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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 7203970" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>AGELESS Campaign - Chapter 145, “The Battle of Wilson's Creek”</strong></p><p></p><p>Sitting at the bar in Zakazik, the AGELESS group recounts tales of the collective pasts. James Parker then begins the tale of how he and Lawrence became acquainted with one another. “Lawrence Cantrell and first I met on August 9th, 1861 in Springfield Missouri. On the very next day the two of us became unfortunate spectators on the front lines at the Civil War battle of Wilson’s Creek, also known by the Confederacy as the Battle of Oak Hills. This was the second major battle of the Civil War and the first one fought west of the Mississippi River. </p><p></p><p>What we were doing there is an interesting story in and of itself. Following the outbreak of hostilities and blockade of southern ports the flow of spell components and other necessities for wizard magics all but dried up. Most of these items came into the United States through French sources in New Orleans, Louisiana or from Spanish sources up through Mexico and into Texas. With the war embargo on, any contraband goods from the south became impossible to obtain, making the task of wizard magic near impossible for myself and several other northern wizards. </p><p></p><p>So I made arrangements through mutual friends to obtain a large shipment of these contraband materials. I found out about Lawrence Cantrell and his connections through a mutual friend, and he acted as the middle-man for this transaction. His supplier was a Confederate staff sergeant who had been assigned as quartermaster to the Third Louisiana Infantry. That unit was mostly from northern Louisiana, but the Sergeant and a handful of others were from New Orleans, and he had all the right contacts for the items I needed. </p><p></p><p>I received notice in late July 1861 that the items had been obtained and were traveling with the Third Louisiana Infantry to northwestern Arkansas. The Sergeant felt that that the brigade which he was assigned to would soon be crossing over into southeastern Missouri. He suspected this because his unit had been paired with a group comprised of eager but untrained Confederate volunteers from Missouri who had been assembled by that state’s recently resigned Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson. </p><p></p><p>The context of this situation was that Missouri was a slave state, but in February 1861 their legislature voted to not join the Confederacy, thus they remained part of the Union. They officially declared neutrality towards the armed conflict, but as a member of the Union had to allow United States troops to be posted there. Governor Jackson strongly supported succession, and began to form his own State militia with arms smuggled in by the Confederacy. An anti-succession United States Army Captain in Missouri named Nathaniel Lyon then confiscated this militia’s stockpiled ammunition and artillery, which led to civil unrest. </p><p></p><p>President Lincoln took a hard line approach and promoted Lyon to Brigadier General, putting him in charge of all Missouri Army forces. This prompted Governor Jackson to resign and flee across the Arkansas border along with several thousand pro-succession volunteers, where he was then made a Confederate General. The Missouri legislature in Springfield appointed a new acting Governor and voted once again to remain part of the Union. </p><p></p><p>There were then several minor skirmishes between these soldiers and the United States troops in June and July. With Jackson’s troops just seventy-five miles away from Springfield, Lyon moved his own Army Regiment to guard the city. His forces consisted of approximately 6,000 troops comprised of infantry from Missouri, Iowa and Kansas, who were then supported by several companies of regular army cavalry and artillery. </p><p></p><p>For the purposes of my own objective, this situation appeared ideal. It meant that I would have safe railroads to travel on all the way to and from Springfield, Missouri, and would only have to travel a short distance to get to either northwestern Arkansas or southwestern Missouri to pick up the supplies. I arrived in Springfield on August 8th, and the following morning met up with Lawrence Cantrell, who until that point I had only communicated with though mutual acquaintances.” </p><p></p><p>Lawrence interjects “I had seen photographs of James Parker before so was able to quickly identify him.” James nods and says, “Indeed. And Lawrence then informed me what that the conflict situation had intensified, that the Confederate forces had mobilized and were now only fifteen miles southwest of Springfield. Furthermore, they had been reinforced by other volunteers from Arkansas and Missouri, with the total Confederate force now numbering 12,000. General Lyon was therefore outnumbered two-to-one and there was a strong possibility that Springfield might soon fall. </p><p></p><p>That also meant that if