Aubry's Post

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On March 7, 1862, Confederate guerrillas under William C. Quantrill raided the small Kansas community of Aubry, southwest of Kansas City, Missouri, and just west of the Kansas-Missouri border. Three residents were killed in the raid and much property was carted away by the guerrillas. [1]

Quantrill's raid resulted in Aubry being garrisoned by Company E of the 8th Regiment of Kansas Volunteers. Capt. John Greelish was the first garrison commander. Aubry was garrisoned by Union troops intermittently for the rest of the Civil War. Greelish's troops arrived about March 10 and two days later won a skirmish near Aubry with about thirty of Quantrill's men. After this an additional company of troops was sent to Aubry. Maj. E. F. Schneider then took command.

Later in 1862 Company D of the 11th Kansas Infantry, under command of Lt. Dick Rooks, manned the post at Aubry. Rooks was a Red leg and a Jayhawker. This company remained at Aubry through the winter of 1862–3. [2]

Later in 1863 troops were again sent to Aubry. The post, under the command of Capt. Joshua A. Pike, had seventy-two men, composed of two companies of cavalry. Pike was very soon to discredit himself. On the evening of August 20 Quantrill passed within sight of the post with about 400 guerrillas and Confederate Army recruits. These men were on their way to raid Lawrence, Kansas.

Pike formed his men into a line of battle south of his post, but he took no action to determine the identity of Quantrill's men or to pursue them once he suspected they were guerrillas. He passed the information about the travelers to all the troops in the area, but he did not notify his superiors about them in a timely manner. [3]

Capt. Charles F. Coleman, in command of the post at Little Santa Fe, Missouri, marched with eighty men to Aubry. About midnight Coleman and Pike took their forces in a very belated attempt to pursue Quantrill. By this time Quantrill was so far ahead of them that the pursuers could not possibly catch him.

Pike was not to remain at Aubry much longer, but from August 1863 to at least September 1864 a force of one company, and sometimes two companies, of the 11th Kansas Cavalry was on duty guarding Aubry. We do not know what buildings were erected at Aubry, other than a guardhouse. [4]

Sometime after September 19, 1864, very possibly during the height of Price's Missouri Raid, the garrison at Aubry was removed. A result was a raid by about ten guerrillas under Dan Vaughn on January 31, 1865. Word of the impending raid reached authorities in Olathe and a squad of soldiers rushed into Aubry, arriving too late to prevent the killing of a traveler, the robbery of two residents and the burning of several houses.

Once again soldiers, around twenty, were stationed at Aubry. The post was active until at least May 1865. [5]

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Lawrence, Kansas was not well defended in the early part of the Civil War. That ended with William Quantrill's devastating guerrilla raid August 21, 1863. By early 1864 Union soldiers were permanently camped on the top and slopes of Mount Oread, then to Lawrence's southwest. It seems the camp was originally named Camp Ewing, after Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing.

Camp Hunter was established in June 1862 or a bit earlier at what is now Baxter Springs, Kansas. It was established by Union troops. At the same time Indian Home Guard regiments established a camp nearby on Little Five Mile Creek.

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During the Civil War, Coldwater Grove existed 13½ miles east of Paola, Kansas, in Miami County. It straddled the Kansas-Missouri border, being partly in both states. About June 1863 a Union military post was established on the Kansas side of the community and the post was put under the command of Lt. Col. Charles S. Clark. Clark also commanded four nearby posts.

In 1864 Gen. Samuel R. Curtis established a military camp at the Fort Riley-Fort Larned Road crossing of the Smokey Hill River in what is now Ellsworth County, Kans.

Fort McKean is a fort located inside Kansas along the Kansas-Missouri border. On November 14, 1862, Company C of the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, led by Lieut. James B. Pond, established a camp at Morris Mills on Drywood Creek. It was fifteen miles southeast of Fort Scott. Sometime later this camp was given the name of Fort McKean. The post was probably on the Fort Scott-Fort Gibson Military Road, and many, including Pond, thought the post was inside Missouri. Throughout its history, Fort McKean was a small post, ranging in strength from 20 to 60 men. It is unknown what buildings or defenses were erected there.

The Lawrence blockhouses were a series of blockhouses built in the spring of 1864 in Lawrence, Kansas, to provide defensive structures in case of attack by Confederate guerrillas. On August 21, 1863, Lawrence had been attacked by 400 guerrillas and Confederate Army recruits under the command of William C. Quantrill. Lawrence was caught virtually defenseless and much of the town was destroyed and about 180 men and boys were killed, most of them defenseless. A militia became active by spring 1864 to prevent another attack.

