Person:Henry Layton (1)

47th REGIMENT MO INFANTRY. Organized at Pilot Knob, Mo., August 22 to September 11, 1864. Attached to District of St. Louis. Mo., Dept. of Missouri, to December, 1864. Nashville, Tenn., Dept. of the Cumberland, December, 1864. Pulaski, Tenn., Dept. Cumberland, to March, 1865.

SERVICE.-Assigned to duty in Southeast Missouri by Companies "A," "G" and "H" in Wayne County, "B" in Jefferson County, "C" in Perry County, "K" at St. Genevieve, "I" at Fredericktown, "D" guarding bridges on Iron Mountain Railroad, "E" Ironton. Companies retired before Price: Company "C" to Cape Girardeau, "A," "G" and "H" to Pilot Knob. Action at Ironton September 26 (Co, "E"). Retreat to Pilot Knob. Shut-in Gap and Arcadia Valley September 26. Fort Davidson September 26-27. Retreat to Leesburg. Company returned to above stations; "B" at Franklin. Moved to Nashville, Tenn., December 12-19. Assigned to guard duty at Spring Hill, Columbia and Pulaski, Tenn., till March 15,1865. Mustered out March 28-30, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 10 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 82 Enlisted men by disease. Total 93.

Perry County, Missouri

Although it experienced some scattered guerrilla activity, Perry County was spared much of the fighting which occurred in other counties of the Region. In a letter to Fort Davidson on September 14, 1864, Capt. Wm. T. Leeper opposed sending companies of men to Ste. Genevieve and Perry Counties because "they (the two counties) have been entirely at peace since the commencement of the war." 
  If Perry County escaped the bloodshed of the Civil War, it was not exempted from its impact on everyday life. In 1860 Perry County had a population of 9,128 and county residents owned 739 slaves. The economy of the county was largely agricultural, and slaves were used to help farm the land and perform household chores. The Emancipation Proclamation brought an end to slavery, and to a way of life for many county residents. 
   Visitors to the Brazeau Presbyterian Church, located in eastern Perry County, will find interesting examples of life during the Civil War period. The church was organized in 1819. A church was built on the site in Brazeau in 1833 and was replaces, in 1852, by the present church. The chairman of the building committee owned slaves and they were likely used to help fire the bricks for the structure. The early church roll included five African-Americans. A section of the upstairs balcony was reserved for slaves. The Brazeau Museum, located nearby, houses memorabilia of early life in the town, including a newspaper published the day President Lincoln was assassinated. The museum is open during the spring scenic drive, and upon request. 
  In nearby Frohna, visitors to the Saxon Lutheran Memorial can catch a glimpse of what living conditions were like for some of the slaves in the county. Here a log cabin, moved to the site from Brazeau, was used to house slaves by their owner. The tombstone of Bennett Murray, in the Campground Cemetery in southern Perry County, reminds visitors that the county was not completely free of guerrilla fighting. Murray was wounded and captured by Confederate soldiers in 1861, but escaped only to be killed by Confederate guerrillas on July 3, 1864. 
  The Seminary, of St. Mary of the Barrens in Perryville provides another perspective on the war. When the Union of the Confederacy instituted conscription, men owning more than 20 slaves were exempted from serving in the army. The Seminary was already well known and a number of southern landowners sent their sons here, both for an education, and to escape the dangers of the war. Father Abram J. Ryan taught at the seminary at the outbreak of the war. A southern sympathizer, he left his duties at the seminary and became a well-known chaplain in the Confederate army. A statue in Mobile, Alabama commemorates him as the "poet-priest of the Confederacy." 

Henry served under Weber, Charles A. Capt. 47th MO Inf. His discharge paper was also signed by Hallock, William S. 2nd Lt. 1st MO Cav. Capt. 13th MO Cav. His discharge from the war reads:

To all whom it may concern:

Know ye: That Pius H. Layton a private of Captain Charles A. Weber Company (C) 4th Regiment of Infy Missouri VOLUNTEERS who was enrolled on the 15th day of August one thousand eight hundred and sixty four to serve six months years or during the war, is hearby DISCHARGED from the service of the United States this 29th day of March, 1865 at Benton Barracks St. Louis, Mo by reason of Expiration of tour of Service. (No objection to his being re-enlisted is known to exist) Said Pius H. Layton was born in Perry County in the State of Missouri, is 23 years of age, 5 feet 8 inches high, fair complexion, hazel eyes, brown hair, and by occupation when enrolled, a farmer. Given at Benton Bks, St.Louis, Mo this 29th day of March 1865.