we were to obtain the supplies we had to do so before the possible siege and battle of Springfield. Lawrence was awaiting final word from the Confederate sergeant, which was relayed through a sympathetic female spy that afternoon. The Sergeant said that he would meet us with the items two hours after dawn of the following morning at the Wilson Township Post Office, which was a stagecoach stop along the main telegraph road, ten miles southwest of Springfield. </p><p></p><p>We left immediately, arriving in the area later that evening just as a heavy rain began to fall. We camped out on a hill within sight of the farmhouse where the Postmaster lived. The hill also gave us a good view of the surrounding countryside, and from there we could see hundreds of Confederate campfires within a few miles of our position. What Lawrence and I didn’t realize was that we had placed ourselves right dab smack in the middle of both moving armies. </p><p></p><p>The Confederate commander General McCulloch had decided to march on Springfield, but then delayed their departure due to the rain, fearing that their limited ammunition would get wet in transit. And upon hearing from his own spies that the Confederates were preparing to march, Union General Lyon mobilized the majority his forces. Unbeknownst to us, they had left Springfield just a few hours after we had. </p><p></p><p>So as the sun rose on the 10th, Lawrence and I casually packed up our belongings and headed down in the direction of the farmhouse to await our contact and merchandise. We got far more than we bargained for, as both armies were now moving and closing in upon our very location. We heard some musket fire around a mile off, but assumed it to be just a local shooting game. </p><p></p><p>We had just reached the far end of the large cornfield owned by the Postmaster and saw several of his children herding horses in an adjacent field. A group of mounted United States soldiers then rode up and yelled to the children “Get to shelter, there’s going to be fighting like Hades in less than ten minutes.” The children retreated to the Postmaster’s farmhouse and in hindsight Lawrence and should have too, but we feared that the Union Soldiers now filling the road might mistake us for Confederate scouts and fire upon us.</p><p></p><p>So we hunkered down at the far end of the cornfield and watched as a major battle unfolded. Three companies of United States Infantry, totaling around 300 troops, soon arrived followed by several hundred infantry and cavalry from Kansas and Missouri. The Confederates from Arkansas and Louisiana then came up from the southern road and outnumbered them three-to-one, but the southerns were armed mostly with muskets, squirrel rifles and shotguns, all short-range weapons. The U.S. troops had the newest long-range arms, so could fire from a safe distance still out of range of their opponents. </p><p></p><p>As the cornfield turned into a battlefield Lawrence and I initially considered heading back up the hill, until United States artillery then fired from the top of that same hill and was countered by a Confederate battery firing back. Three times during the cornfield battle entire waves of confederate soldiers swept through our position, with us moving with them each time to make them think we were their allies, until it was safe for us to fall back again. Surprisingly we were never hit by fire from either side, although at least a dozen bullets and a cannonball or two came rather close. </p><p></p><p>The Union army was forced to pull back. They were then reinforced with an entire brigade of 1,200 infantry and gave a counter surge, causing the Confederates to retreat, with the brigade pursuing them. Major fighting was still going on back at the hill, but the cornfield was finally quiet, as more Union troops arrived. These were all regular army troops, and when I heard a group of men with unmistakable Boston accents I spoke up with my own and we came out of hiding. I explained that Lawrence and I had been seeking the postmaster when the fighting began. They then escorted us to the home of Postmaster John Ray.</p><p></p><p>As the start of the battle Ray had ushered his wife Roxanna, his eleven children, his hired hand Julius Short and an Ogress slave called Aunt Rhoda all down into their storm cellar. John Ray watched the fighting until it got too close, then he joined his family down below. They were still hiding down there while the house was turned into an Union Army Hospital, with Doctors treating the dozen of wounded now lying atop every piece of furniture in the home. Lawrence and I volunteered our services to head doctor Samuel Melcher, who put us to work as nurse assistants. When the Ray family eventually emerged from hiding they too were all put to work providing assistance to the surgeons. </p><p></p><p>Word reached us that while General Lyon’s brigade held what was now called ‘Bloody Hill'. He had another brigade under Colonel Franz swing around with a flanking maneuver to surprise the Confederates and rout them. It almost worked, but Franz’s group