Shawnee County KS Archives History - Books .....Chapter VII 1905
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com September 25, 2006, 4:34 am

Book Title: History Of Shawnee County, Kansas

CHAPTER VII.

Repelling the Price Raid—Second Kansas State Militia—Preparations for War in
Topeka—The Home Guards—The Battle of the Blue—Colonel Veale's Regiment in the
Conflict—Capt. Ross Burns and His Famous Battery—The Gage Monument.

    Martial law was declared in Kansas, October 10, 1864, in anticipation of a
raid by the Confederates under command of Gen. Sterling Price, and, in response
to the call of Governor Thomas Carney, the Second Regiment of Kansas State
Militia was organized in Shawnee County, October 12th. George W. Veale was made
colonel of the regiment, which contained 561 men. Most of the men were mounted,
upon their own horses and ponies, and the wagons and supplies were largely their
own property. Accompanying the regiment was a battery of one 24-pounder brass
howitzer, and 22 men, commanded by Capt. Ross Burns. Its ammunition was carried
in a lumber wagon contributed by Edward Pape. The artillery team of four horses
was furnished by John Armstrong and William P. Thompson. The regiment was
ordered into immediate service at Olathe, joining the command of Gen. M. S. Grant.

TOPEKA HOME DEFENDERS.

    A battalion of home guards was also organized for the special defense of the
city of Topeka against a threatened calamity similar to the one which had
befallen Lawrence at the hands of Quantrell. This battalion was in command of
Maj. Andrew Stark and consisted of six companies, under Capts. Fry W. Giles, L.
Craig Shields, H. S. Gale, Thomas Archer, Joseph Trew and Edward Krappe, and a
small battery in charge of Lieut. Tobias Billings. Topeka soon assumed a warlike
appearance. Trenches were cut at the intersections of Sixth avenue and Jefferson
street, and Eighth and Madison streets, to embarrass the enemy's approach. At
the intersection of Sixth and Kansas avenues, the most central point in the
city, a circular stockade was constructed of cottonwood timbers standing 10 feet
above the ground. The drilling and marching and anxiety continued for two weeks,
but the expected attack was not made, and the battalion soon disbanded.

BATTLE OF THE BLUE.

    Ten days after Colonel Veale's regiment had been mustered in, it was called
upon to engage in battle with a brigade of Price's army, a part of General
Shelby's division, commanded by General Jackman. This was the famous battle of
the Big Blue. It was fought on the afternoon of the 22nd day of October, 1864,
at the Mockabee farm, near a crossing of the Big Blue River known as Byrom's
Ford. Colonel Veale's command was outnumbered six to one by the enemy, and the
latter had the additional advantage of seasoned troops and modern equipment.
Against fearful odds Colonel Veale's men fought desperately for three quarters
of an hour, but they were finally overcome and driven from the field at great
loss. The short engagement and the loss inflicted on the enemy by the raw and
untrained recruits from Kansas, had the effect of checking General Price's
advance, and he was ultimately repulsed.

    The dominant feature of the battle of the Blue, as it will live in song and
story, was the wonderful work of the little battery handled by Capt. Ross Burns
and the gunners. The battery was planted in a lane leading from the Mockabee
farm to the crossing of the stream. It withstood two charges from a strong force
of General Jackman's cavalry. The third charge was so powerful, the cavalry
riding six abreast and closely massed, that the battery could not resist it,
although Captain Burns stood by his single field-piece until he was taken
prisoner and clubbed into insensibility. Eight of his men were killed, four
wounded, and 10 taken prisoners.

 Colonel Veale's total losses were 24 killed, 20 wounded and 68 taken prisoners.
He also lost 100 horses and his only piece of artillery. In all, the official
reports the fidelity and courage of the Second Regiment were highly commended by
the commanding officers. A record of the casualties follows: Killed—J. B.
Alverson, Samuel Allen, Nicholas Brown, Moses Banks, C. H. Budd, Robert Bolls,
H. C. Coville, Robert Campbell, Albert Chapman, James Eagle, David Fultz, George
Ginnold, Daniel Handley, Ben Hughes, McClure Martin, Robert McNoun, Dennis Ray,
David Rake, D. M. Race, Elias Roberts, W. P. Roberts, Lear Selkin, William Mann
and Harvey G. Young.

    Wounded—Lieut.-Col. H. M. Greene, Capt. Ross Burns, Capt. H. E. Bush, Capt.
S. B. Miles, Lieut. W. H. Delong, Isaac Bickel, Allen Blandon, John S. Branner,
Brock Crawford, Martin Dreck, Peter Flick, John P. Greer, H. M. Howard, John
Keiser, Dr. A. F. Neeley, James Norris, T. F. Prather, John Thompson, William P.
Thompson and John A. Ward.

