Ira Hodgson, formerly of Harveyville

June 1st, 1861, found me 15 years and 4 months old, and the North and South in a death grapple for supremacy. What was fretting me was that the scrimmage would be settled before I was big enough to join in the scrap. But I wasn't troubled that way long.

My parents' folks � the Morgans and Crittendons � were fighters from away back, and I considered myself one of the speckled hen's chickens, and I wanted to fight too. You don't have to scratch more than through the skin to find the barbarian in the best of humanity, and I was no exception to the rule.

There were about 1100 of the Hodgson family but they were Quakers and didn't believe much in war. But they were abolitionists and would run underground railroads � with colored men as passengers, as a matter of course.

When the war broke out about half of the Hodgson family lived North of Mason and Dixon's line and the other half, South. In the South, every one that was old enough, was in the Confederate army, and they were hard old fighters too.

In the North, although not so many went into the army, still there are scores of Hodgsons that wore the blue that fill unmarked graves in the sunny South.

In 1861 1 was presumptious enough to imagine I was as large as I felt. I thought myself a match for any foe if I just had a gun, so I enlisted.

But when the mustering-in officer came around he told me to step out and go home and stay with my mother awhile before I was big enough to be a soldier. He said they might need me later on.

I never felt so small in my life. It seemed to me as though I settled right down into my boots and could just see over the tops of them. I racked right out for home. I couldn't stand the rest of them joshing me about being so small.

But if I couldn't do one thing I would try another. So I hired to a wagon-master of a freight train and made a trip to New Mexico and back. Freighting in that day and age was a hard racket for a kid and I didn't grow much on the trip. I measured myself but didn't come up to the standard of a soldier.

In the spring of '62 I was still below the standard, and I took another trip freighting to Santa Fe. I got back Augut 21, '62, and found the fighting still going on in dead earnest. Each side had found they had a big job on hand. Greek had met Greek.

The soldiers of the hardest fighting nation in the world had met on several bloody fields and had demonstrated that one side had no advantage of the other as far as fighting qualities were concerned. The American is a foe worthy of any man's steel � let him be Russian, Prussian, Briton or Turk.

The country was needing soldiers and now was my chance. I hadn't got big enough yet to fill the standard, but necessity sometimes compels the government to vary a little in regard to height and weight.

They were recruiting now for the 11th Kansas Infantry, so I just footed it to Fort Leavenworth and enlisted in Co. E. The mustering-in officer scrutinized me pretty close. He said I was pretty small but as I had footed it one hundred miles to enlist he thought I had pluck enough for a soldier if I didn't have the size. So he said he guessed he would have to take me in.

I felt awful proud of being a Kansas soldier then and I can say I have no reason to be ashamed of it yet. The Kansas soldier is one of the best that tramps the earth. He has few equals and no superior. He has been tried on over one hundred hard fought battle-fields and has never been found wanting.

When the war commenced the Kansas soldier had his record to make and he was subjected to a good deal of ridicule and derision from regiments from older states that had former records as soldiers.

But when the war was over the Kansas soldier's fighting qualities were not questioned by either friend or foe.

Well, the regiment was drilled about four weeks at Fort Leavenworth and then we were sent to the front on a forced march � on a four hundred mile trip.

The large boys and men had a good deal of fun at my expense because I was small. They said I couldn't carry a gun, and forty rounds of amunition, and my blanket and knapsack and keep up on the march. They said I would have to be hauled in one of the wagons or an ambulance.

I had nothing to say but I did a whole lot of thinking. I thought I knew who would have to crawl into a wagon. That spring and summer I had footed it from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe and back, and from Leavenworth home, and from home to Leavenworth to enlist, and I thought I knew what walking meant.

The first day out the command made about forty-five miles and the next day about twenty miles. The second day when we got into camp the big boys and men were strung out for about five miles, limping along with sore feet or stealing a ride in the wagons when they could get in.

The next day it was the same, only worse. Then I had the laugh on them. I asked them who had to be hauled in the wagon? I was used to walking and could run the best of them down. But they got all right after they got used to walking.

