CHAPTER VIII
LONE JACK
Although the dispersion of Porter's and Poindexter's forces hadapparently put an end, at least for a time, to the guerrilla warfare inNortheast Missouri, the situation was still threatening in SouthwestMissouri. It was for that reason General Schofield had ordered Lawrenceto that field to inspect the posts, and to see that the officers incommand were vigilant and doing their full duty.
Rumors were rife that a large party under Hughes, Quantrell and otherswas gathering to attack Independence, also that a force was moving upfrom Arkansas to join them. Independence captured, the combined forceswere to move on Lexington.
Lawrence was to sift down these rumors, and find out how much truththere was in them, and above all to impress on the officers in charge ofthe different posts the necessity of eternal vigilance.
But the blow fell just before Lawrence reached Lexington. LieutenantColonel Buell, in command at Independence, although repeatedly warned,allowed himself to be surprised. His forces were divided and not wellposted, and after a spirited fight Buell surrendered, and with him aboutthree hundred men were taken prisoners. The Confederate commander,Colonel Hughes, was killed in the action.
The capture of Independence greatly elated the guerrillas, and recruitscame pouring in by the hundreds. They now only awaited the arrival ofColonel Coffee from the south and they would move on to Lexington. WhenLawrence arrived at Lexington he found the place in the wildestexcitement. Rumors said that the enemy numbered thousands, and that theywere already marching on the place.
Lawrence acted quickly. He applied to the commander of the post for adetail of ten men, dressed in citizen clothes.
"Tell them," he said, "it is for a scout, so they will not be deceivedas to the danger of the undertaking."
The ten men were easily procured, and, headed by Lawrence and Dan,started. The object was to find out the strength of the enemy underCoffee, and whether he could not be prevented from forming a union withthe forces which had captured Independence.
The scout was far more successful than Lawrence could have hoped.Representing themselves as coming from north of the river, they had notrouble in meeting on friendly terms several small parties of guerrillaswith whom they fell in. They were all on their way to join Thompson, whowas now in command of the forces which had captured Independence.Everyone expected Lexington would be the next to fall, and they were allanxious to have a hand in the affair. Lawrence represented they were tofind Coffee and hurry him up.
At length they were fortunate enough to fall in with a single guerrillawho was sitting by the side of the road, making the air blue with hiscurses.
"What's the matter?" asked Lawrence.
"My hoss stepped into a hole and threw me, and I have broken my leg," hegroaned.
"That's bad," said Lawrence. "I will see what I can do for you."
"Yes, it's bad, and I was on my way from Colonel Coffee to ColonelThompson."
"Ah! were you? Perhaps I can help you. I can send one of my men with themessage. What was it?"
"That he would camp near Lone Jack on the evening of the fifteenth, andwanted Thompson to join him thar."
"How many men has Coffee?" Lawrence asked.
"About a thousand, but more are coming in all the time."
The information was important. It was just what Lawrence wanted, butwhat to do with the man and still keep him deceived puzzled Lawrence.This problem was solved by a native coming along driving a raw-bonedhorse before a rickety wagon. Lawrence stopped him. The disabledguerrilla was lifted into the wagon and taken to the nearest farmhouse.Here Lawrence left instructions for them to send for a physician to setthe broken leg.
"Now I've done all I can for you," he told him, "and I must leave you,for my business is very important. I shall see that your message toColonel Thompson is safely delivered."
No sooner were they out of sight than Lawrence said, "Now, boys, forLexington."
When Lawrence made his report, Colonel Huston, in command at Lexington,acted with promptness. It was decided to send a force to strike Coffeeat Lone Jack before Thompson and Quantrell could join him.
The utmost that could be done was to gather a little force of aboutseven hundred and fifty. This force was placed in command of Major EmeryFoster.
There was another force of about the same number under the command ofColonel Fitz Henry Warren at Clinton. Clinton being about the samedistance from Lone Jack as Lexington, Warren was ordered to march thereand join Foster, and the two forces combined to attack Coffee withoutdelay.
