It's War.

The brashness of youth was the hallmark of the first days of the Continental Navy, but the sea service quickly gained maturity as its ommanders and men learned from their mistakes.

The birth of the American Navy was characterized in a letter written in 1783 to Robert Morris, who was at the time teh agent of Marine for the Continental Congress: "Was it a proof of madness in the first corps of sea officers to have, at so critical a period, launched out on the ocean.....to make war against such a power as Great Britain?" The questioner was John Paul Jones who was one of those Americans who had set to sea and challenged British amritime dominance.

Against Long Odds.

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When the Continental Navy was created in 1775, Great Britain's national power was said to extend to the six-fathom curve of any landmass in the world, and the sheer number of her warships in the American theater during the Revolution was, by all obvious measurments, overwhelming. On average, for example, 90 Royal Navy ships - including about a dozen ships-of-the-line - were in American waters during the war. In contrast, when George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the American colonies' military forces in May 1775, the national naval component of that new force was exactly zero.

For many years the ubiquitous Royal Navy ships in American ports and off the coasts of the North American colonies had been a source of protection against the Frence and other imperial powers competing with Britain. Following the French and Indian War, however, the Royal Navy progressively became the instrument for enforcing onerous taxes and political restrictions on the colonies, exemplified in the extreme by the closing of the port of Boston after the Boston Tea Party. During that progression, Britain's navy also increasingly inhibited the Americans' ocean trade by enforcing the Navigation Acts. Those laws, which were passed by Parliament to protect British trade, often functioned at the expense of the colonies.

First Steps.
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When Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, however, the Royal Navy became much more than a political and economic problem, and Washington recognized from the outset a need for a Continental Navy. Of overriding importance, he had an army-in-information without supplies, and his shortage of gunpowder and lead for musket balls was particularly pressing. The colonies had few powder mills, and as the tide of rebellion rose, Britain placed an embargo on powder importation. A short-term answer, however, was to secure the needed military material by raiding Britain's ocean supply lanes, beginning in American waters. The added benefit to that response was that it conversely hampered the enemy's ability to sustain its own military supply needs. Thus, the first element of a naval strategy for the American Revolution was established: raid Britain's sea supply lines to provide Continental military equipment and deny the same equipment to the British.

The immediate problem for Washington was the absence of national naval resources to pursue the initial portion of a naval strategy. There were, however, modest naval militias among 11 of the 13 colonies. In addition, the American colonies had a traditon of effective privateering, a practice that had been a factor in the French and Indian War.

Initially, Washington tried to make do with what was at hand, and he turned to the governor of Rhode Island, Nicholas Cooke, asking him to use one of the small ships of the Rhode Island naval militia to secure a store of powder known to be in Bermuda. Washington wrote to Cooke in desperation on 4 August 1775: "Our necessities in the articles of powder and lead are so great as to require an immediate supply." But ships from Philadelphia and South Carolina had already secured the powder from Bermuda, and Washington would have to look elsewhere. He then wrote to General Phillip Schuyler in November 1775 of his intention to employ "armed vessels with the design to pick up som of their storeships and transports."


Washington had reservations about acting without congressional approval, but he nevertheless decided to arm a number of schooners to attack British merchant ships bringing military equipment to the American colonies and to divert the supplies those ships carried to his own army. The first of Washington's small naval raiders was the schooner Hannah out of Beverly, Massachusetts. That sturdy little fishing vessel, armed with but four guns positioned at hastily cut ports along her bulwarks, was leased to Washington's new Continental Army in September 1775 for $70 a month. The ships owner, Colonel John Glover, commanded a Marblehead unit in the army being assembled by Washington. After fitting out, another Marblehead man, Nicholas Broughton, was named captain, and officers were recruited from the local community. Finally, soldiers from Glover's unit were assigned as crew. It was a make-shift start of a naval effort, and the Hannah's initial deployment produced little material for Washington or, for that matter, prize money anticipated by her crew.


Despite the lack of quick success for the Hannah, Washington added to this inauspicious beginning, and before it was disbanded in 1777, his feeble fleet managed to capture approximately 35 prizes and provide at least some desperately needed ammunition and weapons to his army. The most noteworthy vessel taken by Washington's converted schooners was probably the merchant brig Nancy, capture [ left ] in November 1775 by Captain John Manley in the Lee. The Nancy's cargo added 2,000 muskets, 30 tons of musket shot, 30,000 rounds of cannon shot, 100,000 flints, a number of barrels of powder, 11 mortar beds, and a brass mortar to Washington's struggling army. Manley went on to become one of the Continental Navy's most effective captains.

By the beginning of 1776, it was clear a more significant naval effort needed to be mounted against the British, but the path toward an effective Continental Navy faced significant political obstacles. For one thing, there was no clear balance of public opinion favoring the Revolution, much less one favoring a national navy.
In 1775, when Washington took on the leadership of the Continental military, roughly half of the American population was loyalist. George Washington's mother and Benjamin Franklin's son were, for example, among many who vigorously opposed a war with Britain.

Historical notes.

Captain John Glover

Birth: Nov. 5, 1732, Marblehead, Essex County, Massachusetts.
Death: Jan. 30, 1797, was a Revolutionary War Continental Army Brigadier General.

In 1781, Nicholas Broughton of Marblehead, Mass., had been captured while serving on board a privateer and taken to England. Escaping from prison, Broughton had made his way to France where he had been advanced twelve guineas by Benjamin Franklin, "on account of the United States," to enable him to return to America, and, in 1771, John Glover was now a General and was given acting commander of Continental forces in Rhode Island.

On December 17, 1775, Captain John Manley (commander of the schooner Lee in Washington's navy) captured the sloop Betsey-bearing William Robinson, a member of the Virginia Convention from Princess Anne County, and several other prisoners taken by Lord Dunmore-while it was on its way to Boston with supplies for the British cavalry. William Bell Clark, George Washington's Navy.

John Adams wrote in 1813: "As it lies in my mind, Captain John Manley applied to General Washington, in Cambridge, in 1775, informed him that British transports and merchant ships were frequently passing and repassing unarmed, and asked leave to put a few guns on board a vessel to cruise for them. Washington, either shrinking from the boldness of the enterprise, or doubting his authority, prudently transmitted the information to Congress in a letter. When the letter was read, many members seemed much surprised; but a motion was made, and seconded, to commit it to a special committee. Opposition was made to this motion, and a debate ensued; but the motion prevailed by a small majority. The committee appointed were John Langdon, Silas Deane and John Adams. We met, and at once agreed to report a resolution, authorizing General Washington to fit and arm one or more vessels for the purpose. A most animated opposition and debate arose upon this report, but the resolution was carried by a small majority."

It was in 1776, that the brig Dispatch, which Bradford had purchased and fitted out in Massachusetts, was formerly the Little Hannah, which Capt. John Manley had captured in December 1775. The brig Dispatch that sailed under Capt. Peter Parker from Philadelphia in mid-July had been captured on July 22 by H.M.S. Orpheus cruising off Cape Henlopen. And again in 1776, Capt. John Manley had come to Philadelphia in a successful effort to help persuade Congress to reverse the decision of the maritime court of New Hampshire in the case of the brig Elizabeth, which had been captured by Manley and other Continental naval.

John Manley, son of Capt. John Manley (1734--;93), was appointed clerk to Benjamin Walker, commissioner for settling the accounts of the clothing, hospital, and marine departments, on August 22. 1786.

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My thanks to Bud Shortridge, who did the Naval research, and I the Historical notes.

Bud Shortridge, has two Naval sites and if your looking for Naval history give him a try his sites are the following.

NAVAL & MERCHANT SHIP ARTICLES OF INTEREST.
http://navalmerchantshiparticles.blogspot.com/

SHIPYARDS, WORKERS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
http://uglyducklingsshipyards.blogspot.com/

"Bullet-Hole Ellis"

Notice the bullet hole in Mr. Ellis's forehead.


ABRAHAM ELLIS, for many years a resident of Miami County, was popularly known as "Bullet-Hole Ellis," from the fact that for twenty-three years he carried a deep wound, almost in the center of his forehead, in which had originally been buried a bullet fired by the noted raider, William C. Quantrill. His recovery was one of the most remarkable in surgical annals, and the ball which inflicted the wound, as well as the twenty-seven pieces of frontal bone which were picked from his skull at the time, are among the remarkable exhibits displayed in the Army and Navy Medical Museum at Washington, D.C.

Mr. Ellis was born in Green County, Ohio, April 22, 1815, and for many years in his earlier manhood was a successful teacher, but his health compelled him to cling to the soil. In September, 1857, he left Ohio and located in Miami County, six miles from the Missouri line. He was therefore in the very hot-bed of the Border warfare, and his strong free-soil sentiments and capacity for organization made him a personal friend, a co-worker and a trusted lieutenant of John Brown. In October, 1858, he was elected a member of the Territorial Legislature and in the following December a representative of the lower house of the First State Legislature.

