AS the Lawrence raid put the whole Federal forces after us, it was a continuous fight from September 1, 1863, to Price’s raid in August, 1864, but Quantrell held his own.
Up to the time of the Lawrence massacre there had been no scalping done; after it a good deal. Abe Haller, brother of Lieutenant William Haller, was wounded and hiding in some timber near Texas Prairie in the eastern edge of Jackson County. Alone, he faced seventy-two men, killing and wounding five of the attacking party, when he fell. His slayers scalped him and cut off his ears. Shortly afterwards Andy Blunt came upon the body, mutilated as it was, and pointed out the marks of the knife to his companions.
“We have something to learn yet, boys,” he said, “and we have learned it.” “Scalp for scalp hereafter!”
The next day Blunt, Long, Clemens, Bill Anderson and McGuire captured four militiamen from a regiment belonging to North Missouri. Blunt scalped each of the four, leaving their ears intact, however. He said he had no use for them.
Fire Prairie
The killing went on. Between Fire Prairie and Napoleon Gregg, Taylor, Nolan, Little and Frank James captured six of Pennick’s militiamen. They held over160 them a kind of court martial and killed them all. These were not scalped.
Wellington
The next day Richard Kenney, John Farretts, Jesse James and Sim Whitsett attacked a picket post of eight men about a mile from Wellington and annihilated it, cutting them off from the town and running them in a contrary direction. Not a man escaped.
Lexington Road
Two days afterwards Ben Morrow, Pat O’Donald and Frank James ambushed an entire Federal company between Salem church on the Lexington road and Widow Child’s. They fought eighty men for nearly an hour, killin............