Woodson County in War

A company of soldiers for service in the Union Army was organized at Neosho Falls in November, 1861. B. F. Goss was chosen Captain and I. W. Dow First Lieutenant. This company formed a part of the Iola Battalion of the 9th Kansas Cavalry. They served along the border between Kansas and Missouri and in Arkansas and participated in many of the well known engagements and skirmishes fought in those Bushwhacking strongholds the first three years of the war. The state militia enrolled many other men of the county who were either indisposed to service in the volunteer army or were physically incapacitated for such service. These militiamen were subject to the call of the Governor or of the commander-in-chief of the state, in emergencies, chief of which were the raids of "Pap" Price.

For service in the Spanish-American war the county furnished her quota of young men—sons of veterans and other sons—who enlisted in one of the companies of the famous 20th Kansas, Colonel Funston. The regiment rendezvoused at Topeka, was ordered to San Francisco and there equipped and made ready for the field. It was one of the last commands to be ordered to the Philippines and took a conspicuous part in the first, and all other prominent engagements of the Philippine Insurrection. Upon its return home after an absence of a year and a half the regiment was tendered a public welcome and reception by the state in honor of its gallant, brave and patriotic achievements in Luzon.