At that time Mr. Ellis was county commissioner and superintendent of public instruction, and in 1860 he gave Quantrill a certificate to teach school at Stanton. Soon afterward he was commissioned by his neighbors to go East for aid. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted Lane's Brigade and served as quartermaster. On March 7, 1862, while on his way from Fort Scott to Fort Leavenworth, he stopped over night at Aubrey with a man named Treacle. Aubrey was three miles from the Missouri line and two miles north of the south line of Johnson County. At daybreak the landlord aroused all in the house with the cry "The bushwhackers are coming!" Treacle and another man named Whitaker were shot to pieces, and a man named Tuttle was killed by a ball in the eye.

At the commencement of the trouble Ellis sprang out of bed, placed a fur cap on his head and looked out of the window. Quantrill took a shot at him, and the ball passed through the sash and the cap into the skull. The leader of the raiders then came into the house and, recognizing Ellis, expressed great sorrow for what he had done, saying: "You are not the kind of man I was looking for; I'm d--d sorry." He saved the life of Ellis from his followers, as well as Ellis' team and $50 worth of groceries, but did not get around in time to save the $250 which Ellis had handed over to the bushwhackers.

Quantrill's ball had crashed through both plates of the forehead and lodged against the inner lining, where it lay buried for seventy hours. When the shattered bones and the bullet were extracted, the brain could be seen throbbing with each pulsation of the heart. But Mr. Ellis recovered in five months, the wound healed, and in September, 1863, he was commissioned first lieutenant in a Fifteenth Kansas company, and served as such until February, 1865. He moved from Miami to Chautauqua County, in 1870, and gave much attention to horticulture. He died at Elk Falls, Kansas, March 14, 1885.

Hiram C. Whitley

I found Hiram C. Whitley a very interesting man, so much so that I have given two biographies on him. Although both biographies are about the same one has some information that the other dose not. If your researching Mr. Whitley, or researching something he may have been connected with, you will find his life very interesting.
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Whitley Opera House.


Hiram C. Whitley.

Was a veteran of the Civil war and chief of the United States secret service during the administrations of President Grant, was born in Maine, Aug. 6, 1832, the son of William and Hannah D. (Combs) Whitley. His father was born in Scotland and brought to America when a boy by his father, also named William Whitley, who was a soldier in the English army before coming to this country. The father of Hiram C. Whitley served in the war of 1812 when but a youth. He studied medicine and in 1839 removed to Ohio where he practiced that profession for many years and reared his son, Hiram C., who obtained a fair common school education, supplemented by a course in the Western Reserve Teachers' Seminary at Kirkland, Ohio.

He left home and school without permission, accompanied a drover with a drove of cattle over the mountains to Philadelphia, making several like trips, and then went to Boston to visit maternal relatives. At Gloucester, Mass., he visited an uncle, owner of a sea vessel engaged in the fishing industry, with whom he went to sea for about two years. He then spent a portion of time in Boston, later (about 1858) becoming one of "the Pike's Peakers." On his trip to Pike's Peak he first visited Kansas. He drifted to New Orleans and for two years just prior to the breaking out of the Civil war he was engaged in steamboating on the Red river, with headquarters at New Orleans. When General Butler entered that city Mr. Whitley tendered his services to the secret service department of the Federal army.

Gen. W. H. Emory, commander of the defenses of New Orleans, urged him to accept a captaincy in the Fifth Louisiana regiment, then being formed for the defense of New Orleans. This offer Mr. Whitley respectfully declined, but he was commissioned major and assigned to the Seventh Louisiana regiment. His labors were confined to the secret service of the army and was fraught with much danger. In 1864 he appeared before an army board and successfully passed an examination for the rank of lieutenant-colonel, to which he was provisionally promoted, but was not mustered in as such. Just before the close of the war he was sent on the special mission for disposing of an accumulation of stores on the Rio Grande river, which he accomplished by auction. When the war closed Colonel Whitley went to Boston, and soon afterward secured an appointment in the internal revenue department of the government.

He was sent to Kansas on duty, but later called to Washington by President Grant, and then ordered to Columbus, Ga., to apprehend the murderers of George W. Ashburn, whose death came, it is said, at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. Later he participated in a raid against illicit distillers of whiskies in Virginia. His record in the internal revenue department was such as to gain for him an appointment to the position of chief of the United States secret service bureau, in which capacity he served with distinction during the administrations of President Grant, after which he came to Kansas.

He first located on a farm near Emporia, into which city he removed a short time later. There he became the builder and owner of the Whitley hotel and opera house. He has generously contributed to the growth and development of the city, being the prime mover and first manager of the Emporia street railway. In the business world he has achieved gratifying success and has accumulated a good estate. He is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Colonel Whitley has written many interesting and well received stories of his experiences and observation in life.

In 1856 he married Miss Katie Bates of Cambridge, Mass., and he has two daughters—Katie B. and Sabra E., the latter is the wife of Jason Austin, present proprietor of the Hotel Whitley. Colonel Whitley has passed the seventy-ninth milestone of an eventful life, and has forged his own way to success. His greatest distinction is that won as chief of the secret service of the nation.
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Hiram C. Whitley.

The State of Kansas is filled with interesting men, many of them known to the world at large. The city of Emporia has several. One is a prominent business man, who for upwards of forty years has given his time and energies to the upbuilding of that locality.

This is Hiram C. Whitley who was at one time chief of the secret service division of the United States Treasury. The story of his life, particularly the early years, reads like a book, and in fact his experiences have been described in a book which was published about twenty years ago and which throws an interesting light on life and times in the far South during the Civil war period and also that era known as the reconstruction period for ten years following the great Civil war. Mr. Whitley wrote this book under the title "In It" and it is somewhat in the nature of an autobiography, told simply and modestly, but illuminating that historic epoch in our nation's history with which it deals. The author says: "The incidents related in this book are founded principally on facts, as they came to me during an experience of twelve years in the Secret Service of the United States Government."

Hiram C. Whitley is a native of the Pine Tree State, but his experiences have covered a larger part of the United States and he is now past the age of four score. He was born in Waldo County, Maine, August 6, 1832. His father, William Whitley, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1796, and was brought by his parents to this country, the family locating at Bangor, Maine. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. Though quite young at the time he saw service in the War of 1812, and about 1840 moved his family to Lake County, Ohio, where his death occurred in 1876. He was a physician and surgeon. Doctor Whitley married Hannah D. McCoombs, who was born in Maine in 1812 and died at Emporia, Kansas, in 1896.

Major Whitley from the age of eight grew up in Northeastern Ohio, attended the common schools of Lake County, and for a time was a student in the Western Reserve Teachers' Seminary, a Presbyterian school. He left school at the age of fifteen, and from that time forward until he located at Emporia, about forty years ago, was continually on the move, coming into close touch with adventure and excitement in various parts of the United States. His first work was as a drover, and he took many herds of cattle from the Middle West over the Alleghenies through Pittsburg to Philadelphia. He was strong and vigorous, and performed some feats which seem almost marvelous. For six and a half times he made the round trip over the mountains, crossing them thirteen times, and on one occasion he walked home from Philadelphia, a distance of over 500 miles in seven days. This is almost a record for pedestrianism, but he was filled with the energy of youth and had a constitution of iron, and he was on the way, walking or running, night and day, and accomplished a journey which would have brought admiration from the ancient Greek runners.

Somewhat later he spent about two years at Boston, where he had some relatives. He was in the oyster business there, and also followed the sea for a time. Then came the call to the West, announced by the slogan "Pike's Peak or bust," and he prospected in those regions, though without finding gold. It was while on his way to Pike's Peak in 1859 that he first crossed the Territory of Kansas. He was next in Louisiana, and from the beginning of the war was in New Orleans for the greater part of several years. Though a stanch Union man, he showed a superficial sympathy with the cause of the South, and while drilling with some of the rebel companies he managed to keep out of active service, partly by following the occupation of steamboating. Some of his most interesting experiences occurred in New Orleans, and in his book he tells a number of incidents which reflect new light on Confederate history in the South. After New Orleans was captured he was employed by General Butler on special services, and did much toward cleaning up the city and ridding it of obnoxious rebels and outlaws, and he personally engaged in several serious fights. At one time he was attacked by a band of outlaws seven miles below Baton Rouge on a plantation. He shot five of his assailants and two of them were killed outright.

