Edited by W. Stitt Robinson
Winter, 1957 (Vol. XXIII, No. 4), pages 382 to 400Transcription and HTML composition by Larry E. & Carolyn L. Mix;digitized with permission of The Kansas State Historical Society.
MAY, TUESDAY, 15, 1860. Left Fort Riley on Kiowa campaign, take route up Smoky Hill for Pawnee Fork of Arkansas. camped first night on chapman's creek. comd. composed of cos F G H & K 1st. cav. under Mai Sedgwick. [29] We expect a 5 mos arduous campaign principally with packmules having our grand depot at Pawnee Fork. Walker [30] & I mess together the 2d Lt absent I like co duty far better than staff. Detailed in camp to get wagons over chapman's creek. Hard work. Some ladies came to cr from Fort R[iley] but could nt cross
MAY, WEDNESDAY, 16, 1860. I am the Journalist of the Expedition, continue up Smoky Hill 16. miles camp just beyond Sand creek & spring, on bank of Smoky Hill. Water of this stream salt-- banks boggy. passed settlements all the way-- farm houses with wells and springs. Rock Sp and a cluster called 7 springs opposite Kansas Falls. [31] Soil very rich in Smoky Hill bottom Miles 16
MAY, THURSDAY, 17, 1860. Crossed Solomons Fork at Ferry-- 8 miles farther camped on Saline Fork days march. 13. miles-- Smoky Hill Fork all day in sight to our left. solomons Fork has good water st Cloud [32] on east bank thriving settlement-- caught a fine cat(fish) in Saline water of saline salt
MAY, FRIDAY, 18, 1860. Passed up Saline to Ferry two miles above During delay here I caught another fine cat. Advanced 4 miles through town on Smoky Hill called Salina-- thriving place. Houses weather boarded with clapboards-- belongs principally to one Phillips [33] of Laurence [Lawrence] K. T. Much corn raised in vicinity. This is the last settlement. 2 miles crossed Dry cr. with water (?) in it. 1-1/2 miles pond to right. 2-1/2 miles to camp on Spring creek
MAY, SATURDAY, 19, 1860. Country from here west barren & unproductive. passed up Spring creek and its tributaries through country broken & hilly camp on clear creek-- days march. miles-- clear creek is tributary to Smoky Hill
MAY, SUNDAY, 20, 1860. Pass at 1-1/2 miles from camp fine Spring in ravine to left of road. peculiar formation supposed to be a buffalo lick. come in sight of Smoky Hill in front 5 miles from camp cross Smoky Hill at Bryans bridge [34] of which only foundation is left at rocky bottom ford. camp on south bank Jo. Taylor's [35] horse Roderick took French Leave of camp to day-- not recovered.
MAY, MONDAY, 21, 1860. Passed several creeks where water was expected now all dry. passed in afternoon to our left immense lake thought at first to be the Arkansas-- but found to be lake of good water-- in centre of a very large basin of parched soil passed through myriads of buffalo lassooed a calf at head of column. & put it in wagon. at 42 miles strike Walnut creek. having passed 3 tributaries of cow cr. all now dry.
MAY, TUESDAY, 22, 1860. spent to-day in camp resting after the long march yesterday caught a small cat. Thunder storm in afternoon-- very refreshing shower.
MAY, WEDNESDAY, 23, 1860. At 12 miles march to-day strike Santa Fe route at Pawnee rock. Many wagons on route to Santa Fe & Pike's Peak-- 6 miles on Santa Fe road bring us to Ash creek-- a ranch-- and here turning to right 7 miles farther reach Pawnee Fork cross it at Bell's bridge. Substantial structure built by Bell D. & mail agent. Camp Alert [36] on west bank and above. Called on Maj Wessells. [37] comd. camped just below bridge.
