Harry Truman, "A Noted Criminal" and Kansas Red Leg

In January 1872, a St. Louis newspaper reported the strange case of Harry Truman:

"Alex. Manning representing himself to be a deputy sheriff of Carroll parish, Louisiana, and another man giving the name of Laddy, arrived here yesterday from Lake Providence, La., having in charge Harry Truman, whom they allege is a burglar and murderer, and was an associate of Quantrell in the Lawrence, Kansas massacre during the war, and for whom they state the Governor of Missouri offered $5,000 reward. They left their prisoner with Chief McDonough during the day, saying they expected the sheriff of an interior county to come and take him. Not having any authenticated papers, Chief McDonough suspected something wrong, and visited the prisoner in the calaboose and found him barbarously ironed. He ordered the removal of his shackles and heard his story, from which he (McDonough) believed the man had been kidnapped and refused to deliver him to his captors until they produced properly authenticated papers. To-day Chester Harding applied for a writ of habeas corpus, and Truman was brought before Judge Ewing and discharged, his captors failing to appear to show cause why he was arrested. The man, whose real name is J.W. Thurman, states that he was drugged in Lake Providence some ten days ago, and when he came to his senses he found himself on board a steamer, loaded down with irons, on the way to Missouri. It appears from the man's own statement and from that of others who knew him, that he was a Union scout and spy during the war, and that he rendered valuable service to the Federal cause. He served under Gen. Harding, who was his counsel to-day; also under Gen. Rosecrans and others in the department. It is further stated by those cognizant of the facts that in 1864, he was tried by a court at St. Joseph, convicted of seven different murders, and sentenced to be hanged, but the sentence was commuted to imprisonment in the Alton (Illinois) Penitentiary, from which he was pardoned after nine months' imprisonment. He was one of the original Kansas 'Red Legs,' and is said to have been one of Quantrell's gang. While acting as a Federal spy, he was much in the rebel camps, fought, was wounded in their ranks, was captured by Union soldiers on one occasion, tried as a spy, sentenced to be hanged, but pardoned by the President through the intercession of Gen. Harding, to whom he had always been true, and afterward he was sent to the Missouri penitentiary for passing counterfeit money. After serving two years he was pardoned by the Governor. Since then he has been living in Louisiana and Mississippi, working for Gov. Alcorn in the latter state. Altogether, by his own story and the statement of others, he is, or has been, a most desperate villain, and but for the illegal manner in which he was brought here, would have been held. He attributes his arrest to Quantrell's men living in Louisiana, who, he says, were afraid he would expose them, and took this way of getting rid of him."

For the most part this story is true. Truman was a very bad character and I will have more on him in later blog posts.

The Red Legs and the "Buckskin" or "Red Legged" Scouts Part II

For lengthy periods of time during the war, William Sloan Tough, a former Pony Express rider and wagon freighter, served as “Chief of Scouts” for the Union Army on the Border. He told a reporter in 1863, that during the early days of the war he “belonged to no military organization, but ran an independent concern,” and that the “plunder was divided among his men who would sell it and get pay for their service.” It was also recorded that Tough raised a force of seventy-five men at the beginning of the war and conducted raids into Missouri. His motive was allegedly revenge, for Missouri guerrillas had pilfered his wagons and twice attempted to kill him. I am highly skeptical of this later story and in an upcoming blog post will examine a possible Marshall Cleveland – Tough connection. Tough and his men were a completely separate and distinct organization from Hoyt’s crew and were commonly identified as the “buckskin scouts” and occasionally as “Red Legged” scouts. Tough and two of his men, John Harvey and Wallace or Walter “Walt” Sinclair, appear on Connelley’s list of Red Legs.

