The National tribune., 1907-01-31

1
City, and the battle known as the Lit.
tie Blue" was fought, lasting all dav
when they f1anked us on our right sc
We had to retreat on thru Independence
and across the Big Blue in the night.
The Kansas State Militia
was camped on the west side of the Big
Blue, on the Westport road, and they
were very anxious to know if we had
seen or heard of any rebels while VIC
had been out. Little did they think
then that the rebels would charge thru
their camp and capture some of them
before they were II hours older. The
battle of Big Blue was fought here the
next morning, Oct. 20, 1864. AS we
were going thru Independence that
night We heard the big guns at Kansas
City celebrating Sheridan's victory al
Cedar Creek, Va. That night we got
about five hours sleep, the first We had
had since the nap we got at Sedalia, Sc
miles from there, and we had only fed
and watered our horses once in the
time.
The Goth of October our regiment
was not in the battle until in the after
noon, as we had been pushed on west
beyond Westport, over the line into
Kansas, where we lodged cannon balls
for two or three hours, until it was 50
dark the rebels could not see us. That
night about midnight we got to feed
and water our horses, and a few of US
got a little sleep. Before daylight we
were in the saddle, going east to West
port to join in with the army in the
charge at sun up that opened the battle
of Westport, Mo. thought at the time
that we got badly whipped, and 1 am
sure that some of us were badly scared: :
but the battle ragged back and forth un-
til past noon, when the rebel line start
ed on the retreat south, the forces un-
der Curtis and Pleasonton Joined, and
the "jealousies between Generals" that
Comrade r. NJ. Peck tells about began.
From this time on 1 saw a great many
moves that l thought were blunders.
Race Between Two Armies.
I am going to write the history of this
race between two armies as l saw it
for more than 800 miles south. / must
now return to Westport, where 1 left
off. When the rebel army started on the
retreat Col. Moonlight was ordered with
his regiment, the 18th Kan. Cav, to
keep on the right flank of Prices army
That night we stopt to feed at Auberry,
20 miles south of Westport, and some
of the men got a little sleep, but l was
on picket between the two armies, so
sleep was out of the question. The next
morning we were on the move before
ious to strike the road leading from
Harrisonville. Mo-. to Paola, Kan, be-
fore the rebels did. AS we came to the
top of the ridge, about one mile north
of Coldwater Grove, and looked down
into the valley towards Harrisonville,
we saw the grandest sight it was my
privilege to see the whole three years
was in the army. There in the plain
below US, stretched out in four or five
nf
miles long and 200 or 900 yards apart
in fact the whole of Prices army CO.
000) was in plain view. After 40 years
has passed over my head the picture is
as plain in my mind as it was then.
Every move they made showed that
they expected to be attacked by our
troops; but as far as we could see there
were no Union troops in sight. AS soon
as they saw us they wheeled battery
in position for action, and their skir-
mishers moved up and began to fire on
US. The main course of Prices army
was following the Fort Scott road, as
we could see by the long train of wag-
ons in the distance ahead; but the army
was moving In lines Of battle, which
they could easily do, as the country
was all open prairie, without q house
or a fence in the way AS we drew
closer We looked on the Kansas side of
the ridge (for we were on the line of
the two States). We saw a body of
troops we took to be rebels. Moon
light thought we could close in on them
before they could join the main rebel
army, but they made off to the west.
After exchanging few shots with them
we found they were Kansas militia, sent
out from Paola to capture Prices wag
on train. AS Col. Moonlight exprest 1t,
"Them's your - Lyon County tads."
Why Did Not Curtis and PlensOntOn At
tack: .
Just why Curtis and Pleasonton did
not attack Price the next morning
after the fight at Westport has always
been mystery to me, instead of wait
ing "a hours. The Lyon County Militia
Joined our command, and We marched
all that day on the right flank of Prices
army. In the evening as we got close
to the trading post we stopt to feed our
horses by the side of a corn field. Our
pickets discovered that Price was going
into camp at the trading post. After
we had rested our horses about an hour
we pushed on south, but soon found
the rebels in our front, so we turned
west and crost the Marais des Cygnes
River about dark. We kept on west
until we found the Paola and Mound
City road. 1t was about 2 o'clock In
the morning when we got to Mound
City. There was some rain falling. so
we did not get to sleep any, but we fed
our horses and fed ourselves to what
we found handy. Just as light began
to show in the east the guns began to
crack east Of town. and We moved out
around the hill, where the railroad runs
now in the direction of where the town
of Pleasonton now stands. The battle
of Mine Creek was on, the only bat
tie of any note that was fought on Kan
sas soil during the civil war. We kept
on the flank of the line until after noon.
when we got orders to go around Prices
army and try to get into Fort Scott
before Price could get there.
Rest nt Fort Scott.
We crost the Usage River a mile or
two above where the Mound City and
Fort Scott road crosses. From there
we never broke the lope until We ar
rived at Fort Scott between 3 and 4
o'clock in the afternoon. Every person
at the fort was looking for Price when
we got there. We Were so nearly tired
out that we did not think much about
1t. AS Comrade Peck says, we helped
ourselves TO something to eat, we tied
our horses to the fence, piled the oats
and hay over to them. l do not know how
well the boys slept that night, but / do
know that / dropt down behind my
horse at least one hour before dark, and
laid my head on my saddle The next
thing 1 knew j heard the report of a
cannon close by. The sun was shining
brightly in the east Some of the mill
tia were experimenting with some of
the CAPTURED cannon. One of them was