Murder of Nancy Anderson Cypert

Note when I say " Probally our lowest moment as the United States with United States values.........." The United States was still practicing slavery, still treating Indians like they did at Sand Creek, but also suspended basic constitutional protections for everyone and realisticly if you didn't belong to one political party in parts of the country, you ran the risk of arrest or mistreatment.

Be away awhile, gotta go to STL for Doc appts tommorrow
 
And Petty’s criminal career ties in with lots and lots of soldier memoirs I’ve read about the army in general and regiments, etc having a certain amount of knaves and what we would today call thugs, lowlifes and career criminals in it. It must have been beyond difficult to try to master and control these type of men.
 
In large part because Lane was a senator at the start of the war, he is the one who organized a "bodyguard" to camp in the white house, he ingratiated himself to Lincoln and became his pet, afterwards when he returned to Kansas to Jayhawk and the Union authorities complained about the snake Lane was, Lincoln seemed to protect him, and not want to accept the truth about him.

I defer to your knowledge of this arena of the war of which I have very little but it seems to me if anyone is responsible for General Lane's continued misconduct that it would be generals McClellan and Hunter who Lane was assigned under. I would think that either General could have brought charges against him but then, I may be wrong.

Hdqrs. of the Army, Adjutant-General's Office,
Washington, January 24, 1862.
Major-General Hunter, U. S. A.,
Commanding Department Kansas, Fort Leavenworth:
General : By direction of the General-in-Chief I have respectfully
to inform you that Brig. Gen. J. H. Lane, U. S. Volunteers, has urged
upon the President and Secretary of War an expedition to be conducted
by him from Fort Leavenworth against the region west of Missouri and
Kansas [Arkansas]. The outlines of his plan were stated by him to be
in accordance with your own views. The following force, with supplies
therefor, has been ordered to Kansas to operate under General Lane:
Seven regiments cavalry, three batteries artillery, four regiments infantry,
and he has been authorized also to raise about 8,000 to 10,000
Kansas troops and to organize 4,000 Indians.

The General-in-Chief, in conveying to you this information, desires it
to be understood that a command independent of you is not given to
General Lane, but he is to operate to all proper extent under your supervision
and control, and if you deem proper you may yourself command
the expedition which may be undertaken. Under these circumstances
the General will not give you a formal leave according to your application,
but he authorizes you to absent yourself from your command for
twenty days, at your own discretion.
I am, sir, &c.,
L. THOMAS.
Adjutant- General
O.R. Series I, Volume VIII, pp. 525-526

__________________________________________

To Edwin M. Stanton
Executive Mansion,
Hon. Sec. of War Washington, January 31, 1862.

My dear Sir: It is my wish that the expedition commonly called the ``Lane Expedition'' shall be as much as has been promised the Adjutant General's Office, under the supervision of Gen. McClellan, and not any more. I have not intended, and do not now intend that it shall be a great exhausting affair; but a snug, sober column of 10,000 or 15,000. Gen. Lane has been told by me many times that he is under the command of Gen. Hunter, and assented to it as often as told. It was the distinct agreement between him & me when I appointed him, that he was to be under Hunter.
Yours truly A. LINCOLN
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume V, pg. 116
 
I defer to your knowledge of this arena of the war of which I have very little but it seems to me if anyone is responsible for General Lane's continued misconduct that it would be generals McClellan and Hunter who Lane was assigned under. I would think that either General could have brought charges against him but then, I may be wrong.

Hdqrs. of the Army, Adjutant-General's Office,
Washington, January 24, 1862.
Major-General Hunter, U. S. A.,
Commanding Department Kansas, Fort Leavenworth:
General : By direction of the General-in-Chief I have respectfully
to inform you that Brig. Gen. J. H. Lane, U. S. Volunteers, has urged
upon the President and Secretary of War an expedition to be conducted
by him from Fort Leavenworth against the region west of Missouri and
Kansas [Arkansas]. The outlines of his plan were stated by him to be
in accordance with your own views. The following force, with supplies
therefor, has been ordered to Kansas to operate under General Lane:
Seven regiments cavalry, three batteries artillery, four regiments infantry,
and he has been authorized also to raise about 8,000 to 10,000
Kansas troops and to organize 4,000 Indians.

The General-in-Chief, in conveying to you this information, desires it
to be understood that a command independent of you is not given to
General Lane, but he is to operate to all proper extent under your supervision
and control, and if you deem proper you may yourself command
the expedition which may be undertaken. Under these circumstances
the General will not give you a formal leave according to your application,
but he authorizes you to absent yourself from your command for
twenty days, at your own discretion.
I am, sir, &c.,
L. THOMAS.
Adjutant- General
O.R. Series I, Volume VIII, pp. 525-526

__________________________________________

To Edwin M. Stanton
Executive Mansion,
Hon. Sec. of War Washington, January 31, 1862.

My dear Sir: It is my wish that the expedition commonly called the ``Lane Expedition'' shall be as much as has been promised the Adjutant General's Office, under the supervision of Gen. McClellan, and not any more. I have not intended, and do not now intend that it shall be a great exhausting affair; but a snug, sober column of 10,000 or 15,000. Gen. Lane has been told by me many times that he is under the command of Gen. Hunter, and assented to it as often as told. It was the distinct agreement between him & me when I appointed him, that he was to be under Hunter.
Yours truly A. LINCOLN
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume V, pg. 116
Away from sources, Fremont was organizing the relief of Lexington, theres several who complained of his conduct though.

I would agree several could havery brought cha6rges and didnt, doesn't speak well of union justice when obvious crimes are committed and no charges are brought, no disagreement there.
 
