of march and ultimate goal. The next day, Col. James McFerran, of the First Missouri State Militia, joined Woolfolk with 250 more men and took command. He caught up with Porter at Walnut Creek, in Adair County and drove him eastward to the Chariton. At See's Ford, where he recrossed the Chariton, Porter set up an ambush on the east bank with 125 men. Porter's forces opened fire at short range. Only two Federals were killed outright and 15 wounded, but the action seemed to have caused McFerran to break off pursuit. Porter passed on to Wilsonville, in the south-east part of Adair. Here, a mass desertion took place among his discouraged troops; in a few hours, 500 had drifted away. Capture of Palmyra and the Allsman incident Porter wandered around the wilderness, his desertion-diminished troops feeding off the land, although there were some new recruits as well. On Friday, September 12, Porter, with 400 men, captured Palmyra, with 20 of its garrison, and held the place two hours, losing one man killed and one wounded. One Union citizen was killed and three Federals wounded. Porter's objectives were to liberate Confederates held in the jail there, and to draw Federal forces away from the Missouri River, so as to open it to southward crossing by rebels seeking to join Confederate units. The Confederates carried away an elderly Union citizen named Andrew Allsman. The fate of Allsman remains something of a mystery, and there is disagreement as well about his character and his legitimacy as a target (see Palmyra Massacre). Porter quickly abandoned Palmyra to McNeil, and another period of wandering ensued, in the general direction of his own home near Newark. There were further desertions, and a number of bands of organized rebels refused to place themselves under Porter's command, clearly indicating that he had lost public confidence. At Whaley's Mill, his men were definitively scattered, almost without a fight. Death After his rout by McNeil at Whaley's Mill, and the dispersion of his troops at Bragg's school house, Col. Porter kept himself hidden for a few days. He abandoned the idea of raising a militarily significant force, and entered Shelby County on a line of march to the South with fewer than 100 men remaining. He made his way safely through Monroe, Audrain, Callaway and Boone counties, and crossed the Missouri River in a skiff, continuing into Arkansas. Here