The Red Legs and the "Buckskin" or "Red Legged" Scouts

There is one person on Connelley’s list of Kansas Red Legs that should not be there. Although he certainly knew many individuals associated with the Red Legs, James Butler Hickok, “Wild Bill,” was never a Red Leg. I will discuss this at length in a later blog and hopefully my friend Joe Rosa will provide his thoughts on the matter. As we shall see, however, there were many men who were left off of Connelley’s list.
The individuals included in Connelley’s Kansas Red Leg list fall into two separate and distinct categories. One group of men, more or less, coalesced around “The Chief of the Red Legs,” George H. Hoyt. (Photo on left) Without doubt, Hoyt was instrumental in forming the original “unofficial” organization. From time to time, these men were employed in an official capacity as scouts, spies and detectives, sometimes under the direct leadership of Hoyt. As an example, Hoyt commanded the following group of men during the summer of 1863:


DETECTIVES, SCOUTS AND GUIDES EMPLOYED UNDER GEORGE H. HOYT FOR BRIG. GEN THOMAS EWING, JR., IN 1863:

[Names in bold denote individuals from Connelley’s list of Red Legs]




Albott, Edward, P., Guide & Scout, 5-28 Aug. 1863
Atchison, John, Detective, 6 July-29 Aug.
Bender, John C., Detective, 20 May-10 Aug.
Blachly, John W., Detective, 18 June-28 Aug.
Bliss, J.F., Detective, 20 July-19 Aug.
Bridges, John L., Detective, 18 June-17 Aug.
Carpenter, Samuel W., Detective, 8 July-31 Aug.
Hook, Dawson A., Detective, 16 June-31 Aug.
Hoyt, George H., Chief Detective, 16 June-31 Aug.
Johnson, David, Detective, 6 Aug [Johnson was killed on his first day of employment. I will have the complete story of Johnson’s termination later on in the blog]
Johnson, William Henry Harrison, Detective, 18 June-18 Aug.
Kelsey, Thomas C., Detective, 1 July-16 Aug.
Kingsley, Richard, Detective, 25 July-31 Aug.
Kinsley, George, Detective, 16 June-31 Aug.
Logan, William, Detective, 19 July-18 Aug.
Raynard, Asa, Detective, 26 June-31 Aug.
Shelton, John, Detective, 19 June-31 Aug.
Speer, John L., Detective, 19 July-15 Aug.
Spui, C., [full name missing from document] Scout, 8-29 Aug.
Suley, R., Detective, 14 July-5 Aug.
Tinter, John R., Detective, 12-31 Aug.
Wilson, David, Detective, 1 June-31 Aug.



In my next blog post I will discuss the second group of men to whom the term Red Leg was applied, William Sloan Tough and his "Buckskin" or "Red Legged" scouts.

William E. Connelly’s List of the Original Thirteen Kansas Red Legs

In a letter dated April 19, 1903, William E. Connelley, who would go on to serve as the Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society from 1914-1930, announced that he had secured the names of the original 13 Kansas Red Legs:

"For fifteen years I have been trying to learn the names of the thirteen original Kansas Red Legs. I secured the thirteenth name on Tuesday, April 7, 1903. I had heard all the names used in connection with the operations of the Red Legs from my first investigation of the notorious band. But the task of determining the original thirteen was a long one. I often gave up the investigation, believing it not possible to identify these men. However, I found myself questioning old soldiers and citizens whom I thought might know. The following list is the original roster beyond doubt:"
Charles R. Jennison
George H. Hoyt
Theodore Bartles
Joseph Guilliford
Al Saviors
John Blachley
Jack Bridges
Harry Lee
Alsup
Newton Morrison
"Jeff Davis" [Connelley did not know at the time that this was Joseph Bloomington Swain]
"Beauregard" [Connelley did not know at the time that this was in fact Jack Bridges]
"Pickles" [at the time Connelley did not know the real name of this individual. He would later conclude that it was Samuel Wright]

Since Connelley listed "Beauregard" twice, his list actually comprised the original 12 Kansas Red Legs. In the next posting I will compare Connelley's original list with the Kansas Red Legs listed in his book Quantrill and the Border Wars.