When we got down into Arkansas we camped close to a rebel woman's house and near our regiment three soldiers belonging to the 6th Kansas � dispatch bearers� were encamped. The sergeant of the squad was a large, coarse looking old man. He went to the house and asked the woman for a skillet to fry his meat in. I was drawing a bucket of water at the well near the door and heard the conversation.

She told the sergeant that she wouldn't lend him anything� that soldiers would lie and steal everything they could lay their hands on. The old sergeant said: "Madam, I am as honest as I am ugly; I will bring your skillet back!" She looked him all over and then handed him the skillet without saying another word.

Thinks I, old man, if you are as honest as you are ugly, your word ought to be as good as your bond. He took the woman's skillet back as soon as he got his meat fried and borrowed it again next morning, again taking it back.

Soon after that my father (Allen Hodgson) wrote me that he had a cousin in the 6th Kansas Cavalry by the name of Jonathan Hodgson and if I ever got a chance I had better go and see him. The first time I ran across the 6th Kansas I inquired for him and when I found him who should it be but the old sergeant that borrowed the skillet. We had a good laugh over the first time we met in Arkansas.

At Pea Ridge we met General Scofield's command going North, but we pushed on and joined General Blunt in North Western Arkansas. In a few days we marched to Fort Wagner in the Cherokee Nation. Here were about 7000 rebels and Indians. General Blunt pitched into them with the 2nd and the 11th Kansas and Rabb's battery. The 2nd Kansas charged their battery and captured it before the balance of our command got up.

When we got there on the run the Indian regiment followed them up and killed and scalped a good many of them. Our next shindy was at Cane Hill, Arkansas. The rebels were ready for us and had everything fixed. They had a six gun battery in position. The 2nd Kansas, with Rabb's battery and the 11th Kansas were in the advance. Rabb's battery charged up within 400 yards of the rebel battery. The rebel battery was already in position and Rabb's battery had to go into position under fire, and before it could get ready for action it was pretty badly used up. The first shot from Rabb's battery knocked one gun off of the wheels. They done them up in short order when they got at it.

The first man I saw when we came up was one of the battery boys leaning up against a tree with his under jaw shot clean off. We had a running fight through the mountains for about 11 miles. Night came on and that stopped the fight for that day.

We stayed at Cane Hill till the 7th day of December, '62 The 5th day of December, General Hindman made a feint on Cane Hill. On the 6th he renewed the attack. His idea was to fight us there with part of his army and move the main part around on the Wier road to Hickman's mills where our supply train was.

Blunt had a scout on that road but neglected his business and let Hindman go around the night of the 6th. We were fighting on picket line all night and looking for a hard battle the next day, but a little after sunrise we heard a heavy artillery fire to the north west.

We knew then what was up � Hindman was after our supply train. As luck would have it, General Herron was on his way 'to reinforce Blunt and met Hindman at Prairie Grove and then the fight commenced.

Herron had four regiments of infantry and one of cavalry, which with Blunt's command made about 8000 men. When we heard the cannon at Prairie Grove we started on the double quick and got there about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. They had Herron's men pretty badly done up. Hindman had about 5000 reinforcements come onto the field the same time we got in. We could hear Herron's men cheering. When they heard us open on the left they went in again in dead earnest.

It was a pitched battle from then till after dark. Finally both sides fell back. We knew we were badly used up but expected to try it again the next day. We stayed in line of battle all night but we found the next morning the rebels had retreated.

As near as I can recollect we lost about 2000 men, killed and wounded.

The next day we buried the dead and moved the wounded to Fayetteville. The 9th of December we started back to Cane Hill. The rebels had moved their wounded to that place and they we in our lines.

The government furnished them rations as long as we stayed there.

The last of January we started for Van Buren and Fort Smith. From the bluff above Van Buren we could see the streets filled with soldiers. A charge by the 2nd Kansas resulted in the capture of about 300 confederates and the town.

Next we took Fort Smith, capturing three steamboats loaded with supplies. We then returned to Huntsville and thence to Vernon county, Mo.

Another short trip South was followed by a furlough � Just in time to join U. S. Marshal McDowell's posse in pursuit of Bill Anderson on his raid through his old stamping ground. Bill got within speaking distance of our sentries near the Cottonwood crossing of the Santa Fe Trail, but he wheeled about and in a few days was back in old Missouri without losing a man.