then encountered the 700-man Third Louisiana Infantry. Uniform colors had not been standardized, and this local southern militia wore blue uniforms that almost exactly matched that of the Union Army. Mistakenly believing these to be Union allies, they allowed them to get close enough for hand-to-hand combat before their identity was discovered, and a bloody skirmish erupted. That halted the Union advance. </p><p></p><p>At 9:30 A.M. word arrived that General Lyons and other senior officers had been killed, with the ranking officer on the hill being only a Major. Confederate forces now charged our position in great number and the Union Army retreated. Most of the wounded could not be moved and Doctor Melcher announced that he was staying.” Lawrence adds, “Ray’s handiman Julius Short was actually my local contact, and he quietly suggested that we stay as well in hopes of completing out planned transaction.” </p><p></p><p>The Confederates swarmed our position, with their own Doctors deciding to continue the building’s role as a hospital, now bringing in Confederate wounded. They let the Union surgeons continue to operate, but I was a mere aid and once they heard my Yankee accent a Confederate Officer ordered our arrest. </p><p></p><p>After we identified ourselves by name we were then rescued though an amazing coincidence.” Lawrence says, “Yes indeed. The senior Confederate physician in charge from the First Arkansas Mounted Rifle Brigade turned out to be Doctor William Cantrell, my Great Uncle. I had never met my grandfather’s youngest brother before, but we had both heard of one another. He vouched for the two of us so we continued to provide assistance to the surgeons.” </p><p></p><p>James continues, “The Confederate advance then stalled, as Union Major Samuel Sturgis up on Bloody Hill proved to be a very able commander and artillerist, keeping position of the hill and raining artillery down on the multitude of Confederate units. A few shots came near the building until Yellow flags were raised to identify us as a hospital. </p><p></p><p>Then in yet another case of mistaken identity, Sturgis allowed a Confederate Brigade from Arkansas to approach and climb Bloody Hill from the west. He thought these were Union reinforcements, as they wore uniforms the same shade of military gray as the First Iowa Infantry, who comprised one-sixth of the Union troops. </p><p></p><p>Once the hill was abandoned a full Union retreat was ordered by Sturgis. This order was temporarily counter-maned by the senior Union officer, Major-General Sigel, who held the road north of Wilson’s Creek until 11:30 AM at which time they were low on artillery and other ammunition, so a full retreat to Springfield was ordered. Sigel himself was then cut off and almost captured by enemy forces, who amazingly allowed him ride by, as he wore a blanket-style cape and hat that was very similar to those worn by the Confederate Third Texas Cavalry, a group that had been held in reserve through most of the fighting. </p><p></p><p>Union General Lyon’s corpse was found and brought into the makeshift hospital where Doctor Cantrell was insistent upon removing the bullet that killed him before returning the body to the United States. Finding this curious, I managed to have Lawrence perform a slight-of-hand maneuver and replace the shell with another one. Doctor Cantrell got us an official pass to get through the Confederate lines and back to land held by the United States. The man named Short was able to then have us secretly meet up with the Louisiana quartermaster for our planned transaction, although I had to limit the transaction to only the smaller more easily concealed items. </p><p></p><p>So the Confederates won the day, although the 2,500 casualties were rather evenly divided between the two sides. The Union abandoned Springfield the next day, leaving southwestern Missouri in Confederate hands from which they launched guerilla attacks elsewhere throughout Missouri for the remainder of the war. That battle’s confusion also highlighted the need by both sides to attire each army with uniforms of a single identifiable color. </p><p></p><p>I was able to later identify the bullet which killed General Lyons as magical in nature, a rare and highly illegal item known as a ‘Targeted Bullet’, that is customized to slay a specific individual. It had been made by a Confederate wizard and weapon-smith named Bailey, a man who years later provided a similar bullet to John Wilkes Booth for his assassination of President Lincoln. Ruby and Nanuet can also give you a first-hand account about that type of magic item, as earlier this year the very same Bailey provided the outlaw Johnny Ringo with targeted bullets customized for each of them. </p><p></p><p>Lyon had been a brilliant commander whose life had been cut short through wizardry. For me the Battle of Wilson Creek was the inspiration to establish my undercover espionage team, to keep magic from being used by the Confederacy to change the outcomes of battles. And Lawrence became the first person I recruited to join that