulted in it gradually filling with silt. Today one has difficulty finding the low spot in an agricultural field that is all that marks the site.
