FIGHTING PRICE AND THE BUSHWHACKERS 111
Stores to Kansas City and turn it over to the Assistant
Quartermaster and report to my company for duty.
At dusk on the evening of the 17th of October, a de-
tachment of six companies of our regiment under the com-
mand of Major J. Nelson Smith, of which I was appointed
Adjutant, left Independence on the river road leading to
Lexington, 40 miles distant. No one knew our destination
but the Major. Soon after the command started he said to
me : "We are going to Lexington and want to reach there
just as the town is full of bushwhackers. We are going into
the town on a charge regardless of the number of rebel
troops there. Repeat this to each company commander."
This I did.
Though the night was very dark and the ride long
we reached Lexington just as the rays of the morning sun
began to appear. The command, led by the gallant Major
Smith, charged up the hill street and through the town. The
bushwhackers who were in possession went out without
firing a shot.
As we neared the business center of the town, a little
woman on the sidewalk ran along shouting, "Are you
Federals? Are you Federals?"
"Yes," I said.
Raising her hands, she jumped up and down crying,
"Thank God, thank God!"
I learned later that she was the wife of the telegraph
operator at Lexington, whose name I regret I cannot recall.
We took possession of the courthouse, from the cupola
of which we could see the tents of Price's army encamped
at Waverly.
Acting as Provost Marshal, I had the pleasure to
administer the oath of allegiance to a number of citizens of
112 SIXTY YEARS IN COLORADO
Lexington brought in by the guards for disloyalty, but I
kept no record and do not remember their names.
The command remained in Lexington until about 4
p. m., when Major Smith deemed it prudent to leave on our
return. We took a different road and camped for the night
about half way between Lexington and Independence, re-
turning to permanent camp the following morning.
The first battle in which the Second Colorado Cavalry
as a regiment was engaged, was fought at Little Blue, eight
miles southerly from Independence, on the 21st of October
1864, by the Army of the Border, commanded by Major
General Samuel R. Curtis, with General James Blunt second
in command. The First Brigade, composed of the Second
Colorado Cavalry, the Fifteenth Kansas Cavalry, a battalion
of the Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry and McLain's Colorado
Battery, under command of Colonel James H. Ford, opened
the engagement.
Captain George West of Company F was in command
of a battalion. I received orders to take command of his
company, which I did and retained it throughout the cam-
paign. My first order was to support a colored battery
attached to General Curtis's bodyguard, but before the com-
pany was in position an order to join the regiment came and
was promptly obeyed.
The regiment dismounted. Most of the officers kept
their horses, myself among them. A charge was ordered.
The brigade went forward with a wild shout. The rebel line
gave way, but the brave and loved Major was killed in the
charge.
The brigade halted at the brow of the hill overlooking
the valley, where the main line of the enemy was in view.
The small force of the Army of the Border, between 4,000
and 5'000> could only hope to delay the advance of Price.
FIGHTING PRICE AND THE BUSHWHACKERS II3
As fast as his troops could cross the Little Blue, our army
was flanked and had to fall back.
On the road from Independence about a mile and a
half from the crossing of the Blue, where the road turned
to the left, stood a church or schoolhouse, or both, with an
open field to the south and a high board fence some 150
feet in length. As we fell back to this point I was met by
Lieutenant Colonel Hoyt of the Fifteenth Kansas Cavalry,
who, swinging his sabre, was rallying men behind the fence
to repel an attack from a regiment of bushwhackers led by
George Todd, forming in the field some 150 yards distant.
He urged me to stop with my men to assist him. At this
moment Colonel Ford rode up and ordered me to mount
my company, as the Second Colorado was to form the
rear guard in the retreat. We stayed long enough, however,
to give this rebel regiment a volley and see saddles emptied
as never before seen by me.
We then joined the regiment, which in the retreat
formed nine times in the seven miles to Independence. The
rebels followed us for a few miles. As they came up we
gave them a volley and did not wait to see its effect. They
soon gave up the chase.
On arriving in Independence we halted and men and
women with buckets and tin cups passed along the line giv-
ing the men a drink. The men being very thirsty and
supposing the liquid to be water, took a big swallow before
they found it was whiskey. The command passed Indepen-
dence and camped that night on Big Blue.
The engagement the next day at Big Blue consisted of
skirmishes except at Byram's Ford, where a regiment of
Kansas Militia was attacked by a greatly superior force
of rebels and though fighting bravely suffered a heavy loss.