MAY, THURSDAY, 24, 1860. Moved camp to-day 5 miles lower down, to Arkansas for better grass. Went up to Camp Alert & dined with Maj Wessells Lt W. F. Lee [38] & lady treated me with marked kindness also Maj W & wife. I gave the calf to Maj W's boys. Visited camp of 2d. Drags. Squadron under Capt Steele. [39] Cos C & K. Armstrong [40] & Sol Williams [41] with it. In afternoon got odometer Lt Lee Mrs L & Mrs Wessells went down to camp in Wing's ambulance. The young officers rather on frolic. Armstrongs horse in leaping pole in Newby's [42] hands shyed & knocked N. senseless. I serenaded ladies at night.
MAY, FRIDAY, 25, 1860. Pack mules & saddles distributed this morning generally gentle-- the day was consumed in adjusting saddles & packing experimentally. Walker went to Camp Alert to-day-- six miles off.
MAY, SATURDAY, 26, 1860. To-day Maj Sedgwick determined to sent a party of 30 men, south of Arkansas to reconnoitre & if expedient attack the enemy if there. a smoke having been seen the night previous I go in command also Jo Taylor & Sol Williams. go S. E. 25 miles & arrive at Otter cr. [43] at 9 P. M. no Indians, camp without cooking. having 2 days rations on our horses-- suffered some from cold.
MAY, SUNDAY, 27, 1860. Continued at 4.30 AM up creek N. E. for 32 miles halting 2 hours at noon to graze & rest-- then left creek & went nearly due north reach 20 miles to the Arkansas just before sun down. & camped. Having a fine roast of buffalo on sticks Saw no trace to day of Indians. Otter creek has no timber, good grass, thousands of buffalo Saw also antelope, duck, curlew, plover, snipe, sand hill cranes otter & muskrat to say nothing of prairie dogs. & such ilk.
MAY, MONDAY, 28, 1860. Proceeded at 4.30 AM up Arkansas-- south bank over waste of barren sand hills full of gofer holes & recrossed river opposite camp days march 25. Whole march 102 miles in 48 hours. Men & horses in fine condition. Find letters & package from wife. Bless her heart. Who with my experience could live without a wife. heightening every joy, lightening every sorrow. Mrs. Ruff [44] in camp near here visit her. She is en route to M.
MAY, TUESDAY, 29, 1860. Camp at Pawnee Fork. Saw D W Scott. Sent letter to wife by Mrs. Ruff. & list of Distances.
MAY, WEDNESDAY, 30, 1860. In camp reading "what will he do with it" [45] Officer of the Day. Dine with Lee at Fort. "Be joyous at forebodings of evil but tremble at day-dream of happiness."
MAY, THURSDAY, 31, 1860. In camp preparing for departure tomorrow on pack mules. Bayard [46] & Merril] [47] arrived about 11 at night in the outward bound mail.
JUNE, FRIDAY, 1, 1860. Marched about 8. o'clock up Arkansas. Recd. letters of mail, 1 from wife-- no news Camp on Arkansas. [blank] miles beyond crossing of coon cr. several of the ladies go out as far as coon creek in Capt Hayden's ambulance. I never commenced a march with more buoyant feelings. Everything smiles auspiciously notwithstanding Friday Scott came this far with us & took back our last dispatches for home. I gave Gaffner a strong recommendation for wagon mr at Pawnee. days march 15.33/100 miles
JUNE, SATURDAY, 2, 1860. Marched up Arkansas & camped on its bank Bayard has dubbed Merrill "Gig Lamps," a very appropriate soubriquet, taken from Verdant green. [48] Merrill is mounted on a mule wears spectacles & a citizen's dress! 20. 20/100 miles
JUNE, SUNDAY, 3, 1860. March up River along Santa Fe road. Coon creek is very little to our north. Camp about 18 miles farther 5 [?] miles above Jackson's Island. Bright Sabbath day. A few Arrappahoe lodges on river in sight. In afternoon their chief came in bearing aloft on a pole the stars and stripes which he rightly conjectured was the surest passport through our lines. He was dressed in a dressing gown and wore a[n] Infantry Cap 18 43/100 miles
JUNE, MONDAY, 4, 1860. Forded the Arkansas & without difficulty sending back all the wagons but a Light ammunition wagon & sick ambulance [49] at 3-1/2 miles reach Mulberry cr. which empties into Arkansas a few miles below our camp. -1/2 mile above cross its dry bed. Cross near waters of Nuscatunga R [50] & camp. plenty of timber & water grass in timber. S. 17 45/100 miles
