Had his heart really been
enlisted on the side of the South, he would doubtless have stayed at his
post. In reality, he was at that time lacking in conviction; and in
after life he became a thorough Unionist and Abolitionist. In the
summer of 1861, Governor Jackson of Missouri called for fifty thousand
volunteers to drive out the Union forces. While visiting in the small
town where his boyhood had been spent, Hannibal, Marion County, young
Clemens and some of his friends met together in a secret place one
night, and formed themselves into a military company. The spirited but
untrained Tom Lyman was made captain; and in lieu of a first lieutenant
--strange omission!--young Clemens was made second lieutenant. These
fifteen hardy souls proudly dubbed themselves the Marion Rangers. No
one thought of finding fault with such a name--it sounded too well. All
were full of notions as high-flown as the name of their company. One of
their number, named Dunlap, was ashamed of his name, because it had a
plebeian sound to his ear.
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