The battle of Westport, on the following day,
114 SIXTY YEARS IN COLORADO
was Price's last effort to carry out his plan of
campaign and was hotly contested. The Second
Colorado Cavalry and McLain's Battery were in
the thickest of the fight, which began in the early morning,
and they held their line against repeated charges of double
their number. About 2 P. M. General Rosecranz's army,
under General Plea'santon, which had been following Price,
came to our relief, struck the right flank of Price's army and
rolled it up. The battle was won. The rebels were soon in
full retreat with our regiment in the lead in pursuit.
A few miles from Little Santa Fe the rebel rear
guard, about four times our number, with two pieces of
artillery, made a stand, and when our column came in sight
fired several rounds which passed over our heads. We fell
back a couple of miles and encamped for the night. Early
next morning we resumed pursuit, continuing in the ad-
vance, but the retreating army did not make a stand that
day.
That evening in a storm of rain our command was
halted to allow General Pleasanton, who ranked General
Blunt, to take the advance with his army. At Marias de
Cygnes, some forty miles from Westport, an engagement
was fought, the rebels retreating after a sharp encounter.
Five miles further on, at Mine Creek, they made another
stand, when Colonel Benteen's brigade made a charge and
captured Major General Marmaduke and Brigadier Gen-
eral Cobbell, with five hundred other prisoners.
From here the line of retreat was strewn with arms
and abandoned camp equipage. The enemy did not call at
Fort Scott, passing some miles to the eastward. Our com-
mand spent the night there and worn out men and horses
were sent back to Kansas City.
At daylight the next morning we were on the road
FIGHTING PRICE AND THE BUSHWHACKERS II5
pursuing the fleeing rebels, passing through Granby and
Carthage. No stand was made by the enemy until the 28th.
The Army of the Border again in the advance, with the
Second Colorado in the lead, about 3 130 p. m. reached
the hill overlooking the town of Newtonia, some three-
fourths of a mile distant. The rebels were to be seen
in two lines of battle between the town and the
river. Our line was formed for a charge, the Fifteenth
Kansas on our right, the battalion of the Sixteenth on our
left. The battery, taking position, opened the ball and was
firing shells into the town.
General Blunt ordered the charge and away we went
over the mile of prairie between us and the first line enemy.
In our immediate front a large force of the rebels was post-
ed behind a rail fence. They did not run and we lost many
men killed and wounded. Captain Thomas Moses of Com-
pany "M," on the right of Company "F," was wounded
severely in the neck. His men seeing him fall, for a moment
faltered. Lieutenant W. H. Pierce, who was very slow of
speech, took command of the company, and to cheer it on,
said : "Never mind, boys. Captain Moses is only wounded,
give 'em hell ; their powder ain't worth a d — n." I was
near Lieutenant Pierce and heard his encouraging words.
The battle raged fiercely. When General Blunt
ordered the charge he supposed General Sanborn's brigade
of General Pleasanton's army was in supporting distance,
but General Sanborn had halted at a cornfield some eight
miles back to feed his horses with the result that the
little band, about one thousand in number, facing the entire
available force of Price's army, seven or eight times larger,
was about to be taken in by the rebels under the command
of General Joe Shelby, when General Sanborn at the head of
Il6 SIXTY YEARS IN COLORADO
his splendid brigade swept down on the right flank on the
enemy, which gave way, and the field was won.
The wounded of both armies were cared for, and
the dead buried. Two noble women of Newtonia, Mrs. Cole
and Mrs. Horton, rendered great service procuring delicacies
for the wounded and articles needed for their comfort.
It was understood that General Pleasanton had orders
from General Rosecranz to abandon further pursuit of the
rebel army, and return. The morning after the battle
Major Pitchard said to me: "Lieutenant, you are appointed
Acting Regimental Quartermaster and Regimental Commis-
sary." That afternoon we marched up the river twelve miles
to the town of Neosho, where we encamped and the same
evening messengers arrived with orders from General Grant
for General Curtis to continue the pursuit and drive Price's
army across the Arkansas River.
At daylight the next morning the command was on
the march. We retraced our footsteps of the day before,
passed through Newtonia and were following Price one day
behind. From Newtonia all dismounted men and those un-
able for duty were sent back to Kansas City. But few com-
missioned officers remained with the regiment and the rem-
nants of companies were consolidated. I had command of
what was left of four companies.