In a sketch of moderate length it would be impossible to describe in detail all his varied experiences. The following is an abbreviated quotation which will suggest the exciting story of this period of his life. At the outbreak of the war in 1861 he and his wife were living in New Orleans. The inceptious and noxious atmosphere of sectional hatred was rampant in the city at that time. No person in New Orleans, no matter how much he loved the Union, dare utter his sentiments of loyalty or even dare hint that the rebellion was wrong. Men's tongues were silenced and their liberties abridged. Invitations were extended frequently to Mr. Whitley to join some one of the rebel regiments being formed in the city. Fortunately he was engaged in steamboating on Red River. This afforded a good excuse. When the City of New Orleans was captured and occupied by General Butler in the spring of 1862, Whitley was aboard the steamer Starlight at Jefferson City, Texas.

Arriving at Shreveport on the return trip the news had just reached that place of the capture of New Orleans. A Confederate committee came aboard and took possession of the Starlight for the purpose of blockading the river a few miles below. About thirty negro laborers bearing axes, shovels, picks and crowbars came aboard. The steamer tied up for the night at Loggy Bayou about thirty miles below Shreveport. It was raining heavily. The night was dark. Whitley cast off the steamboat yawl and left the drunken Confederate committee, starting to row the boat down Red River to its mouth, thence to New Orleans, a distance of about 700 miles, which he accomplished in about seven days. On reaching that city he reported to General Butler for special service, and served until Butler was relieved and afterwards served with General Banks, who succeeded Butler in command of the Department of the Gulf up to July, 1863.

Mr. Whitley was finally made major in a regiment raised largely in New Orleans for the defense of that city, and though he had no knowledge of military tactics he introduced some measures of discipline which brought efficiency to the organization, at least for the purpose of performing much needed labor, though he always doubted the fighting capacity of his soldiers. A number of times in the course of duty he was exposed to the dangers from the thugs who had so long terrorized New Orleans and he was an important factor in that military rule which brought order to the city and put the wheels of commerce in motion, much to the satisfaction of the better element of the citizenship. Many of the thugs lost their lives and foreigners who sympathized with the rebellion were compelled to take the proscribed oath of loyalty to the United States Government.

Three times while on special service he was outside the Federal lines, and his performance gained much commendation from superior officers. After his three months' service as major of the Seventh Louisiana Regiment, he was again in the special service of the Government, and remained in New Orleans until the close of the war. In 1865 he went to Brownsville, Texas, and auctioned off a large amount of government property which had been stored there. While at New Orleans Major Whitley shot and killed Pedro Capdiville, one of the several notorious desperadoes who had kept the city on the verge of terrorism for several years. It is to be noted that Mr. Whitley was not an abolitionist, and his experiences in the South led him to cast grave doubts upon the advisability of entrusting the franchise to the liberated negroes. However he was a stanch defender of the Union, and both then and afterwards proved the value of his service to the Federal Government. Before the close of the war he was commissioned a lieutenant colonel but was never mustered in that rank.

After going North he spent a short time in Boston but then went to Washington, bearing letters of recommendation from General Butler and others prominent in the army, and succeeded in getting an appointment to the revenue service by Commissioner Rawlins. In his book he describes the interesting way in which he effected an interview with the commissioner, and the first place he was directed to duty was at Atchison, Kansas, where he had considerable experience among the whiskey thieves. In 1869, after having worked assiduously on the larger cases of whiskey frauds in the North he was sent to the District of Virginia to look after the moonshiners. While in Virginia he raided thirty-six stills and had many exciting encounters with the illicit whiskey makers in the mountainous district.
After giving in his report at Washington, he was persuaded to remain in the service and was given appointment as chief of the Secret Service Division for the United States Treasury.

In that capacity he was one of the men most responsible for breaking up the operations of the Ku-Klux-Klan and he remained as chief of that division during Grant's two terms, and altogether spent about fourteen years in the Federal service. Much of his work was in breaking up the organized gangs of counterfeiters in the North. He said: "During my six years as chief of the service, more than three thousand persons were arrested for various offences, and at least one-half of them convicted and sent to prison. In giving the number of arrests, I do not include the operations of the Secret Service Division against the members of the Ku-Klux-Klan in the South. Against this infamous organization alone we secured over two thousand indictments."

In 1877 Major Whitley, having retired from the secret service, moved to Emporia, Kansas, and bought a farm of about 400 acres, to the cultivation of which he devoted the next three years. Since then his home has been in Emporia, and he has been one of that city's most prominent business men. The record of his work there can only be briefly stated. He was instrumental in securing the building of the first five bridges erected in the town. In 1880 he built the Hotel Whitley, of which he is still proprietor, and which is one of the two leading hotels in the city. Through a syndicate he built the first street railway in 1883. In 1881 he put up the Opera House, which subsequently was burned, and was replaced by a fine business block at the corner of Merchant and Sixth Avenue. It is said that he is one of the largest tax payers on real estate in Emporia.

His political affiliation has naturally been with the republican party. He is an active member of Post No. 55, Grand Army of the Republic, and has been called upon to write the biography of every member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion who has died in the last ten or twenty years. Fraternally he is affiliated with Emporia Lodge, No. 12, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Emporia Chapter, No. 12, Royal Arch Masons; Emporia Commander, No. 8, Knights Templar; of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and was a charter member of Emporia Lodge, No. 633, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, but has since given up his membership.

Besides the work already mentioned, he has written extensively, including a book about the Ku-Klux-Klan which was largely circulated by the republican leaders in pamphlet form. He has also written many stories, principally concerning the detection of criminals, and these have appeared in magazines and newspapers. Frank A. Flower, who wrote a history of the republican party, states his obligations to Mr. Whitley for his assistance in that work. It should be recalled that while in the secret service Mr. Whitley appointed the man who took the transcript of the records which convicted Boss Tweed in New York.
Of his personal habits, it should be mentioned that Major Whitley, within the period of his recollection, has never drunk a glass of plain water. He drinks mild coffee and mild tea, is a temperance advocate, but anti-prohibitionist, being as he states, "a true democrat." In 1856 at East Cambridge, Massachusetts, Major Whitley married Miss Catherine Webster Bates, daughter of Thomas Bates, who was a carpenter and builder.

Coleral Everhard Bierer

The profession of the law, clothed with its true dignity, purity and strength, must rank first among the callings of man, for law rules the universe. The work of the legal profession is to formulate, to harmonize, to adjust and to administer those rules and principles that underlie and permeate the government and society and control the varied relations of man. As thus viewed there attaches to the legal profession a nobleness that cannot but be reflected in the life of the true lawyer, who, conscious of the greatness of the profession, and honest in the pursuit of his purpose, embraces the richness of learning, the profoundness of wisdom, the firmness of integrity and the purity of morals, together with the graces of modesty, courtesy and the general amenities of life.

Colonel Bierer is a most worthy representative of the legal profession, and has attained a distinguished position in connection with the bar of Kansas. Descended from pure German lineage, the orthography of the name in the fatherland being Behrers, but has been changed to the present form in America. The Bierers were a worthy and influential family in Wurtemberg, Germany, where they held various honorable positions in connection with the civil and military service of the state. George Bierer, a grand uncle of the Colonel, commanded a regiment in the Austrian army during the middle of the eighteenth century, and was created a baron for distinguished military service, particularly at the siege of Belgrade, Serbia, in 1788-89. The parents of our subject, Everhard and Catherine Margaretta (Ruckenbrodt) Bierer, were both natives of Wurtemberg, the former born at Windsheim, January 6, 1795 and the latter at Malmsheim, October 28, 1798. Emigrating with their respective parents to America in 1804, the families located in Pennsylvania, where the parents of our subject were reared and married. They resided at Uniontown, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where the mother died July 15, 1858 while the father passed away August 2, 1876. They were both members of the Lutheran church. Everhard Bierer was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania on January 9, 1827.

He acquired a liberal education in private schools and in Madison College of his native town, where he was graduated with the class of 1845, having completed a special course embracing the higher mathematics, natural and mental science, Latin and English literature. On leaving college he became a student in the law office of Joshua B. Howell, who was afterward colonel of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was killed before Richmond in 1864.

Mr. Bierer was admitted to the bar in March, 1848. After two years spent in traveling through the west and in some desultory literary and educational work, he returned to his native town and entered upon the practice of his profession, which he successfully followed until April 23, 1861. A few days previously the Civil War had been inaugurated by the southern troops who fired upon Fort Sumter, and, prompted by the spirit of patriotism, he offered his service to the government, raised a company of volunteers, and became captain of Company F, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserve Corps.

He served with the Army of the Potomac and participated in the battles of Dranesville, Mechanicsville and Gaines' Hill, being captured with his command at the last named place on the 27th of June, 1862, and taken to Libby prison, where he remained until the 14th of the following August, when he was exchanged. Six days afterward he was granted a twenty days leave of absence, on account of sickness, and went home; but learning by telegram of the impending battle of Bull Run, he returned to the army and joined his command on the day of the engagement on the 30th of August. He led his company a few days afterward in the battle of South Mountain, Maryland, where he was severely wounded in the left arm, the ball passing through the elbow joint and lodging in the forearm, from which it was not extracted until the 25th of the following November.