I defer to your knowledge of this arena of the war of which I have very little but it seems to me if anyone is responsible for General Lane's continued misconduct that it would be generals McClellan and Hunter who Lane was assigned under. I would think that either General could have brought charges against him but then, I may be wrong.

Hdqrs. of the Army, Adjutant-General's Office,
Washington, January 24, 1862.
Major-General Hunter, U. S. A.,
Commanding Department Kansas, Fort Leavenworth:
General : By direction of the General-in-Chief I have respectfully
to inform you that Brig. Gen. J. H. Lane, U. S. Volunteers, has urged
upon the President and Secretary of War an expedition to be conducted
by him from Fort Leavenworth against the region west of Missouri and
Kansas [Arkansas]. The outlines of his plan were stated by him to be
in accordance with your own views. The following force, with supplies
therefor, has been ordered to Kansas to operate under General Lane:
Seven regiments cavalry, three batteries artillery, four regiments infantry,
and he has been authorized also to raise about 8,000 to 10,000
Kansas troops and to organize 4,000 Indians.

The General-in-Chief, in conveying to you this information, desires it
to be understood that a command independent of you is not given to
General Lane, but he is to operate to all proper extent under your supervision
and control, and if you deem proper you may yourself command
the expedition which may be undertaken. Under these circumstances
the General will not give you a formal leave according to your application,
but he authorizes you to absent yourself from your command for
twenty days, at your own discretion.
I am, sir, &c.,
L. THOMAS.
Adjutant- General
O.R. Series I, Volume VIII, pp. 525-526

__________________________________________

To Edwin M. Stanton
Executive Mansion,
Hon. Sec. of War Washington, January 31, 1862.

My dear Sir: It is my wish that the expedition commonly called the ``Lane Expedition'' shall be as much as has been promised the Adjutant General's Office, under the supervision of Gen. McClellan, and not any more. I have not intended, and do not now intend that it shall be a great exhausting affair; but a snug, sober column of 10,000 or 15,000. Gen. Lane has been told by me many times that he is under the command of Gen. Hunter, and assented to it as often as told. It was the distinct agreement between him & me when I appointed him, that he was to be under Hunter.
Yours truly A. LINCOLN
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume V, pg. 116
Away from sources, Fremont was organizing the relief of Lexington, theres several who complained of his conduct though.

I would agree several could have brought charges and didnt, doesn't speak well of union justice when obvious crimes are committed and no charges are brought, no disagreement there.

In the end Lane puts a pistol in his mouth and blows his own brains out, so there's some measure of justice, I reckon
 
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The Germans had this reputation (even their wives) in the Revolutionary War of ransacking peoples private belongings in New Jersey and that area. To the average American at the time they seemed like a huge and towering people. This was somehow in their culture of war.
The colonists had enough trouble where they established a 'Lynch Law', named after one of the Lynch Family from Virginia. I was coming through Table Rock South Carolina on a little two-lane road and came across the Lynch Cemetery, filled with old family graves and unkempt. Across the street was a bar-b-que sales shop adorned with rattlesnake skins. The proprietor invited me in and on the wall was a big poster about the Lynch Law and its derivative. This was all back in 1999.
Lubliner.
 
Okay - my contacts in Arkansas in Searcy County came through.

This is from the historical county and is contact #1:

I have received the below forwarded email asking about the Nancy Anderson Cypert murder. This story is widely published, but I do not know of anything that confirms the date, or the whole story, even. This is another piece of Ozark Jayhawker stories. It is very likely true, but there is no documentation. However, maybe it is in an old Cypert Bible, or other documentation. . . .

1862 seems early for such a Jayhawking event to have taken place. I'm certain no band of Federals were in Searcy County in 1862 and it is even early for Jayhawkers. However, one might suspect Chris Denton who operated on the Searcy - Van Buren County line and was active this early.

This is an 11 page .pdf but so interesting and horrible it will suck you right in. I had no idea that deserters from one side, say CSA would become Union and then go back to CSA and vice versa. It all seems to be a big excuse for murderous, rapacious thuggery.

Attachments
• 
OLLI Ozark Anarchy.pdf 
167.7 KB Views: 1 



This is contact #2:

The version of the story that I saw in my father's files in the 1980s is very similar to the one at the link but I believe it was the the one published in 1983 in an Izard County paper.

I think the date is highly suspect as the storyteller is relating events that happened when he was approximately 4 years old at least 60 years after the fact in 1925. The story contains information that he had to have learned later and added to the tale. It seems likely to me that the story is true, but embellished with additional detail and uncertain in time. Even if the storyteller was the only witness, I would think that whoever discovered the burned house and Nancy's body told that part of the story to someone or wrote it down somewhere. Unfortunately, I have never run across any other version of the story.

Several years ago, I corresponded briefly with a descendant of the storyteller because we had a DNA match. He was aware of the story but had no additional information

I don't know who Chris Denton is, so could someone enlighten me on that? I'm sure he was horrible because it all sounds horrible. I'm convinced now the event took place on this poor woman. I'm not convinced it was Federals based on time period from the historians in that county AND how these groups seemed to so easily switch sides for the sake of robbing. I don't see how it could be a regular unit but maybe I'm wrong.
 
Okay, I'm really confused - how do you tell the difference between actual soldiers vs hooligans masquerading as soldiers? I doubt I could tell the difference between real uniforms vs. bits and pieces of real uniforms put together if a gang of men ganged up on me other than the color.

And... what happened to bushwhackers? Did some just melt away back into the community or what when the war ended? Would a community let them?
Can't say for sure about Arkansas and this story but in some books I've read about western north carolina and talking to my cousin and the 3rd hand stories hes heard and who still lives there the bushwackers,deserters and guerrillas more or less seemed to just assimilate back into there old way of life but continued violence and fueds were common seems like most people had blood on there hands and just tried putting it behind them
 
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