The officers I remember who made the entire cam-
paign were, Major Jesse L. Pritchard, in command of the
regiment, Lieutenant Henry D. Jones, Acting Adjutant, and
Captain George West. We were on short rations. I had
three men foraging, but there was little of food to be had,
as the rebels had taken almost everything.
As we approached Fayetteville we heard the reports of
cannon firing. This was an attack of the rebel General Fagin
on the fort at Fayetteville, which was defended by the First
FIGHTING PRICE AND THE BUSHWHACKERS II7
Arkansas Federals, as they were called. They were fighters
and Fagin's attack failed. From an officer on duty I secured
a small supply of double loaves of bread and had it placed
in one of the wagons of my small train, and covered with
hay. Our stay here was short.
On the day we reached the Arkansas River I was in
command of the advance of two hundred and fifty men.
Price's rear guard disappeared just as we got to the river.
The advance halted. Generals Curtis and Blunt, with their
staff officers, rode up and all watered their horses in the
Arkansas River. McLain's battery took position and fired
some thirty-five or forty rounds into the heavy timber on the
opposite side, but we neither saw nor heard anything more
of Price's army.
Our camp here was named Camp Arkansas. Here I
sent for the company commanders and distributed the
bread obtained at Fayetteville ; the ration was short but
was gladly received.
Before getting into the wagon to divide the bread 1
took off my overcoat and hung it on a bush near by.
When I came to look for it it had disappeared. The men
said the teamsters had taken it and a squad went through
every wagon, but it could not be found. Captain West had
a raincoat which he loaned me and it answered very well
until we reached Fort Scott.
A severe thunder storm came up late in the evening
and many of the command were drenched. This was on
the 8th of November if I remember correctly. The next
day we marched up the river road for Fort Gibson on our
return. There we expected to get supplies and rations, but
on arriving there we learned that the only food to be
had was beans and what they called bread, which was made
by boiling the beans until soft, mashing them and then bak-
Il8 SIXTY YEARS IN COLORADO
ing in a Dutch oven or bake kettle. It would do pretty well
for a meal or two, but on learning the condition of the
commissary here, I dispatched two messengers to Fort Scott
with a request to the commissary to load two ambulances
with hard tack and send them with all haste to meet the
command.
When I was about to take my ration of bean bread, a
Sergeant, whose name I cannot recall, but who was one of
my foragers, came to my tent and said : "Wait a little while
before eating. I will bring your supper and you may invite
all the officers." About a half hour later the officers
assembled at my tent. The Sergeant came with a poncho
load of warm biscuits, accompanied by a comrade with a
camp kettle of hot coffee, and with the bean bread we had
a feast.
I asked the Sergeant how he got the biscuits. He said
that in one of the wagons he discovered a lot of green
coffee covered with hay and took care of it. Finding no
rations could be obtained at Fort Gibson, he called at a
house, found a pleasant lady, and asked her if she had flour
and could make some hot bread. She assured him she had
no coffee. He then said to her: "If I could furnish
you coffee, could you find flour and make some hot bread,"
showing her the coffee. She then removed some article of
furniture, raised a trap door and found a sack of flour.
He browned the coffee and furnished us a good supper.
Our stay in Fort Gibson was limited, but long enough
under existing conditions.
The second morning after leaving Fort Gibson, two
ambulances loaded with hard tack met us. The command
halted and I distributed the food. In due time we reached
Fort Scott, where supplies were abundant, and where we
remained one day for the command to draw clothing and
FIGHTING PRICE AND THE BUSHWHACKERS IIQ
to obtain needed supplies. When the reginnent left Fort
Scott, I was detained a short time making out papers and
receipting for quartermaster stores.
When with my Quartermaster Sergeant and a small
escort on our way to overtake the regiment some eight or ten
fniles north of Fort Scott, we saw several men by the road-
side some distance in advance of us. On reaching them I was
glad to meet a boyhood friend, Mr. Robert A. Williams, a
farmer and for many years a business man in Fort Scott,
who, learning from the command that I was detained, was
waiting to see me. Mr. Williams was for many years in
the fifties the Chief Clerk for Mr. Roswell P. Patterson,
a prominent lawyer, capitalist and business man of north-
eastern Pennsylvania, who was engaged in trading and
merchandising with his headquarters store at Carbondale.
He and his wife, who was my cousin, were my good friends
when I was a boy and in need of friends. Three of Mr.