JUNE, TUESDAY, 5, 1860. Travelled down the dry bed of stream, 15 miles & camped in wide valley groves of cottonwood. Last year this valley must have been thronged with Indians Camped at holes of water. grass tolerable, water unpleasant & boggy to the taste. Citric acid corrects it sufficiently Bayard caught some fine perch here. S. E. 15 miles
JUNE, WEDNESDAY, 6, 1860. March East 3 miles then S. E. at 5 miles from last camp a tributary running S W joins the one we follow, & after junction their course is nearly South. [51] Camp on it. water scarce wood plenty, grass sufficient for a squadron only. E & S. E. 14 68/100
JUNE, THURSDAY, 7, 1860. Leaving valley of streams Cross S W 8 miles to another which must be the main Nuscatonga now dry-- pools deep & clear of fresh water full of fish in a beautiful grove of timber. Quail & deer abound here. birds singing at the greatest rate. Some horse shoes gems of Civilization found here. fine grass. Then S for 12 miles then S. E to camp on small tributary of Cimaron Cimarone is here dry-- water in tributary stagnant grass very bad water & soil worse S W & S. & S. E. 25. 42/100
JUNE, FRIDAY, 8, 1860. Crossed dry bed of Cimaron & going south 1-1/2 miles crossed distinct wagon trail. probably Col Johnstons 1857 outward route [52] days march over very rough & broken country. find dry bed of stream with holes of water impregnated with salts, incrustations on ground of Gypsum. Scarcely any grass. Soil red & barren. this is probably the Red Fork of Cimaron. [53] S 10. 17/100 miles
JUNE, SATURDAY, 9, 1860. Cross directly South for 7 miles. country intersected by deep & rugged ravines with a few clumps of cedar & cottonwood. Two streams in full view. cross the first above their junction. It is the north Fork of Canadian the other Middle R. Both well-timbered. 4 bear & several deer & buffalo killed. water slightly salt but clear Grass better than since left Arkansas. Col J's return trail found near camp. S & S. E. 9. 91/100
JUNE, SUNDAY, 10, 1860. Ly by in camp on north Fork of Canadian. [54] just above junction with it. majority of officers are inclined to make scout towards Antelopes Hills on Main Canadian. But Maj S. is going up the north Fork of Canadian but will take Middle River as we afterwards ascertain
JUNE, MONDAY, 11, 1860. Marched up what we believed to be north Fork of Canadian (Middle River) at 10 miles enter a very extensive bottom of fine grass. Remains of Indian camps passed. Timber & grass fine. water good. Camp on south bank S. S. W. 26. 81/100
JUNE, TUESDAY, 12, 1860. Continued the march. This stream abounds in bear deer & turkey. Cross & recross several times finally camp on north bank. after reaching camp we were so fortunate & [as] to find a surveying party Boundary commission, one of whom Mr Weyss [55] was with Col Johnston in 57. We get a copy of Col J's map find that we are in Middle fork or River. main canadian dry. No Indians. our Long is 100°. Lat 36°. 16° W S W 17. miles
JUNE, WEDNESDAY, 13, 1860. To-day we left the Boundary party who follow up 100°degree of Longitude. we continue up Middle R. our camp on 10th. was on north Fork now about 30 miles north of us. This stream gives indications of continuing very little farther up. West 21. 70/100
JUNE, THURSDAY, 14, 1860. up Middle River. Timber scarcer. Bluffs bolder & valley narrows. Passed remains of Indian camp 2 months old. abrupt cedar bluffs. water now in detached holes banks very steep & high. Evidence of great freshet on the banks early in spring. Camp the last time on Middle R. a very romantic & picturesque camp. bird serenade at night also thunderstorm-- West 13. 50/100
JUNE, FRIDAY, 15, 1860. Struck across from Middle River 5° [ 15°?] west of north to north Fork of Canadian. 34 miles about 10 AM a large herd of mustangs to the N. W. are pronounced by the Delawares [56] Kiowas. We make preparations for battle-- marching by squadrons in two columns All are eager for the fray Dragoons too far behind to join us. But Armstrong co trotted up. Steele was ordered to remain behind with the pack mules. we were sadly fooled. This ended mustang battle. north 24 75/100
JUNE, SATURDAY, 16, 1860. Went up north bank of stream Camp on N. Fork Canadian [57] march 19. Finished the Disowned [58]
JUNE, SUNDAY, 17, 1860. Camp on north Fork of Canadian, march 14. miles.
