Dewitt Clinton Hunter was born in Manchester, Illinois, on August 2, 1830. In 1837, Hunter moved with his family to Cedar County, Missouri, where he grew up on the family farm until he went to California seeking his fortune in 1850. Hunter returned home four years later. There he worked for a year until he was appointed the First Circuit and County Clerk for Vernon County. At this point in time, Hunter moved to Nevada, Missouri.
At the start of the Civil War, Hunter enlisted and was elected colonel of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, 8th Division in the Missouri State Guard. Hunter fought at the head of this regiment during the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. When his enlistment expired, Hunter began the process of converting his regiment to Confederate service. But there were not enough men for a regiment, so Hunter ventured north to recruit more men. During the recruitment, Hunter found himself and his recruits fighting in the Battle of Lone Jack.
Returning to Arkansas, Hunter still did not have enough men so settled for organizing a cavalry battalion. Eventually, men from other units were added to his command and the 11 Missouri Cavalry was organized with Hunter as its colonel. The regiment was assigned to a brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. Mosby M. Parsons. The regiment fought at the Battles of Prairie Grove and Cane Hill. When the regiment was converted to infantry in February 1863, Hunter resigned his commission and began recruiting for another cavalry regiment. In the fall of 1863, Hunter only had enough recruits for a battalion but joined Col. Jo Shelby’s cavalry raid into Missouri.
Prior to Price’s 1864 invasion of Missouri, Hunter’s command was enlarged to regimental strength by the orders of Brig. Gen. Jo Shelby. Hunter’s Missouri Cavalry was assigned to the brigade commanded by Col. Sydney D. Jackman.
After the war, Hunter returned to Nevada and the practice of law.
Hunter, DeWitt C. “The Battle of Lone Jack.” In Confederate “Tales of the War” in the Trans-Mississippi Part Two: 1862, edited by Michael E. Banasik, 97–107. Iowa City, IA: Camp Pope Bookshop, 2011.
Johnson, J. B. “DeWitt Clinton Hunter.” In History of Vernon County, Missouri, Vol. II, 844–46. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1911. Link.
McGhee, James E. Guide to Missouri Confederate Units, 1861-1865. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2008.
NancyT. “Col DeWitt Clinton Hunter.” Find A Grave, December 19, 2009. Link.