USA > Kansas > The Seventh Kansas calvary: its service in the civil war. An address before the State historical society, December 2, 1902 > Part 7
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NOTE 1 .- Ex-Governor E. N. Morrill, of Hiawatha, a member of the Seventh Kansas, writes: "That story of Palmer's, it seems to me, is made up of whole cloth. It is absolutely false from beginning to end." From collateral incidents he fixes the date of the raid out to Independence as . the 25th of November. The negroes of Independence had been waiting for the coming of a Moses, and Colonel Anthony was apparently the Moses that they were looking for. and they, doubtless following his suggestion, took wagons and carriages that they could find, loaded them with what- ever they could gather up, and followed the regiment back to Kansas City, and the next day Anthony distributed the goods among the negroes and sent then over into freedom, which some- where had an existence within the confines of Kansas. It is possible that the hazy memories of some of the old settlers have confused this negro hegira with the Seventh Kansas itself. The regiment went out and returned the same day in good order. I have no doubt this exodus of negro slaves was instigated by Anthony, and I think they went up to Leavenworth and trailed through the streets, seeking for homes in the promised land. Do you realize how much of the burning and alleged plundering in Missouri was done by the negroes, who took advantage of the conditions to even up old scores? Those negro slaves had an intelligence and knowledge of affairs beyond what many people realized. That day at Independence I remember that Colonel Anthony struck a man of company A over the head with his saber for being funny and putting on a woman's bonnet that he had picked up. Every regiment in the army had its complement of regimental fools that had to be suppressed.
Wilder's "Annals of Kansas" has the following: "December 20 ( 1861 ) One hundred contra- bands freed by Colonel Anthony at Independence arrived at Leavenworth in gay procession." This freeing the slaves disturbed the rebel Missourians more than horse-stealing, or any other action of the Union troops.
NOTE 2 .- While the governor had some weeks previously issued a commission to Charles R. Jennison as lieutenant-colonel, he was not mustered into the United States service until mustered colonel, October 28. 1861. D. R. Anthony was first commissioned as major, and was mustered such into the United States service on September 29, 1861. He was the recognized head of the
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Kansas City with an independent company of his old Jayhawkers, but the memory is very indistinct.
There are no available records to fix the dates of many border incidents, but Jennison did range about with his independent company well into Sep- tember, 1861, and it seems hard for many to separate its doings from the acts of the Seventh Kansas, later associated with Jennison's name.3 Cap- tain Palmer has fallen into this common error. It will doubtless be a sur- prise to the captain and others to learn that Colonel Jennison never for a minute commanded the Seventh Kansas in person on any raid or during any field operation in Missouri during the time he was connected with the regiment.
I never knew how or where Colonel Jennison spent a large portion of his time, or by what authority, other than his own, he was absent from his command. A part of his time was spent over the border in Kansas at a town known then as Squiresville. An occasional orderly-his means of com- munication with the regiment-would sometimes intimate that he was so- lacing the tedium of existence by an indulgence in a game of fascinating attraction in the West, known as draw-poker. Doubtless it was more at- tractive than the rude exercise that was necessarily an accompaniment of operations in the field. This is all that the rank and file knew of Jennison's whereabouts, and it was about all they cared. His influence on the regi- ment, if anything, was negative, and there were few who were not heartily glad when his wrath carried him to the precipitate step of sending in his resignation. This resignation was not forced, as Captain Palmer intimates, but was a voluntary act, induced by the appointment of James G. Blunt to the rank of brigadier-general, a position that he personally coveted and had hoped would be his. He made an intemperate speech to the men-the regi- ment was at Lawrence at the time-and during its course practically ad- vised them to desert; and before his wrath cooled his resignation was out of his hands beyond recall. A few men, principally from company H ( the company recruited by Cleveland), deserted in response to Jennison's advice. The number was not great, and doubtless some of them went to join the band that Cleveland was organizing at the time, and that later preyed for a brief season on Union man and rebel with just impartiality. Before I pass on I want to say that company H was never a disorderly organization. Cleveland resigned just as the regiment was organized, and his service with the company was practically nothing. It was always a fighting organiza- tion, and many of the best men in the regiment were in its ranks. The un - desirable element had voluntarily eliminated itself ..
