I have out two scouts now; one after Cameron and the other after Purcell. Will promptly report results.

Very respectfully,

JOHN F. WILLIAMS,

Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding.

GEORGE M. HOUSTON, Major and Adjutant.

P. S. - Lieutenant Harris has gotten in. He captured Lieutenant Squire Roberts, of Captain Roberts' company of rebels. Lieutenant Roberts is the man who held Aleck Stewart, of our regiment, a prisoner last winter for four weeks. Says he has not been in arms since last March. He got no other bushwhackers, but brought in several of their horses.

Yours, &c.,

J. F. W.

NOVEMBER 3, 1862.- Skirmish near Harrisonville, Cass County, Mo.

Report of Colonel Edwin C. Catherwood, Sixth Missouri Cavalry (Militia).

HEADQUARTERS,
Harrisonville, Mo., November 5, 1862.

GENERAL: I would respectfully report that I arrived at this post on the 1st instant at about 11 p. m.

On the morning of 3rd instant I started the train that I had brought from Sedalia, consisting of 13 wagons, drawn with oxen, back to that place, with an escort of 22 men, under command of Lieutenant [W. M.] Newby, of Company G, Sixth Regiment Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, which i considered perfectly safe, as I had no knowledge of any bands of the enemy other than those I had just dispersed in the vicinity of Pleasant Gap, in Bates County. On the same morning I sent 25 men, under Lieutenant [Daniel] Campbell, in the direction of Pleasant Hill. About 4 p. m. Lieutenant Campbell reported to me that Quantrill, with 300 men, was marching down the divide between here and Rose Hill. I at once became apprehensive for the safety of the train, and started with 150 men in the direction of Rose Hill, hoping to overtake the train, as the enemy had taken it about the same time that I learned he was in the country. He attacked the train in overwhelming numbers and from a position in which he was not discovered by Lieutenant Newby until he was completely surrounded.

Lieutenant Newby and 4 privates were captured; 4 soldiers and 6 teamsters are known to be killed; 2 soldiers and 1 teamster were wounded, and 4 soldiers are still unaccounted for. The indications are that these men were wounded and killed from pure maliciousness and after they had surrendered. The wagons were burned, but the oxen were saved.

I learned of the fate of the train before arriving to where it had been destroyed, and immediately turned southward in pursuit of the enemy. I came upon his camp after traveling about 10 miles and immediately attacked him, when he fled very precipitately, leaving some horses, &c. I pursued with all possible speed, attacking his rear, and succeeded in rescuing Lieutenant Newby and 1 private, killing 6 and wounding 25 of the enemy; also captured 3 horses. At this point the flight of the