    Prisoners—James Anderson, Lieut.-Col. John W. Brown, Isaac Bickel, Samuel
Blandon, J. J. W. Clark, L. T. Cook, H. Cunningham, Frank Dawson, H. M. Deming,
George Duncan, R. Fitzgerald, George Fix, Henry Fix, William Flanders, Perry
Fleshman, F. M. Fletcher, J. B. Follansbee, Lieut. H. P. Gilland, Guilford G.
Gage, J. T. Gage, J. H. Glenn, James R. Greer, W. S. Hibbard, R. W. Hoback, J.
Holman, C. G. Howard, James Huggins, Dr. A. J. Huntoon, Baxter Ingrund, Ephraim
Johnson, John Keiser, John Kemp, Robert Kemp, Jacob Kline, Samuel Kosier, J. A.
Link, Horace Linn, F. K. Mackey, John P. Majors, J. S. Markham, William Marx,
Oscar McCon-nell, G. B. McKee, A. G. Miller, Osburn Naylor, Willard S. Nichols,
Edward Pape, J. A. Polley, Alfred Quiett, S. J. Reader, John Reed, John
Robinson, James Russell, Simon Schaffer, Eli Snyder, Jerome Stahl, J. S.
Stanfield, David Stevens, J. B. Taylor, Wallace True, David Vaughn, Lieut. Hiram
Ward, James Warren, E. B. Williams, Levi Williams, Granger Wood, G. H. Wood and
Nelson Young.

SECOND MILITIA REGIMENT.

    At the time the Second Kansas Regiment of militia was called into service,
the city of Topeka had less than 1,000 population, and in the entire county the
population was not more than 3,500. For this reason the roster of the regiment
is a fairly good index to the families then residing in the county. The original
muster-roll was not preserved, but the following is a nearly complete roster of
the regiment:

    Field and Staff—George W. Veale, colonel; H. M. Greene, lieutenant-colonel;
Andrew Stark, major; S. E. Martin, surgeon; S. J., Reader, A. Q. M.; E. P.
Kellam, adjutant; F. R. Foster, sergeant major; Dan Thompson, Q. M. sergeant;
Jacob Smith, commissary sergeant.

    Company A (Topeka)—Daniel H. Home, captain; S. R. Remington and George O.
Wilmarth, lieutenants; John Martin, 1st sergeant; G. Y. Arnold, F. P. Baker, H.
T. Beman, Edward Bodwell, W. E. Bowker, James Brewer, W. R. Brown, Enoch Chase,
E. E. Chesney, John F. Cole, James Conwell, David Edwards, Peter Fisher, S. H.
Fletcher, M. Gabriel, Asbury Gordon, Louis Grasmuck, J. H. Holman, W. Marshall,
L. H. McArthur, Robert McGinnis, S. H. McGowan, Peter MacVicar, A. B. Perine, D.
W. Ross, W. W. Ross, I. W. Shipley, M. K. Smith, Z. D. Smith, D. Thompson,
Charles Thresher, J. B. Whitaker, A. L. Williams, and D. Zimmerman.

    Company B (Topeka)—Dr. A. J. Huntoon, captain; J. R. Parker and S. W.
Higbee, lieutenants; J. A. Polley, 1st sergeant; A. B. Alverson, W. T. Berryman,
E. Bradshaw, A. H. Case, J. S. Cook, H. C. Coville, M. B. Crawford, B. F.
Dawson, William Dawson, John Elliott, William Flanders, F. M. Fletcher, John
Fletcher, G. S. Freeland, J. R. Greer, John P. Greer, John Harriott, G. W.
Herron, A. S. Hollenberg, C. G. Howard, Paul Hubbard, Fred Huntoon, George M.
Kellam, Hugo Kullak, R. M. Luce, Oscar Mc-Connell, William McElhaney, J. M.
McQuiston, Dr. A. F. Neeley, Willard S. Nichols, James O'Neal, John Oyster, L.
Palmer, N. Ritchey, S. B. Schaffer, H. Stagg, J. S. Stanfield, G. H. Taylor, J.
A. Ward, J. A. Warren, E. L. Wheeler, C. C. Whiting, George Wolf, G. H. Wood,
Harvey G. Young, John Young and Nelson Young.

