6
Edward and William Vining, 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry
June to September 1862
At the beginning of June, 1862, Edward Vining was still off on his escort duty with the Agent for the Sac and Fox Indians. He returned sometime in early June and joined his brother William at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry was still spread over a 75-mile line, patrolling the Kansas-Missouri border. It may seem odd that a line of defense was set up between two Union states, but the war in these parts was constant series of raids by small guerilla bands. Kansas and Missouri had been having their own private war for years before the Civil War started – Missouri being a slave state, and Kansas strongly against slavery. When the Civil War started, many raiders on both sides (like General Blunt) simply put on uniforms and continued as before, now with the semi-legality of being in an organized unit. And many of them continued on after the war: the James brothers and their gang, the Youngers, and many other famous outlaws of the Old West, got their start here as members of guerilla bands. Wild Bill Hickock also started here as a scout and spy for the Union.
Attacks by the regular Confederate Army were not much different from guerilla raids either – in fact at times the guerilla units might be absorbed for a while into regular Confederate armies. This was because the Confederates never had any large armies in the West as they did east of the Mississippi. Their basic assumption for operations in this area of the war was that Missouri had been kept in the Union by a few people at the head of the state government, but that the majority of the people sympathized with the Confederacy. They always expected that when they made sweeping raids across the state, all the people would rise up and join them. They tried this several times during the war, never with any success.
The Confederates did succeed in disrupting General Blunt’s plans for the Indian Territory. The Federal Government had to abandon most of the territory and its forts at the start of the war due to a shortage of troops, and Confederate agents moved in to bring some of the Indian tribes over to their side. The Indian tribes living in Oklahoma were pretty much like anyone else living in the country at that time – some were pro-Union, some pro-Confederate; many of the tribes held slaves to work their farms. There were several Indian regiments raised by both sides during the war. Many tribes who remained loyal to the United States were driven into Kansas by those favoring the Confederacy, and the Territory was largely Confederate in the early years of the war. Blunt wanted to retake the main forts and allow the refugee tribes to return home. But the widespread outbreak of guerilla activities at this time forced him to delay his plans.
In June, General Blunt stretched his forces out even further, attempting to cover the entire length of the Kansas-Missouri border. Companies C, F, and I of the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry were moved from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Scott, Kansas between June 12 and 17, 1862. Company I moved on to Carthage, Missouri, Company F stayed at Fort Scott, and the Vinings in Company C were moved to the town of Trading Post, 20 miles north of the fort.
William Vining seems to have met a girl as soon as he arrived at Fort Scott. He was married to Ruth Ann Smart on July 3, 1862, after a two-week courtship.
Edward Vining spent the month of July on "extra or daily duty" as a guard. This was most likely a rotating duty at which everyone would have had a turn. From the "Returns" card in his official records, it appears he was assigned some extra duty like this about every four months. William would also, although we don’t have his Returns card to show the dates. Life continued quietly at Fort Scott through July. Cavalry patrols were sent out over a 50-mile radius looking for guerilla bands or Confederate forces, but nothing was seen until early August.
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On August 5, 1862, Company C ran into a small Confederate patrol out of Montevallo, Missouri, about 30 miles east of Fort Scott. This was the first engagement recorded for the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry in the Civil War. Major Henning of the 3rd Wisconsin reported after this minor skirmish, "... there were about 1500 rebels in and about Montevallo, and they will march for this place [Ft. Scott] if they think themselves strong enough. They may or may not come. I am fully prepared, and can hold our positions against any force if they have no artillery; and will do it anyway." Henning at that moment had about 1000 men, including 220 of the 3rd Wisconsin (Companies C and F). In the end, there was no rebel attack. We don’t know who the Confederates were, but based on the actions of the following week they may have been part of Quantrell’s Raiders.
On August 7, some parts of the 3rd Wisconsin were involved in a fight at Rocky Bluff; and on the 11th, some parts of the regiment were in a fight at Taberville. I don’t have any details on these, and don’t even know where they are yet, so we don’t know if the Vinings were involved – probably they are not. Monaghan in his history of the frontier war says that the Taberville fight slowed their response to another raid that same day at Independence, Missouri; and we know from Dyer that only Companies B and H went to Independence. So I am guessing that Taberville was near Fort Leavenworth and did not involve Company C.
The August 11 raid on Independence was by Quantrell’s Raiders, one of the worst guerilla groups. They captured the town for a day or two, but Companies B and H of the 3rd Wisconsin set out from Fort Leavenworth on August 12, on a three day expedition to Independence. Quantrell abandoned the town and headed back south to Montevallo.
The 3rd Wisconsin then set out on a ten day expedition to Montevallo, August 14 to 24, in pursuit of Quantrell. At least Companies B and H went, and may have been joined by other companies from Fort Leavenworth; they were joined by Companies C and F as they neared Montevallo; there may have been parts of other regiments with them also, but we have no details. They had another fight with Quantrell at Hickory Grove, near Montevallo, on August 23.
As a result of these actions, Quantrell was driven back into Arkansas, and Missouri was quiet again for several weeks. The Confederates now reorganized, with General T.C. Hindman being given command of all Confederate activities in Arkansas, Missouri and the Indian Territories. He had a good ability to work with the guerilla groups, and often combined his regular forces with them.
The Union forces also went through several reorganizations at this time. On August 24, 1862, the Department of Kansas was organized into a brigade structure, but the 3rd Wisconsin stayed in an unassigned group directly under General Blunt. In September the entire regiment was brought together again and stationed at Fort Scott. Then on September 20, the Department of Kansas was dissolved and merged back into the Department of Missouri – General Samuel E. Curtis took command on September 24. Again, the 3rd Wisconsin was unassigned, under Blunt, who at this point had no official position; they were all off on an expedition we will come to later.
Edward Vining was promoted to Corporal sometime during September – the exact date is not given in his records.
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