Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-05-26

.ntr' II rode straight for IN" camp
;! the unarmcd white recruits. WhUr,.
', men were sleeping. happily un
Conscious OF impending death. \
Desperate fight cnSued. Every on" of
=. recruits was finally shot down
It this did not end the work of
laughter. Every man or boy VIII"
~ jared on tn" streets was shot
dead.
The guests of the Ellridgc hotel
were saved by Quantrelfs order at
tn. request of Robert s. Stevens.
lawyer to whom he was indebted for
som" former act Of kindness. This.
however was the only act of mercy
shown. Three hundred buildings were
fired and every business place in the
town sacked and plunderrd. Guam
trrll ended the Lawrence raid with
loss of but seven men. The number
of his victims. unarmed men and boys
WAS 2S6. In defending the outrage
aftcrward. Quantrcll said: Il wanted
to kill Jim Lane. who lived there. and
as | hadn't the honor of his acuuain-
ancr. ! killed every man | could see
to shoot at
But Kansas was not to eS.'ap" with
out anothcr visit from Quantrcll and
his terrible band. Early in October.
1863. six weeks after the Lawrence
ma aSSacrc. Gen. stunt. with his staff
band. clerks and an escort of the
Third Wisconsin Cavalry. the party
numbering in all 100 men. was march
ing toward Fort Smith, Ark. When
near Baxter Springs. Kan. close f."
the borders of the Indian territory. he
was met by a body of cavalry. whose
members We're dressed in Federal
uniform and carried the Union flag.
There was Il force of Union soldiers
stationed not far away in Missouri.
and at Baxter Springs We're quarter
| ed two SquadronS of the Third Wis
conSin Cavalry and two companies of
colored infantry. all under the com
mand Of Major !. R. Pond. now the
wrll-know lecture manager. Gen.
| Blunt supposed that the advancing
fore" was portion of Ponds com
mand. and rode towards it with one
of his aides. He had gone but Il few
| yards when he discovered that tn"
strangers We're Quantrell and his men
As he galloprd back toward his com
| mInd the gucrrillaS opened fire upon
it, Rlunt'S escort. surprised and I'M
prepared. could offer no effrctual re-
SiStancc. One hundred and ten of
| them were slain. all but ten of them
being shot after they were taken priS
oncrS. Gen. Blunt. his aide and thirty
of his men We're the only ones who
succeeded in making their escape.
After the slaughter ut Baxter
Springs the pursuit of Quantrell BE-
came so hot that he relinquiShcd his
leadership and his band split up into
Independent squads led by his vari
"';> licutcnantS. Then he joined the
command of Gen. Sterling Pr.rr. ana
when the latter retrratrd from his
Missouri campaign in the fall of 1861
Quantrrll and his party went with
the army.
Price crossed the Arkansas IA few
miles east of Fort Gibson in the In
dian territory. hut being Il man Of
humane impulse as well rs Il brave
soldier soon gave Quantrrll t" under
stand that he preferred that the gucr
rila and his party should quit the
army. Quantrrll quickly acted upon
his hint. and cutting loose from Pr'c,.
campaigncd for Il time in Southern
| Arkansas AMI Eastern Texas. Non"
of the Confederate commanders .wnu'f
recognize him. and he finally moved
eastward across Arkansas
| He now resolved to make his Wa"
to Kentucky. and from there to Mary
land. where. as he aftcrward stated