team, due to our shared experience that on day.” </p><p></p><p></p><p><em><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">This Concludes the second module of the AGELESS Campaign. Reader comments are welcomed and appreciated. </span></strong></em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 7203970, member: 8530"] [B]AGELESS Campaign - Chapter 145, “The Battle of Wilson's Creek”[/B] Sitting at the bar in Zakazik, the AGELESS group recounts tales of the collective pasts. James Parker then begins the tale of how he and Lawrence became acquainted with one another. “Lawrence Cantrell and first I met on August 9th, 1861 in Springfield Missouri. On the very next day the two of us became unfortunate spectators on the front lines at the Civil War battle of Wilson’s Creek, also known by the Confederacy as the Battle of Oak Hills. This was the second major battle of the Civil War and the first one fought west of the Mississippi River. What we were doing there is an interesting story in and of itself. Following the outbreak of hostilities and blockade of southern ports the flow of spell components and other necessities for wizard magics all but dried up. Most of these items came into the United States through French sources in New Orleans, Louisiana or from Spanish sources up through Mexico and into Texas. With the war embargo on, any contraband goods from the south became impossible to obtain, making the task of wizard magic near impossible for myself and several other northern wizards. So I made arrangements through mutual friends to obtain a large shipment of these contraband materials. I found out about Lawrence Cantrell and his connections through a mutual friend, and he acted as the middle-man for this transaction. His supplier was a Confederate staff sergeant who had been assigned as quartermaster to the Third Louisiana Infantry. That unit was mostly from northern Louisiana, but the Sergeant and a handful of others were from New Orleans, and he had all the right contacts for the items I needed. I received notice in late July 1861 that the items had been obtained and were traveling with the Third Louisiana Infantry to northwestern Arkansas. The Sergeant felt that that the brigade which he was assigned to would soon be crossing over into southeastern Missouri. He suspected this because his unit had been paired with a group comprised of eager but untrained Confederate volunteers from Missouri who had been assembled by that state’s recently resigned Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson. The context of this situation was that Missouri was a slave state, but in February 1861 their legislature voted to not join the Confederacy, thus they remained part of the Union. They officially declared neutrality towards the armed conflict, but as a member of the Union had to allow United States troops to be posted there. Governor Jackson strongly supported succession, and began to form his own State militia with arms smuggled in by the Confederacy. An anti-succession United States Army Captain in Missouri named Nathaniel Lyon then confiscated this militia’s stockpiled ammunition and artillery, which led to civil unrest. President Lincoln took a hard line approach and promoted Lyon to Brigadier General, putting him in charge of all Missouri Army forces. This prompted Governor Jackson to resign and flee across the Arkansas border along with several thousand pro-succession volunteers, where he was then made a Confederate General. The Missouri legislature in Springfield appointed a new acting Governor and voted once again to remain part of the Union. There were then several minor skirmishes between these soldiers and the United States troops in June and July. With Jackson’s troops just seventy-five miles away from Springfield, Lyon moved his own Army Regiment to guard the city. His forces consisted of approximately 6,000 troops comprised of infantry from Missouri, Iowa and Kansas, who were then supported by several companies of regular army cavalry and artillery. For the purposes of my own objective, this situation appeared ideal. It meant that I would have safe railroads to travel on all the way to and from Springfield, Missouri, and would only have to travel a short distance to get to either northwestern Arkansas or southwestern Missouri to pick up the supplies. I arrived in Springfield on August 8th, and the following morning met up with Lawrence Cantrell, who until that point I had only communicated with though mutual acquaintances.” Lawrence interjects “I had seen photographs of James Parker before so was able to quickly identify him.” James nods and says, “Indeed. And Lawrence then informed me what that the conflict situation had intensified, that the Confederate forces had mobilized and were now only fifteen miles southwest of Springfield. Furthermore, they had been reinforced by other volunteers from Arkansas and Missouri, with the total Confederate force now numbering 12,000. General Lyon was therefore outnumbered two-to-one and there was a strong possibility that Springfield might soon fall. That