USA > Missouri > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Missouri > Part 15
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"None of our men had less than two, and some of them three and four Colts six-shooters (I had four), while the Federals only had one, with carbine and saber. There was such a rearing and plunging of horses that carbines were useless. They soon emptied their pistols, and
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of course had no time to reload. Some of them undertook to use their sabers, but it is well known among veteran cavalrymen that a saber is not a good weapon with which to face a man with a loaded six-shooter that knows how to use it. We soon discovered their pistols were empty, and then we got just as close to them as possible and used our own pis- tols to the best advantage. I saw that man draw his saber and start for me. I waited until he got nearly close enough to hit me with it, then I aimed a shot at his body. The shot must have struck a vital part for the saber immediately dropped from his hand. As quisk as I possibly could, I fired two more shots. When I fired the last shot my pistol was not three feet from his body. His horse went on past me and the rider did not fall from him until he had gotten 15 or 20 paces beyond me. How it happened that he remained on the horse as long as he did, I don't know, for I think the first shot was fatal.
"There was not a command given after the first one, or, if given, was not heard or heeded. Every man on both sides knew that it was a fight to the death; no quarters asked or given. We were all fighting under the black flag. At the first rush, Dick Yader rode straight at Captain Wagner. They had a hand to hand fight of it. Wagner shot half of Yager's mustache off in the melee, but fell from his horse, shot through the body. After the Federals had emptied their only pistol and discovered that Captain Wagner had been killed, they seemed to realize that they were at our mercy and they broke and commenced running in every direction, followed by one, two and sometimes three of our men. As a general thing, their horses were in better condition than ours, and they soon ran away out of reach of our pistols. After it was over we were astonished to find that we had only one man killed, one severely and one slightly wounded. We gathered up all the arms that we could find, taking those of the killed. We also found that we had killed 16 of their men, including the captain. We took the captured pistols and tried them to see how they would shoot. It was a pattern called 'Star Revolver.' Upon trial, we found they would not shoot with any accuracy at all. In shooting at a mark at fifteen steps, they were just as apt to shoot as much as three feet in any direction away from the mark as to hit it. That accounted for our small loss of men.
"I fought men of many different commands while in the war, but I never fought a braver set of men in all that time than those of the Second Colorado cavalry, and if they had been armed as we were, with Colts revolvers, there are some of us living today that would, in all prob- ability, been killed in that fight."
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All of the time that he was telling me that, I remained perfectly silent and did not say a word to him. I had known that his father was a strong Union man when the war commenced, and I wanted to find out why he had become gorilla. During his recital of the fight he had been speaking in a plain, every-day conversation, such as any man would use describing a trip to town or any other common occurrence.
When I saw that he was through with his description of the fight, I asked him, "Where was the closest place that you were ever in during the war?" He replied: "That is a very hard question for me to answer. Sometimes a man may be in a very close place and not know it, and again he may think that he is in a very dangerous place when he is not, but about the closest place that I think that I ever was in occurred on Black- water Creek, in Johnson County. We had gotten a lot of recruits made up of young men from that county, or rather boys they were, not over eighteen years old. I was directed to take them in hand and teach them some of our tricks in evading the enemy scouts. I knew of a big bend in the creek, and it had heavy timber all around it. I took six of them with me one evening, and after getting supper and enough for breakfast at a friendly farm house and feed enough to supply our horses and went out to the farthest point of the bend and stayed all night.
"The next morning, after we had eaten our breakfast and fed our horses that were hitched to the nearby trees, I picked up a chunk of wood about 16 inches long, and after standing it on end sat down on it with my back towards the creek. The rest of the boys sat down on the ground all around the fire that we had built, and were having a good time, laughing and talking. All at once there was a terrible crash, and the ashes and fire flew all around, but not a man was hurt. I jumped to my feet, as did all the rest, turned around, and just along the edge of the creek, I saw the heads and shoulders of 25 or 30 Federal soldiers. They had discovered our camping place, slipped down under the bank of the creek and at a given signal had fired at the whole bunch of us with their carbines, without us knowing that they were any way close to us. I immediately drew my pistol and opened fire at the captain, while the other boys opened up at the men, who were reloading their carbines as they were strung along the bank. I was close enough to the captain to see the kind of pistol that he was using. At my second shot he dropped down behind the bank, as did the other men when we opened on them. Motioning to the boys, I turned and ran down the other bank of the creek opposite to them. We ran as fast as we could, abandoning our
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horses. We were soon out of their sight, and they did not follow us, but contented themselves with taking our horses and equipment.
"After I saw they were not following us, we stopped, and watched them. We saw them leading our horses off and apparently abandon the search for us. One of the boys said to me, 'Now, what are we to do? We are afoot and don't know where to get another outfit.' I told them that I did not propose to stay afoot long, and that I was going to follow them and get a horse if they did not go clear out of the country. We fol- lowed them all day, being careful to keep out of their sight. When we did not see them, we could follow their tracks. About sundown, we saw them stop at a farm house and hitch their horses along an old rail fence, go into the field and get corn to feed them. They did not unsaddle them. Just tied them with the halter strap. We felt certain they would stay there all night, which was just what I wanted them to do. They put out a picket at the farthest end of the line of horses from the barn. The men took their blankets to the barn and made their beds there. The night was chilly and the picket made a fire to warm his hands by.
"About 12 o'clock I slipped along the fence until I got near enough to the picket to see that he had gone to sleep with his gun between his knees. I slipped along the fence until I came to the captain's horse, which I could distinguish from the saddle. I carefully laid down the fence, unhitched him and led him back to my comrades. I told them how I had gotten him and told them to got one at a time and do likewise. Each of them did so. In a few minutes we were better mounted than before the loss of our horses in the morning. After we were all mounted I remarked that picket ought to be killed for sleeping on his post and let- ting us steal the horses, and that I had a great notion to ride down there and do it. One of the men said to me, 'Don't do that; we have succeeded in getting good horses and can get along ways from here by daylight, and don't let us take a chance of arousing the whole camp and get them after us again.' I concluded that his reason was a good one.
"We rode away on our new horses and by morning had put many miles between us and them. Some time after that I rode up to the house where they had stayed that night. The farmer's wife told me that the captain had given her an account of his firing at us. He told her that he could not understand why he did not hit me. I can hit a squirrel in the top of a tall tree with this pistol, but I could not hit the big brown back of that bushwhacker at 15 steps. 'Possibly there is not as much dan- ger to you in shooting at squirrels as there is in shooting at bushwackers,' the lady replied."
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During all the time that he was talking, I was studying him closely, trying to find out his innermost thoughts, and, if possible, to learn just what manner of man he was. Let me describe him to you. He was a little over six feet tall, rather angular in his formation, but showing great strength and endurance in his general make-up. He looked strong enough to cut wood all day and dance all night after it, or ride all day and night without stopping if it was necessary. It was his face, however, that revealed his strongest points. His complexion was a strange mix- ture, rarely seen. When talking they showed great tendereness, but a good judge of human nature would say they would look daggers when aroused to anger.
When he was through with that story, I put the question to him direct: "How did you happen to become a bushwhacker?" He turned around, and, looking me straight in the face, replied: "That question brings up a terrible recollection to me, one that I wish that I could for- get, but, as you have asked me the question, I will tell you why. My father was a native of Kentucky, but, strange as it may seem to you, he was religiously opposed to slavery. He was a great Bible reader, and, from it, had been led to believe that human slavery was wrong. So firmly did be helieve it, that when my grandfather, who was a slave owner, died, he would not allow my mother to take any of the slaves in the division of the estate. In politics he was a Whig, and, when the war commenced, he was a strong Union man, and strongly opposed secession. He came to this country when land was cheap and, by hard work and economy, had accumulated a fine farm with plenty of stock around him. I was the youngest of six living children, and the only boy in the bunch.
"I had been helping him ever since I was old enough to work. Our income was made principally from the sale of hogs, cattle and sheep. We had to butcher the hogs in the fall and cure the meat and sell it in the spring to the outfitters for the trainmen on the plains. We kept our steer calves until grown and sold them for work oxen. The sheep we kept for their wool, out of which most of our clothing was made. I had absorbed the teachings of my father and was strong for the Union. I had decided that I would take no sides in the war that we all knew was coming, but that I would stay at home and help my father and mother. My four old- est sisters had married and had homes and families of their own. The youngest sister was still unmarried and lived at home with father, mother and myself. By hard work, father and myself had raised a big corn crop and besides fattening 70 head of fine hogs, had a big lot cribbed up, also
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a fine lot of hay put away. The war had commenced in all of its fury, but we had not been molested by any one.
"One day father and I took a team and went to the timber for a load of wood. Upon our return home we found Colonel Jennison with his regi- ment of Jay-hawkers and Red Legs in full possession. They were killing our cattle for beef and loading wagons with bacon out of the smoke-house, as well as emptying the cribs of corn to feed their horses. Father went to Colonel Jennison and remonstrated with him for such conduct, and told him that he was a Union man and always had been, and wanted to know if that was the way he was to be treated by men claiming to be Federal soldiers. Jennison replied to him: 'You are just like all of these d-n Missourians. You claim to be strong Union men when we are around, but as soon as we are gone, you are secesh. We are going to take everything that we want in spite of your claims.'
"On going into the house, I found my mother lying on the bed and my sister trying to stop the flow of blood from a deep gash on her cheek and forehead. I asked her how she got hurt. She replied: 'One of those negroes came in here and started upstairs. I caught hold of the door and told him that he had no business up there, as it was my daughter's room, with nothing in it that would be of any use to him. He caught hold of the door with both hands and gave it a violent jerk. The sharp edge of it struck me in the face, knocking me down.' To say that it made me furious does not express the feelings that I had. As I stood there looking at the blood on her face, my whole feelings changed to hatred for any man that wore a blue uniform. The feelings of my sister changed also.
"The next morning Jennison and his men left, after taking every- thing almost that they could lay their hands on. After they had gone, my sister and I went out and looked our things over. They had not left a pound of meat, lard, corn or hay on the place. Everything looked desolate. We saw our year's work and more swept away in a night. Mother in bed with her face bandaged up, her eyes swelled shut and suf- fering. With tears in her eyes, she said to brother: 'If I were a man like you, I would go and join the bushwhackers and kill everyone of those scoundrels that I possibly could. There is my saddle horse. He is somewhere out on the prairie, for I don't think they were able to catch him. Go get him. I will give him to you, but promise me that you will avenge the wrong that has been done us.' I made my decision there and then. I determined that I would avenge the treatment of my father and mother. I went out, caught the horse, borrowed a saddle and bridle from
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a neighbor, and, after bidding the family good-bye, was off to join the ranks of the men that was fighting Jennison and his gang. I was totally unarmed when I reached them, but was soon fitted by the loan of arms from those that had a surplus, and I was ready for business. For three long, weary, bloody years, I followed that black flag and, during all that time, I never let an opportunity pass to fulfill my vow. I suffered hun- ger, cold, and, at times, almost nakedness, but I don't regret it now.
"When General Lee surrendered and the Confederacy was defeated, we were offered amnesty if we would surrender and take the oath of allegiance to the United States Government. A lot of our men, myself among the number, decided to accept the terms. We went in and sur- rendered and received our paroles. We were allowed to keep our horses and, as soon as I had received my parole, I bade my old comrades good- bye and turned my horse's head homeward. As I rode on, I determined that, as far as I was concerned, the war was over, and that I would do my utmost to make a good citizen out of myself. I felt that I had fully avenged the wrong done to my mother.
"When I got home I found the farm overgrown with weeds, fences burned and destroyed. I went to work with a will. Soon the effects of my work began to show. I raised good crops and began to prosper. In a few years more I decided that I needed a help-mate, so I married a good wife, and now I have two nice children, a good farm, with plenty of stock around me, and owe no man a dollar, and, what is more, I have the respect and confidence of my friends and neighbors. I am not a fatalist, but, when I look back over some of the escapes that I made, when it seemed that I was looking death in the face, and from which there seemed to be no getting away from, I wonder if there is some work left in this world for me to do yet to benefit mankind. I hope there is, and, when the call comes, that I may be prepared to meet it."
Here, he arose, looked at his watch and said: "I have been here talking to you all evening, and it is time for me to be going home. I expect that my wife is looking for me now." I told him that I had en- joyed his story very much, indeed, and that, at some future time, I wanted him to tell me of the fight at Centralia. He replied that he would at some time. He mounted his horse and rode off, and, as he went down the road, I watched him until he was out of sight, then the question arose in my mind, how it is possible that a man who has gone through what that man has can be changed from the blood-thirsty human tiger that he was to the loving husband and father that he is?
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WHY M. V. B. FLANNERY BECAME A QUANTRELL MAN.
The first husband of Mrs. Laura E. Bridges, of Independence, Mo., was M. V. B. Flannery, and this couple lived near Hickman's Mill when the Civil War broke out.
Their house was burned by Federal troops October 29, 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War. Mr. Flannery volunteered under Col. Upton Hayes, and, after Colonel Hayes' death, in 1862, he served under Gen. Sterling Price for six months, receiving an honorable discharge. He came home in March, 1863. He then rented the Chrisman farm and had 160 acres planted in corn and three men hired when the "White Rags" came-men from Andrew and DeKalb counties, Missouri, who claimed to be Federal soldiers, but, in reality, plunderers and outlaws.
These men came across Flannery's field and ordered him to take his team from the plow and pilot them through a part of Jackson, Cass, Bates and Vernon counties, Missouri. He begged to be let off; then he asked to be permitted to go to the house and see his wife and baby and get a riding horse, a trotter he had there.
They went with him to the house, where he got his horse, bid his family good-bye, and was gone with them for nine days.
The men were in 14 fights during that time and lost 23 men. The party returned to Independence with three other men they had captured and used as pilots also. These men learned that they were to be hanged at Independence the following morning after their arrival. Two of the men decided to join the band rather than suffer the penalty, but Flan- nery and one other man said they would die rather than join the band.
The party stopped at Pleasant Lea's place, near the present site of Lees Summit, for dinner. Here the officers and pilots ate in the house- the others killed, slayed, cooked and ate in the barnyard. While here, Flannery found a short lead pencil in his vest pocket, which the searchers had overlooked, and, tearing off the margin of a newspaper, he managed to write a note to his wife, instructing her to go to William Hagan, who had married a cousin of Flannery, and have him go to Zion Flannery, his father, and not to spare his horse. Then have them, Hagan and Zion Flannery, go to Kansas City and see James and Miles Flannery, officers in the Federal Army, and tell them to come to Independence that night and plead for his life, as he was to be hanged at sunrise the next morning.
The note was slipped to Miss Lea, as Flannery went to the dinner table. She read it, and immediately ran one mile across the field to Mrs. Flannery's place, arriving out of breath and unable to speak. Mrs. Flan-
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nery took the note, read it, and grasping the situation, she saddled her horse, rode up to the porch and taking Miss Lea behind her, and her two- year-old son in front, started for William Hagan's place, with all speed possible. She left Miss Lea at Mr. Harris' on the way.
William Hagan was a Republican, and his wife was a cousin of Flannery. Mrs. Flannery told Mrs. Hagan her trouble, and Mrs. Hagan said that her husband would not dare to go, as he had reported on the Confederates and would be killed. Mrs. Flannery said: "He is between two fires; it is death anyhow, and I will report it in less than two hours to Quantrell." (Quantrell at the time was at the Daniel White farm, northeast of William Hagan's place.) When Mr. Hagan came from the field in answer to the summons, he said: "I'll be killed if I go." Mrs. Flannery replied: "You will be killed if you don't go, for I will report you to Quantrell in less than a half hour." He then agreed to go and started at once on horseback, leaving his team in the field. His horse was exhausted when he arrived at the home of Zion Flannery, father of M. V. B. Flannery. He got another horse there and Zion Flannery ac- companied him. They changed horses at Judge James Yeager's place, he furnishing horses for both men, and they managed to find the two Flan- nerys at 9 o'clock that night.
The two brothers prevailed on the colonel to sign a release and the two Flannerys and the major in command at Kansas City came at once to Independence and secured M. J. B. Flannery's release at daylight.
