The passions aroused by this internecine strife deadened human kindness, and made men as ferocious and brutal as wild beasts. This was particularly true of the lawless bands of guerrillas whose desultory operations have been in all wars the most cruel and most difficult to suppress or control. Brigadier General Loan, of the Missouri State Militia, in reporting the tragedy which we shall next relate, said: “The guerrillas and Rebel sympathizers are waging a relentless, cruel, and bloody war upon our unarmed and defenseless citizens, and are determined to continue it until the last loyal citizen is murdered, or driven from the State for fear of being murdered.” Such was the true situation along the south bank of the Missouri River, and it was only by the most vigilant precaution on the part of the steamboat men that they did not suffer more than they did. We shall relate one instance in which these precautions did not avail. [Sidenote: AFFAIR OF THE “SAM GATY.”] In the latter part of March, 1863, the steamboat _Sam Gaty_ was on her way up the Missouri with a heavy load of freight and passengers, bound for the far upper river. There were on board several persons of wealth on their way to the newly discovered gold fields of Montana. There were besides quite a number of paroled Union soldiers and some forty contrabands, as the negroes freed by the war were called. While passing under a high wooded bank near Sibley, Mo., the boat was attacked by a band of guerrillas under the leadership of one Hicks, who had for some time been the terror of the surrounding country. The boat was ordered to come to the bank and promptly obeyed, whereupon the guerrillas immediately boarded her. The attack was unexpected, and the passengers were seated around the cabin engaged in games and conversation when the appalling fact of their situation dawned upon them. A rush was made to conceal valuable property, and the paroled soldiers made haste to get into citizens’ clothes. The poor negroes could do nothing. The guerrillas made quick and heartless work. They robbed the passengers of all the valuables to be found on their persons, and one man narrowly escaped summary death for attempting to slip his gold watch into his boot. All the property on board that seemed to be of any use to the government was thrown into the river. The safes were broken open and robbed. Some of the paroled soldiers were taken off the boat and shot. All of the contrabands were driven ashore, where they were shot down in cold blood. Their shrieks and cries were plainly heard on the boat. After this attack the boat was allowed to proceed. [Sidenote: AN ATROCIOUS CRIME.] Vengeance followed quickly in the wake of this atrocious crime. A body of Kansas troops under a Major Ransom pursued and overtook the guerrillas, attacked and destroyed their camp, took twenty-one horses, killed seventeen men in combat and hanged two, and completely dispersed the organization.[44] [Sidenote: A UNION MAN]