JUNE, MONDAY, 18, 1860. Marched up N. F. Canadian 19. miles & camped on good grass no fuel.
JUNE, TUESDAY, 19, 1860. Lay by to-day. took bath ponds full of cat & sunfish. fish for every meal. Dr. Madison's mustang potatoes [?]
JUNE, WEDNESDAY, 20, 1860. Lie [?] by to reconnoitre for water volunteered to go on march with 2 men to see if water is 40 miles ahead. start at 5 am. find water at 40 miles at 2-1/2 P. M. rest 1-1/2 hours & starting back reached camp at 1¼ at night. slept 1-1/2 hours and marched at 5 am back with command over the 40 miles. Walker characterizes my reconnaisance as very successful & creditable service.
JUNE, THURSDAY, 21, 1860. Arrived at camp 4.10 P M. I have marched 120 miles in 35 hours during all which time I have slept but 1-1/2 hours.
JUNE, FRIDAY, 22, 1860. March n. n. W. by compass cross Santa Fe road about 20 miles, & reach Cimaron at Aubrey's crossing. [59] Finish letter to wife, to send by Express to Pawnee Fork tomorrow. Express sent for provisions.
JUNE, SATURDAY, 23, 1860. Went up stream 4 miles & camped on better grass. Lay by remainder of day.
JUNE, SUNDAY, 24, 1860. Lay by till 4 P. M. March on Aubreys trail N. E. till 10-1/2 A M [P. M.] Halt picket out on prairie. Saddle up & resume march early-- without breakfast on 25th. Reach Bear river (two Butte) River, whole march 45 miles Last night Walker at Sedgwick. Water of Bear river plenty & good in large pools. Reuben killed 2 ducks at one shot.
JUNE, MONDAY, 25, 1860. See preceding page. Found Otis [60] here, who had been sent forward to reconnoitre for water.
JUNE, TUESDAY, 26, 1860. Fine antelope killed by Johnny Williams (Delaware). I got the antlers -- a superb pair. -- to present to P W H of N C. Lay by till about 4 P. M. when saddling up we go down Bear river about 18 miles & find water & large cottonwoods. about 10 P. M. camp by moonlight. take cold lunch & to-bed.
JUNE, WEDNESDAY, 27, 1860. Lay by till P. M. Loll in the shade of the gigantic cottonwoods. all day. At 4 P. M. saddle up & march on aubrey's trail 21 miles, picket out about 10 P M on roadside, & with cold lunch to-bed. N E 21 miles
JUNE, THRSDAY, 28, 1860. At first dawn saddle up & continue march warming some cold coffee we brought in a canteen, & after 15 miles march N. E. reach the long wished for arkansas. How comparative all our joys are. That stream upon which I have heaped so much abuse, appears now -- lovely & most welcome to view. Fall Leaf's rifle burst today mangling his face a good deal. I crossed with McI. [61] & Lom [62] to a train no news no nothing N E 15 miles
JUNE, FRIDAY, 29, 1860. Yesterday the same Arrapahoe visited us, now on his way to Bents Fort [63] with one of Bents trains on the other side. Crossed to north bank of arkansas & camped. aubreys crossing. [64] a very extensive bottom-- many islands with brushwood in the river. And some large trees on an island above.
JUNE, SATURDAY, 30, 1860. Muster at 8 A M-- Horses & mules inspected. G has best horses but worst mules. Our ration period expires to-day.
