Please call me Bruce. Mr. Nichols was my father.

You bring up a good point about examining the records of the various Union units in that area to see what someone may have recorded officially or unofficially about their activities in that region in early September 1862.

I already did that for you with the 1st Iowa Cavalry when I cited Broadfoot's "Supplement to the 'O.R.'" That was from the C Company official records stating the barebones results of a skirmish they had 9 September 1862 somewhere along the 20 to 25 miles of Big Creek that flows from about northeast Cass County near your ancestor's home on the southwest edge of Johnson County into Henry County to near Clinton where it connects with the Grand River. I didn't mention it before, but I even checked the "unofficial" regimental history of the 1st Iowa written by its surgeon, Dr. Charles H. Lothrop, in 1890. The good doctor had a lot to say about that regiment's activities fighting against the large Rebel recruiting campaign in that part of Missouri in August and some things later in September, but nothing for the specific timeframe of Gilbert's death. I personally favor the activities of Company C, 1st Iowa Cavalry they recorded for 9 September over the other units as affecting the death of Walter Gilbert, since we know they killed and captured some southerners somewhere near Big Creek on that date. We don't have anything that detailed from any of the other units I mentioned that would place any other unit at the scene. From what I know of the 1st Iowa, if they shot Walter, it was probably because he had a firearm or they had reason to believe he was an enemy combatant. That unit was not known for potting some farmer out working in his field, although some of the other units had that reputation. Dr. Lothrop's 1890 history tells me the regiment "cleaned house" after the intense August campaigning and let go anybody especially in leadership that demonstrated unprofessional behavior.

Let's talk about finding records on those other units.

There are just bits and pieces surviving in all kinds of places (mostly local records) for the northern militia of Kingsville at this time. I'm sure there are more bits out there in letters, diaries, family histories (like yours), and the like, but I have been careful over the years to write down any I could find. The big problem with local grassroots militia units is that they usually recorded very little of their activities--sometimes for good reason! From their viewpoint, they were fighting against a sea of southern sympathizers and their sons in the guerrillas and regular Confederate service all around them, and they had a "shoot first and don't even ask questions later" mindset that comes from being desperate. Frankly, they didn't want a lot of their stuff recorded, if you follow my drift. A number of those militiamen were killed during the war in all kinds of situations, but enough survived to make life tough on former southern sympathizers after the war. It was very personal. That is probably why your Gilberts moved to near Osceola.

The Kansas units that occasionally operated in Missouri such as the 6th Kansas Cavalry and the 8th Kansas Infantry did not record much at all for some of the same reasons as the local Union militiamen. They looked upon operations in Missouri as revenge time for the southern "border ruffian" intrusion expeditions into Kansas before the war in the "bleeding Kansas" time. Some Kansas units did not even record their own casualties during Missouri operations, which amazes me. What I cited from the "Official Records" series 1, vol. 13 earlier is about all we can get from them.

The 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment (Company L, in this case) is a horse of a different color. Being from a distant place and not having personal axes to grind, many of those troopers kept diaries and sent home lots of letters about their experiences in Missouri. Some of it was in the category of "wait until you hear what I saw lately," which is helpful to us now. This regiment was organized at Janesville in south-central Wisconsin, and you could check with that state's historical society to see if they have something, but the odds are slim since only one company of the 3rd was in this expedition. Broadfoot's landmark 100-or-so-volume "Supplement to the 'O.R.'" has regimental itineraries and itineraries from Company L, but, alas, neither sheds light on the precise date or even close to what we seek. I looked.

I think there is much you can find on Washington Gilbert's experiences in the 7th and 16th Missouri Infantry (CSA), and your time looking for that will pay dividends. Start with McGhee's book as your guide. What happened to Walter Gilbert was an incident of guerrilla war and in my opinion we have come as close to discovery on that as we can come. I welcome you to search further, and please let me know if you find anything about Walter, but your chances outside of your own family history of finding more about that are slim. It would require the work of a real nut on Missouri Civil War guerrilla warfare with years of experience to ferret out mountains of information to get that close for you...well, that part is already done, isn't it?

Bruce