George Lafayette Childress, born on October 6, 1838, in Cherokee County, Alabama, came to Webster County, Missouri (then part of Greene County) in 1851. When the Civil War began, Childress enlisted in Captain Joseph McMahan’s Company G, Webster County Home Guard as a second lieutenant, and served from June 9 to August 11, 1861.

Childress then enlisted in Company H, Phelps’ Regiment, Missouri Infantry on November 28, 1861, in Rolla, Missouri. First promoted to sergeant, then to second lieutenant on April 10, 1862, Childress was mustered out on May 12, 1862.

Childress enlisted again, this time in Company C, 8th Missouri Cavalry in Springfield on June 19, 1862, and was mustered into service as the company’s captain on August 6, 1862. Promoted to major, he received his commission and was mustered in at that rank in July 1863. Promoted once more to lieutenant colonel in March 1865, Childress was mustered out with the regiment that July.

The 8th Missouri Cavalry fought in the Battle of Prairie Grove, the Little Rock campaign, and the 1864 operations against General Joseph Shelby north of the Arkansas River.

After the war, according to a county history, Childress was a farmer and also dealt “very extensively in railroad ties, piling, posts, and lumber, which he ships west, which enterprise has proved quite remunerative.” He died on July 8, 1911, of Bright’s Disease, and is buried in the Childress Family Cemetery near Seymour, Missouri.

Carte-de-Visite by unknown photographer.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 11986