Here is one theory.

Troops from Kansas had a nasty reputation. When Halleck had the 7th shipped down south (after according to Starr thinking it would serve them right to "let them try their jayhawking among the Mescalero Apaches" and sending them to the Southwest), the 7th complained that every instance of robbery/plundering committed by their cohort units got pinned on the 7th because of their reputation. Near the close of the war, the 15th got nailed for atrocities in Arkansas.

I believe the office of Kansas Adjutant General was one of state political patronage. I suspect that he was motivated to present a noble and honorable picture of Kansas' contirbution to the war. He had some tough facts to deal with.