JULY, SUNDAY, 1, 1860. In camp. Col. St. Vrain [65] the old trader passed in ambulance P. M. Says our supply train left Pawnee Fork on 28th, & ought to be here tomorrow. Pegram [66] has passed en route to New Mexico. Kiowas reported to be on cow creek & south Platte Randall & Reuben kill six ducks.
JULY, MONDAY, 2, 1860. In camp
JULY, SATURDAY, 7, 1860. Marched up Arkansas & camped just below Big Timbers. 20. 00/100 miles
JULY, SUNDAY, 8, 1860. Contind march up River passing Boon of Mo & several other Pike's Peak trains. Scattered trees continuation of Big Timbers, soil sandy & poor grass good in bottoms. 22. 40/100
AUGUST, WEDNESDAY, 1, 1860. Left at 6 A M on scout Merrill & 36 men Fall Leaf Wms. & Wilson-- at 8-1/2 AM reached trib[utary] to Smoky Hill. Signs-- halt half hour-- march at 9 AM 10 degrees 176; E of N, halt at dry bed half way to skin anteelope-- pack it and at 11.20 reach another creek same signs. go down it at 12.20
AUGUST, SUNDAY, 5, 1860. Crossed northward and taking ridge several miles from river marched generally East parallel to gen'l course of river. No grass buffalos have devoured all-- timber at intervals water in bed in holes. Emigrant road coincides generally with our course-- Do grass arr. 2.20 P. M. feed on cottonwood 24-1/2 miles [profile sketch included]
AUGUST, MONDAY, 6, 1860. Gen course East coinciding with Emigrant road. crossed many ravines springs of del. water oozing from banks & sinking immediately no grass. Camp on Smoky Hill march 20.95 miles I killed fine antelope buck, at spring named antelope spring. no grass fed horses on cottonwood & elm & grape vine. ar 12.20 [profile sketch included]
AUGUST, FRIDAY, 10, 1860. Travelled S. W. from Sarcoxie spring & after 12 miles came to walnut cr. halted & grazed. then crossed S. W. the Santa Fe road and camped on arkansas. Here we met Sedgwick's guides who informed us that Sedgwick had preceded us several days at Fort Larned and that the Expedtn. was broken up-- 4 cos of cav ordered to Bent's Fort to winter & build post. Startling news. 2 cos 2d Drags to take post at Fort Larned. Wms & I left camp about sundown & went up to Larned 18 miles that night. Lee told me I had a fine son. [67]
AUGUST, SATURDAY, 11, 1860. Steele's command came in about 11 a. m. McIntyre is going in to Riley for co property. I apply for 7 days leave to go with him. granted. We are to leave tomorrow, with 6 wagons & 4 sergts. Every body is blue & disgusted.
AUGUST, SUNDAY, 12, 1860. Start for Fort Riley. Go by Larned-- take in my two mules. They follow. I ride my roan Kiowa, leaving Beppo[?] with Lee at Larned. camp on Walnut creek.
AUGUST, MONDAY, 13, 1860. Travelled pretty briskly reaching the Smoky Hill & camp.
AUGUST, TUESDAY, 14, 1860. Marched beyond crossing of Saline. Left the train late in afternoon on our ponies to make Riley tomorrow. About dark reach Solomon's Fork where Col Crittenden [68] with an encampment of 20 or 30 families & 700[?] recruits horses &c. for New Mexico. Spent the night there. Saw Dr. Webster, Forney, McNally, Kelly, Moore [?], I. N. McRane [?], Wheeler of N. Y. [?], Gibbs, Lane, Whitall.
AUGUST, WEDNESDAY, 15, 1860. Early this morning left Crit's camp & after 40 miles jog arrived with joyous tramp at our own doors at Fort Riley, taking our families completely by surprise. This page need not be filled out.
Footnotes:
[29] John Sedgwick, a graduate of the military academy at West Point in 1837, was assigned to the First cavalry as a major in March, 1855. During the Civil War he remained with the Union and attained the rank of major general before being killed on May 9, 1864, at the battle of Spotsylvania, Va. -- George W. Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy (New York, 1879), v. 1, pp. 533, 534; Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Washington, 1903), v. 1, p. 872.
