Samuel Appleby, born on January 2, 1830, in Tennessee, enlisted on August 30, 1862, in Dade County, Missouri, and was mustered into Company M, 8th Missouri Cavalry on September 15, 1862, and promoted to first lieutenant. On September 12, 1864, Appleby resigned from the army at Austin, Arkansas. In his letter of resignation, Appleby explained that he needed to return home to “take care of my family who have been left in a destitute and suffering condition on account of my farm and residence. . .with all they contained being burned up.” He also cited the need to care for his elderly father, “who has for a number of years been afflicted both mentally and physically.” Colonel Washington Geiger urged that Appleby’s resigned be accepted, as he believed that “the claims of his destitute family demand his immediate presence.”

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.
Appleby worked as a farmer and stockman after the war, and died on May 2, 1906. He is buried in Wesley Cemetery, Greene County, Missouri.

Carte-de-Visite by Griswold & White, Corinth, Mississippi.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 11798