Having become convalescent, on the 24th of October he was appointed commandant of Camp Curtin, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with the rank of colonel, and while there stationed organized the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh and the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Regiments of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and on the 18th of November he was commissioned colonel of the One Hundred and Seventy-first. He served in various sections of southeastern Virginia and in North Carolina, where he was placed in temporary command of the military district of the Pamlico, and was also on several different occasions in command of General Price's division, Eighteenth Army Corps, Major General J. G. Foster commanding. He participated in the engagement at Blounts Creek, near Washington, North Carolina, April 7, 1863, commanding a brigade under General F. B. Spinola. Spinola's forces were obliged to retire before superior numbers under the rebel General Hill.

To Colonel Bierer was assigned the command of the rear guard; the duty was critical, the enemy crowding upon him in heavy force. Nearly the entire night, in the midst of intense darkness, through pine forests and cypress swamps, the march was continued, until he finally succeeded in bringing off the column, with the trains and all the wounded. On the 1st of July, 1863, Colonel Bierer returned with his regiment to Virginia and went with General Dix on his expedition to Richmond. The expedition marched from White House Landing to within eight or ten miles of Richmond, and, after some skirmishing with the rebels, General Dix ordered its return to Fortress Monroe.

With his regiment Colonel Bierer went on to Washington and thence to Harper's Ferry, where he joined General Meade, and on the 7th of that month was given a permanent brigade command and assigned to duty as military commandant of the district of the Monocacy, with headquarters at Frederick City, Maryland. On the 26th of September, 1863, he was mustered out of service, the regiment's term of enlistment having expired on the 8th of the previous August. During January, February and March of 1864, Colonel Bierer served in the Veteran Reserve Corps, but not liking that service he resigned his command and permanently retired from the army.

In October, 1865, the Colonel removed from Pennsylvania to Kansas, locating on a beautiful farm a mile east of Hiawatha, in Brown county. He then resumed the practice of his profession, and for a number of years was recognized as one of the leaders of the Brown county bar. Much of the important litigation tried in the courts of this district was intrusted to his care, and his arguments before court and jury were forceful, logical and convincing.

He excited the surprise and admiration of his contemporaries by the thoroughness with which he prepared his cases and by his ability to meet the acquirements of the opposing counsel. The field of his business labors also embraces connection with the banking interests of the city, and his counsel and judgement in financial affairs proved a marked element in the success of the institution which he represents. He was president of the First National Bank of Hiawatha for two years and is now one of the stockholders in that institution. In his political views the Colonel was originally a Democrat and for many years was a prominent factor in political circles. As the nominee of his party, in 1850, he was elected the first district attorney of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and held that office three years.

Believing, however, that the Democratic party had become the mere propagandist of slavery, he became a Republican in 1856, and led the forlorn hope for Fremont, in Fayette county, which was the very Gibraltar of Democracy, and four years later he had the satisfaction of seeing the county carried for Lincoln by a majority vote of one in a poll of about ten thousand. He was one of the electors of the Lincoln college, in 1864, to represent Pennsylvania. After coming to Kansas his fitness for leadership also led to his selection for political service and in 1868 he was chosen to represent Brown county in the state legislature, as a nominee of the Republican party.

In 1868 he voted for General Grant, but with considerable reluctance, as he could not endorse the reconstruction of financial policy of the party, and in 1869 he renounced all connection with that political organization. His vote in 1872 was cast for Greeley, and in 1876 for Tilden, whom he considered honestly elected and favored putting him in the presidential chair by force of arms, if necessary, until the electoral commission scheme prevented any such measure. In 1891 he was appointed by President Harrison a member of the annual board of visitors to the United States National Naval Academy, at Annapolis. Colonel Bierer has long been considered with the Odd Fellows' society, having become a member of Fort Necessity Lodge, No. 254, I. O. O. F., in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, February, 1852. He subsequently joined the encampment and served as district deputy grand patriarch of the order in Pennsylvania, where he is still a member, both of the grand lodge and of the grand encampment. He was also made a Mason, in Uniontown, in 1864, and is at present affiliated with Hiawatha Lodge, No. 35, A. F. & A. M. The Colonel is quite liberal in his religious opinions and beliefs, which are peculiarly his own.

He accepts the inspiration of the moral and religious teachings of scripture and divine sonship, the pre-existence of Jesus Christ, the efficacy of his example for purposes of redemption, and a condition of future rewards and punishments; denies the inspiration of the historical records and the ceremonial and civil laws of the Jews, the doctrine of the Trinity, vicarious sacrifice and eternal punishment; accepts a salvation by conduct, not belief and in the family of the Great Father includes all who act according to their highest conceptions of right. Colonel Bierer has been a very careful student of both Old and New Testament writings, and his present views are the result of a thorough acquaintance with scripture and an extensive knowledge of ecclesiastical history and polemics.

On the 8th of April, 1852, in Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, Colonel Bierer was united in marriage to Ellen Smouse, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Troutman) Smouse. She is a lady of extensive family connections in Allegany county, Maryland, and in Bradford and Somerset counties, Pennsylvania. Her maternal great-grandfather and paternal great-grandfather were both Revolutionary soldiers. Eight children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Bierer, six sons and two daughters. The eldest son is Everhard, a graduate of the Kansas University, and now chief clerk in the law department in the office of the assistant attorney general in Washington, District of Columbia; Samuel E., is a member of the firm of Bierer & Shadel, merchants of Hiawatha; Daniel is a stock dealer of southern Kansas; Andrew Gregg Curtin is a member of the firm of Bierer & Dale, of Guthrie, Oklahoma; John W. is living in Barber county, Kansas on a ranch; Bion is a lieutenant in the United States Navy and served on the monitor Puritan in the late Spanish-American War and is now at Manila; Margaret is the wife of James L. Shadel, who is engaged in merchandising with her brother in Hiawatha; and Anna C. is the wife of John Bokaye, of Horton, Kansas.

Colonel Bierer is a man of fine personal appearance, above five feet ten inches in height. His manly characteristics are strong and marked. He has always been an extensive reader and close observer, and, being of social disposition, is a most instructive as well as entertaining companion. As a youth he was ambitious of public distinction and fond of oratory, and his choice of the legal profession was largely determined by the opportunity it afforded for the gratification for such tastes. He is a man of incorruptible integrity, strong practical judgement, with a good knowledge of men and events and thoroughly acquainted with the live issues of state and national policies.

At the bar and in business life he has manifested excellent ability. His home is a beautiful residence, situated in the city of Hiawatha, in Brown county, Kansas. He has passed the seventy-third milestone on the journey of life, and in the evening of his career he is surrounded by many comforts that he has gained through his own efforts. At all times he has been loyal to truth and right, faithful to the interests which he believes will prove a public good, and loyal to every measure to which he gives his support. In matters of great public moment he has a mind above all personal considerations

John L. Bashore & Josiah M. Woodruff.

WAR DEPT., PROVOST-MARSHAL-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, D. C., October 14, 1864.
Major General JOHN POPE,
Commanding Department of the Northwest, Milwaukee, Wis.:

GENERAL: Captain James Matthews, provost-marshal Fourth District of Iowa, reports to me that two of his officers while on duty in Poweshiek County, Iowa, were murdered by a gang of outlaws on Saturday, the 1st instant. The names of the murdered officers are John L. Bashore, an assistant provost-marshal, and Josiah M. Woodruff, special agent. These officers had been detailed to arrest certain deserters from the draft in that county, and were waylaid and shot without any pretense or provocation except the lawful discharge of their duty. The outlaws engaged in the affair about twelve in number, seven of whom have been arrested and lodged in jail at Oskaloosa. I have laid these facts before the Secretary of War, and he instructed me to furnish you with the information for your action, should the same be necessary.
I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAS. B. FRY

Josiah M. Woodruff, private of the 3rd. Iowa infantry company B.

Josiah M. Woodruff, Age 18. Residence Knoxville, nativity Ohio. Enlisted May 21, 1861. Mustered June 10, 1861. Wounded seriously in left thigh Sept. 17, 1861, Blue Mills, Mo. Mustered out Feb. 11, 1862, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Note. He must of re-enlisted?

John L. Bashore, Lieutenant & Captain, of the 6th, Iowa infantry, company D.

John L. Bashore, Age 27. Residence Centerville, nativity Pennsylvania. Appointed First Lieutenant May 16, 1861. Mustered July 16, 1861. Promoted Captain Dec. 11, 1862. Resigned March 5, 1864. Murdered in Iowa while acting District Provost Marshal.

John L. Bashore.

