This past Tuesday, April 14, 2015 Tuesday, was the 150th Anniversary of the ASSASINATION of PRESIDENT ABRAHMA LINCOLN, which occurred on April 14, 1865 and was a cataclysmic day of infamy in the history of the United States. Much has been written about this event, however, the focus of this column is how and what the citizens and soldiers stationed in eastern Kansas learned of this tragedy. The How, was by the “Talking Wire” or telegraph and a description of what happened was printed in the local newspapers within 48 hours. Unfortunately, copies of the April 1865 Fort Scott Monitor are not known to exist so the following articles are from the April 16th edition of the “Leavenworth Daily Conservative”.

THE LATEST TELEGRAPH

APPALLING NEWS

PRESIDENT LINCOLN

MURDERED

Secretary Seward is Stabbed

The REBELS Showing Themselves

Assassins

J. WILKES BOOTH the MURDERER

of the President

The President’s Body

Removed to the White House

War Department, Washington, April 15, 1:30 A.M.

To Major General Dix:

Last evening about 9:30 P. M., at Ford’s Theater the President while sitting in his private box with Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Harris and Major Rathburne, was shot by an assassin who suddenly entered the box and approached the President. The assassin then leaped upon the stage, brandishing a large dagger or knife and made his escape in the rear of the theater.

The pistol shot entered the back of the President’s head and penetrated nearly through the head. The wound is mortal. The President has been insensible ever since it [the wound] was inflicted and is now about dying.

About the same hour an assassin, whether the same or not, is unknown, entered Mr. Seward’s apartments and under the pretense of having a prescription, was shown to the Secretary’s sick chamber The assassin immediately rushed to the bed and inflicted two or three stabs in the throat and two in the face of Mr. Seward. It is hopped the wounds may not prove mortal. The apprehension is that they will prove fatal. The nurse alarmed Mr. Fred Seward who was in an adjoining room and who hastened to the door of his father’s room where he met the assassin who inflicted upon him one or more dangerous wounds. The recovery of Fred Steward is doubtful.

It is not probable the PRESIDENT will LIVE through the NIGHT!

General Grant and his wife were advertised to be at the theater last evening, but he started for Burlington, [New Jersey] at six o’clock last evening.

At a cabinet meeting at which General Grant was present the object of the fate of the country on a prospect of a speedy peace was discussed. The President was very cheerful and hopeful and spoke very kindly of General [Robert E.] Lee and others and the Confederacy and the establishment of a Government in Virginia.

All members of the Cabinet, except Mr. Seward, are now in attendance upon the President.

I have seen Mr. Seward, but he and Fred are both unconscious.

E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War

---

Washington, April 15.

The Star Extra says that at 7:20 a.m. the President breathed his last, closing his eyes as if falling asleep and his countenance assuming an expression of calm serenity. There was no indication of pain and it was not known that he was dead until the gradual deceasing respiration ceased altogether.

The Rev. Dr. Gurley of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church immediately on its being ascertained that life had extinguished knelt at the bedside and offered an impressive prayer which was responded to by all present. Dr. Gurley then proceeded to the front parlor, where Mrs. Lincoln, Capt. Robert Lincoln, Mrs. John hay and others were in waiting when he again offered a prayer of consolation of the family.

The President’s body was removed from the private residence opposite Ford’s theater at 9:30 A.M. in a hearse wrapped in an American flag, escorted by a small guard of Cavalry. Gen. Auger and others followed on foot and a dense crowd accompanied the remains to the White House. None but the household and personal friends of the President were allowed to enter the grounds. Among others were Senator Yates and Representative Farnsworth. The body is being embalmed with a view to removal to Illinois.

The assassin of President Lincoln left behind him his hat and a spur. The hat was picked up in the President’s box and identified by parties to which it has been shown as one belonging to the desperate man and accurately described by other parties not allowed to see it before describing it. The spur was dropped upon the stage and that has also been identified as one procured at a stable where the same man hired a horse in the evening.

Two gentlemen went to the Secretary of War to appraise him of the attack on President Lincoln, met at the residence of the former a man muffled in a cloak, who when accosted hastened away. It had been Mr. Stanton’s intention to accompany Mr. Lincoln to the theater and occupy the same box, but the pressure of business prevented it. Therefore, it seems evident that the aim of the plotters was to paralyze the country by at once striking down the head and arm of the government.

