Stone Gardens: A Soldier's Journey- How an Illinois-born Confederate private wound up at final rest in Sebastian County
- Dennis McCaslin
- 7 hours ago
- 4 min read
Two miles east of US Highway 71 on Dayton Road in Sebastian County, Arkansas, the Dayton Cemetery holds the graves of generations of local pioneers and residents. Among them is a marker for Jehu Condra, a Civil War soldier born in Illinois, raised in Texas, and who chose to make Sebastian County his home.
Jehu Condra was born on October 27, 1831, in Illinois. By the 1850s, he had relocated to Tarrant County, Texas, where he became a successful farmer and landowner. In 1861, he owned 320 acres of prime Texas real estate, a significant holding for the time.
On July 10, 1862, Condra enlisted in the Confederate Cavalry in Texas under Commander M.W. Davenport, joining Company A of the 34th Texas Cavalry, also known as the Texas Partisan Rangers.
Condra’s unit participated in seven major battles and skirmishes across Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. His first recorded action was the Battle of Newtonia in Newton County, Missouri, on September 30, 1862. Following the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862, most Confederate and Union forces had withdrawn from northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri.
However, by late summer 1862, Confederate troops under Colonel Douglas H. Cooper returned to the region, establishing a presence in Newtonia, where a mill provided essential supplies. Cooper’s forces used the home of Matthew H. Ritchey as their headquarters.
On September 29, 1862, Union scouts from Brigadier General James G. Blunt’s Army of Kansas, which had marched from Fort Scott, Kansas, approached Newtonia but were repelled. Additional Union forces appeared in nearby Granby, a lead-mining town, prompting Cooper to send reinforcements there.
The next morning, Union troops engaged the Confederates at Newtonia by 7:00 a.m. Initially, the Federals pushed back the Confederates, but Confederate reinforcements arrived, bolstering their numbers. The Union forces retreated under pressure, and despite a brief counterattack supported by Union reinforcements, the Confederates forced a second retreat.
After dark, the pursuit continued, with Union artillery attempting to halt the Confederates. Confederate counter-fire caused panic, turning the Union retreat into a rout, with some soldiers fleeing over ten miles to Sarcoxie, Missouri.
Although the Confederates won at Newtonia, the overwhelming Union presence in the region forced most Confederate forces, including Condra’s unit, to retreat through Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma) into northwestern Arkansas. This movement marked Condra’s first exposure to Arkansas, likely influencing his later decision to settle there.
Six weeks later, Condra fought in the Battle of Pea Ridge (March 7–8, 1862), a pivotal engagement in northwestern Arkansas, though some sources suggest his unit’s involvement may have been in subsequent skirmishes in the area, as the 34th Texas Cavalry was not formally organized until mid-1862
. Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn, commanding the Trans-Mississippi District, led the Army of the West, comprising approximately 16,000 troops, including Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri units, as well as 800 Cherokee soldiers.
Van Dorn aimed to outflank and destroy Union Major General Samuel R. Curtis’s Army of the Southwest, which numbered about 10,500 men, to reopen Missouri for Confederate operations.
Van Dorn’s plan involved a rapid march to attack Curtis from the rear, forcing a retreat or encirclement. However, logistical challenges, including exhausted troops and supply shortages, hampered the Confederate effort. On the second day of fighting,
Union forces counterattacked, routing the Confederates, who retreated south into Arkansas. The defeat at Pea Ridge secured Union control of Missouri for much of the war and shifted Confederate focus to Arkansas and Louisiana.
After Pea Ridge, Condra’s unit, part of the fragmented Confederate cavalry, maneuvered through Arkansas and into Louisiana. The 34th Texas Cavalry participated in the Battle of Stirling's Plantation (September 29, 1863) near Morganza, Louisiana, a Confederate victory where they captured Union troops.
Condra also fought in the Red River Campaign (March--May 1864), including engagements at Atchafalaya, Bayou Ala, and Morgan’s Ferry, Louisiana, as Confederate forces attempted to repel Union advances along the Red River. Troop movements during this period were grueling, with cavalry units covering vast distances across swampy terrain and engaging in guerrilla-style warfare.
It was likely during these campaigns in Arkansas that Condra became familiar with the fertile lands of southern Sebastian County. His brother, Herod Condra, may have settled in Arkansas earlier, possibly influencing Jehu’s decision to relocate.
Condra mustered out of the Confederate Army as a corporal on April 25, 1865, at Hempstead, Texas, following the collapse of Confederate resistance in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.
By summer 1865, Condra had settled in Sebastian Count, near Dayton, Washburn, or Witcherville. Although he and his family are absent from the 1870 Arkansas census, they appear in the 1880 census in Dayton Township, suggesting they were overlooked in the earlier count.
Condra likely chose Arkansas as his permanent home due to its agricultural potential and familiarity from his wartime travels.
Jehu Condra lived in Sebastian County until his death in 1904. His widow remained in the area until her death on July 12, 1912, at age 74.
An Illinois native, Texas landowner, and Confederate veteran, Condra’s journey—from the battlefields of Missouri and Louisiana to a quiet plot in Dayton Cemetery--reflects the complex migrations and choices shaped by the Civil War.
