PRIVATE DUNLAVY
Dunlavy captured a Confederate general
Decatur County native was Medal of Honor recipient
By Phillip Jackson For the Daily News
(Editor’s note: This is the latest installment in a series of stories the Daily News is publishing about Decatur County’s Medal of Honor recipients.)
James Dunlavy was born Feb. 4, 1844, in Decatur County. His father was Harvey Dunlavy. The Dunlavy family was from Ireland and settled in America before the Revolutionary War.
When he was only 4 years old, James Dunlavy’s family moved to Davis County, Iowa. Harvey Dunlavy was a lawyer and he also farmed. He served in the Iowa state legislature.
In 1862, James Dunlavy attempted to enlist in an Iowa infantry regiment but was rejected, evidently because of his young age. Then, in November 1863, he enlisted in Company D, 3rd Iowa Cavalry Regiment.
The circumstances surrounding Private James Dunlavy receiving the Medal of Honor are described in the book “Deeds of Valor” published in 1901.
Confederate General Sterling Price planned an invasion of Missouri. This resulted in fighting in Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas from late August to early December 1864.
On Oct. 25, 1864, the battle of Little Osage Crossing, Kansas, took place. The battle is also known as Mine Creek or simply Osage. Here, Decatur County native James Dunlavy would literally single-handedly capture a Confederate general.
During the battle, Union forces commanded by General Alfred Pleasonton, including the 3rd Iowa Cavalry, charged the Confederate artillery. Private Dunlavy was armed with both a revolver and a short barreled carbine.
While attacking the Confederate artillery position, Private Dunlavy, who was riding a horse, was seriously wounded when a piece of an exploding shell struck him and broke his right forearm. Private Dunlavy’s horse was also struck by the exploding shell. The horse bolted.
Private Dunlavy soon gained control of his horse and rode toward what he thought was a Union infantry brigade. He noticed an officer on horseback shouting orders to the brigade and quickly realized it was a Confederate unit.
With only one good arm, Private Dunlavy awkwardly raised his carbine and fired upon the Confederate officer. Without the use of his broken right arm, Private Dunlavy could not steady the carbine. His shot missed.
The Confederate officer realized he had been fired at and angrily rode up to Private Dunlavy, thinking he was one of his own men. Private Dunlavy’s carbine must have been a single-shot and impossible to reload with only one hand, for now he pulled his sidearm from its holster.
“What do you mean, shooting at your own officer?” the Confederate officer demanded. “Give me that revolver!”
“Surrender, or I’ll fire!” Private Dunlavy excitedly answered as he pointed his sidearm at the Confederate officer.
The question of who was more startled, Private Dunlavy or the Confederate officer, has never been answered. But the officer put up no resistance and handed over his own pair of pistols.
Now a dismounted Union cavalryman ran up to Private Dunlavy. “My horse has been shot!” the cavalryman stated. “Give me that of your prisoner.”
Private Dunlavy made the Confederate officer dismount and surrender his horse. James Dunlavy headed to the rear, with his prisoner, as the book Deeds of Valor describes, “trotting along at double-quick.”
Soon the prisoner said, “I am very tired and worn out. Have been up all night.” Private Dunlavy slowed his horse.
“Can’t you get me a horse?” the prisoner then asked. “I’d like to ride.”
“Why should I give him a horse?” Private Dunlavy thought. “No,” he replied to his prisoner.
The prisoner then made a strange request, which must have surprised Private Dunlavy. “Will you take me to General Pleasonton? I am personally acquainted with him.” Then the prisoner added, “Young man, I’ll tell you who I am.”
Just then a Union officer, Colonel Charles Blair, rode up.
“I am General Marmaduke,” the prisoner explained to Colonel Blair.
Although not exactly a household name today, Private James Dunlavy’s prisoner turned out to be General John S. Marmaduke. He was born in Missouri in 1833. He had attended both Harvard and Yale before graduating from West Point.
General Marmaduke fought a duel with another Confederate officer, General Lucious M. Walker, nephew of United States President James K. Polk, in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1863, killing General Walker. John Marmaduke was the last Confederate to be appointed Major General, a promotion which took place while he was still being held as a prisoner of war.
After the Civil War, General Marmaduke was elected governor of Missouri.
Colonel Blair wrote a report following the battle which is found in the official records. He incorrectly identifies James Dunlavy as a corporal.
“Pushing rapidly forward, I witnessed the capture of Major General Marmaduke by Corporal James Dunlavy, of Company D, 3rd Iowa Cavalry,” his reports states. He then quotes James Dunlavy as telling him, “Colonel, remember I took him prisoner. I am James Dunlavy of Company D, 3rd Iowa Cavalry.” He also quotes James Dunlavy as telling his prisoner, “If I had known you were a general officer, I should have allowed you to remain on horseback.”
The citation for James Dunlavy’s Medal of Honor states: “Gallentry in capturing General Marmaduke.”
Following his service in the Civil War, James Dunlavy returned home to Davis County, Iowa. He began studying medicine and graduated from Keokuk Medical Collage in 1870. Also in 1870, James Dunlavy married Letitia Von Achen. They were the parents of four children.
Doctor Dunlavy practiced medicine in Stiles, Iowa for 32 years. Then, in 1903, Doctor Dunlavy moved to Maramec, Oklahoma, where he retired. Doctor Dunlavy died March 6, 1923. He and his wife Letitia are buried in a cemetery in Maramec.
Oddly, their gravestone’s inscription contains no information about Decatur County native James Dunlavy’s service in the Civil War or that he was a recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Phillip Jackson may be contacted via this publication at news@greensburgdailynews.com.
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