CLARKSVILLE, Mo. — A man known for his steel resolve saved Clarksville from a Confederate guerilla who once broke up a wedding to enlist recruits.

Union Capt. William Teague and his men from Company C of the 37th Enrolled Missouri Militia ambushed rebels who were on their way to seize guns in the growing Pike County town.

Opposing him was Jack Young, a wily rebel commander whose boldness would lead to his downfall.

The skirmish took place on Oct. 12, 1864 – and came as Gen. Sterling Price made a monumental last-ditch effort to claim Missouri for the rebels. Author Bruce Nichols called it “an exciting day in the Pike County area of Northeast Missouri.”

Teague was born in St. Charles County two days after Christmas 1832 to Peter and Rachel Teague, who had emigrated from Virginia. He became a blacksmith and married Troy native Mary Elizabeth Crouch.

Enrolled Missouri Militia units were authorized by Gov. Hamilton Gamble in 1862 as violence by Southern-sympathizing bushwhackers grew. The idea was to have Union loyalists stay at home, yet take up arms when needed. However, the duty carried no glory.

First, able-bodied men were required by law to serve, even though uniforms and weapons often were not provided. There also was the threat that rebel-leaning recruits would be thrown in with Union supporters.

Second, the citizen soldiers sometimes were encouraged to take food and property from non-combatant Confederate sympathizers, which only caused greater animosity.

Since Pike County had been settled largely by Southerners, it was a sticking point that would flare up throughout the war. In an ironic twist, the 37th was led by Willis Finley, a lieutenant colonel who had been born in the South.

One of the rebels causing problems for the Union was Louisiana farmer Caleb Dorsey, who was just as conniving as Young, but much less brash. During the spring and summer of 1864, he quietly recruited dozens of neighbors in the buildup to Price’s invasion.

Dorsey was “one of the most successful behind-the-Union-lines Confederate recruiters throughout the Civil War in Northeast Missouri,” Nichols wrote.

Young was more of an enigma, but two things became very clear – he didn’t back down from a fight and he got around, leading attacks in Pike, Ralls and Marion counties. At one point, he even hid men across the Mississippi River in Illinois.

Price’s invasion of Missouri started at the end of August 1864. The day before the Clarksville raid, the general scored a victory at the Battle of Boonville. Encouraged by the success, Dorsey began moving his troops southeast. He hid near Middletown while planning the best route to cross the Missouri River and link up with Price.

Young wasn’t as patient. He salivated over the gun cache at Clarksville. It was just the type of hit-and-run attack that appealed to him. Gathering 80 men, he started from Lincoln County toward the river port.

While drawbacks of being an EMM were many, there was at least one advantage. Informants were more likely to spill their guts with someone they knew rather than a regular military commander who might not be in town for more than a few weeks.

Teague got wind of the raid and “ambushed Young’s men along the way, routing them,” Nichols wrote.

Casualties were not recorded, but Teague “wisely moved the weapons to an undisclosed island for safekeeping,” Nichols reported.

On Nov. 6, Young and his guerillas stopped at a house in Spencer Township on the northwest side of Pike County and forced men in a wedding party to join the Confederate service.

The reluctant recruits included the groom. One newspaper said the man “had hardly been sworn into one service before he was conscripted into another.” The rebels stayed for the reception and “made the cake and chicken fixins disappear in double quick,” the paper reported.

The fun would not last. A week later, Young was killed by Union citizen guards in Ralls County.

Emboldened by Teague, Clarksville residents held off a band of Lincoln County guerillas led by Paul Penn in late November. The attackers were tracked to a point near Louisville. Two of them were taken to Ashley and executed.

Price’s invasion ultimately proved unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Clarksville’s population doubled between 1860 and 1870.

Dorsey survived the war and moved to California, where he bred race horses, operated mines and served in the state assembly. He was shot to death at age 62 during an argument with a business partner on April 21, 1896.

Teague served until Jan. 5, 1865. After the Confederate surrender, he went back to his anvil and died in Silex at age 79 on May 17, 1912. Teague and his wife are buried in Troy.