Birth: Mar. 16, 1834, Pennsylvania.
Death: Oct. 1, 1864, Poweshiek County Iowa

John L. Bashore was born in Pennsylvania and later moved to Centerville, Iowa where in 1860 he became a partner in a general merchantile firm with Jacob Rummel by the name of Rummel and Bashore. A veteran of the Civil War he enlisted as a Lieutenant 1st Class on May 16, 1861 at the age of 27. He was commissioned in Company D, 6th Infantry Regiment Iowa on July 16, 1861. He was promoted to Full Captain on December 11, 1862. He resigned on March 5, 1864. On October 1, 1864, Captain Bashore, along with Captain Josiah M. Woodruff of Knoxville, Iowa, both Deputy United States Provost Marshal's, went to Union Township, Poweshiek County, Iowa for the purpose of arresting three deserters. In the process Bashore and Woodruff were shot and killed by the deserters. The John L. Bashore, Post 122, of the Grand Army of the Republic Post in Centerville was named in his honor.

The Shooting Of Colonel John L. Owen.

THE LINCOLNITES IN MISSOURI MURDER A SECESSIONIST.

The following is from the Hannibal (Mo.) Hearld of June 10:

Information was brought into camp at Palmyra on Saturday last that Colonel John L. Owen, a notorious rebel who has made himself conspicuous in burning bridges, cars and depots, firing into passenger trains, last summer and fall, was secreted at or near his farm in Monroe. A detachment from Company A, Eleventh Regiment Missouri State Militia (Colonel Lipscomb), under command of Lieutenant Donahoo, was immediately sent out from Palmyar to hunt the outlaw. On approaching the farm of Colonel Owen on Sunday about 12 m. the squad discovered a negro running rapidly from the house toward a piece of brush. The lieutenant and his company immediately started for the brush and going into it discovered the game and soon bagged it. At first the colonel showed a determination to resist his capture, but finding such a proceeding useless he yielded. Preparations were made for his execution. He begged the soldiers to take him prisoner. They informed him that "Taking prisoners" was played out. They then placed him upon a stump in front of a file of soldiers and at the word of command eight bullets pierced the body of the rebel, killing him instantly. Thus has ended the career of a notorious bushwacker and outlaw. He has met the just retribution of his damning crimes.
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Statement of facts, plain and truthful, concerning the capture and murder of Major John L. Owen, written by his wife, Mary A. Owen, and certified to by his mother, Nancy Owen:

About the 1st of September my husband, John L. Owen, then captain of a company of six-months' men (sworn into the State service about the middle of June), started to General Price. He was promoted to major and returned home the 6th of December. Since that time to my certain knowledge he has had no company nor part of company; neither has he been connected in any way with a company. And I do know and can say with truth that he never either before or since his return from the arms has been engaged in what is termed bushwhacking and that he has never shot into the cars. On the contrary I known he was always opposed to that kind of warfare. I have frequently heard him speak on the subject, therefore I know his opinion.

And I can assert with truth that I have known his whereabouts ever since his return from the army and that he has never borne arms since, but merely tried to keep out of the way of the Federal, and that for months he never left his mother's house by night or day. But they had their spies busy, who watched him and found out by some means that he never left the house, and these same spies were two men whom he had especially befriended. Then came the troops to search for him but failed at that time to get him. After the first searching (which took place just seven weeks before they succeeded in getting him) he never slept in the house, but slept on his own and his mother's premises. He had his own provisions and I cooked them, and a part of the time he came for them, and when he did not I conveyed them to him myself. It was my wish as well as a pleasure to do so, and I would continue to feed him if they by their cruelty had not deprived me of the blessed privilege.

And now to the capture: On the 8th day of June before we had risen in the morning we were surrounded by Federal troops knocking at the doors for admittance. My mother, her two sons who live with her, Amsley and William, myself and child were all who were in the house. The soldiers came in, searched the house, took both Amsley and William prisoners and took them away, while others came and surrounded the place. Persons who saw them estimated their numbers at about 300. They had their pilots with them. They dashed through the fields like so many fiends, and into the meadow where my husband had slept the night before (and no doubt he had been watched to his sleeping place), and oh, they found him in a little cluster of bushes not more than 200 or 300 yards from the house and in plain view of the house. They found him alone, unarmed and defenseless; one poor man, without any resistance at all, gave himself up to his savage captors. Resistance would have been vain and he knew it. Oh, the savage yells they sent up when they found him; they ret.

They brought him to the house. We saw them coming. I was greatly troubled to think they had him prisoner; but oh, I could not conceive that persons calling themselves men and Christian men could have hearts cruel enough to murder him in the brutal manner in which they did. They all halted at the fence and got water. While here they questioned him as to who stayed with him, and several other questions, among the rest where was his company. He told them he had no company. His mother and myself told them the same. They called us all liars and said they knew he had a company for they had been told so, and that he had to tell where it was. We all assured them that he told the truth, but they would not believe us. They said, "Take him away from these women, and if he does not tell us we will hang him. " He said just as they started from the house if they would treat him as a prisoner of war and according to the honors of war he had no fears.

I feared from their savage appearance that they might abuse him or do him some harm, and I followed them about a quarter of a mile entreating them to spare his life; that he was innocent of the charges they had against him, and not to take an innocent man's life. They assured me they would not kill him, and told me to go back home now and come down to Palmyra the next day and see him. That satisfied me. I turned and came home.

They did not go over half a mile farther till they killed him. From the best information I can get they made him sit down on a log which lay close to a fence, tied his hands across his breast and tied his elbows back to the fence, so that he could not move; tied him with hickory bark and there took the life of an innocent, unresisting man. They left him there on the public road, shot down like a wild beast, then went on to one of the neighbors and told them what they had done, and told them if he had any friends they might dig a hole and throw him in, and sent me word that they had shot my husband and where I could find him; also sent me a cartridge with the word that they had put eight like that in him. They also thrust him through the breast with a bayonet. One ball entered his face just at the left side of his nose and passed through his head; one near his collar bone; two through his breast, not more than two or three inches apart, passing entirely through his body and lodged in the fence behind him. His left arm was all shattered to pieces from the elbow down. The murderers stood so near him that his clothes were scorched by the powder.

I still have the cartridge they sent me in such unfeeling manner, and when some kind friend sends it through one of their black treacherous hearts then it will have fulfilled its mission.
Oh, does not his innocent blood call for revenge? Will not his friends avenge his brutal, cruel death?
MARY A. OWEN.
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Editorial from the Quincy (Ill.) Herald, July 3, 1862.]

LETTER FROM MRS. OWEN.

A communication appears in this morning's Herald from Mrs. Mary A. Owen, widow of the late John L. Owen, who was shot two or three weeks ago by some of the Federal troops in Missouri, giving her version in detail of his arrest and the manner of his death. We know nothing of the circumstances connected with the arrest and death of Owen or the cause or causes that led to his arrest further than what has been published in the newspapers; but whether guilty or not of any or all the crimes that have been alleged against him he should have undergone at least the forms of a trial, either by a court-martial or a civil tribunal, unless found in actual hostility with arms in his hands. If he came to his death in the manner related by Mrs. Owen the act was nothing less than cold-blooded murder. If he had been shot in the actual perpetration of any of the crimes alleged against him he would have received but his just desert.

At any rate we think the affair should be inquired into either by the civil or military authorities of Missouri, that the facts of Owen's career since the commencement of the rebellion to the time of his death may be known and the justice of his death properly vindicated.
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THE FACTS IN OWEN'S CASE - WHAT THE QUINCY HERALD DOES FOR SECESSION IN MISSOURI.

PALMYRA, July 5, 1862.

PHILLIP SNYDER, Esq.

SIR: I am led to thank you for your happy answer to a letter purporting to have emanated from Mrs. J. L. Owen describing the manner of the death of her husband. Whilst every person can sympathize with the wife in her affliction and regret she was so unfortunate in having so guilty a husband, still every loyal right-minded citizen must be satisfied with the merited punishment of so notorious a traitor as John L. Owen.

I wish to give points in the career of this "Major " John L. Owen which may expose the outrage of publishing such a letter as that in the Herald. J. L. Owen was the first man who inaugurated bushwhacking in this portion of the State of Missouri. His company by his orders burned some eight or ten passenger coaches on the Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad, burned a depot building at Monroe Station, tore up the railroad track, destroyed culverts and fired into passenger cars. On one occasion they met a man by the name of Hotchkiss who never had carried arms and was particularly inoffensive, being engaged in trading with the farmers in the vicinity of Monroe City for butter, eggs, &c., and in return delivering them coffee, sugar, cotton, &c. He had never committed any higher crime than that of voting for Abraham Lincoln, yet this man while watering his horses was deliberately shot down; eight balls were put into him and he was left for dead. The man, however, was taken care of by the Sixteenth Illinois' surgeon and I believe is now alive in Hannibal.