As soon as the events were announced in the streets, Supt. Richards and his assistants were at work to discover the assassin. In a few moments the telegraph had aroused the whole police force in the city. Mayor Walleck and several members of the city government were soon on the spot and every precaution was taken to preserve order.

---

Circular War Department,

Provost Marshal General’s Office

April 15, 9:45 A.M.

It is believed that the assassins of the President and Secretary Seward are attempting to escape to Canada; you will make a careful and through examination of all persons attempting to cross from the United States to Canada and will arrest all such persons.

The most vigilant scrutiny on your part and force at your disposal is demanded. A description of the parties supposed to be implicated in the murder will be telegraphed to you today, but in the meantime be active in preventing the crossing of any suspicious

By order of the Secretary of War,

(signed) N. S. Jeffers

Brevet. Brig. Gen. A. P. M. G.

---

Washington, April 15.

At an early hour this morning the Honorable E. M. Stanton sent an official communication to Vice President Johnson, stating that in the consequence of the sudden and unexpected death of the Chief Magistrate, his inauguration should take place as soon as possible and requesting him to state the place and hour at which the ceremony should be performed. Mr. Johnson at once replied that it would be agreeable to him to have the proceedings at his rooms in the Kirkwood House as soon as the arrangements could be perfected.

Chief Justice Chase was informed of the fact and repaired to the appointed place along with other official parties. At 11 o’clock the oath of office was administered by the Chief Justice in the usual solemn and impressive manner. Mr. Johnson received the kind expressions of the gentlemen by whom he was surrounded. He expressed his appreciation of the great responsibility so suddenly devolved upon him and made a brief speech, in which he said: “The duties of the Office are mine. I will perform them. The consequences are with God.” 

Andrew Johnson was sworn into the office as President of the United States by Chief Justice Chase today at 11 A.M. Secretary McCulloch, Attorney General Speed and others were present. He remarked, “The duties are mine and I will perform them trusting in God.”

Now then, it wasn’t long before the conspirators and assassin of President Lincoln were captured or killed. On or before April 17, 1865, less than 3 days after the assassination, 8 of the conspirators were captured and eventually tried and found guilty by a military tribunal.  George Atzerodt, David Herald, Lewis Powell and Mary Surratt were executed by hanging on July 6, 1865. Samuel Arnold, Michael O’ Laughlin and Dr. Samuel Mudd were sentenced to Life in Prison and Edman Spangler was sentenced to six years in prison. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth was mortally wounded and died on April 26, 1865 while resisting arrest by Union soldiers on a farm in southern Maryland.

Thursday, April 9, 2015 was the 150th Anniversary of what according to our history books was the end of our Civil War. It was on that day, April 9, 1865, that Union General U. S. Grant accepted the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from its’ commanding officer General Robert E. Lee in a small Virginia town named Appomattox Courthouse. Much has been written about the actual surrender so it will not be described here. However, what occurred on April 10th and 12th completed the surrender ceremony. On the 10th of April, General Robert E. Lee issued his final order that is considered to be a literary masterpiece to the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia which in reality was his farewell address and is as follows:

After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.

I need not tell the brave survivors of so many hard fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to the result from no distrust of them.

But feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that would compensate for the loss that must have attended the continuance of the contest, I determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.

By the terms of the agreement officers and men can return to their homes and remain until exchanged. You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed and I earnestly pray that a Merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection.

With an increasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous considerations for myself, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.

General Robert E. Lee

Commanding Army of Northern Virginia

On April 12, 1865, three days after the surrender, “Union” General of the 20th Maine, recorded the final act of capitulation as the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered their weapons and battle flags. The following is an abbreviated description of this ceremonial surrender.

It is now the morning of the 12th of April and I had been ordered to have my lines formed for the ceremony at sunrise. It was a chill gray morning, depressing to the senses. We formed along the principal street, from the bluff bank of the stream to near the Court House on the left, to face the last line of battle and receive the last remnant of the arms and colors [flags] of the great army which ours had been created to confront for all that death can do for life.