Mound City's post was established by 1860 in Mound City, Kansas. In August 1861 U.S. Senator James H. Lane reported to the commander of Fort Leavenworth that the post was to be fortified. In fact, Mound City's post became one of the important posts guarding against Confederate guerrilla attacks along the Kansas-Missouri border. Through the War usually 200 to 300 troops at a time were stationed at the post.

Osage Mission's post was located at the Osage Catholic Mission, which was established in 1847. Eventually, Osage Mission became the town of St. Paul, Kansas, inside what would become Neosho County, Kansas. The Mission was located about 35 miles (56 km) north of the Kansas-Indian Territory border. Indian Territory eventually became the state of Oklahoma. When the Civil War erupted, Father John Schoenmakers wanted to keep the Mission as neutral ground and thus out of the conflict. Although at one point Schoenmakers had to flee for a time, he pretty much succeeded in keeping Osage Mission itself out of harm's way.

Paola's post, sometimes called Post Paola, in Miami County, Kansas, was located on the west side of Bull Creek, just west of Paola, Kansas. It was probably established in December 1861, as that was the first time it was mentioned. This post became one of the more important posts along the Kansas-Missouri border during the Civil War. It became a district headquarters in 1863. Later, in September 1864, it was designated a subdistrict headquarters, when the district headquarters was moved to Lawrence, Kansas. The military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Gibson ran through Paola, thus ensuring the post always had some importance.

Rockville's post, in southern Miami County, Kansas, was established at the small town of Rockville, Kansas, founded in 1859 by those loyal to the southern cause in Kansas. The other side, the free-staters, soon gained control of the town and it was loyal to the Union when the Civil War broke out in 1861. Rockville was located on the top of a hill surrounded by rolling plains. During the American Civil War, the area was almost bare of trees, allowing troops holding the town to see anyone coming from some distance away. Rockville's post was one of the many posts established in the War to help guard the Kansas-Missouri border area.

The Salina Stockade was built in Salina, Kansas, to provide the residents with protection from the American Indians in the area, many of whom were hostile toward white settlement. Salina had been raided in 1862 by Native Americans and then Confederate guerrillas, but it was not until May 1864 when residents decided they needed to build a stockade for protection. On May 17, 1864, a makeshift stockade, consisting of wagons placed in a circle around the town's flagpole, was erected. The local militia then drilled and guarded Salina. On the northeast corner of 7th Street and Iron Avenue stood a small building. Around this a permanent stockade was erected in May and June 1864.

References

  1. ↑ William C. Pollard, Jr., "Forts and Military Posts in Kansas: 1854-1865" (Ph.D. dissertation, Faith Baptist College and Seminary, 1997), p. 8; William E. Connelley, Quantrill and the Border Wars, 1956 ed. (New York: Pageant Book Co., 1956), pp. 225-8.
  2. ↑ Connelley, pp. 234-5; Col. Robert H. Graham, report, The War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1883), Series I, Vol. VIII, pp. 335-6; Oliver H. Gregg, "History of Johnson County, Kansas," Atlas Map of Johnson County, Kansas (Wyandotte, Kans,: E. F. Heisler & Co., 1874), p. 31.
  3. ↑ Untitled letter, The Independent (Oskaloosa), August 15, 1863, p. 2; Connelley, pp. 315-6; Capt. Charles F. Coleman, report, The War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1888), Series I, Vol. XXII, Part I, p. 590; Brig, Gen. Thomas Ewing, report, The War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1888), Serive I, Vol. XXII, Part I, p. 580.
  4. ↑ Coleman, p. 590; Ewing, p. 580; "Organization of troops in the Department of the Missouri, commanded by Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield, December 31, 1863," The War of the Rebellion (1888), Series I, Vol. XXII, Part II, p. 762; Col. Edward Lynde, report, The War of the Rebellion (1891), Series I, Vol. XXXIV, Part II, p. 274; Asst. Adjutant Gen. George S. Hampton, report, The War of the Rebellion (1891), Series I, Vol. XXXIV, Part II, p. 352; "Troops in the Department of Kansas, Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, U.S. Army, commanding, June 30, 1864," The War of the Rebellion (1891), Series I, Vol. XXXIV, Part IV, p. 622; "One of the Gang," Kansas Daily Tribune (Lawrence), July 30, 1864, p. 3; Hampton, report, The War of the Rebellion (1893), Series I, Vol. XLI, Part III, pp. 259-60.
  5. ↑ Hampton, report, The War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893), Series I, Vol. XLI, Part III, pp. 259-60; "Another Raid," The Olathe Mirror, February 4, 1865, p. 2; "Protection," The Olathe Mirror, February 11, 1865, p. 2; Capt. A. J. Lumsden, report, The War of the Rebellion (1896), Series I, Vol. XLVIII, Part II, p. 337.

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