Butternut Sons of Bitches
It was February in Southwest Missouri. Mud, sleet, and freezing temperatures brought misery to an overland march in the dead of winter. Still, the Confederate forces were miles down the road and unlikely to attack the Union columns heading southwest into northeast Arkansas. Guarding the columns, at Keetsville, Missouri, was Company C of the 6th Missouri cavalry under the command of Captain Samual Montgomery. A staunch Missouri Unionist, Montgomery had little tolerance for the rebel sympathizers that populated the southwestern portion of his state, referring to them as “damn butternut sons of bitches.” On February 25, 2026, Montgomery’s command, bedded down for the night, received the surprise of their lives from a cavalry force of five to eight hundred yelling Texans. Leading them was a former Texas Ranger and Indian fighter with a knack for stealth.
Iowa Boy Turned Texan
Lawrence Sullivan Ross was born on September 27, 1838 in Bentonsport, Iowa Territory. His family moved to Texas in 1839, eventually settling in Waco. Unlike many young Texans raised on the frontier, Ross realized the value of a higher education. He attended Baylor University in Independence, Texas and graduated in 1859 from the prestigious Florence Wesleyan University in Alabama. After returning to Texas, he joined the Texas Rangers, patrolling the Texas frontier in Young County and the surrounding area for marauding Comanches. His greatest success came at the engagement at Pease River, where he captured Cynthia Parker, who was captured by the Comanches as a child and was the mother of famed Comanche Chief Quanah Parker. On May 28, 1861, Ross married Elizabeth Donley, the daughter of a Waco planter. Together they had nine children. After the Civil War broke out, he was given the task of securing treaties with the Native American tribes in the Indian Territory, a fruitless endeavor when he found out the Confederate Indian Commissioner, Albert Pike, was already securing treaties with them to join the Confederacy. Upon his return, Ross joined a Waco cavalry company started by his older brother Pete, which later merged with other Texas companies to become the 6th Texas Cavalry Regiment. Elected to the rank of Major, Ross set out with his fellow Texans to Arkansas to join the command of Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch. Hampering their journey was an affluent Dallas native, Colonel B. Warren Stone, whose fondness for drink threatened the chain of command. Additional problems included a shortage of ammo and poor supplies that included rotten beef and wormy flour that needed a good sifting before consumption. Around the middle of October, Ross and his fellow Texans arrived at McCulloch’s headquarters in Maysville, Arkansas.
Scouting For McCulloch
Wearing an uncharacteristic black suit for a uniform and Wellington cavalry boots, the former Texas Ranger McCulloch needed to know the location and intention of the Union Army under the command of Major General David Hunter. Facing Hunter was the Secessionist Missouri State Guard under General Sterling Price, a long time Missouri politician and former governor. Outnumbered and outgunned, Price was forced back to Carthage, Missouri. Ross and his fellow Texans were selected by McCulloch to serve as scouts. After twice entering, and escaping, through Union lines, he discovered Hunter was awaiting orders to move south against Price. McCulloch and Price disagreed on whether to attack Hunter in Missouri or fall back to the easily defensible Boston Mountains in Arkansas. Hunter decided for them, he withdrew to St. Louis on November 9, leaving Springfield for Price and his Missourians. It wouldn’t last long. A new Union commander, Samuel Curtis, replaced Hunter and brought a more aggressive, disciplined attitude to his new command. Defying military tradition, he decided to attack Price during the winter.
Price vs McCulloch
The year 1862 was proving disastrous for Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi. Curtis’ surprise counteroffensive, by his Army of the Southwest, drove Price’s troops out of Springfield, Missouri, completely erasing their success the year before. Poorly supplied, clothed, and armed, Price’s command, along with a burdensome column of fleeing civilians, trudged southeast into neighboring Arkansas. Awaiting them, with less than open arms, was the Confederate command of General McCulloch, who was in Richmond at the time explaining to Confederate President Jefferson Davis his lack of a working relationship between him and Sterling Price. McCulloch believed Price was more of a long-winded politician in charge of an army of poorly trained amateurs, who were not yet inducted into the Confederate Army. Price, on the other hand, felt McCulloch was overly cautious and frustratingly noncommittal in liberating Missouri from Union control. To solve the problem of two sparing generals, Davis placed them both under the command of Major General Earl Van Dorn.
Supply Lines and Shotguns
Unlike the Civil War theaters east of the Mississippi, supplies in the Trans-Mississippi had to be moved by mule or wagon. Railroads and navigable rivers weren’t available to quickly transport large amounts of arms and supplies. As a result, wagon borne supply lines could become dangerously extended and vulnerable to attack. Prior to Van Dorn’s arrival, McCulloch needed to get an idea of the size of the Union Army and where it was likely heading. In addition, he wanted to disrupt its supply line and raise havoc in its rear. Again, he turned to Ross, who had returned after a 60 day furlough. Riding for miles in winter weather and hilly terrain was anything but easy. In February 1862, Ross and his troopers made a wide move to the East to avoid Curtis’ position at Cross Hallows near Bentonville. They stealthily crossed into Missouri, keeping their ranks close together and off established roads to avoid detection by Union scouts and pickets. Their arms were anything but standard Confederate issue, mostly Colt six shooters, crude Bowie knives, and double barrel shotguns brought from home. At the time of their enlistment, a mustering officer would purchase, at an ascertained value, the arms brought from home by its owner, or pay the owner a dollar a month for its use.
Ross Strikes
Seventy miles behind enemy lines, Ross struck a Union supply train near Keetsville. Barricaded in homes and buildings, Montgomery held off Ross’ Texans before retreating to Cassville. Many of his men were in various stages of dress, lacking hats, coats or shoes. Several commissary wagons were burned, eleven prisoners taken, and 70 badly needed horses were liberated for Confederate service. Though successful and adding more accolades to Ross and the 6th Texas, the raid did little to prevent the disaster that awaited Van Dorn’s army. Near a roadside stopover called Elkhorn tavern, Van Dorn’s inept leadership, combined with the calamitous death of McCulloch, led to a decisive defeat that kept Missouri out of the Confederacy for the duration of the war.