Patterson's sons, Augustus L., George H. and Levi A. Pat-
terson, compose the firm of R. P. Patterson's Sons, promi-
nent wholesale grocers of Carbondale and the Lackawanna
Valley. Another son, Mr. Roswell H. Patterson, is a lead-
ing lawyer of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Two daughters,
Mrs. Clarence E. Spencer of Carbondale and Mrs. Nettie
P. Walter of Scranton, are among the most highly respected
ladies of those cities. Mrs. Spencer's husband is a retired
banker, capitalist and business man.
The regiment arrived in Leavenworth on the 28th of
November, 1864, and halted at department headquarters,
Major General Curtis commanding. General Curtis ap-
peared and welcomed us with a speech, in which he said:
"The Second Colorado Cavalry and the Colorado Battery
have done more to drive Price from Missouri and keep
him out of Kansas than any other same number of troops
120 SIXTY YEARS IN COLORADO
engaged in the campaign." There are a few comrades left
who remember the applause that greeted the veteran Gen-
eral's tribute to Colorado.
The following order was issued by General Curtis
from his camp on the Arkansas River above Fort Smith :
"Headquarters Army of the Border,
Camp Arkansas, November 8, 1864.
General Order,
No.
"The object of this organization and campaign is ac-
complished. The rebel army under General Sterling Price,
Jias been confronted, beaten in several conflicts, pursued and
driven over three hundred and fifty miles, from the Missouri
to the Arkansas. This has been the work of fourteen days.
"Your marches have been Incessant, sometimes for days
and nights, in rain and snow, and generally on short ra-
tions gathered from the herds lost by the enemy.
"Your privations, toil and gallantry deserve the highest
commendation, and the success of the campaign in which you
have so gloriously participated, most of you from the begin-
ning to the end, must entitle you to the thanks of
your Government, and the gratitude of the loyal people of
our Country.
"Your losses are considerable, but nothing in compari-
son with those of the enemy, who admits a loss in killed,
wounded and missing of eight to ten thousand.
"All of his cannon but two, a large portion of his small
arms, his vast wagon train loaded with spoils, and herds of
cattle and horses have been left, burned and scattered in the
way of your pursuit. But the greatest achievements of this
campaign are the driving of a desperate class of vagrant as-
sociates of the rebels so far from your homes and the States
you defend. Besides this, your stern resistance and close
FIGHTING PRICE AND THE BUSHWHACKERS 121
pursuit saved the towns and garrisons of Kansas City,
Olathe, Paola, Fort Scott, Fayetteville, Fort Gibson, and
Fort Smith, and the valuable public stores at these places ;
besides checking ulterior purposes of slaughter and desola-
tion contemplated by the invasion in Kansas. But it would
tarnish the brilliancy of your achievements to claim this for
yourselves alone, without acknowledging with gratitude the
share borne in the brunt of the contest by the troops of
Missouri and the Militia of Kansas, who shared our
dangers, and because of their greater numbers especially
deserve more of the honors due the conflicts of the twenty-
fourth, twenty-fifth and twenty-eighth of October. But
to you, including the Brigade of Col. Benteen, who have
shared in most of these battles, and continued throughout
the long, weary pursuit to the dark and turbid waters of
the Arkansas, where your guns thundered in the rear of the
starving, terrified enemy, must be accorded the special com-
mendation of the Commanding General and the generous
approval of your Country.
"The special honors due distinguished comrades in the
campaign will be carefully presented by the commanding
General in his report to headquarters at Washington, and
to secure the most exact justice to so many deserving com-
mendation. Commanders of divisions, brigades, detach-
ments, and staff officers, will make full reports, directed to
headquarters. Fort Leavenworth, at their earliest conven-
ience.
"In parting the General tenders his thanks to the officers
and soldiers for their generous support and prompt obe-
dience to orders and to his staff for their unceasing efforts
to share the toil incident to the campaign.
"The pursuit of Price in 1864 and the battles of Lex-
ington, Little Blue, Big Blue, Westport, Marias de Cygnes,
122 SIXTY YEARS IN COLORADO
Osage and Newtonia, will be borne on the banners of regi-
ments who shared in them ; and the States of Missouri,
Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and
Arkansas may glory in the achievements of their sons in
this short but eventful campaign.
"By command of Major General Samuel R. Curtis,
Chariot, Adjutant General."