Soon after the incident noted above, George Shepherd and Cole Younger were detailed to go into Jackson county for the purpose of collecting ammunition. They had collected a large amount of the materials of war which were most needed in Quantrell's command. One day they went to find a wagon to convey the ammunition to camp. They were at a house behind which was an orchard, and this had been sown in rye which was now tall and luxuriant. While at this house seventy-five Federal troopers surrounded the place, and demanded their surrender. They refused, and made a rush to the rye-grown orchard ground, where they had hitched their horses. Beyond the orchard was a skirt of timber, now clothed in luxuriant green. They gained the orchard in safety, although followed by a storm of bullets. Mounting, they made a dash for the forest. But they were not destined to reach it unscathed. Three buckshot had penetrated the body of Cole Younger, and George Shepherd was hit hard and badly wounded. He, however, continued his flight until he reached a shelter where he could receive surgical attention. It was about harvest time, 1862, that Major Peabody undertook to capture Quantrell's band by a vigorous movement with superior forces. The two joined issue at Swearingen's place, a few miles from Pleasant Hill, Cass county. A series of desperate encounters followed. The Guerrillas were forced to seek shelter in the woods. In the fights which ensued, George Shepherd lost his horse. The Guerrillas suffered fearfully, both in the neighborhood of Swearingen's barn, and later in a depression near Fred. Farmer's house. A number of Quantrell's followers were seriously wounded. George Shepherd had great difficulty in escaping from this sanguinary engagement. He was again wounded, though not severely. Col. Upton Hayes, Col. Gideon Thompson and Col. John T. Hughes, co-operating, resolved upon attacking Independence, then garrisoned by a Federal force of about five hundred men, under command of Col. J. T. Buell, now of St. Louis. The Confederate forces numbered about seven hundred. Quantrell was requested to aid the enterprise, and joined his forces with the regular Confederate troops in an attack on Independence. George Shepherd was there, and fought with desperate valor. After the battle was over, when Quantrell was asked to name the men of his command who had most distinguished themselves for daring courage, George Shepherd was designated as one among half a dozen others.