In the sketch, "The Black-Flag Condition of the War on the Border," there seem to be many loose and inconsistent statements. Captain Palmer speaks frankly of the burning of Osceola, Mo., by his own command (Lane's
regiment until Jennison was mustered, as above. The regimental staff was organized in the middle of October, by the muster of John T. Snoddy ( October 14, 1861) as adjutant, and, on the same date, Samuel Ayers as chaplain. It will be seen that the alleged ungodliness of the regi- ment was not due to the neglect of the governor in supplying an opportunity for religious train- ing. Robert W. Hamer was mustered as quartermaster the following day and the regimental staff was supplied with a sequence of reports, Bibles and fodder.
NOTE 3 .- Capt. W. E. Prince, Fort Leavenworth, to Gen. J. H. Lane, September 9, 1861 : "I hope you will adopt early and active measures to crush out this marauding which is being en- acted in Captain Jennison's name, as also yours. by a band of men representing themselves as belonging to your command."- War Records, vol. 3, series 1, p. 482.
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brigade), and the big drunk indulged in by some of the troops that would have incapacitated them for defense had they been attacked that night. He mentions a drumhead court martial at Morristown, when seven prisoners were summarily condemned and shot to death as a retaliatory measure. Then, later, he makes this statement:
"The seventeen Kansas regiments, three batteries, and three colored regiments, with the exceptions above noted, gave the enemy no cause for guerilla warfare, but all left good records for brave and soldierly conduct, and the Seventh Kansas fully redeemed itself under Colonel Lee with Sher- man's army, 1862 to 1864."+
The exceptions referred to were the Seventh and Fifteenth Kansas cav- alry regiments.
I do not know the kind of meat that Cæsar has to feed upon to become an oracle. But the captain knew little or nothing of the redemption of the Seventh Kansas. Colonel Lee was a brigade commander, and did not per- sonally command the regiment more than two months; and, besides, the Seventh Kansas never served in Sherman's army. Sherman was at one time a part of the army of the Tennessee, but the Seventh Kansas was never under him. I do not personally know anything relating to the Fifteenth Kansas cavalry, for I was serving far away, and the enemy confronting us was giving us sufficient to occupy our minds without worrying over other troubles. The men of the Fifteenth Kansas can make their own defense. However, I do protest against the name of Jennison being used to connect the Seventh Kansas with any event that occurred in Missouri.5 Through two of its officers, Jennison and Cleveland, the regiment gained the name "Jayhawkers"-a heritage that brought trouble, but gave us the inspira- tion to make the name good.
Other statements of Captain Palmer, for the purpose of historical ac- curacy, call for correction. After giving a list of guerrilla chieftains who operated in western Missouri in the early part of 1861 and whose blood- curdling war-cry was, "No surrender except in death!" he continues:
"The Kansans under Lane,6 Montgomery, Blunt, Jennison, Anthony, Hoyt and others accepted the challenge, and until General Fremont, in Octo- ber, 1861, issued his order against this retaliatory work and forced a reor- ganization of Lane's brigade, which forced Lane out of the army and back to the senate, there was no pretension to the common amenities of civilized war," etc.
It will be remembered, in an extract previously herein quoted, Captain Palmer states that, with the exception of the Seventh and Fifteenth Kan-
NOTE 4. - Maj. Charles G. Halpine, assistant adjutant-general to Secretary of War. March 14, 1862: "Nothing could exceed the demoralized condition in which General Hunter found the Third and Fourth Kansas infantry and Fifth and Sixth Kansas cavalry, formerly known as 'Lane's brigade,' on his arrival in this department. The regimental and company commanders knew nothing of their duties, and apparently had never made returns or reports of any kind."-War Records, vol. 8, series 1, p. 615.
NOTE 5 .- There is an error in Coffin's "Settlement of the Friends in Kansas" ( vol. 7, Kansas Hist. Col .. p. 360). He says: The Seventh Kansas cavalry, Colonel Jennison's regiment, was made up about this time [ 1863 ] 1200 men. They obtained orders and crossed into Platte county, and. with a besom of destruction, swept the border river counties, freeing all the slaves. of whom long cavalcades, with wagons. carriages, mules and stock, were crossing into Kansas continu- ally."
The date of this makes it clear that it was the Fifteenth Kansas, and not the Seventh. The Seventh was in Mississippi during the year 1863.
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NOTE 6 .- Senator P. B. Plumb once remarked to the secretary that Senator James H. Lane was the only man who commanded an army without a commission.