Our earnest eyes scan the busy groups on the opposite slopes, breaking camp for the last time, taking down their little shelter tents and folding carefully as precious things, then slowly forming ranks as for unwelcome duty. And now they move. The dusky swarms forge forward into gray columns of march. On they come, with the old winging route step and swaying battle flags, crowded so thick, by thinning out of men, that the whole column seemed crowned with red.

Before us in proud humiliation stood the embodiment of manhood; men whom neither toils and sufferings, nor the fact of death nor disaster nor hopelessness could bend from their resolve; standing before us now, thin, worn, famished, but erect and with eyes looking level into ours, waking memories that bound us together as no other bond.

I ordered our soldiers to “order arms” in that deepest mark of military respect. [Confederate General] Gordon at the head of the column, riding with heavy spirit and downcast face, catching the sound of shifting arms looks up and taking the meaning, wheels superbly, making himself and his horse one uplifted figure, with profound salutation as he drops the point of his sword to the boot toe. Gordon ordered his men to respond in kind – “HONOR ANSWERING HONOR." On our part not a sound, but an awed stillness rather and breath holding, as if it were the passing of the dead.

As each successive division masks our own, it halts, the men face inward towards us across the road, twelve feet away; then carefully “dress their line”. They fix bayonets, stack arms and then hesitatingly, remove cartridge boxes and lay them down. Lastly, reluctantly, with agony of expression they tenderly fold their flags, battle worn and torn, blood stained, heart holding colors and lay them down.”

Now then, this official surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia on April 9, 1865 historically has been construed as the official end of our Civil War. However, here in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of Operations the WAR CONTINUED as the final battle of our Civil War was fought in Texas. This was the Battle of Palmito Ranch that occurred on May 12- 13, 1865 east of Brownsville, Texas which is located in extreme southern Texas and was a Confederate victory. The last Confederate General to surrender was Brigadier General Stand Watie who surrendered his forces at Doaksville, Indian Territory [present Oklahoma] on June 23, 1865.

However, In Missouri  the blood feuds and bitterness that were created in the Civil War between southern and northern Missourians be they former soldiers or civilians continued well into the 1880’s and of Course the War Went On!

During the Civil War in the early spring of 1865 the Union forces in Missouri were bracing for another year of combat with the elusive Bushwhacker (Confederate Guerrillas) in Missouri. Little did both sides know that the Civil War would officially end in early April of “65,” so one of the continued Union goals was to eradicate or exterminate the enemy guerrillas. This goal was never completely achieved, but it was relentlessly pursued during the remaining months of the war and is described in the following correspondence. All of the letters are located on Pages 1231, 1239 and 1257 in Series I, vol. 48, Part I Correspondence, of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. 

Headquarters District of North Missouri,

Macon, Missouri,

March 21, 1865.

General D. M. Draper,

Mexico, Missouri,

Clinton B. Fisk

General: it seems a burning shame that JIM JACKSON and COMPANY are permitted to roam leisurely through Boone, Randolph, Howard and Chariton counties, SHOOTING, and HANGING CITIZENS. Can you not organize half a dozen scouts and follow the VILLAIN until he is DEAD? I know it is not an easy thing to do, but if with the force we now have and the limited number of BUSHWHACKERS yet on duty and before the leaves come out we can’t EXTERMINATE THIS GANG, what will become of us when the BUSHWHACKING CAMPAIGN fairly opens? I am fearful the Ninth are too indolent; too little inclined to pitch into hard work or hard fighting. Stir up their pure minds. Don’t allow them to rot away at Posts or to spend their time foraging. Let their supplies be furnished from here and keep every able bodied soldier in the brush.

I have ordered Captain Reed to move from Brunswick to Salisbury where he can devote the remainder of his term of service to the vigorous muster out [killing] of his BUSHWHACKING neighbors. You can keep at least 200 men on the constant move. A scout sent out for a few hours or a day and night accomplish but little. Occupy and possess the Perche Hills Country back and forth until the FRIENDS of JIM JACKSON wish he would DIE to relieve them of the presence of your troops.

Very Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant,

CLINTON B. FISK, Brigadier General.

Headquarters District of North Missouri,

Macon, Missouri; March 22, 1865.

Major J. W. Barnes,

Assistant Adjutant General, Department of the Missouri.

