Steve,
Keith probably has more on this than I do, but the only CW incident I ever heard of involving Devil's Branch was in Cockrell's 1918 Johnson County history on pages 113-114. Cockrell was describing the very violent struggles between guerrillas and Major Emory S. Foster's battalion of 7th Cavalry MSM for control of the county in spring 1862. Just after the Union troops of the 7th Cav MSM and 1st Iowa Cavalry defeated Confederate Colonel Benjamin F. Parker's recruiting force and captured Parker himself on 29 March 1862 is when Cockrell wrote that the event at Devil's Branch took place. Cockrell wrote that just before the Devil's Branch episode guerrillas near Holden killed a northern man named William Barton and then near Chilhowee killed a northerner named Brown.

Just after this Union troops at Warrensburg released a returned Rebel soldier named Potts who started toward his home, and two troopers of 7th Cav MSM followed him and killed Potts near Devil's Branch, west of Warrensburg. This is the only skirmish or incident I ever read took place at Devil's Branch.

Now, on the western edge of Johnson County is a ridge called Devil's Ridge, because some guerrillas supposedly made a base there at some point during the war. I walked Devil's Ridge years ago and along the top found a couple of places with some bricks sticking out of the ground, perhaps signifying a brick building or two stood there years before, but I found nothing more.

A lot of devilment in those days.
Bruce Nichols