Patti

The names of the two men who deserted Howell's battery do not ring a bell with me. I can only point out that when I first decided to write a book about the battery it was becasue whenever I read the OR's about Indian Territory they had mentioned this battery as serving there, but no reports from it. I have always wondered if the didn't write reports because of a lack of paper. I have several accounts that paper was very hard to come by. And as I have already stated Captain Howell was said to not be able to read or write. One other possibility and one I think the most likely, is that they were either lost or destroyed sometime during or after the war, and of course one other possibility, when I was in Washington D.C. doing my research they allowed me to take a look at the piles of paper materials relating to the war, most of it was primary source material, and I was told that done of it had been compiled and documented as to what it was. So there could be alot of primary source material setting there deteriating to never knowing what it is.

I have also edited one acount that I took from a newpaper dated in the very early 1900's, called wagon boss. The paper was so frail that every time I turned a page it began to discintergrate in my hands. I asked the archiveist if it would be ok to video tape the complete article, and was granted permission to do so. It was a rather long article, and appeared on one page in each days paper, the paper was the same size as todays papers, and each article ran the complete page. I did some research and found out that the author had written a book, but that book only covered the period of his service and just after it up to the civil war. The book I have made, covers his leaving the military and taking the job of a wagon boss, who drove wagon trains from Kansas forts to Indian Territory.
He witnessed the battle of Honey Springs, and wrote a very interesting account of it. He also inspected the area just after the battle of Flat Rock Creek, which was part of the Cabin Creek Campaign. It is far more interesting than my book on Howell's texas battery.

Spondulix