The American Indian as Participant in the Civil War

by Annie Heloise Abel

Footnote 552: [(return)]

Coffin to Dole, May 31, 1862, Indian Office General Files, Neosho.

Footnote 553: [(return)]

Coffin to Mix, July 30, 1862, ibid., C 1732 of 1862.

Footnote 554: [(return)]

J.J. Lawler to Mix, August 2, 1862, ibid., Shawnee, 1855-1862; Abbott to Branch, July 26, 1862, ibid. Some of the Senecas, about one hundred twenty-three, went as far as Wyandot City. For them and their relief, the Senecas in New York interceded. See Chief John Melton to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, September 2, 1862, ibid., Neosho, H 541; Mix to Coffin, September 11, 1862, Indian Office Letter Book, no. 69, 99.

County, adjoining the Missouri border.[⁵⁵⁵] In August[⁵⁵⁶] and again in the first week of September[⁵⁵⁷] guerrillas under Quantrill,[⁵⁵⁸] crossed over the line and raided the Black Bob lands, robbing the Indians of practically everything they possessed, their clothing, their household goods, their saddles, their ponies, their provisions, and driving the original owners quite away. They fired upon them as they fled and committed atrocities upon the helpless ones who lagged behind. They then raided Olathe.[⁵⁵⁹] Somewhat earlier, guerrillas had similarly devastated the Kansas Agency, although not to the same extent.[⁵⁶⁰] The Black Bob Shawnees found a refuge in the western part of the tribal reserve.[⁵⁶¹]

Footnote 555: [(return)]

This group of Shawnee refugees must be distinguished from the so-called Absentee Shawnees, who also became refugees. The Shawnees had been very much molested and disturbed during the period of border strife following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Black Bob's Band was then exceedingly desirous of going south to dwell with the Seneca-Shawnees [Rector to Greenwood, January 6, 1860, enclosing Dorn to Greenwood, December 30, 1859, Indian Office General Files, Neosho, R 463 of 1860]. The Absentee Shawnees had taken refuge in Indian Territory prior to the war, but were expelled immediately after it began. They obtained supplies for a time from the Wichita Agent and lived as refugees on Walnut Creek [Paschal Fish and other Shawnee delegates to Cooley, December 5, 1865, Indian Office Land Files, Shawnee, 1860-1865]. Later on, they seem, at least some of them, to have gone up to the Shawnee Reserve [Dole to Coffin, July 27, 1863, Indian Office Letter Book, no. 71, 195; Dole to Usher, July 27, 1863, ibid., Report Book, no. 13, 208-209].

Footnote 556: [(return)]

H.B. Branch to Dole, June 19, 1863, enclosing various letters from Agent Abbott, Indian Office General Files, Shawnee, 1863-1875, B 343.

Footnote 557: [(return)]

Branch to Dole, October 3, 1862, transmitting letter from Abbott to Branch, September 25, 1862, ibid., Shawnee, 1855-1862, B 1583.

Footnote 558: [(return)]

Connelley, Quantrill and the Border Wars, 269, says that, from' August 15, 1863, the Confederate government was directly responsible for the work of Quantrill. From that day, the guerrillas were regular Confederate soldiers. They were not generally regarded as such, however; for, in November, 1863, Price was trying to prevail upon Quantrill and his men to come into the regular army [Official Records, vol. liii, supplement, 907-908].

Footnote 559: [(return)]

Governor Robinson issued a proclamation, on the occasion of this emergency for volunteers against guerrillas.