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sas cavalry regiments, none of the Kansas organizations "gave the enemy cause for guerrilla warfare." The captain's statements do not seem to track. But, as to historical accuracy, note that he rings in Anthony and Hoyt in active connection with Lane, Montgomery, etc., before the issu- ance of Fremont's order in October, 1861, when the fact is that Anthony was not actively engaged in the field until November 11, and Hoyt was not yet in the service. While Hoyt was in service in Missouri with the Seventh Kansas he was an inconsequential second lieutenant; he became captain just as the regiment started for Mississippi, but until he resigned, not long after, he was for most part of the time in the sick squad, and cut no figure in the regiment worthy of mention.
In a list of lurid incidents, which the captain says "come before my mind as a panorama, vivid as life, a story that can never be told," etc., the following is mentioned as traveling by, among the other glaring scenes:
"Captain Charles Cleveland's desertion with several of company H, Sev- enth Kansas black-horse cavalry," etc.
History demands certain corrections: Cleveland's first name was Marshall, not Charles; the Seventh Kansas was never known as the "black-horse cavalry," but company H was for a brief time called the "black-horse company;" and, finally, Cleveland did not desert, but left the regiment regularly, by accepted resignation; also, the desertion of eight or ten men from company H was five months after Cleveland resigned. Otherwise the lurid vision is correct as relates to Cleveland.
I have been compelled to make the foregoing references to Captain Palm- er's article to show that he was not sufficiently careful in verifying many of his statements, and that there is much chronological confusion, as frequently the act antedates its suggested cause. The story of the motley parade of the Seventh Kansas, led through Kansas City by Colonel Jennison, is pure fiction as far as the Seventh Kansas is concerned. Captain Palmer did not admire Colonel Jennison; nothing of good could therefore result from any connection with him, and, under the mistaken idea that Jennison was in active command of the regiment during its brief service in Missouri, it could be but a disorganized rabble, and it was safe to call it so He has failed utterly to discriminate between the lawless acts of Jennison, butting in with his independent company" along the border during the early months of the war, and the regiment which later was associated with his name.
As to the Seventh Kansas cavalry, Lieut .- Col. D. R. Anthony superin- tended the organization of the regiment and was the god of the machine. He was in active command of the regiment during the brief time it served in Missouri, and to him should be given all credit or blame that justly be-
NOTE 7. - Jennison was twice commissioned by Governor Robinson in the Kansas Militia in 1861, first on February 23, captain of Mound City Sharps Rifles Guards, and May 28, lieutenant- colonel Third regiment, southern division, Kansas Militia.
A correspondent in the Leavenworth Conservative, writing from Fort Scott. July 10. 1861. and signing himself "Jayhawker." tells of the operations of Captain Jennison in Missouri. Starting from Mound City, July 4, with thirteen men, he entered Vernon county, Missouri, July 5, and organized a company of forty-five men, with Isaac Morris, of Vernon county, Missouri, captain. Recruits from both states esme in rapidly. Another company, under Ben Rice, soon joined the first. when separately they raided several secession camps, capturing army supplies. horses, etc., among them an ox-train with military supplies for Fort Arbuckle. Although Cap- tain Jennison was not known as an officer. all recognized him as commander-in-chief of the ex- pedition, which reached Fort Scott with 800 recruits. His purpose, it is stated, was to pass down through southwest Missouri and cooperate with United States troops in protecting Union men. -Colonel Jennison's Scrap-book, vol. 1. p. 11.
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longs to this organization growing out of its service along the border. This service began about November 10, 1861, and ended January 31, 1862. Two weeks of this time was spent in camp up in Kansas, south of Leavenworth, and therefore its service in Missouri was of little more than two months' duration. Regiments had been marched to and fro. Lane's brigade of four regiments had been in the field for several months, moving up and down the border. Internecine strife was continuous with the people themselves, and when the Seventh Kansas first came into Missouri the desolate monuments that marked the destruction of barns and dwellings were to be seen with pitiful frequency; and yet it is fashionable to charge this desolation to the regiment that became heir to the name of "Jayhawkers." What this regi- ment actually did is sin enough, but it was a very small part when compared with the whole.
