him with a copy of the order and a statement of the facts, at Shawneetown, Kans., which was promptly answered as follows, to wit:

HEADQUARTERS KANSAS MILITIA,
In Camp at Shawneetown, October 16, 1864.

General W. H. M. FISHBACK,

Kansas State Militia, Hickman Mills, Mo.:

GENERAL: The order of General Blunt with your indorsement is received. I am directed by General Deitzler to say that while you are expected to obey all lawful orders issued by General Blunt, you are not required to report to an officer of inferior rank for duty. The utmost harmony among the forces which this exigency will throw together is especially desirable; you cannot, however, be expected to obey an order which has neither the sanction of law nor usage. You will therefore retain your command until superseded by a ranking officer. I have not the slightest doubt that General Curtis will take the same view of the matter, and if General Blunt persists in the order a statement of the facts to General Curtis will set all right. The order and indorsement as received will be forwarded to General Curtis.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

O. E. LEARNARD,

Colonel and Chief of Staff.

For the reason already stated I declined to obey General Blunt's order, believing as I did it was an insult to the State and well calculated to demoralize the men, and as you are aware did demoralize whole companies who had not yet crossed the line, and who refused to cross, fearing their rights as Kansas militia would there no longer be respected. Reports, apparently reliable and well authenticated, had at this time reached me calculated to create the deepest alarm among our brave men in the field, who had left their wives, their families, and their property at home on the border almost wholly unprotected. That large bands of guerrillas were threatening our border in the vicinity of Rockville and Mound City, and as our line was unprotected, there being but few troops of any description from Olathe to Fort Scott, and up to that time we had had no definite information of Price or his whereabouts, I determined to send a portion of the Kansas Stat Militia to Rockville, on the line southeast of Paola, to scout and guard the country apparently in the most immediate danger; for this purpose, and in obedience to my order, a copy of which is herewith inclosed, the Sixth Regiment Kansas State Militia, Lieutenant-Colonel Snoddy commanding, marched from camp on the 16th instant, and when out some three or four miles they were overtaken by General Blunt, as I am informed, with six companies of the Fifteenth Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, and one howitzer, and were ordered to halt under penalty of being fired upon. Lieutenant-Colonel Snoddy was disarmed and sent to the rear of his regiment, and his men marched back to camp and were directed by General Blunt to elect a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel, and a major-a lieutenant-colonel in the place of Lieutenant-Colonel Snoddy, whom he had deposed, and a colonel and major to fill existing vacancies; a high-handed assumption of power in keeping with his other acts. I was then placed under arrest by Special Field Orders, Numbers 3, issued by General Blunt, and was sent under guard to Paola. Kans. Upon my arrival there I found an order had already been received by telegraph from Major General S. R. Curtis, commanding Department of Kansas, for my immediate release and return to my command. I was, of course, much gratified to find that that stern old patriot hero (the "Wheel-Hose of the Campaign") had seen through the flimsy pretext under which the arrest was made, and had so promptly ordered my release, and thus so pointedly discountenancing the arbitrary act