The Jessie Scouts were irregular soldiers during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

on the side of the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

who frequently operated in the territory of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. The unit was created by

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

and named in honor of his wife, rather than of a Colonel Jessie, who was himself a myth. The initial Jessie Scout unit was formed in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

early in the war as the plan to develop independent scouts was implemented. The first man to command the scouts was Charles C. Carpenter. During

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...

missions the Jessie Scouts wore Confederate uniforms with a white handkerchief over their shoulders to signify their allegiance to friendly troops, and numbered around 58 for much of the war. They were commanded by Major

Henry Young Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, KCMG (23 April 1803 – 18 September 1870) was the fifth Governor of South Australia, serving in that role from 2 August 1848 until 20 December 1854. He was then the first Governor of Tasmania, from 1855 until 1861. ...

from November 1864 until the end of the war. In February 1865 they captured

Harry Gilmor Harry Ward Gilmor (January 24, 1838 – March 4, 1883) served as the Baltimore City Police Commissioner, head of the Baltimore City Police Department in the 1870s, but he was most noted as a daring and dashing Confederate cavalry officer dur ...

and killed Guerilla leader Captain George W Stump.

Henry Young

Major Henry Young (breveted to lieutenant colonel at the end of the war) was the commander of the Jessie Scouts from November 1864 to April 1865. He was born in

Mendon, Massachusetts Mendon is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,228 at the 2020 census. Mendon is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, an early center of the industrial revolution in the United ...

, on February 9, 1841. He was, "A child of slender physique, but handsome, and high-spirited from his boyhood…" Young's father died when he was at a young age, which shaped him into the man he became, as he had to care for his mother and younger sister. When the war started, Young was eager to enlist. " the war broke out the young hero was among the first to answer his country's call. Through the influence of friends he had hopes of a commission, and at Lincoln's call for 75,000 men, he determined to enter the service. With his sister, a child of ten years, driving for him, and a book of tactics open on his knee, he went from house to house, through the villages of

Blackstone Valley The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a major factor in the American Industrial Revolution. It makes up part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Nation ...

, stopping in public places and calling a crowd around his carriage, he harangued them with such patriotic ardor that in one day he enlisted sixty-three men. In 1866, Young was killed in a military expedition in Mexico, and a statue was put up in his honor. The statue was dedicated to Young in 1911 and is located at the Kennedy Plaza in Providence, Rhode Island.

William J. Lawton

William J. Lawton was from Michigan; he was a scout for

Julius Stahel Julius H. Stahel-Számwald (born Gyula Számwald; November 5, 1825 – December 4, 1912) was a Hungarian soldier who emigrated to the United States and became a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a U.S. diplomat, ...

in Virginia and George Thomas in Northwest Georgia/Southeast Tenn
On March 31, 1864 while leading a patrol of the 4th Michigan Cavalry he was shot and killed in

Walker County, Georgia Walker County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,654, down from 68,756 in 2010. The county seat is LaFayette. The county was created on December 18, 1833, from ...

Jack Sterry

Jack Sterry was a Jessie Scout who was caught and hanged by the Confederates. He had been pretending to be a Confederate guide, but General Hood became suspicious when Sterry kept changing his story and who he was. "And the guide suddenly remembered that he had never really belonged to Hampton's Legion; that the story grew out of a little romance of his, and had grown out of a love affair. In the Shenandoah Valley, he explained, there was a beautiful maiden who had caught his fancy, but the girl was romantic and did not care for plodding foot-soldiers. All her dreams were of knights and heroes and cavaliers on prancing steeds, so he had deserted from the infantry and captured a horse, and his real name was Harry Brooks, and he believed that in the stress of battle or campaign he could throw himself in the way of some enterprising commander and render such gallant service as would win approval; and when by daring deeds he had distinguished himself, as only a trooper can, he would confess his fault and leave the rest to fortune." Eventually, they found the dying Confederate dispatch bearer. The dispatch bearer had been " 'shot by one of our own men" and had his dispatches stolen. From one account, Sterry's last words were, "...I will simply ask you to say, if you should ever speak of this, that Jack Sterry, when the rebels got him, died as a Jessie Scout should!"

Arch H. Rowand

Arch Rowand was a Jessie Scout who spoke at the dedication of Henry Young's memorial statue in Providence, Rhode Island. A copy of his speech can be found here. Rowand ended his speech with, "In the name of the scouts, we congratulate you and we thank you. You are doing justice to a splendid soul and we feel in every fibre of our being, for we did, and do 'think God A'mighty of him.' "

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