also meant that if we were to obtain the supplies we had to do so before the possible siege and battle of Springfield. Lawrence was awaiting final word from the Confederate sergeant, which was relayed through a sympathetic female spy that afternoon. The Sergeant said that he would meet us with the items two hours after dawn of the following morning at the Wilson Township Post Office, which was a stagecoach stop along the main telegraph road, ten miles southwest of Springfield. We left immediately, arriving in the area later that evening just as a heavy rain began to fall. We camped out on a hill within sight of the farmhouse where the Postmaster lived. The hill also gave us a good view of the surrounding countryside, and from there we could see hundreds of Confederate campfires within a few miles of our position. What Lawrence and I didn’t realize was that we had placed ourselves right dab smack in the middle of both moving armies. The Confederate commander General McCulloch had decided to march on Springfield, but then delayed their departure due to the rain, fearing that their limited ammunition would get wet in transit. And upon hearing from his own spies that the Confederates were preparing to march, Union General Lyon mobilized the majority his forces. Unbeknownst to us, they had left Springfield just a few hours after we had. So as the sun rose on the 10th, Lawrence and I casually packed up our belongings and headed down in the direction of the farmhouse to await our contact and merchandise. We got far more than we bargained for, as both armies were now moving and closing in upon our very location. We heard some musket fire around a mile off, but assumed it to be just a local shooting game. We had just reached the far end of the large cornfield owned by the Postmaster and saw several of his children herding horses in an adjacent field. A group of mounted United States soldiers then rode up and yelled to the children “Get to shelter, there’s going to be fighting like Hades in less than ten minutes.” The children retreated to the Postmaster’s farmhouse and in hindsight Lawrence and should have too, but we feared that the Union Soldiers now filling the road might mistake us for Confederate scouts and fire upon us. So we hunkered down at the far end of the cornfield and watched as a major battle unfolded. Three companies of United States Infantry, totaling around 300 troops, soon arrived followed by several hundred infantry and cavalry from Kansas and Missouri. The Confederates from Arkansas and Louisiana then came up from the southern road and outnumbered them three-to-one, but the southerns were armed mostly with muskets, squirrel rifles and shotguns, all short-range weapons. The U.S. troops had the newest long-range arms, so could fire from a safe distance still out of range of their opponents. As the cornfield turned into a battlefield Lawrence and I initially considered heading back up the hill, until United States artillery then fired from the top of that same hill and was countered by a Confederate battery firing back. Three times during the cornfield battle entire waves of confederate soldiers swept through our position, with us moving with them each time to make them think we were their allies, until it was safe for us to fall back again. Surprisingly we were never hit by fire from either side, although at least a dozen bullets and a cannonball or two came rather close. The Union army was forced to pull back. They were then reinforced with an entire brigade of 1,200 infantry and gave a counter surge, causing the Confederates to retreat, with the brigade pursuing them. Major fighting was still going on back at the hill, but the cornfield was finally quiet, as more Union troops arrived. These were all regular army troops, and when I heard a group of men with unmistakable Boston accents I spoke up with my own and we came out of hiding. I explained that Lawrence and I had been seeking the postmaster when the fighting began. They then escorted us to the home of Postmaster John Ray. As the start of the battle Ray had ushered his wife Roxanna, his eleven children, his hired hand Julius Short and an Ogress slave called Aunt Rhoda all down into their storm cellar. John Ray watched the fighting until it got too close, then he joined his family down below. They were still hiding down there while the house was turned into an Union Army Hospital, with Doctors treating the dozen of wounded now lying atop every piece of furniture in the home. Lawrence and I volunteered our services to head doctor Samuel Melcher, who put us to work as nurse assistants. When the Ray family eventually emerged from hiding they too were all put to work providing assistance to the surgeons. Word reached us that while General Lyon’s brigade held what was now called ‘Bloody Hill'. He had another brigade under Colonel Franz swing around with a flanking maneuver to surprise the Confederates and rout them. It almost worked, but Franz’s group then encountered the 700-man Third Louisiana Infantry. Uniform colors had not been standardized, and