"Mysteriously Disappeared"

The "Union" pursuit of Confederate Guerrillas and Bushwhackers in Missouri was frustrating to the "Union Hounds" because the "Confederate Foxes" always seemed to mysteriously disappear into the bush, brush and timber. This was and is of course a key to the success of any guerrilla force or operation. The following correspondence between "Union" Brigadier General Thomas Ewing and Kansas Colonel William Weer illustrate this point and also contains an interesting comment on how the printed word in the newspapers was involved in reporting the news. All of this correspondence is located on Pages 524 and 525 in Vol. 22, Part II, Correspondence of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion.

Headquarters District of the Border,

Kansas City, Mo., September 11, 1863.

Col. William Weer,

10th Ks., Vol., Pleasant Hill, Mo.:

Colonel: Enclosed is a dispatch from General Brown. I have advice from Lexington that the bushwhackers are not on the Sni and also from Independence to the same effect. I think you are going in the wrong direction to find them & had better have gone more southward and toward the Grand River. The troops are all now huddled in the upper part of the District. I wish you to send the troops which were taken from Cold Water Grove and Trading Post south toward the Grand River, so as to cover that part of the (state) line which is now badly uncovered. I think your force will be more effective for being reduced somewhat, anyhow. I want to see you as soon as you can come in, to arrange disposition of troops along and near the border. I fear a strike in the southern part of the district, say Osawatomie. The stillness is like that which preceded the Lawrence raid. (Note: The memory of Quantrill and his successful attack on Lawrence was still ever present in the mind of the Union "Hounds".)

The whiskey (strictly for medicinal purposes, ha!) will go out as soon as opportunity offers. I do not know when the escort is to be got exactly. About all the troops are in the neck of the woods you have gone to.

Very truly yours,

Thomas Ewing Jr.

Brigadier General.

P.S. I have pretty authentic information that Quantrill is collecting his forces on Big Creek, near its mouth, with the purpose of invading Kansas and then going South. (Note: In retrospect, this information was partially correct. Quantrill did not invade Kansas, but he and his guerrillas did go south and ended up fighting two battles at Baxter Springs on Oct. 6, 1863, on their way to Texas for the winter.) You will, therefore, send at least one half your force down toward TRADING POST and have a through patrol kept up south of the Osage to the Little Osage. Some one should be on the border in command. The rations go out today. Major Plumb has gone to Chapel Hill with one company of the 11th Kansas. There have already been two companies of the 11th Missouri.

(Enclosure)

Jefferson City, Mo.,

Sept. 11, 1863.

Brigadier General Ewing:

Scouting parties report the eastern portion of your district as being still as death. No Bushwhackers heard from for several days, not any parties in any portion of my district. They have mysteriously disappeared!

E. B. Brown,

Brigadier General

Pleasant Hill, (Mo.),

Sept. 11, 1863.

Brigadier General Ewing,

Commanding District of the Border:

Sir: I arrived here last evening. Our forces ready for the field number some 350. With these we propose to scour the Sni country and should information fix Quantrill's locality or that of his band anywhere else, we will probably go there. As this force will remain some few days in this neighborhood, allow me to request that subsistence stores be sent here forthwith, say some 5,000 rations. One of the infantry companies at Kansas City could escort the train. I think, in view of the disturbed state of public feeling in regard to Quantrill, it would be well to have the Associated Press informed that I am in pursuit of Quantrill and his gang, but that, being scattered into small parties, hiding in the brush, they are difficult to find. This ought to stop the continued gabble on the subject. (Not a chance in Pro-Southern Newspapers.) I really can form no adequate idea as to our success. From all I can hear, we will have to scour the brush and probably then only succeed in capturing small squads. I can form a better idea after reaching the Sni. We will, probably, be there today, unless something interesting is found this side of there.

Communications to me had better be addressed here.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. Weer,

Colonel.

The defense and protection of the Kansas / Missouri Border by the Union "Hounds" was a constant problem throughout the entire Civil War. As the war progressed, especially after Quantrill's attack on Lawrence on Aug. 21, 1863, permanent "Union" camps were established approximately every 12 miles all the way from Westport in Kansas City, Mo., to Baxter Springs in extreme southeastern Kansas. The 12 mile interval between these camps was patrolled at irregular times by squads of "Union" troops to prevent enemy incursions into Kansas or Missouri. Was this completely successful? No, it was not. It did however enhance the protection of the "Border", but the Confederate "Foxes" still managed to mysteriously disappear and frustrate the "Union Hounds" and the war went on!