[30] William Stephen Walker served as a first lieutenant in the Mexican war and in March, 1855, was assigned as captain to the First cavalry in command of Company G. He resigned from the U. S. army in May, 1861, and served as brigadier general in the army of the Southern Confederacy. -- Heitman, op. cit., v. 1, p. 997; Thomas H. S. Hamersly, Complete Army and Navy Register of the United States of America (New York, 1888), p. 837.
[31] Kansas Falls was located on the Smoky Hill river six miles west of Junction City. It was organized in September, 1857, and incorporated by the territorial legislature in 1858. -- George A. Root, "Farries in Kansas," The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 4 (February, 1935), p. 17. Its location was marked on "New Map of Kansas and the Gold Mines" by O. B. Gunn (Wyandotte, K. T., 1859), and "Map of Kansas and the Cold Mines" by O. B, Gunn and D. T. Mitchell (Lawrence, 1866).
[32] St. Cloud was a small settlement on the left bank of Solomon's fork. Its location was also marked on the two maps listed in Footnote [31].
[33] Wiliam Addison Phillips, a native of Scotland, emigrated to the United States about 1838 and in 1855 came to Kansas as a correspondent of the New York Tribune. Active as an antislavery journalist and politician, he also, along with four associates, founded the town of Salina in 1858 and later served in the United States congress as a representative from Kansas. -- Dictionary of American Biography, v. 14, pp. 548, 549.
[34] Lt. Francis T. Bryan, Corps of Topographical Engineers, arranged in 1855 for the construction of bridgcs along the Santa Fe trail at crossings of Solomon's fork, the Saline, and Smoky Hill rivers. Contract for construction was awarded to J. O. Sawyer, and the bridges were accepted by Bryan for the United States government. -- W. Turrentine Jackson, "The Army Engineers as Road Surveyors and Builders in Kansas and Nebraska, 1854-1858," The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 17 (February, 1949), pp. 40-44.
[35] Joseph Hancock Taylor was a graduate of West Point in 1856 and was assigned to the First cavalry. He later reached the rank of colonel in the United States army. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 436, 437; Heitman, op. cit., p. 947.
[36] Camp Alert was established on the Santa Fe trail about six miles west of present Larned. The camp was renamed Fort Larned in honor of Col. B. F. Larned.
[37] Henry Walton Wessells was a graduate of the, military academy at West Point in 1833 and was assigned to the Second infantry. He served in the Mexican war and in 1860 was still a member of the Second infantry with the rank of brevet major. He remained with the Union and later attained the rank of brigadier general. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. I, p. 437; Heitman, op. cit., p. 1019.
[38] William Fitzhugh Lee, of Virginia, was a lieutenant in the Second infantry. He resigned from the U. S. army in April, 1861, and served as a captain in the Confederate army before being fatally wounded at the first battle of Bull Run in July, 1861. -- Heitman, op. cit., p. 626.
[39] William Steele was a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy in 1840 and was assigned to the Second dragoons in which he was serving as captain in 1860. He resigned his commission in May, 1861, and served as brigadier general in the Confederate army. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 1, p. 613; Heitman, op. cit., p. 919.
[40] Francis C. Armstrong was a first lieutenant of the Second dragoons in 1860. He resigned from the Union army in August, 1861, and served as brigadier general in the Confederacy. -- Heitman, op. cit., p. 169; Hamersly, op. cit., p. 265.
[41] Solomon Williams was a graduate of West Point in 1858 and was assigned to the Second dragoons. Having resigned his commission in May, 1861, he served as colonel in the Confederate army before being killed in action at Beverly Ford, Va., in June, 1863. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 2, p. 472; Heitman, op. cit., p. 1042.
[42] Edward W. B. Newby served in the Mexican war and in March, 1855, was assigned to the First cavalry as captain. He retired from the U. S. army in September, 1863, with the rank of major. -- Heitman, op. cit., p. 744; Hamersly, op. cit., p. 661.
