Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-06-02
WAR "REMINISCENCES.
GIRL oUeRlLLAs.


rcctly understood save by the actual
participants. twas bad to begin with,
and IL grew worse aIl the way down Ia
the close two months after Lee SUR
rendered Family quarrcls are always
the bitturo-t, and nest tp them are
ncighbor-' fcuds. This was 70 war be-
tween fellow citizens and ucighbors,
and sometimes IT. was between lUnsmcn
even brothers. Il was not war OF
races or uf ella $685. prplctlriuns and
patriclaus were equally divided as 90
sides. Some Of the largest slave owners
were the -ianchcst unipuists and fought
for the old flag. there were not hall 10
dozen such eases in the state. while in
Vulnerable men who, If n slave were TO
be sold hy the ounce. could not buy his
little finger. lost limb and life while
fighting for the confcdcracy, whose
cornerstone was human slavery.
Plenty Of men Of northern birth and
lineage wore the gray, and the guerrilla
king. Charlie Quuntrill. was an Ohio
man, born and reared.
do not know whnt made II so dcs-
pcraic I do not know what instigntcd
men who believed in God and the Bible
to gp about robbiug pundcring house
burning and numbering In cold blood,
and this is what some men of both sides
did. There were all sorts Of trunsf1r-
nations. Sunday-schDol boys who
could repeat the bcutitudcs without
skipping o word became fierce and
cruel ~ Comanchcs, and for years did
not see the deity in the clouds nor hear
him in the wind. think II Is only tho
truth to say that the pro-confcdcrates
became the more dcmoralizcd of the two
parties perhaps this was because, after
Wilson's creek and Lexington. their
cause steadily lost and the prospects
for its ultimate success daily wunCd.
and desperation comes oftcncr than res
ipnatiun from defeat, and madness. hot
rs yitriul frequently succeeds the cold
est despair
Women became rs bad as their broth
crs. From the sewing Of buudagcs and
the scraping Of lint came the mulding
of bullets. the smuggling Of caps. the
making of cartridges, and then lying
and spying and the uringn and betrayal
Of men tp death. In the country 1t was
bard to find q woman, no matter how
fair her face aud refined her character.
who wa, really u1n-cumhntaut and
was not guilty of numerous act. of hos
tility, covert and overt
Riding along from Eruuswicl, a.
Luclcdc IN the summer of l.Ga, Lieut.
William Reeves, Of Daviesg county.
union officer Of militia, drew hridlc at q
little cabin east Of Compton, i.l'y Go
Charlton county. \ bright chrcry faced
little woman met mo at the door, in One
hand butcher knife, in the other %
milestone, her face abcan. her eyes
oglow "ilu.h,' She said, there's
rcb in the back room, sound asleep. Gao
in, auckland kill him told him was
n good scccsh too" she went ON. "and
he say, hc Is hu-hwhucl,cr and has
been two night, without sleep, and 80 !
fed him and coaScd him 20 geo 10 bed,
and he has been snoring FOR two hours.
Hurry in-don't mind the blood ON the
bcd!'
And what were You going to do
with that l,uifc?' asked the officer.
"As soon ns got it sharp enough"
She calmly replied, 81 was going to stick
II through his heart"
Thinl, OF that! Aud three wears AGO
this little woman, into whom the spirit
Of Jacl seemed 90 have entered, was a
teacher earnestly inn
pressing upon children the divine in
Junction. IAN things whatsoever We
would that men should do unto you do
you even so unto thcm."
al o
arms, then the bushv hacker himself.
aud took him to Luclcdc q prisoner in.
stead of staying him where hc slept, 10
the manifest disappointment and sor-
row Of the little hostess. who pctulcut-
ly said: 81 have seen rcbs after they
were dead, but wanted TO see one
killed."
There We're more southern women
spies than men, and they were the
shrcwdcst the most Jealous, and the
most INSCRIPTIONS Some Of these un-
derwent all sorts Of experiences in their
efforts to help the southern cause.
The women Of the border, where few
indeed were tho ncighburhoods over
which murder and rapinc did not hold
sway, were, perhaps, the most democrat
lied. There was Anna Ficlycl. of Lafn-
yctte, fair Young southern girl. who
made Quantrill's blacl, silk flag from the
skirt of her dress, and supplied the
gucrrillas with SO much powder shot
and caps that Quantrill ought To have
made her his chief of ordnance. II WIS
Anna and woman old enough u be
her grandmother who comprised the
murder Of two Union soldier, in order
10 effect the release Of Andy blunt. q
guerilla prisoner, who was permitted to
visit the graudmothcr's house. Blunt
escaped for the tune, but few DAYS
later the Saline county militia came
upon him and beat out his brains with
tobacco sticks Miss Fickcu was sent
To Alton prison.
In 1854 nearly every federal military
prison in tho state had confederate
women inmates They had been ar.
rested for feeding gucrrilIus, giving
them information and assistance, spy
ing upon union troops, writing letters,
ammunition, and even arms,
and for other kinds of mischief which
certain rebel ladies delighted to pcrpe-
tratc. Some OF those were girls Of six
teen and eighteen, Others were women
OF forty and Hliy. The majority of
these ladies were released after short
imprisonmcuts, but many were held to
the close Of the war or banishcd from
the state, Mrs, Sumuels, the mother Of
the James boys, was sent To Nebraska.
In the latter part Of the war, SO bad
had things become, that nj least four
score girls and women In western and
southwestern Missouri became gucr-
rillas purely and simply, and they were
not so YrrN nmre OF So NcrN hinnln