Militia,

A study of the 23 September 1864 Goslin's Lane fight near present-day Woodlandville in west Boone County reveals that elements of the 3rd Cavalry MSM at that fight carried 44 caliber Ballard carbines. The combined bands of George Todd, John Thrailkill, and local man Tom Todd possessed the battle site afterwards and recovered 54 of the Ballard carbines. They likely concluded it was not worthwhile to keep the Ballards, since they had no way to acquire enough of the rimfire metallic cartridges for operations, so they threw the Ballards into a burning wagon when they left. Perhaps the 3rd Cavalry MSM left those Ballard cartridges on the Mine Creek battle site, too.

Bruce Nichols