Major: I have the honor to report but with slight exception all is quiet in this district. What troops I have are kept busily employed scouting through the river counties. JIM JACKSON and COMPANY are roaming through Boone, Callaway and Howard Counties. They are chiefly engaged in PLUNDERING and MURDERING NEGROS! They have hung two Negros in Boone and one in Callaway County within the last few days. I have 200 men on the move day and night after the FIENDS. We have killed two of the gang of late. It seems strange, I know, that this VILLAIN should go so long without being caught, but did the General commanding know the country and the people as well as JIM JACKSON does, he would discover how it is that a small party can elude the strictest vigilance.

I’m now organizing a JIM JACKSON EXTERMINATING CORPS and hope to muster out a few of the rascals by that means. A few brave, determined soldiers stimulated by private rewards offered by citizens go into the Blackfoot Country tomorrow, sworn not to return without the head of the monster in a charger. The volunteer militia companies being organized under the Governor’s Order No. 3 are in some localities progressing very well, but in others only moderately. The volunteer force of the District is very small and altogether too limited for the safety of the public property, thoroughfares and appointments and the duty of KILLLING BUSHWHACKERS required at my hands. The people generally in that portion of the district south of the Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad are apprehensive of more serious trouble than they have ever experienced before and I can but advise the most thorough preparation for trouble there by ensuring quiet. The civil authorities are generally endeavoring to discharge their duty. I have advised judges that I am simply their aide-de-camp; that we will catch and guard thieves if necessary, while they must try and punish. We don’t mean to have BUSHWHACKERS brought in for trial at all.

I have the honor to be Major, very respectfully, your obedient servant.

CLINTON B. FISK,

Brigadier General.

Headquarters District of North Missouri,

Macon, Mo., March 25, 1865.

James E. Yeatman, Esq.

Law Commissioner, Saint Louis, Mo.

James E. Yeatman

Dear Sir: I have yours of the 22nd instant and will cheerfully do all that I can to restore the family circle of the Monroe County Freedwomen. SLAVERY DIES HARD! I hear its expiring agonies and witness its contortions in death in every quarter of my district. In Boone, Howard, Randolph and Callaway counties the Emancipation Ordinance has caused disruption of society equal to anything I saw in Arkansas or Mississippi in the year 1863. I blush for my race when I discover the wicked barbarity of late masters and mistresses of the recently freed persons of the counties heretofore named.

I have no doubt but that the MONSTER JIM JACKSON is instigated by the late slave owners to hang or shoot every Negro he can find absent from the old plantations. Some few have driven their Black People away from them with nothing to eat or scarcely to wear. The consequence is, between Jim Jackson and his collaborators among the first families, the poor Blacks are rapidly concentrating in the towns, especially the garrisoned places. My hands and heart are full. I am finding homes for them in Northwest Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa. There is much sickness and suffering among them and many need help. Is there any fund that you can appropriate a small sum from to aid me in the deportation of the families I can’t provide for in Missouri? I am retaining all in Missouri that I can get work for in quiet localities. We ought not to spare a single pound of our industrial element. We need to import rather than deport manual labor. I hope the waters will soon grow still and Missouri in peace be permitted to pursue her way in the golden path of freedom and empire. It looks well all around the rapidly contracting lines. Sherman’s conquering legions are marching on and redemption draweth high. All hail the Republic.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

CLINTON. B. FISK,

Brigadier General.

Now then, it is not known if Jim Jackson and his gang were ever exterminated, but General Fisk continued to have his troops pursue Jackson. It is also evident by the last letter that General Fisk was concerned with assisting the former slaves the best that he could with the limited means at his disposal and of course the War Went On.

Editor’s Note: Per the Civil War Monitor, Jim Jackson was killed in June 1865 as he was trying to escape into Illinois.

Battlefield Dispatches #412

Wheels, Wagons, Horses & Mules, Part 2

["Study of a mule team and wagon, with driver" drawing by Edwin Forbes, courtesy of the Library of Congress]

The following article published in the Leavenworth Conservative on January 11, 1863 describes the huge Quartermaster Department in Fort Scott:

Military Business at Fort Scott

“The Fort Scott bulletin publishes a statement which gives the reader some notion of the immense amount of business done at Fort Scott. We copy it below, only regretting that it is not more complete.