These outrages were committed by Owen so long ago as last July. I have the affidavits on hand of men belonging to his company of their being ordered to take the private property of peaceable citizens by this same J. L. Owen while acting as their captain in that neighborhood. This spring a man by the name of Preston, a worthy citizen, a husband and father, was seized and carried off and is undoubtedly murdered, although his body has not been found. Another worthy farmer, an old respected citizen named Carter, living in Ralls County but a few miles from this Owen's neighborhood, having been suspected of giving information which led to the apprehension of a notorious bridge-burner (who was tried and proven guilty, sentenced to be shot and the sentence approved by General Halleck) was visited by a party of some six or eight men, called out of his house and shot in his own dooryard and in the presence of his wife and children.

I could give you a long list of outrageous atrocities perpetrated by this John L. Owen and his brother outlaws, and for which he was probably more responsible than any other man in this section; all of which appears to have been overlooked by the Herald, for it cannot be supposed that any paper could publish so plain and palpable an attempt to incite to assassination as is the letter and comments alluded to in the Herald if apprised of the facts.

Again, John L. Owen has been hiding from justice since Christmas, lying concealed, sleeping in the brush, and was found in his bed in the brush, and armed.

General orders from headquarters are imperative that this class of men caught under arms in this part of the United States are to be shot on the spot. These orders have been published to the world. Mr. Owen was not shot in the presence of his family, he was not tied, he was not abused; but the general orders that commanded him to be shot were read to him, and he was regularly executed in accordance with military usage. John L. Owen was the first or about the first citizen against whom the grand jury of the U. S. circuit court and district courts for Missouri found a true bill of indictment for the high crime of treason.

I trust that you will arrange these facts in proper shape for publication and use them so that loyal Union men may be on their guard in reference to what they may see in the Herald, and thereby discharge to the full your duty as a patriotic journalist. As to the Quincy Herald I can assure you that it has either wittingly or unwittingly done more to keep alive rebellion in our midst here than all the rebel papers and rebel missionaries put together.
I remain, truly, &c.,
WM. R. STRACHAN Provost-Marshal, Palmyra, Mo.

General McGee And Guerrillas Captured.

Numbers 1. Report of Lieutenant Colonel Bazel F. Lazear, Twelfth Missouri State Militia Cavalry.

JACKSON, MO., February 14, 1863.

SIR: I have the honor to report that Captain [Levi E.] Whybark, Company F, Twelfth Missouri State Militia Cavalry, with 50 men of the different companies of the regiment, returned yesterday from a scout to Mingo Swamp, and reports killing 3 and wounding 2 more of the band of General McGee. This has been one of the worst band of guerrillas that has infested Southeast Missouri, making their headquarters in the swamps. They have been a terror to the whole country. I inclose you a note, addressed to McGee by two Confederate captains,* showing you in what light they were looked upon by Confederate officers. There are not more than three of the notorious ones of the gang left; their names are Hetterbrand, Cowan, and Dixon. There are two of the gang now in the guard-house here, who were slightly wounded.

Their names are Spain and Bradaway. The last deserves particular notice. He was a notorious outlaw in California. Since he returned, and before this, he was a notorious counterfeiter here, and nigger thief, and for the last five months he has been connected with McGee's band of guerrillas, which they are in every sense of the word. I am sorry they are prisoners on my hands, as they should have been shot on the spot. There are other bands of this character in the county below here, and it was concerning these bands that I wished to seethe commanding general; but the breaking up of our regiment has interfered with my arrangements, and I am sorry for these poor Union people, who never have been properly protected, as they should have and might have been; and if the authorities could see the downcast and saddened countenances of Union men here, they I think, would hesitate about breaking up and sending off this regiment. For my own part, I think injustice has been done me and my men; but I am too good a soldier to disobey any order coming to me from my superior officers.

I hope you will pardon me for alluding to this matter in this report, but justice to this section demands that attention should be called to the state of affairs here, and I hope you will not allow all protection to be taken from these people.
Very respectfully, &c., B. F. LAZEAR.

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Numbers 2. Report of Major F. W. Reeder, Twelfth Missouri State Militia Cavalry.

JACKSON, MO., February 7, 1863.

COLONEL: Pursuant to your order, I proceeded, on the 2nd nFeb.instant, to Dallas, Mo., for the purpose of killing, capturing, and dispersing such bands of outlaws and rebels as infest the vicinity of Dallas and Mingo Swamp.

After arriving in Dallas with my command, detachments of the different companies at this post, I was joined by detachments from the companies stationed at Fredericktown and Patton, and at once sent out four scouts to capture the notorious McGee and his outlaws, said to be harboring around that place. These scouts brought in three of the outlaws, from whom I learned that McGee had started the day previous toward Bloomfield, carrying with him a number of stolen horses and arms, as well as four Union citizens as prisoners. I waited until the evening of the 3rd instant, when the last scout came in, bringing twenty-five saddles, buried by the rebels some two months since, and which, on account of lack of transportation, as well as their total worthlessness, I ordered to be burned.

Resolving to overtake McGee, with his band, the next day, and to push on to Bloomfield through the Mingo Swamp, I allowed the men and horses to rest till next morning, and started after these outlaws. Regardless of the advice of those who had for a long time been residents within the said swamp, and who pronounced the passage through the same at this time of the year an impossibility, as the ground would be frozen, and the water below would, consequently, recede from beneath. I determined to risk it, and went on. When you add to all this the circumstance that a violent snow-storm set in as we started, which lasted without intermission till the next day, as well as the uncertainty of finding a road through that swamp, you can form an idea of the obstacles presented to us.

Arriving within 4 miles of the swamp (at Bollinger's Mills), I left the light wagon, with the provisions we carried along, with orders to return. We here crossed the Castor River, which most of my men had to swim, and I took 40 of the best horses and men and pushed rapidly forward, having heard that McGee with 35 of his men had passed there that morning I left Captain [William T.] Hunter with the rest of the command (50 men) to follow slowly. After a sharp trot of 10 miles, we suddenly came to the house of S. Cato, a man who had been harboring these outlaws for a long time, and perceiving a considerable number of men feeding their horses, we dashed upon them before a single one had the chance to escape. They were at once recognized as McGee's band, and as our approach was as sudden as it was unexpected, they fled in confusion across the large corn-field in the center of which the house of Cato stood. My men now were in their element, and whilst others quickly tore down the fence of the corn-field, the rest surrounded it, and within fifteen minutes we had exterminated the whole band.

We took no prisoners from amongst them, as I had previously given the order not to do so. We counted 9 killed, amongst them McGee; 20 mortally wounded, and 3 slightly, the latter of whom we brought in. We did not lose a man. Besides, we captured some 25 horses and equipments, many of which have already been identified as having been stolen by them from Union men, and some arms, all of which are ordered to be turned over by different commanders of companies to the quartermaster. Not having time to bury the dead and attend to the crippled and dying, I left them to the tender care of their good friends, of whom there are plenty close by; and, being meanwhile joined by Captain Hunter, I pushed on to Bloomfield, which town I entered amidst a terrible snow-storm at midnight.

Although we at once surrounded the town and every house in it, we did not capture more than 8 prisoners, some of whom, being on furlough from the so-called Confederate Army, were paroled, and ordered to report to this post at end of each month. Adjutant Macklind will hand in their names. All the rumors I heard of a force of 200 or 300 being at that place, and of a still larger force 40 miles below, at Four Mile, are without the slightest foundation, and the only reliable information I obtained was that [W. L.] Jeffers, with 2,000 men, was at Epsom Bottom, 150 miles below Bloomfield, and that he was preparing to join General Holmes at Pocahontas. I quartered my men, who had been without food since morning, at the different houses in the town, and having sufficiently refreshed the horses, I returned through the swamp the next morning by a different route than the one I came, with the hope of getting a few more of them, should there be any.

On my route back I divided my command into six parties, with orders to thoroughly scour the country and meet me a Dallas the next day. We returned here on the 7th instant, having accomplished our object and restored peace to a part of the country to which McGee for the last year has been a terror. Officers and men behaved admirably throughout the scout. They bore the severe hardships of fatigue, hunger, and cold, through the most desolate part of Missouri, and a march in the midst of a most violent snow-storm, with alacrity and without a murmur, and so well did they do their duty that it would be injustice almost for me to mention any particular name. Those, however, who were the most conspicuous for their gallant conduct were First Lieutenant [Thomas H.] Macklind, acting adjutant; Captain [William C.] Bangs, commanding Company G; Lieutenant Pope [Erich Pope], Company A; Lieutenant Charveaux, and our guide, Private William Massey, a member of Company D, of this regiment, who truly guided us the different routes through the swamp as to elicit the admiration of all. I ought also to mention Sergeant. Jesse Green, of the Sixty-eighth Ohio Regiment Infantry Volunteers, who volunteered to accompany the expedition, and who, whilst acting as sergeant-major, proved himself very efficient and trustworthy.
I have the honor to be, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
F. W. REEDER,

They served their country.

