ON THIS DAY: Friday, Sept. 20, 1981

At Lexington, Missouri, the Confederates use bales of hemp, soaked in river water, to shield themselves as they advance on a wide front against the badly outnumbered Federal force dug in around the Masonic college. After trying unsuccessfully to set the bales on fire by firing hot shot, the besieged Union soldiers surrender, out of water and cut off on all sides by a much larger force. Unable to reach them in time, thwarted Union reinforcements, including the 39^th Ohio, move on to Kansas City.

Can anyone supply more information about the 39^th Ohio’s first brush with combat?