IIRC, the fight the writer referred to in St. Joseph and in Savannah both had to do with Southern men raising rebel flags in both towns. Jeff Thompson, the "Swampfox of the Confederacy" was the mayor of St. Joseph about this time, but soon left to join the MO. State Guard. This part of MO., though not considered a part of "Little Dixie" still had a large number of southern men, and southern sympathisers. My father's side of my family all came from a little town about 12 miles from St. Joseph and 8 miles from Savannah. I inherited a farm there that has been in my family since the opening of the "Platte Purchase" in1838.
I hope the writer didn't join up with Lane and his jaywalkers. They burned my gg grandfather's farm, and he was a Union man. But that didn't matter to the jayhawkers, as my gg grandfather was also a Missourian. Such was the way the war was fought out here. You can kind of see that attitude in the letter.