this local southern militia wore blue uniforms that almost exactly matched that of the Union Army. Mistakenly believing these to be Union allies, they allowed them to get close enough for hand-to-hand combat before their identity was discovered, and a bloody skirmish erupted. That halted the Union advance. At 9:30 A.M. word arrived that General Lyons and other senior officers had been killed, with the ranking officer on the hill being only a Major. Confederate forces now charged our position in great number and the Union Army retreated. Most of the wounded could not be moved and Doctor Melcher announced that he was staying.” Lawrence adds, “Ray’s handiman Julius Short was actually my local contact, and he quietly suggested that we stay as well in hopes of completing out planned transaction.” The Confederates swarmed our position, with their own Doctors deciding to continue the building’s role as a hospital, now bringing in Confederate wounded. They let the Union surgeons continue to operate, but I was a mere aid and once they heard my Yankee accent a Confederate Officer ordered our arrest. After we identified ourselves by name we were then rescued though an amazing coincidence.” Lawrence says, “Yes indeed. The senior Confederate physician in charge from the First Arkansas Mounted Rifle Brigade turned out to be Doctor William Cantrell, my Great Uncle. I had never met my grandfather’s youngest brother before, but we had both heard of one another. He vouched for the two of us so we continued to provide assistance to the surgeons.” James continues, “The Confederate advance then stalled, as Union Major Samuel Sturgis up on Bloody Hill proved to be a very able commander and artillerist, keeping position of the hill and raining artillery down on the multitude of Confederate units. A few shots came near the building until Yellow flags were raised to identify us as a hospital. Then in yet another case of mistaken identity, Sturgis allowed a Confederate Brigade from Arkansas to approach and climb Bloody Hill from the west. He thought these were Union reinforcements, as they wore uniforms the same shade of military gray as the First Iowa Infantry, who comprised one-sixth of the Union troops. Once the hill was abandoned a full Union retreat was ordered by Sturgis. This order was temporarily counter-maned by the senior Union officer, Major-General Sigel, who held the road north of Wilson’s Creek until 11:30 AM at which time they were low on artillery and other ammunition, so a full retreat to Springfield was ordered. Sigel himself was then cut off and almost captured by enemy forces, who amazingly allowed him ride by, as he wore a blanket-style cape and hat that was very similar to those worn by the Confederate Third Texas Cavalry, a group that had been held in reserve through most of the fighting. Union General Lyon’s corpse was found and brought into the makeshift hospital where Doctor Cantrell was insistent upon removing the bullet that killed him before returning the body to the United States. Finding this curious, I managed to have Lawrence perform a slight-of-hand maneuver and replace the shell with another one. Doctor Cantrell got us an official pass to get through the Confederate lines and back to land held by the United States. The man named Short was able to then have us secretly meet up with the Louisiana quartermaster for our planned transaction, although I had to limit the transaction to only the smaller more easily concealed items. So the Confederates won the day, although the 2,500 casualties were rather evenly divided between the two sides. The Union abandoned Springfield the next day, leaving southwestern Missouri in Confederate hands from which they launched guerilla attacks elsewhere throughout Missouri for the remainder of the war. That battle’s confusion also highlighted the need by both sides to attire each army with uniforms of a single identifiable color. I was able to later identify the bullet which killed General Lyons as magical in nature, a rare and highly illegal item known as a ‘Targeted Bullet’, that is customized to slay a specific individual. It had been made by a Confederate wizard and weapon-smith named Bailey, a man who years later provided a similar bullet to John Wilkes Booth for his assassination of President Lincoln. Ruby and Nanuet can also give you a first-hand account about that type of magic item, as earlier this year the very same Bailey provided the outlaw Johnny Ringo with targeted bullets customized for each of them. Lyon had been a brilliant commander whose life had been cut short through wizardry. For me the Battle of Wilson Creek was the inspiration to establish my undercover espionage team, to keep magic from being used by the Confederacy to change the outcomes of battles. And Lawrence became the first person I recruited to join that team, due to our shared experience that on day.” [I][B][SIZE=3]This Concludes the second module of the AGELESS Campaign. Reader comments are welcomed and appreciated. [/SIZE][/B][/I] [/QUOTE]
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