All these men fought in a war of some kind. There is a lot more information on these names. If you see a name of interest and would like to know more about them, you can write me and I will be glad to send it to you, my address can be found in my profile. Please state the title of this page when asking for information, or I may not be able to help you.
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Francis Marion Abbott.

Francis Marion Abbott, in 1863 he answered the call of his country for defenders of the flag during the Civil war, and enlisted in Company K, One Hundred Eighteenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. When his first term of service expired he veteranized in Company F, One Hundred Fifty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, the greater part of his service being in Eastern Tennessee. After his first enlistment he was mustered out of the service at Indianapolis, Indiana, and at the close of the war was mustered out and honorably discharged at Louisville, Kentucky.
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James L. Abernathy.

Mr. Abernathy had taken a strong attitude against the pro-slavery factions and had voted for Abraham Lincoln. It is believed that be recruited the second Kansas company for the war and later he was commissioned captain of Company K Eighth

Francis Marion Abbott, Captain 8th. Kansas Infantry, company A., & Field staff, enlisted in August 28, 1861, home Leavenworth.
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Alfred Alexander.

Alfred Alexander, enlisted in the Seventeenth Kansas Infantry and went through all the war as a fighting soldier of the Union. He participated in a number of campaigns, including that to repel Price's army in 1864.

The Seventeenth was for a short time employed in garrison duty at Fort Leavenworth, but was soon divided, detachments being ordered to Fort Riley, Cottonwood Falls and Lawrence. In September, the battalion was ordered to Paola, Lieut. Col. Drake being placed in command of the post. The subsequent movements of the battalion were in connection with the invasion of Gen. Price in October, 1864.
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Hollis Herbert Allen.

He had enlisted February 25, 1865, in Company D of the One Hundred and Eighty-ninth Ohio Infantry, and was in the army until mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, September 28, 1865.
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Amos J. Anderson.

Amos J. Anderson, enlisted in 1862 for service in the Union army. He spent three years three months in Company E of the Ninth Iowa Cavalry, and fought until the close of hostilities. His principal service was up and down the Mississippi River and in the State of Arkansas, and he waged many fights against the guerrillas and border ruffians of the period. He was also with the Federal armies that pushed back Price's raid through Missouri and Kansas.
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William G. Anderson.

William G. Anderson, in 1862 he enlisted as a private in Company G of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Illinois Infantry and was soon promoted to corporal. On November 6, 1862, the regiment was ordered to Memphis, Tennessee, to join General Sherman. It took part in the movement known as the Tallahatchie expedition, was in the battles of Chickasaw Bluffs and was then sent to Arkansas Post. The regiment arrived in the rear of Vicksburg in May, 1863, and participated in the assault of the 19th and 22d of that month. During this attempt to take Vicksburg from the rear Mr. Anderson was seriously wounded in the right shoulder, was totally disabled by his wound, and was given his honorable discharge at St. Louis December 1, 1863.
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Andrew J. Anderson.

Andrew J. Anderson, went out from Kansas in 1862 as a private soldier in Company C of the Eleventh Kansas Infantry and served three years until the close of the war. Most of his service was west of the Mississippi, and he participated in the battle of Perry's Grove and in the campaign which drove Price out of Missouri.

Andrew J. Anderson, Private, 11th., Kansas Infantry, Company C., enlisted in Aug. 22, 1862, mustered in Sept. 10, 1962, home Emporia. Mustered out with company August 7, 1865.
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Daniel Read Anthony.

At the outbreak of the war Colonel Anthony entered the Union army as lieutenant colonel of the First Kansas Cavalry, which subsequently became the Seventh Kansas Regiment. At the battle of the Little Blue in November, 1861, he led his forces to a victory over four times the number of guerrillas. He spent the year 1862 on duty in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama, and in June of that year while in command of Mitchell's Brigade in Tennessee he issued the noted Order No. 26, which prohibited southern men passing through the Union lines to search for fugitive slaves. General Mitchell requested the countermand of the order, and when Colonel Anthony refused he was placed under arrest. The incident finally reached the attention of the United States Senate, and after investigation General Halleck issued an order restoring General Anthony to duty. About that time he resigned his commission in the army and returned to Leavenworth, but Colonel Anthony's order No. 26 became the policy of the commanders of the northern armies, antedating as it did President Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation.
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William Anthony.

William Anthony, When a mere boy he ran away from home and enlisted in the Union army in Company A of the Sixty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He saw three years of regular service and then re-enlisted and veteranized at Huntsville, Alabama. He was finally mustered out of the service of the United States Government at Louisville, Kentucky, on July 13, 1865, as a corporal. He participated in all the campaigns, battles and marches of his command, and made a splendid record as a soldier.
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Frederick W. Apt.

Frederick W. Apt, In 1861 enlisted for service in the Union army, but in a short time was discharged. In 1863 he removed to Indiana and soon afterward again enlisted, this time in the Eighty-seventh Indiana Infantry. He remained in the service until the close of the war, and suffered such hardships and exposure that he was taken seriously ill before being brought home.
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Walter J. Arnold.

Walter J. Arnold, in 1898 joined the Twentieth Kansas Volunteers for service in the Philippines. With his regiment he went to the Islands, where he subsequently saw much active service with this famous organization, returning with an excellent record after two years. His company had particularly thrilling experiences during the Filipino uprising, on the 4th, 5th and 6th of February, 1899, and was in the very important engagement of Caloocan, February 10th. The regiment of which Mr. Arnold was a member was active in repelling assaults during this time, and subsequently was sent on a four months' campaign in pursuit of the insurrectionists northward through the province of Luzon and going as far as San Fernandos, where Mr. Arnold was stricken with malarial fever. His general officer in this campaign was Col. Fred Funston, but on several occasions he was detailed to General Bell, who was chief of scouts.
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Maurice or Morris D. Bailey.

He went by both names in the service.

M. D. Bailey, At the outbreak of the war joined Company A of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, and most of his service was in the Army of the Potomac. It was his rare privilege, while stationed in the vicinity of Hampton Roads, to witness the epoch-making naval battle between the Confederate ironclad Merrimac and the marvelous invention of Ericson, the gunboat Monitor. Record is in error he was in company F., and not Co. A..

Maurice D. Bailey, Sergeant, 11th. Cavalry Company F,, mustered in August 27, 1861, for 3, years, Promoted to Corporal, August 27, 1864; to Sergeant, October 1, 1864; mustered out with Company, August 13, 1865; Vet.
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Dr. Mahlon Bailey.

Dr. Mahlon Bailey, When the Civil war came on he became assistant surgeon of the First Kansas Volunteers, and later was made surgeon of that regiment, remaining with it throughout its various campaigns. Near the close of the war he was in Iowa, and after peace had been declared took up his residence at Topeka. He remained there, however, only until 1868, when he went to Fort Sill, Indian Territory, as surgeon of the Nineteenth Kansas Regiment, and continued in that capacity for six months, after which he returned to Topeka and again took up the practice of his profession.
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Tim Baker.

Tim Baker, enlisted, in 1861, in the Thirtieth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he fought in various engagements until the battle of Shiloh, in which he was wounded in the ankle. After his recovery he was given a furlough, and on his return to the front was made a captain of the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry, with which he served gallantly until the close of the war, in 1865. He also sustained another wound, in a brush with bushwhackers
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Jonathan H. Lawrence.

Jonathan H. Lawrence was a native of Morgan County, Ohio. Lawrence lived in a cabin on the coast of Maine during the War of 1812. When a British man-of-war attempted to land a small boat filled with sailors there, he as a sharpshooter wounded several and the sailors were glad to get back to their vessel. Subsequently he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and commanded an American ship which captured a British treasure vessel, and he was paid $4,000 as his share of the prize money. The British government subsequently offered $1,000 reward for his capture dead or alive.
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Orlin M. Balch.

Orlin M. Balch, enlisted in the Third Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served nearly four years as a Union soldier. These four years were ones crowded with hard fighting, for the Third Wisconsin took part in some of the most important campaigns and battles of the great struggle, being, among others, at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga, and with Sherman on his great march to the sea. On one occasion Mr. Balch was wounded and taken prisoner by the enemy, but later his exchange was effected.
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Guy L. Ball.

Guy L. Ball, enlisted for three years service in the Union army, and was in the south for three years and three months following the flag on many a hard-fought battlefield. He was a member of Company C in the Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and among the more important battles in which he contended were those of Vicksburg, Memphis, Shiloh, Columbus, Lookout Mountain, and a number of others in the march of the Union arms across the center of the South.
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Frank A. Bardwell.

