Who failed to defend the raid on Olathe?

[GAR]

Gentlemen,

I'm working on a historical short film this w/e that has been commissioned by the City of Olathe, KS. It is about Quantrill's raid and sacking of Olathe in September of 1862.

In my research, I know the town was being protected by approximately 125 men armed with muskets. Some accounts refer to these men as soldiers, others refer to them as militia. I know Quantrill killed three young men on the way there for having just enlisted in the 12th Kansas Infantry, yet he paroled all the "defenders" except for one sergeant who refused to surrender his weapon. This could be because they were militia, not regular army. Or it could be because he had already filled his revenge quota of "Ten dead Kansans for Perry Hoy", a captured Quantrill guerrilla who had just been executed by firing squad in Leavenworth, and the primary motivation for the raid.

I guess I'm confused by the differences between militia, home guard, and how they visually compare to the regular infantry. Does it depend on State vs City Militia? Most reenactors around here show up as armed and organized civilians with a smattering of Federal belts, hats or frogs thrown in when called on to portray militia. Is that correct? If fully uniformed is more accurate, what would visually set militia apart from the regular army?

The big question: Does anyone here know who exactly it was that Quantrill captured (without a shot, no less)? Since this is a historical project, and I don't know how knowledgeable the director is about this, I kind of feel we should get it right.

Thanks very much in advance,

Gary

[GAR]

Re: Who failed to defend the raid on Olathe?

Well, they portrayed it as civilians with a few military trappings.

Apparently it's a point that historians still debate. While most believe they were Federal army, Lt. Gregg, who was one of the raiders under Quantrill, described them in a letter as being militia. If he got it wrong, it could be because it was dark and he was assigned the task of taking 60 men to surround and cordon off the town to prevent escape. It's anyone's guess how close he got when seeing them.

The production company needed more "soldiers" at the last minute, so I was trying to figure out how to best outfit my 19 year old son. For some odd reason, a lot of reenactors cancelled after hearing the 104 degree weather forecast. It was pretty brutal and I spent most of the 19 hour day in the saddle. The rest of the time I galvanized as captured militia and had to walk up and down some long grassy hills.

Four hours sleep and another four hours travel to Wichita where it was 106, I spent another 11 hours in the saddle on Sunday as we took the town. I still had a great time although the horses got tired and feisty by the end, and the one to my right decided to vent and kicked my shin- square on, as we halted from a gallop. It hurts much worse today. By tomorrow, it should start to get colorful.

My 6 horse unit represented and rode really well and the other 8 there weren't half bad either. Exhausted, hurting, sunburned and spent, I looked at my boys towards the end and we all agreed that this was just all way too cool for words. It's the most fun I've ever had while feeling miserable.

This is a part of a series of 10 film shorts on the city of Olathe for PBS.

Thanks, anyway.

[Rankin]

Re: Who failed to defend the raid on Olathe?

So would you be asking for the help in filming of this event from the authentic community,or just asking how the authentic community could help you and your son look really authentic and remain the only ones filmed in the Olathe film? Serious question.

Jim Crawford
Hairy Nation Boys
Willing to help

[GAR]

Re: Who failed to defend the raid on Olathe?

Jim,

I ask authenticity questions here to help improve my impression. I sometimes get great timely information, this time, not so. I didn't ask the authentic community to help me and my son look authentic. I asked if anyone knew what historically took place, specifically if it was militia or Federal soldiers that Quantrill captured in town. A google image search of Kansas Militia revealed what appears to be fully uniformed Union soldiers. If the photographs I found were correctly identified, it confused me and that is why I asked what would visually separate militia from regular army.

To fully answer your question, the director asked me to provide 6 horses and riders to supplement the 8 he already had on board. My group was first contacted because of our reputation of being solid riders with an eye for detail. This was a small budget film, and we didn't have much time to put it together. If there is an "authentic community" of quality cavalry riders in the Kansas City area, please direct them to me for future endeavors that might come up. I don't know the Hairy Nation Boys, but we did ask a few Iowans we have ridden with before, if they were interested. They felt it was too much travel for them.

The pay for this sounded much better than it turned out to be. $200 a day per rider, but our first day was 19 hours long in scorching heat and very little shade. The second day was somewhat better, only 11 hours, and thankfully, a night shoot in Wichita. Most of those 30 hours we spent in the saddle. They fed us and we were able to negotiate some gas reimbursement for those transporting horses, but we all came out of the shoot feeling like we went through a sausage grinder. Glad we did it, but... damn!

I worked with this director once before several years back as an actor, in his short film "Lone Elm". It was beautifully made and my first introduction to the reenacting community. You can find it in two parts on youtube.

I hope I answered your question.

Gary

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Who failed to defend the raid on Olathe?

Hallo!

Without doing the research...

IIRC, there were no federal troops or organized and/or unorganized militia in Olathe at the time making it an easy target for a raid on civilians.
And that the Federal "soldiers" who were executed/killed, Benjamin Cook, brothers James and John Judy, Isaiah Skinner, and Philip Wiggins, all of Olathe had just enlisted and were waiting to go into Compamy "H" of the 12th Kansas Infantry when it was to be mustered later in September. The Judy's were taken and executed alledgedly for something their father Reason Judy's did at the battle of Lone Jack, MO, a few weeks before the raid

After Quantrill's raid, some troops were stationed their to relieve the citizens' fears of a return.

Curt

[JimKindred]

Re: Who failed to defend the raid on Olathe?

As a rule on the AC we do not permit the discussion of TV shows or movies. Since the original poster of this thread has turned away from discussing historical points and into primarily a discussion of a PBS production the thread is closed.