The National tribune., 1901-11-14
THE 9th W. VA. CAV.
The Arrest of the Regiment ct Fort Leayen-
worth for Refusal to Go on the Plains.

as l'fOVOSt-MarShal Tor the District, nrSt
at Lexington; then headquarters We're
moved to Warrensburg, and finally TO
Kansas City; soon after which the Dis
trIct was discontinued and l returned to
my regiment. | will quote here some
from my diary:
After the District was discontinued |
went on the steamer Jennie Lewis to Fort
Ieanvcnworth to join my regiment. |
found it in camp outside of the fort,
with Col. Clark i'll command. The boys
were greatly excited over the events of the
night before, when they had been ordered
out to diSarm the 9th W. Va. Cav, thnt
had mutinied, refusing 10 80 out on the
plains to fight Indians. This was vet
eran fighting regiment that had been in the
service nearly four years in the Shenan-
doah Valley, and it was feared that they
would not give up their arms peaceably.
There were other veteran troops at the
fort, but these mutinccrs had their SYM
pathy to such an extent that their of
iicers We're afraid that they would refus"
to obey orders. Col. Clark was the only
commanding officer who was sure that he
could depend on his men. As our regi-
ment was new and had never been under
fire although many of our men had seen
servicc), the result of fight might have
been in doubt, so that all were well pleased
that better counsel prevailed and that the
men gave up their arms quietly. | was
eight or 10 days.
"Friday, July 2S-Went on drill today.
This evening received an order to report
to Gen. StOlbrand commander of the Dis
trict of Kansas. Reported to his Ad-
jutant-G General, who knew nothing about
the order. AS the General was not in, he
told me to report i'll the morning.
Next day | reported to the General in
person. | found him apparently very much
perplcXed about something. | thought
him very particular and searching in his
questions. The explanation came later.
After the disarming Of the 9th w. Va.
Cav. they had been put III the military
prison and their officers were under arrest.
The men were crowded into quarters not
half large enough for them, poorly yenti-
lated, and it became absolutely necessary
to take them out a part of each day for
air and exercise. There was a stone quarry
near the fort, and the General had de
cided to work half of them in the fore
noon and the other half in the afternoon,
if it could be done with safety, of which
he seemed to have some doubt.
This work was not for punishment. but
for air and exercise, and was really fOi
their benefit. They had the name of be
ing hard lot and the General feared
trouble with them, and tried to impress on
my mind the necessity of having a strong
guard. As their own officers could do
nothing with them, he thought it doubtful
if they would obey any others. The Gen
erai wanted to know if | was willing to
undertake the task. l told him that
was there TO obey orders, and would do
my best and had no fears about results.
As much depended on having u guard
that would treat the men fairly and had
tact in dealing with them, | asked the
privilege of selecting men from my own
that | knew. This he said he
could not grant, as there were men who
had been left in the hospital by other
regiments when they left the fort that
were now fit for duty. | would have to
take my guard from them, but kindly al
lowed me to take the nOn-commissioned
officers from my own company. 1t took
me most of the day to select my guard
Tone Sergeant, three COrpOrals, and 20
mem, and instruct them in their duty.
The next day being Sunday, no work was
done.
Monday, July 81. I took out the party
of mutinecrs. [ found them n very civil
lot of men and willing to work.
| did not report to the General after
working hours OH the first day, and he
sent for me ON the day following to. know
how l got along. l reported everything
He seemed much pleased,
but wished NE to report every day, as he
felt very anxious about the outcome and
feared that | would have trouble with the
men. The next few days i spent in work
ing between showers and getting acquaint-
ed with the men. | found them a fine
and intelligent lot of men, and as l
learned their history did not wonder at
what they had done nor blame them much
for it. either.
1 found that they had enlisted at the
of the war and had been
in the service four years, having re-enlisted
as veterans. Their State had been more
or less overrun by both armies, and many
of the men had not been home during the
whole time, and some of them did not
even know where their families We're; of
course, they were anxious about them, and
thought they were entitled to go home, es-
pecially as there We're plenty of new regi-
ments from farther North TO look after
and protect the interest of the Govern
ment.
Their officers, many of whom had been
commissioned when the regiment was re-
organized, were not quite ready to mus
ter out, SO obtained an order to go to
the plains to fight Indians. The men went
as far as LeavenwOrth, and then refused
to go farther, for which they were dis
armed and thrown into prison.
i am free to say that they had my sym
pathy, and l set myself about getting
them out on parole, preparatory to having
them returned to duty, so they could be
out. | knew it would be use
less to ask the General to parole the men
at this time, so, to pave the way, | told
him that | would be glad to dispense with
the guard and would be responsible for
the men if he would leave me the nom
officers. He expressed much
surprise that | had SO much. confidence in
them, and warned me that they were Il
desperate lot and that | was likely to
get myself IL trouble. He evidently had
not forgotten the scare they gave the
camp on the night they were disarmed.
| assured him that | was willing to take
the risk. He finally consented, and |
made an appeal to the boys, and espe
cially to their nOn-cOmmiSSiOned officers, !
to see that my confidence was not abused. |
At the same time l told them that | was
trying to get them returned to duty, so
they could muster out, and that my sue
cess would depend largely on their con-
duct. With the exception of one or two
black sheep, | had no cause to complain. |
In q few days | nearly took the Gen
erals breath away by offering to take them
their parole. At first he would not listen
to it, but, after talking it over few times, |
seemed to relent, as will be seen by the |
entry in my diary:
august 10-Went to see the General |
this morning to get the boys out of prison |
on parole. He wanted to see some of the |
men. This afternoon l took six of the |
Sergeants over to see him. He asked |
them if they We're ready to obey orders |
and go out on the plains. They said that
they would obey any orders that Lieut.. |
gave them, and would 20 any |
where he would go with them. They did !
not promise to obey their own officers, and |
the General did not seem to blame them |