Ella Mayfield's Pawpaw Militia

A Civil War Saga In Vernon County, Missouri

Strong willed and independent, Ella learned to stick up for herself in her large family. When the Civil War began few men were available to protect the homesteader women and children left to fend for themselves in Vernon County, Missouri. Invasions by Union Soldiers from Fort Scott, Kansas and thieving Jayhawkers from Kansas forced Ella to come to a decision. She wanted to keep her widowed mother and siblings safe. She felt she didn't have a choice when she dressed as a man and joined a band of bushwhackers in Vernon County that was trying to protect their farms. Union soldiers and Jayhawkers stole the settlers valuables and their food supplies. They trampled gardens and burnt homes. During the winter, the bushwhacker bands had very little to eat but nuts and pawpaws from the trees near creeks and caves the bands hid in. What game was left like rabbit, deers and squirrel couldn't be hunted. A shot would bring the Union Army patrol. If they didn't hear the shot, they would smell the smoke from the cooking fire. Ella's bushwhacker band became know as the Pawpaw Band. Her exploits became legendary. She was a crack shot and a superb horse rider. Sometimes as spy for the Confederate Army, Ella risked her life, trying to protect her family, her neighbors and her home near Montevallo, Missouri.