In the meantime General Blunt, in command at Fort Scott, Kansas, hadlearned that Coffee had slipped past Springfield and was making north,and he started in pursuit with a thousand men.
A third force under Colonel Burris of the Kansas Infantry was ordered tomove from Kansas City and try to catch Thompson and Quantrell beforethey could join Coffee.
Thus it looked as if the Confederates were hemmed in, and if everythingwent right, could be captured.
Lawrence decided to join the expedition under Foster.
Foster's little army left Lexington on the morning of the fifteenth ofAugust, and by a rapid march reached the vicinity of Lone Jack byevening. Here at nine o'clock at night he surprised Coffee in camp,routing him, his men fleeing in confusion.
Foster took possession of the abandoned camp and waited until morning.Warren had not been heard from.
Lawrence still was in command of his scouts, and he volunteered to seeif he could find Warren.
The night was dark and they had to be careful.
"If we only had Harry and Bruno," sighed Lawrence to Dan, as they weregroping their way along as best they could.
"If we had we wouldn't be going at this snail pace," answered Dan.
They could find nothing of Warren and started to return. On the way backthey came to a cross road and halted in doubt as to which road to take.While debating, the sound of approaching horses was heard.
"Halt," commanded Lawrence as two guerrillas rode up.
"Who are yo' uns?" they asked, surprised.
"We 'uns are from Thompson. I was afraid yo' uns were Yanks. Whar isCoffee?"
"The Yanks struck his camp a few hours ago and made us git."
"Many hurt?"
"I reckon not. We 'uns run too fast."
"Glad to heah that. Thompson sent me to tell Coffee he would be with himby morning. Coffee hasn't run clear away, has he?"
"No, he's gittin' his men together and will be all right by morning. Howmany men has Thompson?"
"About twelve or fifteen hundred. You see, Quantrell and Hayes air withhim. An Red Jerry has promised to come with his company."
"Together we 'uns ought to eat the Yanks up tomorrow."
"I don't see any use of your going farther, as Thompson is coming," saidLawrence. "So you might as well go with us into camp."
To this the guerrillas agreed, and their surprise can be imagined whenthey found themselves in Foster's camp instead of Coffee's.
The report of Lawrence that he could not find Warren, and that Thompsonwould join Coffee in the morning troubled Foster.
"The whole combined force will be down on us in the morning," he said."Where can Warren be? Surely he cannot fail, for his orders werepositive, and mine were positive to stay here and wait for him. And stayI will, if all the devils in Missouri are around me."
Lawrence looked at him with admiration. "Major, you are a man after myown heart," he said. "I will make one more attempt to find Warren. Thistime I will only take Sherman with me, as I do not wish to deplete yourlittle force by a single man."
"It will be dangerous, only two of you," replied Foster.
"Not as much danger as you will be in if Warren does not come," answeredLawrence. "God grant I may find him."
"Amen!" said Foster, fervently.
The two men shook hands and Lawrence and Dan rode away. It lacked but anhour till day.
Morning came, but there was no Warren, and neither had Dan and
Lawrencereturned. The new day had hardly begun when the guerrilla hordes poureddown on Foster's little army, confident of an easy victory.
Now began one of the bloodiest and most fiercely contested small battlesof the war. The enemy had no artillery, but Foster had two pieces of theThird Indiana battery. The lieutenant in charge of the piece, J. F.Devlin, had been removed by Major Foster the night before for beingintoxicated, and the guns placed in charge of Sergeant James M. Scott,and nobly did he uphold the confidence placed in him. Never was there abattery better or more bravely served. Time and time again did the enemycharge upon the guns, only to be flung back, bleeding and torn.
During a lull in the conflict, Lieutenant Devlin, somewhat recoveredfrom his drunken debauch, staggered on the field and ordered his men toabandon the pieces. Accustomed to obey their superior officer, the mendid so. The enemy saw and with fiendish yells of triumph swarmed uponand over the pieces.
