In 1891, General Theodore Monteith's 25,000 men march to the outskirts of Topeka, Kansas, where the Union general sends word to the rebels that they may surrender and avoid bloodshed at this time. His messenger is returned with a note from the leader of the rebellion, 'Sockless' Jerry Simpson: 'I fear we must politely decline the general's noble request; however, should he wish to surrender to us, we guarantee good treatment for his men and a fair trial for himself and his fellow war criminal, Major Mark Wainwright.'General Monteith laughs out loud when he reads the reply, telling the messenger, 'Well, I guess they didn't hear of Wainwright's promotion. All right, then. I guess we have to go through with this.' He prepared his men for the assault on Topeka the next day. Meanwhile, three Kansan commanders - Dell Lee Lewis in the south, Emmanuel Carter in the east, and Frederick S. Ogilvy in the west ? converged on Topeka with almost 50,000 reinforcements for the rebels.