upon one of their fairest towns. Wiser counsels, however, prevailed, and the excitement passed off without further trouble. To guard against the probability of the recurrence of such a calamity, I recommended to His Excellency the Governor of Kansas to adopt the system which had been established in Missouri a year before, of organizing and arming all the militia of the State, thus placing every town, at least, in condition to defend itself from any guerrilla attack. This suggestion was as promptly adopted, and the State soon made secure.

For some time previous to the Lawrence massacre, the necessity of adopting some measures more vigorous than any before adopted to rid the border counties of the brigands who had so long infested them had been discussed, and I had directed General Ewing to remove the families of all guerrillas and all those who were known to aid them, and also the slaves of all disloyal persons living in those counties, it having been shown satisfactorily that a main object of the guerrilla bands was to protect their disloyal friends int eh possession of their slaves, and that they were encouraged and supported for this purpose. After the massacre at Lawrence, General Ewing deemed this measure not adequate, and ordered a total depopulation of the district which was then the field haunt of guerrillas. After a protracted visit to the border, and as full an examination of the case as I could make, I modified General Ewing's order so far as to preserve, as far as possible, all property in the depopulated district, and approved the order. The measure, though very severe, seemed necessary at the time, and I believe the result has proved the wisdom of it. The guerrillas soon found it impossible to them were killed, and the remainder driven beyond the Arkansas River. Since the rebel have all been driven out, I have directed that all the loyal people of those counties be permitted to return to their homes, and that they be armed and organized into companies. I believe there will be no difficulty hereafter in preserving peace in that district. In the retreat of the enemy from Little Rock and Fort Smith, several small bands of guerrillas were left in the northern part of Arkansas, and two or three still remained in Missouri.

About the last of September, a detachment of rebel cavalry, from 600 to 800 strong, under command of Shelby, left Price's army, near Arkadelphia, in Arkansas, moved north, and crossed the Arkansas River a short distance below Fort Smith. After crossing, Shelby moved rapidly toward Huntsville, which place he reached September 30, and moved thence via Pineville to Neosho, Mo., where he attacked and captured two companies of Missouri Militia.

Shelby was joined in Arkansas by Brooks and other guerrillas leaders, and in Missouri by Quantrill, Jackman, and others, with all the guerrillas in Western Missouri. These increased his force to about 2,000 men. Passing rapidly through Greenfield and Warsaw, he succeeded in destroying the La Mine Bridge, on the Pacific Railroad, and reached the town of Boonville, on the Missouri River. Up to this time he succeeded in entirely eluding the troops sent to intercept him, and passed north of them. At Boonville he was overtaken to Brigadier General E. B. Brown, with about 1,500 men, and pursued to Marshall, skirmishing continually. At Marshall, Shelby made a stand, and a sharp fight ensued, lasting five hours, and resulting in a total defeat of the rebels. they scattered in all directions and fled toward Arkansas, hotly pursued by General Brown's troops. Subsequently, the chase was taken up by Colonel Weer, then by General Ewing, and finally by General McNeil, who continued the pursuit until the remnant of Shelby's force had crossed