The statement that "With the exception of the Seventh and Fifteenth Kansas cavalry, there were no better disciplined or better behaved troops in the Union army than the Kansas men," is a very extravagant phrase. The Kansas regiments were rushed into service before they were half or- ganized. None of them were well disciplined at the beginning, and many incompetent officers were at first selected. It took time to get rid of incom- petency, and the governor did much harm in commissioning inexperienced men from civil life and sending them out to take places that men who had made good by efficient service were justly entitled to. The two first regi- ments were magnificent organizations, but they received their discipline on the bloody field of Wilson Creek.& The sobering influence of a desperate battle will accomplish more in a day towards discipline than the martinet can bring about in a year of strenuous effort. None of the regiments at the first held the edge over the others, as far as discipline went. No state cer- tainly had the variety of adventurous material that made up the Kansas organization. There were Puritans and "hellions," and the intermediate grades of men; some praised God, and others cursed in His name; but they all were from a race militant, and, whether disciplined or not, fought when the chance offered.
When the Seventh Kansas was paraded for muster at Fort Leavenworth on the date of the organization. October 28, 1861, but nine companies were in line. Company K, which Capt. John Brown, jr., was recruiting in Ohio had not reached the state. Jennison appeared in person for the first time, and, after getting himself "balled up" while trying to put the regiment through the manual of arms, rode away and left the command to Lieutenant- Colonel Anthony. I do not recall having seen Colonel Jennison again with the regiment until at Humboldt in February, 1862, where he was stationed in command of a brigade. If he visited the regiment at any time while in Missouri, it was a transient call. Colonel Anthony was permitted to exer- cise his own will without check or hindrance, so far as any apparent inter- ference by Jennison was concerned. What that will was, Colonel Anthony has been too recently with us and is too well known to make a statement nec-
NOTE 8 .- In the battle of Wilson Creek the First Kansas lost fifty-one per cent. of those engaged in killed and wounded. At the time of this battle the First and Second Kansas had been in the service but two months. During the battle Major Sturgis remarked to General Lyon .. "These Kansas boys are doing the best fighting that I ever witnessed." The First regiment afterwards traveled 6000 miles, through eight rebel states. The Second regiment was the last one to leave the field ( Wilson Creek), and the only regiment which kept its line and organization unbroken from the first to the last of the fight, which lasted about six hours.
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essary. The reader's judgment would doubtless be nearer the mark than Colonel Anthony's own, for he stated at a state editorial meeting a few years ago, while in a reminiscent mood, that he felt the greatest mistake he had made in life was, he had been too conservative. .
When about the middle of October, 1861, the three companies returned from Kansas City to Fort Leavenworth, as is stated earlier in this paper, clothing and equipment began to be issued. An unmustered company came from Illinois on escort duty, and they were persuaded to remain and cast their fortune with Kansas; they became company D. Finally, on October 28, nine companies being organized, and company K just ready to start from Ohio under young John Brown, the complete organization was accomplished.
Jennison, as I have said, appeared for a brief moment; and it was just about this time that the thrilling scene that preceded Cleveland's resigna- tion was enacted. A dismounted parade had been formed on the "blue- grass," Colonel Anthony receiving the salute. Cleveland had made his first appearance. He was dressed in a somewhat motley garb-a soft hat, a reg- ulation coat, drab trousers thrust into low-topped riding-boots, a belt carry- ing a surplus of revolvers and a saber that seemed a hindrance. Colonel Anthony did not approve of the drab trousers, and forthwith proceeded to deliver a public censure; whereupon the restive Jayhawker proceeded to ad- vance to the "front and center" without waiting for orders. There was language, profane and incisive, while each man looked the other directly in the eye. The amenities being passed, they glared at each other a moment, then Cleveland, with a parting compliment which has passed down into his- tory, strode away to his horse, hitched near by, and a moment later was galloping toward Leavenworth city. His resignation quickly followed, and was as promptly accepted.
Men of the class of Jennison and Cleveland were nothing if not spectacu- lar. Jennison while colonel of the Seventh Kansas never wore the regula- tion head-gear; he always affected a tall, brimless fur cap. I recall my first vision of Cleveland. I was an eastern tenderfoot, and was being in- ducted into a knowledge of the new western world by a much-experienced brother recruit. We were sauntering down Shawnee street in Leaven- worth, and had just stopped to read a newly posted bill. It was headed " Reward," and beneath it was set forth that a tempting number of dollars would be handed over to the individual who would bring in the body of one Marshall Cleveland, "dead or alive." We had both concluded that we were not hard up, and had started down the street, when we saw a gentleman with a neatly trimmed black beard riding towards us up the street. He was neatly dressed in a drab suit, low riding boots and a soft hat grace- fully slouched. He wore the universal belt, and a bulge on either side in the tails of his frock coat made it plain to see that he was not defenseless. His horse looked like a thoroughbred, and he seemed wonderfully at home in the saddle. I remarked: "That's a mighty fine horse." My friend answered: "It ought to be; he has the pick of Missouri. That's Cleve- land." Nobody offered to arrest him, and he rode on up the street. He went south on Fifth, and turned east on Delaware street. He was offering his person to the reward-seekers with a reckless nonchalance that thrilled my unsophisticated nature to the core. I, however, did not hover in his vicinity.