    Company C (Tecumseh)—J. B. Hannum, captain; Ishiel Tyler and Hiram Ward,
lieutenants; J. M. Vaughn, 1st sergeant; J. A. Adams, J. K. Bartleson, F. M.
Coppage, A. Chapman, C. B. Chapman, Lewis Clogston, J. J. Driver, J. Fletcher,
T. H. Gage, J. T. Gage, R. W. Hoback, Joseph F. Hopkins, S. A. Hopkins, William
M. Jordan, John Keiser, S. Keiser, William Marx, William Massey, G. B. McKee,
Albert G. Miller, Osburn Naylor, Martin Norris, Alfred Quiett, R. Quiett, Jacob
Rankin, John M. Reed, W. T. Reynolds, Harvey D. Rice, Elias Roberts, C. H.
Sharp, George W. Sharp, Henry M. Sharp, Jaques Sheedy, George L. Smith, Jesse W.
Stevenson, B. F. Stillwell, Hiram J. Strickler, Elias Taylor, James Taylor, C.
T. Ward, Luther Woodford and Perry T. Woodward.

    Company D (Indianola)—Sterling B. Miles, captain; W. H. Morgan and T. H.
Miller, lieutenants; John G. Irwin, 1st sergeant; O. T. Angel, Moses Banks, J.
F. Bell, Isaac Bickel, J. H. Brown, A. R. Button, M. A. E. J. Campdoras, J. M.
Clark, J. J. W. Clark, J. Q. A. Cope, Timothy Downey, Everett Eaton, W. K.
Elliott, G. P. Fied-erling, F. W. Flesher, Perry Fleshman, John Griffith, James
Hug-gins, J. F. Jenner, Ephraim Johnson, Moses Kellis, John Kemp, Robert Kemp,
Thomas Kemp, B. F. Kestler, C. M. Kestler, George W. Kestler, J. J. Kopp, J. M.
Kuykendall, J. P. Majors, Ezekiel Marple, Thomas Marple, Robert McNoun, David
Mitchell, Isaiah A. Pasley, Austin W. Pliley, William Pliley, Edward Plumer,
William Prusait, Dennis Ray, Roswell Rose, John Stamp, Charles B. Steward, David
Vaughn, Thomas J. Wallis and S. T. Woodard.

    Company E (Topeka)—John H. Banks, captain; William P. Douthitt and S. C.
Herriott, lieutenants; E. A. Goodell, 1st sergeant; E. A. Alward, G. F. Boyd,
Hugh Campbell, W. W. Climenson, Lester M. Crawford, Thomas J. Crawford, George
Doane, S. Dunham, Charles Engler, Charles Farnsworth, W. H. Fitzpatrick, H.
Kline, Albert Knowles, S. D. McDonald, Joseph C. Miller, J. H. Mills, Theodore
Mills, John Murray, John Nichols, John G. Otis, James Samuels, Charles A.
Sexton, John Sharrai, A. H. Slayton, Geo. W. Spencer, Nathan Warner, John Weir
and William H. Weymouth.

    Company F (Big Springs)—James Thompson, captain; Dennis Moriarty and H. P.
Gilland, lieutenants; John Banning, 1st sergeant; Frank Brown, Robert Campbell,
D. A. Cardwell, T. H. Clark, J. A. Davidson, Henry Drummers, George Duncan,
William Duncan, James Eagle, George Fix, Henry Fix, J. H. Glenn, J. H. Hall, L.
H. Hilligoss, J. J. Howell, Thomas Johnson, Theo. Kreipe, D. H. Lawrence, J. D.
Lemschule, William Lemschule, J. B. Miller, T. S. Murray-, J. C. Niccum, T. F.
Prather, A. S. Roberts, J. W. Roberts, Oliver Spencer, W. A. Thompson and
Wallace True.

    Company G (Auburn)—H. E. Bush, captain; H. L. Shumway and W. H. Delong,
lieutenants; P. I. Bonebrake, 1st sergeant; Samuel Allen, George Barker, Isaac
Baxter, John Baxter, Allen Blandon, S. Blandon, J. W. Brown, W. H. Combs, L. T.
Cook, H. Cunningham, H. M. Deming, W. A. Engle, Peter Flick, Charles Garrison,
Robert Gault, J. M. Hastings, M. C. Hendrick, W. S. Hibbard, W. A. Hogaboom, Ira
Hyde, Bartholomew Ingrund, Baxter Ingrund, George Johnson, C. C. Lewis, J. S.
Markham, F. D. Mills, C. C. Moore, W. H. Penfield, W. W. Phillips, Henry Pifer,
W. P. Roberts, F. Richerhauser, John Robinson, James Russell, B. P. Seymour, Eli
Snyder, Peter Snyder, Peter Spangler, Jerome Stahl, F. M. Stahl, R. Stees, D.
Stevens, J. Thompson, XV. Walker and Granger Wood.

