Excerpt from Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 1915-1918, Vol. 14: Together With Addresses at Annual Meetings, Memorials and Miscellaneous Papers
In March, 1859, he went into Allen county, where he preempted a claim and undertook to farm. With him had come his brother-in-law, and their lands adjoined. There is a family joke that both of these young men appeared with their boxes neatly' packed with clothing only suit able to city life, and that hat boxes and canes formed a part of their traveling impedimenta. However, young Francis quickly accommodated himself to frontier conditions, and when secession came and war was de clared be, with the other young men of his community, went to Mound City and enlisted in the Third Kansas regiment. This regiment was raised and commanded by the redoubtable James Montgomery, whose name had become a household word in Southeastern Kansas, so potent had been his work in that part of the territory in behalf of the free-state cause. The Third, like many of the regiments raised in the beginning of the war, was a mixed regiment, containing both cavalry and infantry. It was organized under authority from Gen. James H. Lane, who had been given a sort of roving commission to raise troops, and with the Fourth and Fifth Kansas constituted what was known as Lane's Brigade. When by the spring of 1862 the Third regiment had not completed its organization, the War Department ordered the transfer of the companies composing it. The cavalry company of which Mr. Francis was a member became company D of the Fifth Kansas cavalry, and in this company he passed his entire war service. The Fifth Kansas was used on the border and in Missouri and Arkansas.' It was a hard service, as all scout duty must be, and by the time the regiment reached Helena, Ark., many of its members were only fit for the hospital. At Helena Mr. Francis was invalided and sent up the river to the general hospital at Keokuk, Iowa; from there he was discharged in November, 1863, greatly broken in health.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.