It was a critical moment. Major Foster hastily collected sixty men andcharged on the guns--so shamelessly abandoned by the order of a drunkencommander. Of the sixty men who charged, but eleven reached the guns,the rest had fallen, and among them the gallant Major. Others now rushedto the rescue, the artillery men came back, and once more the guns werethundering their defiance. The enemy again rushed on them, only to bebloodily repulsed.
Disheartened, the Confederates now fell back, leaving the field to thosewho had so valiantly defended it. But the situation of the little bandwas perilous. Nothing had been heard from Warren, and nearly one-half ofthe force had fallen. Captain Brawner, on whom the command had fallen,resolved to retreat to Lexington. In doing this the two cannon had to beabandoned.
Every horse had been shot, even the harnesses were in tatters. Of thethirty-six artillery men manning the guns, twenty-four had been killedand wounded. The severely wounded had to be left, among them the gallantFoster.[5]
[Footnote 5: The brave Major recovered from what was supposed to be amortal wound, was exchanged, and afterwards did valiant service for theUnion.]
So severe had been the punishment administered to the enemy that theFederals were not molested in their retreat. It put an end to all theConfederates' hopes of capturing Lexington.[6]
[Footnote 6: Out of the seven hundred and forty Federals engaged in thebattle the loss was two hundred and seventy-two. The Confederates neverreported their loss, but a Confederate officer told Captain Brawner thatthey buried one hundred and eighteen, who had been killed outright,besides their hundreds of wounded.]
But where were Lawrence and Dan all the time the battle was raging? Whyhad they not brought Colonel Warren to the rescue?
In the early morning they had run into a small party of guerrillas, hadboldly charged them and put them to flight, but the sound of firing hadbrought a larger party, and they blocked the way Lawrence and Dan wishedto go. It was now light, and they saw the band numbered at least fifty.There was no help for it, they had to turn and run, and that in adirection that for aught they knew would bring them in the midst of theenemy.
With fierce yells the guerrillas took up the pursuit and the chase was ahot one. Lawrence and Dan were well mounted, but a few of the guerrillaswere just as well mounted, and pressed them closely.
Now as they fled, above the sound of their horses' hoofs rose the soundof battle. Just the faint cracking of musketry, and then the boom of thecannon.
"Great Heavens!" gasped Lawrence. "They are at it. Foster and his littleband against thousands. Why did we leave them? We might have been of alittle help."
"And we are going farther away from Warren every minute," groaned Dan.
Here the whistling of a bullet from the revolver of the nearestguerrilla brought their thoughts back to the seriousness of their ownsituation. They had now gone beyond the sound of the musketry, but theroar of the cannon grew more incessant, and they knew they were almostin the rear of the enemy.
Coming to where there were open fields, they glanced to the right andsaw the stragglers and wounded drifting to the rear, as is always thecase in time of battle. They must turn or they would soon be in themidst of the rabble.
Fortunately, they came to a cross road and turned into it. They were nowfollowed by only five or six of their pursuers, the rest having turnedback to take part in the battle. But these half dozen were mounted onthe fleetest horses and were gaining on them rapidly. Already thebullets were singing around them freely.
"This cannot last," Lawrence exclaimed. "Our horses are becoming winded.We must find some way to stop those fellows."
"We've got to stop them," said Dan. "My horse is staggering and I lookfor him to drop any minute."
They rode over a little hill that for a moment put them out of sight."Now," said Lawrence, halting and wheeling his horse. Dan did the same.
"When they come over the hill give it to them," exclaimed Lawrence. "Itwill be a question of who can shoot the straightest."
Dan smiled and he drew his revolver. He was known to be a dead shot, andnothing rattled him.