[43] Present Rattlesnake creek in Stafford county.
[44] Probably the wife of Charles F. Ruff, graduate of the U. S. Military Academy in 1838. Ruff was stationed in New Mexico in 1860 and participated in the Comanche expedition as a major in the Mounted Rifles. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 1, pp. 570, 571.
[45] A novel by the English writer Edward George Earle Lytton, Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803-1873). The work was originally published in Blackwood's Edinburgh (Scot.) Magazine in 1857 and 1858.
[46] George Dashiell Bayard was a graduate of West Point in 1856 and was assigned to the First cavalry. On the 1860 expedition against the Kiowas and Comanches, he received a severe arrow wound in the face on July 11. During the Civil War he served as brigadier general in the Union army before being fatally wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., in December, 1862. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 2, p. 425; Heitman, op. cit., p. 200.
[47] Lewis Merrill was a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy in 1855 and was assigned to the Second dragoons. He served in the Kiowa and Comanche campaign in 1860 as a second lieutenant and later attained the rank of brevet brigadier general in the United States army. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 406, 407; Heitman, op. cit., p. 705.
[48] The reference is to the writing of Cuthbert Bede, pseudonym for Edward Bradley (1827-1889): The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman (1853); The Further Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Under-Graduate . . . (1854); and Mr. Verdant Green Married and Done for . . . (1857).
[49] The ambulance as used by the army at this time was a four-wheeled vehicle similar to a wagon. In the 1857 Cheyenne expedition after part of the ambulance had broken down, J. E. B. Stuart was transported on the "sick wagon" which he described as "the two hind wheels of the ambulance, with a tongue attached, the cushions being fastened on the spring." -- McClellan, op. cit., pp. 21, 22.
[50] It is obvious that there was a lack of exact knowledge of streams on maps being used by the military at this time. On the map of "Kansas, Texas, and Indian Territory, With Parts of Colorado and New Mexico" issued by the Engineer Office of the U. S. army, division of the Missouri, 1868, Crooked creek flows into the Nescutunga river which then becomes the Little Arkansas river (present Salt fork of the Arkansas) Crooked creek, as is now known, flows into the Cimarron river. A map containing the errors of the 1868 sketch was probably being used by the expedition of 1860.
[51] Probably Bluff (or Buff) creek and its tributaries in present Clark and Comanche counties.
[52] The reference is to the 1857 route of Lt. Col. Joseph E. Johnston in command of the surveying party for marking the southern boundary of Kansas from May through October. Johnston's private journal is in Nyle H. Miller, ed., "Surveying the Southern Boundary Line of Kansas," The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 1 (February, 1932), pp. 104-139. Other journals on the expedition maybe found in ibid., v. 6 (November, 1937), pp. 339-377, and in Ralph P. Bieber, ed., Frontier Life in the Army, 1854-1861, by Eugene Bandel (Glendale, 1932), pp. 121-211.
[53] Probably Buffalo creek and its tributaries in present Harper county, Oklahoma.
[54] The camp was on Middle river rather than the North fork of the Canadian. See diary entry for June 13. Middle river is now identified as Wolf creek which flows from Texas into Oklahoma and empties into the North Canadian river in Woodward county, Oklahoma.
[55] John E. Weyss was surveyor with the party for the southern boundary line of Kansas in 1857 and was a member of the Texas and United States Boundary Commission in 1860. For a map of the survey and a discussion of the Texas boundary, see Marcus Baker, The Northwest Boundary of Texas (Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey, No. 194, Washington, 1902).
[56] Colonel Sumner requested permission for use of 12 Delaware Indians as guides for Major Sedgwick's command, but Secretary of War J. B. Floyd approved the request only for six. -- Sumner to Headquarters of the Army, April 16, 1860, "Letters Received," A. G. O., National Archives. Stuart's personal diary lists six Delawares by the following names: Fall Leaf, Sarcoxie, John Williams, Bascom, Wilson, and Bullit.
