Jayhawkers/Red Legs—During the early part of the Civil war western Missouri was infested with bands of guerrillas, and it was no uncommon occurrence for some of these lawless gangs to cross the border and commit depredations in Kansas. To guard against these incursions, and otherwise to aid the Union cause, a company of border scouts was formed sometime in the year 1862. As it was an independent organization, never regularly mustered into the United States secret service, no official record of it has been preserved. The men composing the company became known as "Red Legs," from the fact that they wore leggings of red or tan-colored leather. Wilder, in his Annals of Kansas (p. 956), says it was a secret Union military society, that it was organized in June, 1862, and numbered 163 men, with George H. Hoyt as commander. John M. Dean, who was a member of the company, says it was organized in Oct., 1862. Connelley, in his Quantrill and the Border Wars, says it was organized by Gens. Ewing and Blunt for desperate service along the border, and George W. Martin, secretary of the Kansas Historical Society, in Volume XI of the Kansas Historical Collections (p. 279), says the Red Legs were organized in Dec., 1862, or Jan., 1863, and that there were never less than 50 nor more than 100 of them.
The qualifications for membership in the company were unquestioned loyalty to the Union cause, undaunted courage and the skillful use of the rifle or revolver. Their headquarters were at the "Six-mile House," so called because it was six miles from Wyandotte on the Leavenworth road. This house was erected in the winter of 1860-61 by Joseph A. Bartels, whose son, Theodore, one of the best pistol shots on the border, was a member of the Red Legs. The company was commanded by Capt. George H. Hoyt, the lawyer who defended John Brown at Charleston, Va. Other members were Jack Harvey, a brother of Fred Harvey, of Santa Fe eating house fame; William Hickok, who later became known as "Wild Bill"; Joseph B. Swain, nicknamed "Jeff Davis," afterward captain of Company K. Fifteenth Kansas; "Red" Clark, of Emporia, whom Gen. Ewing said was the best spy he ever had; John M. Dean, who has already been mentioned as one of the organizers; and W. S. Tough, for many years proprietor of the horse market at the Kansas City stock yards. Still others, of less note, were Harry Lee, Newt Morrison, Jack Hays, James Flood, Jerry Malcolm, and Charles Blunt, often called "One-eyed Blunt."
William W. Denison, assistant adjutant-general of Kansas some years after the war, was a private soldier in the Eleventh Kansas, and was one of the detail to enforce Gen. Ewing's General Order No. 11 (q. v.). On that occasion he wore the red leggings of the organization, which came to be recognized as "a badge of service in the Union army." Ewing and Blunt, generals, usually had several of the Red Legs on their pay rolls, where they received often as much as $7 per day on account of the hazardous service they were required to render.
In course of time the term "Red Leg" became general along the border. They were generally honest and patriotic men.
Albert R. Greene, a member of the Ninth Kansas cavalry, was personally acquainted with many of the Red Legs and was also well acquainted with the nature of their service. Concerning them and their work he says: "There was not one of them but performed valuable service for the Union cause, and, so far as I know and believe, always within the rules of civilized warfare. That the organization was disbanded before the close of the war was owing more to the fact that the necessity for its existence had ceased . . . . It is enough to say for the propriety and wisdom of such an organization as the Red Legs, that it did more to protect the homes of Kansas than any regiment in the service, and was the organization of all others most dreaded by Quantrill."
Such was the character of the Red Legs—men who knew not the meaning of the word cowardice, and who left their fields and firesides to defend their homes against the irregular and predatory warfare of the guerrilla. Like the "Minute Men" of Concord and Lexington, they never hesitated to meet the invader, and when the trying conditions that called the organization into existence had passed most of the members returned to peaceful occupations and became again law-abiding citizens. It is to be regretted that, not being regularly enlisted soldiers, the complete and authentic history of the Red Legs and their deeds of heroism and daring cannot be obtained at this late day.
Pages 553-555 from volume II of Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... / with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence. Standard Pub. Co. Chicago : 1912. 3 v. in 4. : front., ill., ports.; 28 cm. Vols. I-II edited by Frank W. Blackmar. Transcribed July 2002 by Carolyn Ward. http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/r/red_legs.html
