Borderruffian
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2007
- Location
- Marshfield Missouri
Red Legs.—During the early part of the Civil war western Missouri was infested with bands of guerrillas, and it was no uncommon occurrence for some of these lawless gangs to cross the border and commit depredations in Kansas. To guard against these incursions, and otherwise to aid the Union cause, a company of border scouts was formed sometime in the year 1862. As it was an independent organization, never regularly mustered into the United States service, no official record of it has been preserved. The men composing the company became known as "Red Legs," from the fact that they wore leggings of red or tan-colored leather. Wilder, in his Annals of Kansas (p. 956), says it was a secret Union military society, that it was organized in June, 1862, and numbered 163 men, with George H. Hoyt as commander. John M. Dean, who was a member of the company, says it was organized in Oct., 1862. Connelley, in his Quantrill and the Border Wars, says it was organized by Gens. Ewing and Blunt for desperate service along the border, and George W. Martin, secretary of the Kansas Historical Society, in Volume XI of the Kansas Historical Collections (p. 279), says the Red Legs were organized in Dec., 1862, or Jan., 1863, and that there were never less than 50 nor more than 100 of them.
The qualifications for membership in the company were unquestioned loyalty to the Union cause, undaunted courage and the skillful use of the rifle or revolver. Their headquarters were at the "Six-mile House," so called because it was six miles from Wyandotte on the Leavenworth road. This house was erected in the winter of 1860-61 by Joseph A. Bartels, whose son, Theodore, one of the best pistol shots on the border, was a member of the Red Legs. The company was commanded by Capt. George H. Hoyt, the lawyer who defended John Brown at Charleston, Va. Other members were Jack Harvey, a brother of Fred Harvey, of Santa Fe eating house fame; William Hickok, who later became known as "Wild Bill"; Joseph B. Swain, nicknamed "Jeff Davis," afterward captain of Company K. Fifteenth Kansas; "Red" Clark, of Emporia, whom Gen. Ewing said was the best spy he ever had; John M. Dean, who has already been mentioned as one of the organizers; and W. S. Tough, for many years proprietor of the horse market at the Kansas City stock yards. Still others, of less note, were Harry Lee, Newt Morrison, Jack Hays, James Flood, Jerry Malcolm, and Charles Blunt, often called "One-eyed Blunt."
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/r/red_legs.html
The climax of Lane's march occurred at Osceola on Septem*ber 23. After exchanging a few shots with some Confederates on the outskirts, his men entered the town and proceeded to ransack it. They robbed the bank, pillaged stores and private houses, and looted the courthouse. Captain Thomas Moonlight bombarded this last building with a cannon, and others set fire to the town, almost totally destroying it. Many of the Kansans got so drunk that when it came time to leave they were unable to march and had to ride in wagons and carriages.[13] They carried off with them a tremendous load of plunder, including as Lane's personal share a piano and a quantity of silk dresses.[14] The "Sack of Osceola" henceforth was a prime cause of bitter hatred of Lane and Kansans by the people of West Missouri.
http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History2/casteljayhawking.htm
Expired Image Removed
Sen. James Lane in a militant pose, perhaps from spring of 1861 when he and other armed Kansans barracked in the White House until a.regular troops arrived to protect the U.S. capital. He restored sagging political fortures at the Battle of Westport and was sent back to the Senate in early 65, but shot himself in 1866.
The qualifications for membership in the company were unquestioned loyalty to the Union cause, undaunted courage and the skillful use of the rifle or revolver. Their headquarters were at the "Six-mile House," so called because it was six miles from Wyandotte on the Leavenworth road. This house was erected in the winter of 1860-61 by Joseph A. Bartels, whose son, Theodore, one of the best pistol shots on the border, was a member of the Red Legs. The company was commanded by Capt. George H. Hoyt, the lawyer who defended John Brown at Charleston, Va. Other members were Jack Harvey, a brother of Fred Harvey, of Santa Fe eating house fame; William Hickok, who later became known as "Wild Bill"; Joseph B. Swain, nicknamed "Jeff Davis," afterward captain of Company K. Fifteenth Kansas; "Red" Clark, of Emporia, whom Gen. Ewing said was the best spy he ever had; John M. Dean, who has already been mentioned as one of the organizers; and W. S. Tough, for many years proprietor of the horse market at the Kansas City stock yards. Still others, of less note, were Harry Lee, Newt Morrison, Jack Hays, James Flood, Jerry Malcolm, and Charles Blunt, often called "One-eyed Blunt."
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/r/red_legs.html
The climax of Lane's march occurred at Osceola on Septem*ber 23. After exchanging a few shots with some Confederates on the outskirts, his men entered the town and proceeded to ransack it. They robbed the bank, pillaged stores and private houses, and looted the courthouse. Captain Thomas Moonlight bombarded this last building with a cannon, and others set fire to the town, almost totally destroying it. Many of the Kansans got so drunk that when it came time to leave they were unable to march and had to ride in wagons and carriages.[13] They carried off with them a tremendous load of plunder, including as Lane's personal share a piano and a quantity of silk dresses.[14] The "Sack of Osceola" henceforth was a prime cause of bitter hatred of Lane and Kansans by the people of West Missouri.
http://www.civilwarstlouis.com/History2/casteljayhawking.htm
Expired Image Removed
Sen. James Lane in a militant pose, perhaps from spring of 1861 when he and other armed Kansans barracked in the White House until a.regular troops arrived to protect the U.S. capital. He restored sagging political fortures at the Battle of Westport and was sent back to the Senate in early 65, but shot himself in 1866.