“In the Quartermaster’s Department we find there are eight clerks employed in the office, chief of whom are Capt. Brooks & Col. Willets. These gentlemen have a thorough knowledge of the business and perform their duties to the satisfaction of all concerned. The clerks are employed from 8 to 10 hours each day, Sunday not always excepted. It frequently happens that little or no time is allowed to anyone in the department for devotional exercises on the first day of the week. Next in order comes the Military Storekeeper, the Master of Transportation, the Master Mechanic and the Forage and Corral Masters.

“The business of transportation is under the immediate management of Mr. Hugh Kirkendall, a gentleman thoroughly acquainted with this branch of the Department and having had several years’ experience in it at Fort Leavenworth and other Posts. He is eminently qualified for the position which he holds. There are employed in this branch 458 men, viz: 14 Wagon masters, 14 Assistants, 350 Teamsters, 40 Herders, and 40 laborers. There are also 350 Wagons, a like number of mule teams, consisting of six mules to the team, making a total of 2,200 MULES! Fourteen of these teams are used for the ordinary transportation at the Post. The remainder are employed in transporting supplies to the Army of the Frontier [in the Indian Territory & northwestern Arkansas] & from Leavenworth to here. Besides the mules there are 400 head of HORSES.

“It requires considerable forage to feed all this stock. According to Army Regulations each horse is allowed 14 pounds of HAY and 12 pounds of CORN; each mule 14 pounds of HAY and 9 pounds of CORN each day, making a total daily issue of 36,300 pounds of HAY and 24,000 pounds of CORN to stock in the Quartermaster’s Department alone. Besides the above amount, there is an immense quantity of forage issued to the troops stationed at the Post.

“One WAGON and three BLACKSMITH SHOPS employing 20 BLACKSMITHS and 4 WAGON MAKERS, are kept running to REPAIR WAGONS, SHOE HORSES AND MULES, etc. There is also one CARPENTER SHOP employing 10 CARPENTERS and one HARNESS SHOP employing four HARNESSMAKERS. We find, upon adding up, that a force of 506 MEN is required to perform all the labor requisite in Captain M. H. Insley’s Department.

“The amount of money expended every month by Capt. Insley in paying for labor, buying wood, coal, hay, corn and defraying incidental expenses will average at least $30,000 [equals $600,000 plus in 2015] – a large sum, but small in comparison to the expenditures in other Departments.

“The above items relating to the Quartermaster’s Department will give our citizens an idea of the business done here by the government through the agency of Capt. Insley. We will now turn to the Commissary Department under Capt. Hammer. Four clerks are constantly employed in the office, chief of whom are Mr. Henry McKee and Mr. John w. Wright. These gentlemen have a thorough knowledge of the duties of their positions and perform them in a manner that would reflect credit upon men having more experience in the business.

“We can only give an average of the amount of provisions issued by the commissary Department during any one month. As near as we can ascertain it is about as follows:

“Flour 250,000 lbs., Bacon, 80,000 lbs.; sugar, 50,000 lbs.; Beans 80,000 lbs.; Vinegar 4,000 gals.; Salt, 12,000 lbs.; Rice, 15,000 lbs.; Hard Bread 30,000 lbs.; Coffee, 20,000 lbs.; Soap, 5,000 lbs.; Candles, 3,500 lbs.. Besides the above, desiccated vegetables, dried apples and hams are issued; also a small quantity of WHISKEY for SANITARY [MEDICINAL] purposes.”

Now then, Fort Scott certainly became an economic boomtown in the Civil War and its key logistical location enabled “Union” Forts, Camps and Armies in southwestern Missouri, northwest Arkansas and the Indian Territory to be successfully supplied with the necessary articles of war.

Also, the normal carrying capacity of a standard six mule freight wagon was 2,000 pounds which on a good day and on a good road could travel 12 – 24 miles. Therefore, in the year ending on June 30, 1863 the 8,106,501 pounds of military supplies that were  transported from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Scott in various supply trains totaling approximately 4,053 wagons which traveled 12 – 24 miles per day depending on the road conditions, and of course the War Went On!

