Annotation
[1] AE, DLC-RTL. Lincoln's endorsement is written on the envelope containing a printed petition January 1, 1863, justifying General McNeil's conduct and asking that he not be surrendered to Jefferson Davis, signed by ``loyal citizens of Northern Missouri.'' Brigadier General John McNeil of the Missouri State Militia had on October 18, 1862, executed ten rebel guerrillas at Palmyra, Missouri. On November 17, Jefferson Davis ordered Theophilus H. Holmes, commanding the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department, to demand surrender of McNeil, and if it was refused, to execute the first ten Union officers to fall into his hands. McNeil remained active in the Union cause, and no further action seems to have been taken in the matter by Lincoln.