Frank A. Bardwell, enlisted in the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for three years, and established a fine record for courage and faithful discharge of duty. He took part in numerous skirmishes, was with his regiment in all its long and wearisome marches, and participated in the great battles of Shiloh, Lookout Mountain, Bull Run, Chickamauga and Cold Harbor, many smaller engagements, and the siege of Vicksburg. At the close of the war he received his honorable discharge.
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James Bassett.

James Bassett, enlisted in Company F of the Second Kansas Regiment of Cavalry. He remained with that regiment throughout its campaigns and service, and was not discharged until January 18, 1865. He left the army at Leavenworth as a corporal. As a volunteer he was many times called upon to do dangerous scout duty and was often under the direct fire of the enemy. He was in the Battle of Poison Springs, from which so few of his comrades escaped alive, and in that hurried retreat through the timber received an injury to his right eye which destroyed the sight later and made it necessary to remove the eyeball.
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Samuel Baughman.

Samuel Baughman, was nineteen years of age when he answered the call of his country and enlisted in Company C, Fourteenth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry. Later he veteranized in the Sixty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, his service extending from his first enlistment, in September, 1861, until his final muster out, in June, 1865. During this time he participated in numerous battles, including Fort Donelson, Shiloh and both Corinths. He was with General Sherman at Missionary Ridge and Resaca, all the battles that took place in the great march to the sea, and Atlanta, and in North Carolina, during Sherman's campaign in that state, was at one time taken prisoner by the enemy, but managed to make his escape. His record was an excellent one, both for bravery and faithful performance of duty, and he returned to his home a seasoned soldier and better man, steadied by the stern discipline of the army and with a better understanding of life's responsibilities.
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George L. Beard.

George L. Beard, was a soldier in the One Hundred and Thirty-second Illinois Infantry and he saw seven months of service before the war closed.
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William P. Campbell.

William P. Campbell, enlisted as a member of the First Kentucky Cavalry, and after the expiration of his original term he re-enlisted, as a private in the Sixth Kentucky Cavalry. History effectually records the gallant service of these two vital and dashing Kentucky commands, and with the latter Judge Campbell continued in active service until the close of the war, during the last two years his official post having been that of sergeant-major. In August, 1863, while scouting along the Tennessee River, he was captured by a company of Confederate soldiers, and thereafter he was held as a prisoner of war at the historic old Belle Isle Prison until March, 1864, when his exchange was effected.
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Reuben Cecil.

Reuben Cecil, enlisted for service in the Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry and remained in the army until the close of hostilities. He participated with Sherman on the glorious march to the sea. After the war, he returned to Illinois.
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Henry A. Cecil.

Henry A. Cecil, enlisted in 1861 in the Seventy-second Illinois Infantry and served throughout the war, participating in thirty odd battles, was once wounded, and was with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign and march to the sea, had served with Grant at Shiloh and Vicksburg, and made an enviable record as a fighting soldier.
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George W. Dailey.

George W. Dailey, enlisted in Company D of the Seventeenth Kansas volunteer Infantry, serving as commissary sergeant of his company. He was on duty as a guard at Lawrence immediately following the sacking of that town.
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George Dale.

George Dale, enlisted for service in the Civil war in Wisconsin in 1863, joining a Wisconsin regiment, and was wounded in battle and died in the hospital from the effects of his wounds.
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Samuel S. Davis.

Samuel S. Davis, at nineteen enlist in a Rhode Island regiment of volunteer infantry, with which he served during the entire period of the struggle. He participated in numerous heavy engagements and came through without a wound, but while on a forced march contracted white swelling of the knee-cap, and for a time was invalided home. When he had received his honorable discharge and was mustered out of the service.
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Charles L. Edwards.

Charles L. Edwards, enlisted as a private in Company D of the Thirty-seventh Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Upon the organization of the company he was elected first lieutenant, and subsequently was promoted to captain. At the close of the war he held the rank of major in the regiment. From the time of his enlistment until the last fighting in Virginia he played a gallant part, and few men saw more of the actual struggle and hardships of the war. He was present at the battles of Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Mine Run, Winchester, Petersburg, to name only a few of the major engagements, and he was also at Sailor's Creek, the last pitched battle between the forces of General Grant and of General Lee, just preceding the surrender at Appomattox. When the draft riots broke out in New York City his regiment because of its efficieney was assigned to police and patrol the city. When Washington was threatened by General Early in 1864 his command was sent to check the advance and took part in the battle of Fort Stevens, only five miles away from the capitol.
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Edward J. Fleming.

Edward J. Fleming, enlisted at the age of seventeen, in the latter part of 1862, for service in the Union army. He went out with the One Hundred and Fourteenth Ohio Infantry. From that time on he was a good and faithful soldier until the flags were furled and hostilities closed with all the states reunited in perpetual union. The first great battle in which he took part was Stone River early in 1863. He was with Sherman in the first attack of the Union armies against Vicksburg, and afterwards was with Grant in the determined siege and capture of that Mississippi stronghold. Subsequently he was sent with the troops under Gen. A. J. Smith to rescue Banks' Red River expedition, and assisted Banks' forces in getting down the river. Three days after Lee surrendered he participated in the siege and storming of Mobile, Alabama.
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Eric Forsse.

Eric Forsse, While living in Sweden Eric Forsse had served twelve years in the Swedish army. This experience made him a valuable man at the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1859 he had organized a company of home guards, and at the beginning of the war this was mustered into the United States service with him as captain. The company became Company D of the Fifty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, an organization made up of the Swedish volunteers of Illinois. The regiment became part of Grant's fighting army in the great Mississippi Valley campaign. At the two days' battle of Shiloh Eric Forsse won promotion to the rank of major. He served 3 1/2 years, finally resigning his commission in October, 1864. He was in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth and a number of other campaigns until the armies reached Atlanta. He was never seriously wounded.
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Francis Price Gates.

Francis Price Gates enlisted as a second lieutenant in Company E of the Third Ohio Cavalry and was promoted to major of that regiment. He was a gallant soldier.
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William Bushnell Gates.

William Bushnell Gates enlisted as orderly sergeant and was promoted to captain of Company A of the Third Ohio Cavalry.
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Mrs. Lavinia (Gates) Chapman.

Mrs. Lavinia (Gates) Chapman, was born in Central New York, June 20, 1835. Her parents were S. S. and Mary Ann (Pratt) Gates, and on both sides she is of Revolutionary stock. Her maternal grandfather, Maj. John Pratt, who died in 1820, was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and Gen. Horatio Gates, who captured Burgoyne and his army in 1777, was an uncle of Mrs. Chapman's father. The Gates family came to the American colonies from England and gradually spread over New England and into New York and in the course of years to states further westward.
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WILLIAM PATRICK HACKNEY.

William Patrick Hackney, enlisted in the 7th. Illinois infantry, Co. H., as a corporal was in the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson Shiloh, Corinth, Nashville, Altoona Pass, Wise's Forks and in many other battles. He was wounded at Altoona Pass on the 5th of October, 1864, one ball passing through his right cheek and one through his body. He was not mustered out of the service until July, 1865.
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Robert Emmett Hamill.

Robert Emmett Hamill enlisted in the fall of 1862 for service in the 126th Ohio Infantry. He was in the Union army three years four months. At first he was in the Army of the Tennessee and took part in the great battle of Shiloh. Afterwards he was with the Army of the Potomac and among the more important battles in which he participated were those of Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor, the Battle of the Wilderness, where he was wounded in the abdomen, and was almost constantly on duty until he received his honorable discharge.
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Lewis Hanback.

Lewis Hanback, enlisted April 19, 1861, at Jacksonville, Illinois, in the Harding Light Guards. This organization subsequently became Company B of the Tenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. It was a three months' organization, and when his term expired Hr. Hanback re-enlisted in Company K of the Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered in as orderly sergeant, November 7, 1861, the day he participated in General Grant's first important engagement at Belmont, on the Mississippi River, he was promoted to second lieutenant of his company. He continued to serve with General Grant in the Kentucky campaign. He was at the battle and siege of Island No. 10, also took part in the siege and reduction of Corinth, and in the summer of 1862, was employed in guarding the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. In November, 1862, he was appointed brigade inspector and assigned to the staff of Col. G. W. Roberts. Mr. Hanback was in the battle of Stone River and on July 1, 1863, was promoted to first lieutenant. His next important service was in the battles of Chickamauga and the siege of Chattanooga, and in November, 1863, he was appointed on the staff of Gen. Phil Sheridan. With that gallant cavalry officer he served in the battle of Missionary Ridge. Later he was on the staff of Gen. C. G. Harker, and with him was sent to relieve General Burnside at Knoxville. He was on General Harker's staff until the death of that gallant officer at Kenesaw Mountain. In August, 1864, Mr. Hanback was commissioned captain of Company K, Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After that he served on the staff of Gen. L. P. Bradley as assistant adjutant general of brigade. At the conclusion of his three years' period of enlistment he was mustered out at Springfield, Illinois, September 20, 1864.