 The arson fire was the handiwork of a squad of volunteer Kansas cavalry acting on orders of Jayhawker Colonel James Montgomery.A company of pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard cavalry under Sidney D. Jackman arrived too late to stop the arson, but they pursued the Kansans back across the border, killing and wounding several.During much of the spring and summer of 1862, the town was occupied by Union Colonel Fitz Henry Warren and elements of the 1st Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry.