Before Lawrence: September 9
Chapter eight of Before Lawrence, James Lane maps out his strategy.
This is the eighth chapter of Before Lawrence. To learn more about the purpose of writing this story, check out the “Forward.” Before Lawrence is part of The Missouri Chronicles. Follow the story by subscribing on Substack, contribute your thoughts, and check out the added resources.
In the week that followed the debacle at Dry Wood Creek, both the governor and the Union military command were having second thoughts of “General” James Lane. Governor Robinson would send off a communique to General Fremont stating his reservation.
“… what we here in Kansas have to fear, and do fear, is that Lane’s Brigade will get up a war by going over the line, committing depredations, and then returning into our state… Relieve us of the Lane Brigade, and I will guarantee Kansas from invasion from Missouri.”1
But events moved faster than the wheels of administration. Fremont had more important things on his mind, such as the approaching Missouri State Guard. His life had been about as much of a whirlwind as could be imagined for those times. He arrived in Boston harbor in late June after touring Europe. It would take a month for him to arrive in St. Louis to take on his new command. The state of Missouri was in turmoil. The Union’s only on-site commander had taken matters into his own hands, to the good fortune of the Union, having seized the state armory. He had then taken a force of 5400 men to take on the Missouri State Guard before it could settle in outside of Springfield. General Nathaniel Lyon would lose the battle and his life. So in a matter of two weeks Fremont was endeavoring to reconstitute the Union fighting force, prepare for a confrontation from an advancing army and achieve this in a state where the people in much of the state were not sympathetic to the Union cause. So he declared martial law. Yes, General Fremont could use “General” James Lane. So he sent Lane orders to harass the Missouri State Guard but to not, in any way, confront the entire fighting force. And he was expected to act according to the highest military standards.
But thoughts scribbled onto a telegram formed in St. Louis did not translate well in a frontier outpost like Fort Scott, Kansas. Lane sat on the porch of the officers’ barracks alongside James Montgomery. Flicking his finger across the telegram he held in his hand, he smiled and said,
“Another victory over Governor Robinson. I am still senator. And, I am still in command.”
Colonel James Montgomery was a man well suited for the frontier. He understood well the nature of the men that had traveled west into Kansas and the surrounding territories. He was tough and shrewd. He responded, “So what is your plan, General?”
“Well, Colonel, what do you think? The entire army of rebels will be marching north to the Missouri River. And here we are way down south.”
“According to the orders, we are to harass his supply lines.”
“Yes, and since we can do nothing to stop him from reaching his destination, maybe we can do something that makes his continuing access to supplies impossible. If he returns this way, he will find nothing.”
“A tall order.”
“But something we can work on – and maybe profit from?”
His friend smiled back.
“Colonel, this war is not a gentleman’s fight. This is a war of extermination. It will ultimately be won on battlefields, but those battles can’t be fought without ammunition, and soldiers do not fare well on empty stomachs. An army cannot be fed if mules, horses and wagons cannot be found.”
“So what is your plan?”
“Well, one thing is for sure. We do not have the men trained well enough to take on the Missouri State Guard. We will have to fight our kind of fight. A different set of rules. The first rule is that we will live off the land. No longer are we going to be pulling a string of mules behind us. We need to move fast. We will simply take what we need, whether it be mules, horses, wagons or livestock.”
Montgomery smiled.
“I have considered three objectives. I think the first thing we need to do is secure the border outposts. We will travel north and posts garrisons in Trading Post, Fort Lincoln and Fort Lane. Colonel, we were routed at Dry Wood Creek because we had the wrong sort of men. No doubt. We need every man to fight. But where they fight and with whom matters. At each stop along the way, we will leave at each outpost the least desirable men, and hopefully pick up more capable fighters along the way.”
“I agree. What’s next?”
“The second objective is to destroy every possible source of supplies for the Missouri State Guard. My eye is on Osceola. That is the linchpin. Price is in the position we are. His supply line runs south, not east. In the center of that is Osceola. It may be enough to dissuade him from marching east.”
Montgomery was a bit concerned, especially when he considered how poorly they fought at Dry Wood Creek.
“General, that is deep in rebel territory.”
“I know. We will head down to Butler then on to Papinsville. If we don’t encounter an organized militia, what’s to stop us? We cross the Osage and clear out the valley.”
Pointing to a map, he continued. “We can proceed down the Marais-des-Cygnes River and then on to Osceola. If all goes well, we can swing up to Clinton and even as far as Harrisonville, then return to Kansas. If we move fast, the local militias may not be prepared to stop us.”
“That’s two objectives. What’s the third?”
“Avoid a fight. We will cut and run as soon as Price’s cavalry appear. We simply cannot afford to take on a superior force. Price has more men in his army than there are men in Kansas. If we are to fight him, we need to fight him on our ground.”
“When do we proceed?”
“I checked with the quartermaster. There are enough supplies to equip us. We even have a few mules. I need to get approval from Captain Prince up in Leavenworth.”
And so it was that on September 9th, “General” James Lane left Fort Scott with 1200 infantry, 800 cavalry and 2 pieces of artillery. Like Gideon, he was going to glean out the most unreliable soldiers. He figured he could reduce his force to 500 cavalry and 900 infantry. Mules and wagons were assembled to carry supplies to the outposts. This time, he placed his most reliable men with the wagons.
© Copyright 2024 to Eric Niewoehner
Previous Chapter: September 2 — The Battle of Dry Wood Creek
Next Chapter: September 12
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1 Osceola, Missouri, The Burning of 1861, p.71