EXCITEMENT IN MISSOURI. ETC. 
27T 
shield. The forces were not far from equal, Pate’s party num¬ 
bering a few more than the other. After a two hours’ fire, Pato 
sent forward one of his men, with a prisoner, and a white flag, 
and surrendered unconditionally. A few of Pate’s company fled 
to Missouri. Among them was Coleman, the murderer; twenty- 
six men were taken prisoners by Capt. Brown. A quantity of 
goods, stolen from Lawrence, was found in their wagons. A day 
or two after this, bands of South Carolinians were threading their 
way towards Bull Creek, and men from Independence, Lexington, 
Westford, and Clay county, generally, were fast going up the 
Santa Fe road to join the same bands. One hundred and eighty 
men, who had been camped near Bull Creek, went nearer Pal¬ 
myra, and camped back of the town, in a ravine. About one 
hundred free-state men were in camp about two miles bej-ond. 
From near Hickory Point and Lawrence one hundred men were 
marching to reinforce those last named. Whitfield left his seat be¬ 
fore the investigating committee, June 2d, at the head of a large 
body of armed men, to conquer, I suppose, his constituents in the 
territory, his stated object to relieve H. C. Pate. While Gov. Shan¬ 
non, in every instance, has stationed troops in a town after if has been 
sacked, he now saw the free-state men rallying to protect them¬ 
selves, and feared the slave power would lose the ground gained 
through his servility. He heard, too, of aid coming from out of 
Kansas, and issued a proclamation on the fourth, “ commanding 
all persons belonging to military companies unauthorized by law 
to disperse, otherwise they would be dispersed by the United 
States troops.” It required all civil officers of the government to 
be w-atchful in enforcing the laws, and protecting the property 
and persons of all law-abiding citizens. All aggressive parties 
outside the territory will be repulsed. The President’s proclama¬ 
tion of February 11th was appended, and Gov. Shannon stated 
that it would be strictly enforced. A requisition was also made 
upon Col. Sumner for a force sufficient to compel obedience to 
the proclamation. 
Or: the fifth, Col. Sumner broke in upon the free-state camp, 
and released Capt. Pate and fellow-prisoners. Col. Sumner 
24 
