At the Sacking of Lawrence, 21 May 1856, SGT Robert H. Williams of the Mounted Rangers, Atchison’s Border Ruffians, rode into the Free-State town of Lawrence during a time that is known as Bleeding Kansas. The Pro-Slavery Ruffians assembled in response to the Pro-Slavery Sherrif being shot in the town. These men were tasked with making several arrests of known Free-Staters, but also to destroy the Free State Hotel and the printing presses that supported Free-State efforts within the Kansas Territory.

Sources used for this episode:

Williams, Robert H. With the Border Ruffians: Memoirs of the Far West, 1852-1868. John Murray, 1908. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010551615&seq=11.

May, Andy. Blood & Honor: The People of Bleeding Kansas. American Freedom Publications LLC, 2019.

An Unknown Soldier from Company A, 19th Iowa kept a diary of his time in the Union Army from September to December 1862. It was discovered after the Battle of Prairie Grove, 7 December 1862, somewhere along the advance or retreat of the 19th Iowa as they faced a Brigade of Arkansans. The Unknown Soldier of the 19th Iowa is unique in that all we have of him is his diary, which was found missing its cover and the first few pages. With no other mention of a name, we may never know who he truly was, but the diary still has a story to tell.

Sources for this episode:

Unknown. The Diary of an Unknown Soldier: September 5, 1862 to December 7, 1862. Found on a Battlefield. Edited by Elia Vaught. Press-Argus Printing Company, 1959. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858046452367&seq=1.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 22, pt. 1: Reports. Government Printing Office, 1888. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077699704&view=1up&seq=3.

At the Battle of Atlanta, 22 July 1864, CPT Charles W. Wills and the 103rd Illinois occupied recently vacated Confederate trenches, and believed the way was open to seize the city. As they got to work “turning the trenches” the Illinoisans heard tremendous firing on the left flank and rear of the Army of the Tennessee. As CPT Wills listened, he spotted a line of grey troops emerge from the woodline behind them.

Sources used for this episode:

Kellogg, Mary E. Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, Including a Day by Day Record of Sherman's March to the Sea; Letters and Diary of the Late Charles W. Wills. Globe Printing Company, 1906. https://archive.org/details/armylifeofillino00willilli/page/n4/mode/1up.

Davis, George B., Perry, Leslie J., and Kirkely, Joseph W. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 38, pt. 3: Reports. Government Printing Office, 1891. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077722993&view=1up&seq=3.