Rufus Henry Ingram

In early 1864, Rufus Henry Ingram arrived in Santa Clara County with a Confederate commission as captain and with a former undersheriff of Monterey County, Tom Poole, organized about fifty local Knights of the Golden Circle and commanded them in what became known as Captain Ingram's Partisan Rangers.^{[citation needed]} Finding difficulty in raising funds to purchase supplies for his unit, Ingram first planned a raid on San Jose to rob its banks and stores in the manner of Quantrill's raid on Lawrence. A quarrel within the band, however, led to the exposure of the plan to the local sheriff and it was abandoned.^[1]

Soon after, Ingram decided to rob shipments of silver from the Comstock Lode to Sacramento. On June 30, Ingram, along with a small detachment, robbed two stagecoaches eleven miles east of Placerville of their gold and silver, leaving a letter explaining they were not bandits but carrying out a military operation to raise funds for the Confederacy. During the pursuit of his fleeing band, the posse had a gunfight with two lawmen at the Somerset House.^{[citation needed]} One of the posse, Deputy Sheriff Joseph Staples was killed,^[2] while Poole was wounded and left to be captured. After a two-day chase the Placerville posse lost their trail and they got to Santa Clara County a week later. Tom Poole gave a complete confession, the bullion was recovered and he exposed his companions' identities. They evaded the search for them in Santa Clara County.^[3]