tested, and the troops exhibiting a degree of coolness in the face of an overwhelming enemy seldom equaled. The fighting lasted nearly six hours, the enemy's fire ceasing abut 4 p. m., when he refused to advance against my last line of battle formed on the east side of Independence. At 5 o'clock the command moved in column to the main camp of the militia on the Big Blue, where defensive works had been constructed, arriving there about 8 p. m.

The Fourth Brigade, under command of Colonel James H. Ford, Second Colorado Cavalry, consisting of the Second Colorado Cavalry, Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry, and First Colorado Battery, which had been detached from the Third Brigade by order of the commanding general, reported to me for orders on the morning of the battle of the Little Blue and participated in all the operations of the day, and to Colonel Ford and his command is due great credit for their coolness and gallantry. To Colonel Thomas Moonlight and the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry for their gallantry displayed in resisting the advance of the enemy on the morning of the 21st until re-enforcements arrived, as also their gallant conduct in covering the retreat at Lexington on the 19th, special commendation is due, nor can I omit to make special mention of Major R. H. Hunt, of the staff of the commanding general, for the gallant service he rendered with the howitzer battery of the general's escort. Early on the morning of the 22nd I directed the First Brigade, under Colonel Jennison, to proceed up the Big Blue, a distance of four miles, to Byram's Ford to defend the crossing at that point, and for the same purpose send the Second Brigade, under Colonel Moonlight, to Hinkle's Ford, abut two miles above the main crossing. At about 9 a. m. a small force of the enemy advanced on the main road from Independence to Kansas City, which proved to be only a feint to divert attention from the movement on our right flank in the direction of Byram's ford. At 1 o'clock I heard artillery firing on my extreme right, from which I inferred that Colonel Jennison's command had been attacked, and immediately dispatched a courier to Colonel Moonlight to re-enforce him with the Second Brigade, but before Colonel Moonlight had time to arrive on the ground Colonel Jennison was forced to retire and the enemy had flanked our position on the Big Blue, and was crossing that stream in force. The First and Second Brigades kept upon their flank, and when near the State line attacked the right of their column, turned his flank and punished him quite severely, the fighting continuing until dark. Finding the position of our army on the Big Blue flanked by the enemy, and in the absence of superior authority, I directed Major-General Deitzler, in command of the Kansas State Militia, to withdraw his command to Kansas City, and dispatched orders to Colonels Jennison, Moonlight, and Ford to remain with their commands in front of the enemy's in the vicinity of Westport.

All of the night of the 22nd was occupied in getting ammunition and subsistence to my command, with the view of commencing the attack upon the enemy at daylight the following morning. Daylight on the morning of the 23rd revealed the enemy in force on the open prairie directly south of Westport and about two miles distant. Colonel C. W. Blair's brigade of State militia was ordered out from Kansas City at 3 a. m., and at daylight my whole command was in motion, moving in column through Westport and across Brush Creek, and soon after sunrise the First, Second, and Fourth Brigades were deployed into line of battle on the south side of the timber skirting Brush Creek, where Shelby's division, of Price's army, was advancing upon my line. Skirmishers were thrown forward and the engagement with small-arms and