They had hardly two seconds to wait when four of the guerrillas dashedover the rise. Seeing Lawrence and Dan facing them and not thirty yardsaway, startled them and they instinctively tried to check their headlongpace. It was a fatal mistake, for it disconcerted their aim and theirshots went wild.
To his astonishment, Lawrence recognized one of the guerrillas as JerryAlcorn, his old time enemy. Lawrence fired, but just as he did soJerry's horse threw up his head and the ball struck him squarely betweenthe eyes. The horse dropped like a stone, pinning Jerry for a moment tothe ground.
Dan had fired the same time Lawrence did and his guerrilla pitchedheadlong. The report of his shot had not died before he shot again and asecond guerrilla fell.
The remaining guerrilla had no stomach to continue the fight, andwheeled his horse to flee. Once more Dan's revolver spoke, and theguerrilla fell forward, but he clung desperately to the neck of hishorse and was soon carried from view.
It took Jerry Alcorn but a moment to extricate himself from his horse,and as he half rose he fired at Lawrence, but missed. Lawrence returnedthe fire, and the ball struck Jerry's revolver and sent it spinning.With a mocking laugh Jerry sprang into the bushes along the road. "Notthis time, Lawrence Middleton," he shouted as he disappeared, "but we'llmeet again."
"Let's get out of here," said Lawrence. "We can't follow Jerry in thebrush and we are now safe from pursuit."
Even the short stop had allowed their horses a breathing spell and theycould now ride more leisurely.
"Dan, I'm a poor stick. I should be reduced to the ranks and you givenmy commission," said Lawrence.
"How's that?" asked Dan.
"Didn't you get three of those fellows, and I only killed a horse anddisabled a revolver. Missed three shots." Lawrence had fired again atJerry as he disappeared in the brush. "Bah! I'm ashamed of myself."
"Look here!" said Dan. "It was that measly horse. He had no business tothrow up his head at that moment. Served him right to get killed."
"But the second shot, Dan. It went wild and hit his revolver, and thethird missed altogether. And of all men to let Jerry Alcorn escape. Kickme, Dan."
"Might have bored one of us if you hadn't knocked the revolver out ofhis hand," answered Dan, "so shut up."
They had ridden far out of their way and had to make a wide circuit toget back. A little before noon the distant booming of the cannon washeard no longer.
"It's all over," sighed Lawrence, "and I'm afraid."
Dan's jaws came together with a snap and a dark scowl came over hisface. "Why in thunder didn't Warren come?" he wrathfully exclaimed."Some of these officers make me tired."
It was the middle of the afternoon before Warren was found. He wasfearful of an attack on himself, and was several miles from thebattlefield.
To Lawrence's request to hurry the Colonel replied, "You say the battleis over and in all probability Foster's whole force captured. In thatcase I can do no good. My force is but little greater than that Foster
had."
"But they may not all be captured. You may be able to cover theretreat," Lawrence urged.
"The best I can do is to stay and watch the enemy, and wait forreinforcements," replied Warren.
Lawrence and Dan were disgusted, but Warren was right in not seeking anengagement with his small force.
"What shall we do, Dan?" Lawrence asked with a heavy heart as theyturned away.
"Try and see what has become of Foster," answered Dan.
"You're right, Dan."
They were about to ride away when news came that Foster's force was infull retreat for Lexington, and that those who survived the battle weresafe.
Lawrence and Dan concluded to stay with Warren.
Knowing that a force from Kansas City, as well as General Blunt from thefar south, was closing in on the Confederates, they had high hopes thatthey might be captured. But during the night Coffee's entire forceslipped by Blunt and, before the movement was discovered, was well onits way to Arkansas. The guerrilla bands of Quantrell, Red Jerry andothers took to the brush, there to remain hidden until the Federaltroops had returned to their several posts.
Lawrence and Dan returned to Lexington disgusted. They believed that ifthe different forces had acted together, and the campaign been managedrightly, the entire force of the enemy could have been captured.
The Courier of the Ozarks Page 8