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The same evening while I-still inducted by my guide-was listening with curiosity rather than delight to the much-bedazzled prima donna of the slums, at the "Moral Show" that stood by the old market-house at the corner of Fifth and Shawnee streets, a little flurry brought attention to the fact that Cleveland was leaning against a post in the back part of the hall. He nodded to a few acquaintances, refused the request of a cross-eyed Hebe to invest in her liquid wares, and presently sauntered out. My next information was that the offer of reward had been withdrawn, and that Cleveland had been authorized to recruit a company for Jennison's regiment.
The organization of the Seventh Kansas being effected, the regiment, well uniformed, well mounted, but indifferently armed, moved down through Kansas to Kansas City and went into camp. Anthony, in person, with companies A, B and H, went into bivouac on the Majors farm, about four miles southeast of Westport. The remainder of the regiment, except com- pany K, camped in nearer to Kansas City, on O. K. creek.
It will be remembered that all of the city practically lay north of the junction [Main and Delaware ] in those days, and did not reach out very far to the east or west. The McGee division, to the south, contained a brick block of three or four stores and a few scattering houses and was con- nected with the city by an unpaved road, unless six inches of Missouri clay mud can be called a pavement.
It is not necessary to keep harping about the conditions that prevailed along the Kansas border at this time, yet possibly a little retrospection may make matters plainer to those who were not participants in these affairs. The border-ruffian element in Missouri had held the ascendency during 1855 and 1856, and rode over Kansas roughshod. They had burned Lawrence and Osawatomie, and plundered other hamlets; had committed murders and out- rages through the settlements, and had shown no mercy. Montgomery and John Brown, who were essentially men of action, began to lead their fol- lowers to resistance, and others followed their lead. There were others who rode up and down and raged, but made little show of accomplishment. The steady northern persistence finally made itself felt, and the border- ruffian element was gradually thrown on the defensive. They had sown the wind and the whirlwind had to be reaped.
When the war became a fact, the conditions along the Kansas border were unlike anything elsewhere. There were bitter wrongs to be righted, and no one can stay the power of revenge. The creed of self-repression, where the reversed cheek is to be submitted to the smiter, finds but few who will accept it in times of stress. They rather turn to the Old Testa- ment, where a contrary doctrine can find support. John Brown had become a martyr, and his soul militant had commenced its march of freedom, and inspired feet were swinging into step to follow. Loyal Missourians, driven from their homes, had joined the Union army, with the bitter purpose to accomplish reprisal and revenge. No one can make a comparison with con- ditions existing anywhere else in the land. The situation must be judged by itself; it can admit of no comparison; it stands unique and alone.
Imagination doubtless depicts the "Jayhawkers," represented in the in- dividuals who made up the Seventh Kansas cavalry, as bearded desperadoes with mustaches painted and drooping and a bellicose swagger that sug- gested trouble to the timorous wayfarer. The truth is that a majority
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of this regiment were beardless youths. Some of them had roughed it through life and were coarse of fiber, but many others had come from cul- tured homes in New England and Eastern states. Not half of the regiment was recruited in Kansas, but there was leaven enough to permeate the lump. One company was recruited in Ashtabula county, Ohio, organized by a son · of John Brown, and did not need any leavening influence. Three whole companies and the halves of two others came from Illinois. The John Brown company came the long journey that the name of "Kansas" might be asso- ciated with their efforts toward the overthrow of slavery. They were satu- rated with the spirit of the martyrs. As to education, the men ranked high above the average. The regiment furnished more clerks at the various headquarters than any other similar organization in the Sixteenth army corps. The men were not ruffians or desperadoes, but averaged fairly with other regiments of the civil war. They were probably no better or no worse. 9
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