I received your
very welcome letter long ago and
am very sorry that I have for
so long a time delayed answering
it. Before I received the
letter we had been ordered to Vicksburg
and when almost to Saint Louis
were turned back and sent to the
Kansas border to fight the "bush-whackers"
who literally swarm in this part of the
country and murder peaceable Union
citizens daily. Since I arrived
here I was assigned by my General
to the command of the militia of
Johnson county organized solely for
home defence. I dislike the
job very much and intend applying
immediately to be returned to my

company which is now at Fort Riley
near Manhattan my home.
We have quite recently been made
a cavalry regiment and shall
probably never again endure such
hardship as we experienced during
the arduous campaign in Arkansas
last winter. The surrounding
country for miles and miles around
affords extraordinary facilities for
the concealment of bush-whackers.

Price’s rebel army which was
recently disbanded in Arkansas was
largely composed of recruits from this
county and adjoining counties in
Missouri. They have now returned
home to visit their families and
bush-whack our boys. The guerrilla
Quantrell has been in command of
about 700 men in the adjoining
county for some time. His men
are divided into squads and are

heard of in a dozen places at once
hence the extreme difficulty of killing
them when the heavy underbrush
which grows almost everywhere
affords them a sure refuge from
successful pursuit. So long as I
constantly scouted the vicinity we had
peace but now nearly all of my
mounted men including the Shawnee
Indians have enlisted in a new cavalry
regiment (the 14^th) which is being raised
in Kansas. Since then many of
the neighbors have been brutally
murdered and their houses burned.
The town itself is threatened and
Major Plumb sent up unasked for
a company of cavalry to my assistance.
They arrived the same evening that
a rebel force appeared within 1½
miles of town making inquiries of some
Shawnee women about the number of troops
in our place. The militia under my

command are very cowardly the town having been
twice captured by the bush-whackers last spring and
plundered many buildings being burned and
many citizens murdered, the rest all escaping
to the brush. We shall be left to ourselves
again today the other company being ordered
to Westport. I received a letter from
George about the same time that yours came.
He has seen much hard fighting I should
judge. I have been so fortunate
as to never receive the slightest wound.
Kansas laughs this season with a most
bountiful harvest. Away from the distracted
border the country overflows with grain of
every description, my father writes
me that he intends procuring for me if
possible a commission in the regular army
and has some notion of going on
Washington to further his design.
I send you my photograph that you may
see how much I have changed since
I left the East. People however
seldom think I am as old as I am in
reality. If you or any other
of my New Hampshire friends have
photographs I should be very happy
to receive copies. Your good advice I
appreciate very much and thank you
for it. Since coming here I have found
a great many lady-acquaintances and they
give me lots of good advice and keep
me pretty straight. Please write soon
and direct to Shawnee Kansas.