to Confederate service. A drumhead court-martial was convened on Friday, August 8, by Lt. Col. W.F. Schaffer of Merrill's Horse. McCullough stated that he had been elected second in command of the regiment of Colonel Cyrus Franklin, but had not yet received his commission. He had also previously held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Missouri State Guard, but that commission had long since expired. McCullough was found guilty and sentenced to be shot. The officer who read the death sentence did so with tears. McCullough made two requests before his execution: that he be allowed to write a letter to his wife, and for permission to give the firing squad orders to fire. Both were granted. After being taken west of Kirksville to be executed, he gave the order to the firing squad "What I have done, I have done as a principle of right. Aim at the heart. Fire!" Of the first volley, only one shot hit McCullough, and he survived. He requested for his leg, which had been pinned under him, to be straightened, and was then executed via pistol shots. McCullough's final words were "May God forgive you this cold-blooded murder." Union Colonel McNeil wrote: "Col. McCullough was tried […] under order No. 2 of General Halleck and Nos. 8 and 18, of General Schofield. He had no commission except a printed paper authorizing 'the bearer' to recruit for the Confederate Army. He was found guilty of bushwhacking, or of being a guerilla. He was a brave fellow, and a splendid specimen of manhood. I would have gladly spared him had my duty permitted. As it was, he suffered the fate that would have fallen to you or to me if we had been found recruiting inside the Confederate lines. He met a soldier's death, as became a soldier." The intensely pro-Union Palmyra Courier was restrained in its criticism of McCullough: "We have known him personally since he was a boy. He was ever, as a citizen, a high-toned gentleman – really a noble specimen of a man. Brave as a lion, no danger could intimidate him. We doubt whether the rebel ranks contain a more honorable man than he was. Yet his judgment led him to commit the fatal error of taking up arms against his country. He has been one of the most active and vigilant rebels in the Northeast Missouri [sic]. Honorable