Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/757

 any regular order, kept up a random fire as rapidly as they could load their pieces, their enemies constantly returning their shots. Iu the meantime, reinforcements entered the town, but in consequence of the extreme darkness and the uncertainty of the positions of the contending forces, they could take no part in the light, not being able to distinguish their foes from their friends. They nevertheless made the best of their time, having broken into the stores and loaded their wagon, which had been brought for the purpose, with ammunition, rifles, guns, provisions and such other articles as they desired, the greater part of which were Buford's stores, previously captured from free-state people. The tiring continued on both sides until nearly daylight, when the pro-slavery men retired, leaving their enemies in possession of the town. In this affair a pro-slavery man named Teschmaker was killed, and three or four wounded. One man had his ear shot off. The assailants received no injury whatever. One remarkable feature in all these Kansas battles, is, that although many persons were sometimes engaged, who fought with passions inflamed to the most violent pitch, the loss on either side was almost invariably quite insignificant. Those who suffered death were generally murdered, not in the heat of battle, but deliberately and in cold blood, when the fights were over. General Whitfield, in the meantime, had collected a large force, chiefly from Jackson county, Mo., with which, accompanied by General Peid, and other prominent members of his party, professedly to relieve Captain Pate, and attack and capture Brown, he entered the territory and encamped near Palmyra. Whilst this army was assembling, the free-state bauds were also concentrating and moving towards the same neighborhood. These latter, says one of their own writers, 'were a harum-scarum set, as brave as steel, mostly mere boys, and did not consider it a sin to 'press' a pro-slavery man's horse. At various times they have made more disturbance than all other free-state men together. They were under no particular restraint, and did not recognise any authority—military, civil, or otherwise—any further than suited their convenience. While they went around the country skirmishing, and carrying on the war against the pro-slavery men on their own hook, and in their own time and way, they were at the same time quite willing to lend a hand in more systematic and important fighting when there was au opportunity. These boys have been most bitterly maligned, and the free state men, or conservative free-state men, were not slow to denounce them. Resolutions were passed by the sensitively moral free-state people, or the sensitively timid, declaring that these daring young guerillas were a nuisance, and that they, the conservative class, did not wish to be held responsible for them. To all this moralizing these young braves turned up their noses, ironically recommending all who were too cowardly to fight to 'keep right on the record.' For their own part they regarded the war as begun, and would wage it against the pro-slavery men as the pro-slavery men waged it against their free-state friends.' This was the state of affairs near Hickory Point on the morning of the 5th of June. Whitfield was encamped behind Palmyra with near three hundred men. The free-state camps mustered, on mustering on that day, were about two hundred strong, and two companies