Arnold Schofield

Battlefield Dispatches #412

Wheels, Wagons, Horses & Mules, Part 1

[Image of Montgomery C. Meigs courtesy of the Library of Congress]

Recently, there has been a UPS ad that suggests that one of the main reasons for the company’s success and customer satisfaction is good LOGISTICS. This makes sense because Mr. Webster defines logistics as “The procurement, maintenance, distribution and replacement of personnel and material.” Hence, UPS and other such companies have a very successful distribution system that is based on rapid delivery and transportation. During the Civil War or for that matter in any war, the success of an army in the field or on campaign depended on successful logistics or being supplied with the necessary material to wage war. The major organization that accomplished this was the Quartermaster Department. The following Quartermaster Report is located on Pages 570-571 in Series I, vol. 53 of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion and describes the amount of supplies issued and transported to various locations in the Department of Kansas for one year.

Quartermaster’s Office

Fort Leavenworth, September 21, 1863

General M. C. Meigs,

Quartermaster General, U. S. Army,

Washington, D. C.

General: In obedience to instructions contained in your General Orders, No. 13, of July 22, 1863, I have the honor to report that during the year [starting on July 1, 1862 &] ending on the 30th of June, 1863, I was stationed at this place, attending to the various duties pertaining to the Quartermaster’s Department at this Depot.

During the year I have promptly furnished the necessary transportation for all the troops, subsistence, quartermaster’s, ordnance and medical stores required for all the troops serving in Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, the Indian Country west of the State of Arkansas as far south as the Arkansas River, the two western tiers of counties of the State of Missouri north of the 38th parallel and south of the Missouri River and the western tier of counties of the States of Missouri and Arkansas south of the 38th parallel and to the Arkansas River.

With railroads and water communications , the supply of the section of the country referred to would be a small undertaking, but the magnitude and labor of duties I have performed can be better understood when you recollect that the troops scattered over this vast extent of country have been supplied by COMMON ROAD WAGONS OVER UNIMPROVED ROADS, OBSTRUCTED BY HIGH WATER IN SUMMER AND BY THE ICE IN WINTER and the most of them passing through a perfect wilderness, where there is no forage or other supplies except grass.

I say this is no small undertaking when you take the above circumstances into consideration, together with the DISTANCES of the POINTS to be SUPPLIED from this DEPOT. That you may understand this, I will give you some of the principal points to which I have had to send large quantities of supplies and their distances from this Depot, with the weight of the stores sent to each, viz:

Post or Station	Miles from Ft Leavenworth	Stores Transported (lbs.)
Salt Lake City, Utah Territory	1,837	662, 720
Fort Union, New Mexico	735	6,364,263
Fort Laramie, Nebraska	600	832,134
Fort Lyon, Colorado	500	440,000
Fort Larned, Kansas	266	811,956
Fort Kearny, Nebraska	275	592,206
Fort Scott, Kansas	125	8,106,501
Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation	300
To Other Posts and Stations		1,801,664

There was shod at this Depot during the year 11,101 mules, and 5,058 Horses; 2,500 wagons and ambulances have been repaired in the shops under my charge. In addition to my other duties I have conducted two very large Government Farms on which was cultivated and secured for the use of your department 2,200,000 pounds of Timothy Hay, 749 Bushels of Corn, 650 Bushels of Oats, besides furnishing pasturage for a large number of public animals. The repair of tents, wagon covers, harness, tent poles, & etc., I have no count of, but they have been large.

Transportation has been furnished for the supplies and equipage of a large number of troops moving from one point to another. Means furnished was Government Wagons which returned to this Depot and I have no account of the number of troops so transported. Their means of transportation, clothing, equipage, & etc., have been excellent and the character of their artillery and cavalry horses superior.

I hope at least to obtain credit for industry, attention to duty and at all times having the best interest of the service in view and laboring constantly to that end.

Very Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant,

L. C. EASTON,

Major and Quartermaster, U. S. Army.

Now then it appears according to the above chart that “8,106,501” pounds of military supplies were shipped to Fort Scott and Fort Gibson between July 1, 1862 and June 30, 1863. How much of this actually remained in Fort Scott is unknown because it was a transient post for supplies en route to Fort Gibson, Indian Territory. However, a large portion was probably used to supply Fort Scott and its’ surrounding posts in Kansas and Missouri.

Arnold Schofield