I have been reading this line of messages with great interest and have often wondered what exactly caused Adam's regiment to break and 'desert' the field. Reading the known reports, as an old soldier I could see that somewhee along the line there was bad leadership.

This leads into another thought that I have been wondering about with regards to Shelby's Brigade at Prairie Grove. I have in my collection of documents a Court Martial Transcript I picked out of the CSR's of Cpatain Berry and Colonel Jeans in the SouthWest Missouri Regiment, 6th/11th Missouri. In that court Martial record is mentioned that several compaines refused to engage at Prarie Grove. When Marmaduke launched his First Raid into Missouri there were two companies from that regiment that simply 'skeddaled' just prior to Hartville and needless to say almost two hundred men from Shelby's Brigade that did the same with one company from the Jackson County Regiment deserting. Given the fact that they were in Missouri and it was winter it is little wonder that there weren't more. My Question Mr. Shea is have you had any research in this area that indicates why this may have happened at Prarie Grove where seems to have had its start.