The court successfully threw dust in the marshal's eyes, and he returned to Fort Scott. Soon discovering that he had been duped, Little gathered a second and larger expedition, and set out again, determined effectually to disbar the insolent attorneys. On his return there was a suitable preamble of parley. “Gentlemen,” he said in a very black mood, “you will understand that you are dealing with the United States, and not with border ruffians. You will learn that there is a difference between them. I order you to surrender and prepare to accompany me to Fort Scott.” The court scouted the idea. Half an hour was allowed for reflection, with intimation from Little that if the period of grace brought forth no works meet for repentance he should “blow them all to hell.” At the expiration of thirty minutes -- no signs of surrender appearing -- the marshal ordered a charge upon the recent judiciary, members of which were partly entrenched in a log-cabin, and partly posted behind neighboring trees. A dozen Sharpe's rifles responded to the charge, and that spoiled all the fun in a twinkling. Numerous loungers and roughs, who accompanied the expedition as a fine lark, disliked the appearance of things, and the road toward Fort Scott smoked with the precipitation of their return. Rumors of the encounter blew about the territory with various exaggerations. Reinforcements hurried down from Lawrence. Marshal Little's force was considerably increased, but belligerents finally drew off, and there was no more fighting.

In the spring of 1858, Captain Charles A. Hamelton surpassed all preceding guerrilla exploits by a terrible attack. Hamelton was a Georgian, of excellent family and reared in wealth. Restless and fond of adventure, his ear was caught by the Kansas crusade proclaimed in Georgia in 1856. He settled in Linn County and built a substantial log house, which served as political headquarters for the vicinity. But Hamelton hardly maintained himself against the superior prowess of the Jayhawkers, and with the decline of the pro-slavery cause in the territory, he soured into desperation. He resolved that the victors should pay heavily for their success, and compiled a list of men in his neighborhood whom he planned to seize and execute. This death catalogue in some way fell into James Montgomery’s hands, who immediately took measures to kill Hamelton. He caught him in his log house, to which he laid siege, but was driven off by federal troops before he could accomplish his goal.

Then a lull followed, the opinion becoming that Hamelton would not push his schemes of assassination, precautions were relaxed, and vigilance grew weary; but it would not last.

Hamelton suddenly appeared in the neighborhood of Trading Post on May 19th, 1858, with a gang of Missourians, and began to scour the region for his enemies, political and personal. He was particularly anxious to capture a resolute, belligerent blacksmith named Captain Eli Snyder, with whom he had an altercation not long before. Snyder, armed with a shot-gun “loaded with sixteen buckshot,” encountered Hamelton and one or two companions near Trading Post. A spirited discussion followed.