    Company H (Williamsport)—Perry Tice, captain; J. L. Young and H. K. Winans,
lieutenants; Oliver Selover, 1st sergeant; James W: Brown, James Carroll,
Leviston Clay, William Coker, E. W. Hungerford, J. W. Lacey, T. Lawler, T. H.
Lescher, H. Matney, J. Matney, J. McDowd, David McMaster, J. R. Nelson, Charles
Owen, John Porter, D. Randell, Thomas Reynolds, E. W. Rudolph, Isaac Seamans, J.
C. Thomas, W. Wellhouse, J. B. Whitlock, S. H. Wiison, E. W. Winans, M. S.
Yarrington, Jesse Yocum and W. G. Yocum.

    Company I (Monmouth)—William Disney, captain; John Helton and William Reed,
lieutenants; Samuel Kosier, 1st sergeant; J. P. Allen, Robert Allen, R. J.
Bales, Robert Bolls, Adam Bowers, C. D. Bush, J. W. Coberly, Edward Davis, A. A.
Disney, Richard Disney, Martin Dreck, David Fultz, H. D. Heaiy, J. A. Heberling,
E. J. Heil, F. Helton, D. Hopper, S. Hopper, William Hotze, H. M. Howard, G. W.
Johnson, H. Linn, J. W. Little, S. J. Livingston, H. G. Lyons, Silas Lyons,
James Norris, J. A. Oliver, S. W. Stowall, T. E. Strode, A. M. Thornton, W. G.
Toney, William Wann, E. B. Williams, S. E. Williams and Harrison Wright.

    Company K (Topeka Battery)—Ross Burns*, captain; Tobias Billings and Charles
H. Wyckoff,* lieutenants; Charles H. Gibson, ist sergeant; James Anderson*, John
Armstrong*, John S. Branner*, Justus Brockway, Nicholas Brown*, Charles H.
Budd*, Daniel Copson, J. F. Cummings, Daniel Dawson, John Devine, William
Farren, R. Fitzgerald, J. E. Follansbee*, Guilford G. Gage*, C. K. Gilchrist,
George Ginnold*, Daniel Handley*, Nathan Harvey, A. Herboldsheimer, J. H.
Holman*, Ben Hughes*, A. Kingsley, Jacob Kline*, John A. Link*, Jeremiah Logan,
Fred K. Mackey*, Henry Mackey, Martin McClure*, Thomas McGuire, D. L. Morse,
Philip Moeser, William Moeser*, Edward Pape*, Lorenzo Pauley, Morris Pickett,
Meric D. Race*, John Ryan, Lear Selkin*, John A. Shaffer, William P. Thompson*,
G. B. Wade, William B. Wade, Levi Williams*, Samuel Wilson and John Worth.

    It should be explained that companies A and E of the Second Regiment, being
unmounted, were attached to an infantry regiment on duty at another point on the
Missouri border, and did not participate in the battle of the Blue. In the list
of men in the Topeka Battery only those designated by stars were with Captain
Burns in the same battle, the others remaining in Topeka to guard the city.

THE GAGE MONUMENT.

    On the 30th of May, 1895, in connection with the memorial exercises of the
day, a beautiful and imposing monument of granite was dedicated to the memory of
the soldiers who fell in the battle of the Blue. The monument was erected in the
cemetery at Topeka, and was the gift of Guilford G. Gage, one of the survivors
of the historic encounter. He lived to witness the dedication, and to recount
the story of the event which it so eloquently perpetuates, but he has since
passed away, as have most of his comrades. Col. George W. Veale, who is still
living, presided at the dedication, and made an address covering the main
incidents of the battle. Other addresses were made by Gen. John C. Caldwell and
Howel Jones, that of the latter being devoted to a review of the character and
services of Capt. Ross Burns. Prayer was offered by Rev. Francis S. McCabe, D.
D., and the unveiling of the monument was gracefully performed by Katie Ost, a
little girl whose grandfather was killed in the battle. An invitation was
extended to Gen. Joseph Shelby, whose advance force opposed the Kansas men in
the Mockabee lane, to attend the dedication of the monument, but he sent a
courteous letter or regret filled with warm praise for the valor of the Second
Regiment and the conspicuous bravery of Captain Burns and his skillful gunners.

    Upon the suggestion of Mr. Gage, a detailed history of the battle of The
Blue was written by James W. Steele, and published in 1899. The memorial volume
is dedicated 'To the survivors of the Second Regiment, K. S. M., and to the
memory of those who died; to their descendants wherever scattered, and to all
who honor the courage that is without glory, and the devotion which hopes for no
reward."


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY, KANSAS
AND
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

EDITED AND COMPILED BY
JAMES L. KING
TOPEKA, KANSAS 

"History is Philosophy Teaching by Examples"

PUBLISHED BY
RICHMOND & ARNOLD,
GEORGE RICHMOND; C. R. ARNOLD.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,
1905.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/shawnee/history/1905/historyo/chapterv9nms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ksfiles/

File size: 16.2 Kb