[57] The march of Major Sedgwick's column from Middle river to the North fork of the Canadian is shown on the map of the Texas boundary in Baker, op. cit., facing p. 11, and also on the map of "Kansas, Texas, and Indian Territory, With Parts of Colorado and New Mexico" issued by the Engineer Office of the U. S. army, Military Division of the Missouri. 1868.
[58] Another novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton published in 1828-1829. As an explanation of the Disowned, Bulwer-Lytton stated in 1832 that out of his study of metaphysics and ethics "grew the character of Algernon Mordaunt . . . as a type of the Heroism of Christian Philosophy -- an union of love and knowledge placed in the midst of sorrow, and laboring on through the pilgrimage of life, strong in the fortitude that comes from belief in heaven." -- The Complete Works of Edward Bulwer-Lytton (New York, n. d.), v. 2.
[59] Aubrey's crossing of the Cimarron river was in present Cimarron county, Oklahoma. Aubrey's crossing and Aubrey's trail were named for Francis X. Aubrey (also spelled Aubry), a Santa Fe trader. In an effort to shorten the Santa Fe trail, he selected a route that left the trail near Cold Springs in Cimarron county, Oklahoma, and ran northeast across the Cimarron river, along Bear creek, and then to the Arkansas river at Fort Aubrey near the boundary line of present Hamilton and Kearny counties, Kansas.
[60] Elmer Otis was a graduate of West Point in 1853 and was assigned to the First cavalry in March, 1855. He later attained the rank of colonel in the U. S. army. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 2, p. 358; Heitman, op. cit., p. 762.
[62] Probably James B. McIntyre, West Point graduate of 1853. Assigned to the First cavalry in March, 1855, he was serving as regimental quartermaster officer in 1860 and later served as brevet lieutenant colonel before his death at Fort Larned in 1867. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 364, 365; Heitman, op. cit., p. 669.
[62] Lunsford Lindsay Lomax was a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy in 1856 and was assigned to the First cavalry. He resigned his commission in April, 1861, and served as a major general in the Confederate army. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 430, 431; Heitman, op. cit., p. 639.
[63] The reference is to Bent's New Fort which was built on the north bank of the Arkansas river in the area of the Big Timbers near present Prowers, Colo., in 1853 by Col. William Bent. The New Fort was located about 38 miles downstream from Bent's Old Fort. William Bent leased the New Fort to the War Department in 1859 and in the following year additional fortifications were built and it was named Fort Wise (later Fort Lyon). In 1860 William Bent was still active in the Indian trade. -- See George Bird Grinnell, "Bent's Old Fort and Its Builders," in Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, v. 15 (1919-1922), pp. 28-91.
[64] Aubrey's crossing of the Arkansas river was at Fort Aubrey. -- See Footnote 59.
[65] The reference may be to Ceran St. Vrain who had been engaged in the Indian trade with the Bents and was still active in 1860. -- Grinnell, loc. cit., pp. 81 and passim.
[66] John Pegram was a graduate of West Point in 1854 and was assigned to the First dragoons. In March, 1855, he became a member of the Second dragoons where he was serving as first lieutenant in 1860. He resigned his commission in May, 1861, and became a major general in the Confederate army. He was killed in February, 1865, at the battle of Hatchers Run, Va. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 2, p. 374; Heitman, op. cit., p. 780.
[67] James Ewell Brown Stuart, Jr. There is some evidence that the son was originally named for his grandfather, Col. Philip St. George Cooke, but the name was changed when the grandfather did not resign from the U. S. army to join the Confederacy. -- John W. Thomason, Jr., Jeb Stuart (New York, 1941); see, also, Bingham Duncan, ed., Letters of General J. E. B. Stuart to His Wife, 1861 (Emory University Publications, Sources and Reprints, Ser. 1, Atlanta, 1943), pp. 21, 23, 26, 27.
[68] George Bibb Crittenden, a West Point graduate of 1832, was serving as lieutenant colonel in the Mounted Rifles in 1860. He resigned from the U. S. army in June, 1861, and served as major general in the Confederacy. -- Cullum, op. cit., v. 1, pp. 409, 410; Heitman, op. cit., p. 338.