The two Flannery brothers, Hagan and Zion Flannery, then went to M. V. B. Flannery's home with the latter, and, upon his arrival home he said to them: "I want to go to the porch before I dismount and show my wife what I have undergone." He then called to his wife to come and count the bullet holes in his clothes, saddle and horse.
Mrs. Flannery came and counted and found four bullet holes in his coat, three in his hat, two in pants, three through the horse's mane near the ears, and two near the tail, and the hair cut off across the top of the horse's hip in several places. All told, there were 27 bullet marks.
Mr. Flannery then told his wife to get breakfast for his father, cousins, Jim and Miles Flannery, and Bill Hagan. "I am going to join Quantrell. I have my protection papers from the brigadier-general in my pocket, and this is the way I am protected. I am going to Quan- trell."
The father, his cousin and brothers pleaded with him not to go and prevailed on Mrs. Flannery to dissuade him. Her answer was: "Father,
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if it were me, I would go, as he cannot live in peace here, and I would . sell my life as dearly as possible." He did join Quantrell and was shot from an ambush while in the service in Texas, June 29, 1864, and was buried at Johnston Station, Tarrant County, Texas.
THE YOUNGERS.
Colonel Henry W. Younger was living, when the war broke out, on the Independence and Harrisonville road, a few miles from what is now known as Lees Summit. Judge Younger was county judge for eight years and afterward was twice elected to the State Legislature; it seems that when he, his family and his property were first attacked, he was a United States Mail Contractor, and had his transportation outfit stationed at Harrisonville, Mo. The first dash of Jennison through Jackson and Cass counties swept the lovely property of Colonel Younger away ; this gained, of course, for the Federals, eternal hatred from the Younger family ; they espoused immediately the Confederate cause, though they were pri- marily Union men. The next year brought its full harvest of death and crime. On the 20th of July, 1862, Colonel Younger was waylaid and as- sassinated five miles from Independence. As he had been trading in town the day before rather extensively, the presumption is that he was killed for his money. Though he had some $2,000 or $3,000 about his person, the robbers did not get but about $400. It would have been good for the world and Jackson County had the assassins that killed Colonel Younger never been born. For this and other insults that had been offered to the Younger family brought to the front one of the most dar- ing and dangerous characters that ever drilled beneath the black flag. Coleman Younger, more hastily called Cole, son of Colonel Younger, while beholding the agonizing tremors of his delicate mother and sisters over the dead body of his dear father, made resolutions the faithful carrying out of which has cast a shadow over his father's family and good name, made hundreds of widows and fatherless children, and scattered for- gotten graves over the entire portion of western Missouri and eastern Kansas. Many a noble son and brother that volunteered to fight for the glorious stars and stripes of our native land melted and went down be- fore the remorseless anger and resolutions of that injured son and brother. The historical narrative and connection would be entirely broken, were the deeds and cri- es of the Younger brothers to be followed.
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A NARROW ESCAPE.
The following narrative was written years ago by J. T. Palmer :
"Fort Sumter had been fired into, and the 'war dogs' had already been turned loose at other places. Men were leaving their homes, and women were in distress. The mails being stopped, the country was full of dreadful reports, and to those whose fortune or misfortune it was to be living on the border of Missouri, the name of Jayhawker or Federal brought terror to the heart. A man was liable to be shot down at any time. without a minute's warning.
"I had several reasons for not engaging at an early date in the con- flict. I was somewhat conscientious about taking an oath that would place me under the command of wicked men, who would be likely to lead me contrary to what I believed to be right, for I had confessed the name of Jesus Christ before men, and accepted him as my leader. I had been reading the Bible, and was not sure that I would be doing right in going to war. I was living with Mr. Wells, and my friend, Mr. Perry Rippe- toe, was living with Mr. Chiles. Mr. Chiles was preparing to move to Texas. Mr. Wells said to me, 'Will you take my wagon and team, and help Perry to bring some freight wagons from the Up Hayes farm?' I said that I would. We went northwest past Watt's mill, then along the Kansas line, then northeast into Missouri. If I ever hauled an awkward load, it was two Santa Fe wagons tied to a common two-horse wagon. Perry Rippetoe was an experienced freighter, and I followed him.
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