The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1894-10-19
rCoPYRIGHT. 1901
CHAPTER xv.-CoNr1ruEn.

CHAPTER Xv-CoNTIEuEn
| An official report of Gen. Waterson,
the officer commanding the St. Mary's
expedition, has been preserved.
Whether 1t was forwarded before his
return to Laran or was written subse-
quently is not known. But it gives
very clear explanation of the novel
method adopted in this military cam
paign.
It reads as follows:
"The whole plan has worked, with few
slight discrepancies, as projected The FEAST
bility OF getting the whole regiment into st.
Mary's and the neighborhood without attract
ing attention was easily proven. My men be-
gan to come in four days before they assembled.
They were in fairly good shape and passed for
workmen out Of employment and idlers drawn
IN by the excitement 1t was impossible to go
anywhere without seeing them minglin9 with
the workmen and standing about on the corners
with the unemployed In three days seven hun
dred were in St Mary's and three hundred in and
about Paducah, with orders to come in stray
glingly to the former place on the fourth day.
At any other time thousand men suddenly
added to the population of SO small o town
would have excited suspicion, but the excite
ment OF the strike was supposed to be drawing
the men from all quarters, and great credit
must be given to our forces who, as rule, kept
themselves close and avoided attracting atten-
ton On the night Of tho third day, three hun
dred were already in the old house on the bar
rens or in the immediate vicinity undergoing
the most extraordinary discomfort on account
OF the want Of accommodations, and an hour
before sunrise on the fourth day, had the
whole command within reach and most Of them
uniformed and armed We formed column at
I'VE o'clock in the barrens just three miles
southeast OF the town and marched In on the
railroad track; took possession Of the bank at
nine O'Clock, distributed money among regt.
ments as planned witho ut opposition each man
carrying hundred and fifty eagles. The buck
skin belts worked admirably. 1 deployed two
hundred men, Companies and F, ana kept
crowd one thousand feet from bank withdraw
ing them in squads and replacing them with
other men who were loaded up with specie:
successfully avoided collision with sheriff
who was completely bewildered by events;
took camp at six o'clock p m. on the terrace
as planned and the regiment began at once to
melt away. -Four hundred men got out of their
uniforms in the center of the camp (where
they were securely shielded) before nine
O'Clock. The suits in the knapsacks turned
out better than I expected and Commissary
fleming should be credited with great skill
and ingenuity in tho provision of these suits.
The uniforms were put into the knapsaclks and
At twelve midnight started the men in Indian
6le to the old house. and, as by that time had
four hundred more men ready, there were eight
hundred knapsacks and eight hundred guns to
be disposed Of: by making each man carry two
guns and two knapsacks, 1 easily got the whole
eight hundred into the house. The intense
darkness of the night was great advantage
and the hardness Of the ground and the special
guards stationed along the lines to prevent
struggling or the littering Of the rout, aided US
much.
"At three o'clock in the morning the regi-
ment as q uniformed organization, had disap-
peared
1.-The disposition Of the men was as follows:
One hundred went scattcringly from the camp
back to town in their former clothes at ten
o'clock; another hundred got off at eleven
O'CLOCK and third at twelve o'clock. drew
thcm up by companies in circle in the center
OF the camp and started them out in radiating
lines. I calculated that in fifteen minutes, II
the men walked brisKly, that there would be o
distance of five hundred feet between each
man. and, Of course, those going south and east
would have to make o large detour to reach
the town. At 1880 I was reduced to five
hundred men, at least two hundred having
gone toward Paducah in the same struggling
manner. The remaining five companies wero
started from the old house between $50
and four O'Clock, going in widening lines
south, southeast ana southwest through the
barrens and about one hundred under orders
TO strike the railroad track at long intervals
and return to town. l held q detail of twelve
trusty men with me to complete the work.
clearing up the fragments and arranging the
material in the house. The guns were flung
Into the cellar and the knapsacks heaped upon
tho first floor anu saturated by the two barrels
OF kerosene that were knocked in the head on
tho floor above At FIVE o'clock Capt Einstcin,
ofCompany D. who was left behind to complete
the destruction, touched o match to the build
Ing and then reiterated to tho railroad track.
coming back later with the few inhabitants
who were attracted at that hour by the flames
"He met me the next night ut Snowdcn's hut
ON the Mississippi, where 1 was waiting for
him, and reported that the destruction was COM
plete and that the guns had been effectually COW
cred by the ashes and debris and would not be
discovered until an attempt was made TO re-
move the rubbish.
my calculations with regard to the direction
the search would take for tho regiment were
right, as you will see by the papers, and the
plan OF bring the scows over from the other
side OF the Ohio and cutting them loose above
Paducah was u good one. The general belief
at once seized the authorities that the men
hoo crossed the river from Indiana.
II ON now convinced by actual demonstra-
ftion that can, with a thousand men, carry out
tho eastern scheme of which you spoke. The
chances Of success are increased by the audac-
ity OF the attempt Whatever appears to tie
Apcredible will succeed before the community
can bring itself to acknowledge it,
CHAPTER XVI