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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Struggle for Missouri, by John McElroy
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Struggle for Missouri
+
+Author: John McElroy
+
+Release Date: March 25, 2010 [EBook #31770]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRUGGLE FOR MISSOURI ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STRUGGLE FOR MISSOURI
+
+BY JOHN McELROY
+
+     States are not great except as men may make them,
+     Men are not great, except they do and dare.
+     --Eugene F. Ware.
+
+WASHINGTON, D. C:
+
+THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE CO.
+
+1909
+
+DEDICATED
+
+TO THE UNION MEN OF MISSOURI
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STRUGGLE FOR MISSOURI.
+
+[Illustration: 003-The Struggle for Missouri.]
+
+
+3
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. A SALIENT BASTION FOR THE SLAVERY EMPIRE.
+
+WHATEVER else may be said of Southern statesmen, of the elder school,
+they certainly had an imperial breadth of view. They took in the whole
+continent in a way that their Northern colleagues were slow in doing.
+It cannot be said just when they began to plan for a separate Government
+which would have Slavery as its cornerstone, would dominate the
+Continent and ultimately absorb Cuba, Mexico and Central America as far
+as the Isthmus of Panama.
+
+Undoubtedly it was in the minds of a large number of them from the
+organization of the Government, which they regarded as merely a
+temporary expedient--an alliance with the Northern States until the
+South was strong enough to "assume among the Powers of the Earth the
+separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's
+God entitle them."
+
+
+4
+
+They achieved a great strategic victory when in 1818 they drew the
+boundaries of the State of Missouri.
+
+The Ordinance of 1787 dedicated to Freedom all of the immense territory
+which became the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and
+Wisconsin. The wonderful growth of these in population, wealth and
+political influence alarmed the Slave Power--keenly sensitive, as bad
+causes always are, to anything which may possibly threaten,--and it
+proceeded to erect in the State of Missouri a strong barrier to the
+forward march of the Free Soil idea.
+
+When the time for the separation came, the Northern fragment of the
+Republic would find itself almost cut in two by the northward projection
+of Virginia to within 100 miles of Lake Erie. It would be again nearly
+cut in two by the projection of the northeast corner of Missouri to
+within 200 miles of Lake Michigan.
+
+In those days substantially all travel and commerce was along the lines
+of the rivers. For the country between the Alleghany Mountains and
+the Mississippi the Ohio River was the great artery. Into it empty the
+Alleghany, Monongahela, Muskingum, the Kanawhas, Big Sandy, Scioto,
+the Miamis, Licking, Kentucky, Green, Wabash, Cumberland and Tennessee
+Rivers, each draining great valleys, and bringing with its volume of
+waters a proportionate quota of travel and commerce. The Illinois River
+also entered the Mississippi from the east with the commerce of a great
+and fruitful region.
+
+
+5
+
+West of the Mississippi the mighty Missouri was the almost sole highway
+for thousands of miles.
+
+The State was made unusually large--68,735 square miles, where the
+previous rule for States had been about 40,000 square miles--stretching
+it so as to cover the mouths of the Ohio and the Illinois, and to lie on
+both sides of the great Missouri for 200 miles. A glance at the map will
+show how complete this maneuver seemed to be. Iowa and Minnesota were
+then unbroken and unvisited stretches of prairie and forest, railroads
+were only dreamed of by mechanical visionaries, and no man in Ohio,
+Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky or Tennessee could send a load of produce
+to market without Missouri's permission; he could make no considerable
+journey without traversing her highways, while all of the imperial
+area west of the Mississippi was made, it seemed, forever distinctly
+tributary to her.
+
+New Orleans was then the sole mart of the West, for the Erie Canal had
+not been dug to convert the Great, Lakes into a colossal commercial
+highway.
+
+Out of a country possessing the unusual combination of surpassing
+agricultural fertility with the most extraordinary mineral wealth they
+carved a State larger in area than England and Wales and more than
+one-fourth the size of France or Germany.
+
+All ordinary calculations as to the development of such a favored region
+would make of it a barrier which would effectively stay the propulsive
+waves of Free Soilism.
+
+
+6
+
+So far as man's schemes could go there would never be an acre of free
+soil west of Illinois.
+
+The Anti-Slavery men were keenly alive to this strategic advantage of
+their opponents. Though the opposition to Slavery might be said to be
+yet in the gristle, the men hostile to the institution were found in all
+parties, and were beginning to divide from its more ardent supporters.
+
+Under the ban of public opinion Slavery was either dead or legally dying
+in all the older States north of Mason and Dixon's line. In the kingly
+stretch of territory lying north of the Ohio and between the Alleghanies
+and the Mississippi there was no taint of the foot of a slave, and the
+settlers there wanted to "set the bounds of Freedom wider yet."
+
+The Anti-Slavery men everywhere, and at that time there were very many
+in the Southern States, protested vigorously against the admission
+of Missouri into the Union as a Slave State, and the controversy soon
+became so violent as to convulse the Nation. In 1818, when the bill
+for the admission of Missouri was being considered by the House of
+Representatives, Gen. James Tallmadge, of New York, introduced the
+following amendment:
+
+And provided, That the introduction of slavery, or involuntary
+servitude, be prohibited, except for the punishment of crimes, whereof
+the party has been duly convicted; and that all children born within
+the said State, after the admission thereof into the Union, shall be
+declared free at the age of 25 years.
+
+
+7
+
+This was adopted by practically all the votes from the Free States, with
+a few from the Border States, which constituted a majority in the House.
+But the Senate, in which the Slave States had a majority, rejected the
+amendment, and the struggle began which was only ended two years
+later by the adoption of the famous Missouri Compromise of 1820, which
+admitted Missouri as a Slave State, but prohibited for the future any
+"Slavery or involuntary servitude" outside the limits of that State
+north of 36 degrees 30 minutes.
+
+As in all compromises, this was unsatisfactory to the earnest men on
+both sides of the dispute.
+
+The Anti-Slavery men, who claimed that Freedom was National and Slavery
+local, were incensed that such an enormous area as that south of 36
+degrees 30 minutes had been taken from Freedom by the implication that
+it was reserved for Slavery.
+
+The Pro-Slavery men, on the other hand, who had shrewdly made Slavery
+extension appear one of the fundamental and cherished rights of the
+South, set up the clamorous protest, which never ceased till Appomattox,
+that the denial of the privilege of taking property in Slaves to any
+part of the National domain won by the arms or purchased by the money
+of the whole country, was a violation of the compact entered into at
+the formation of the Government, guaranteeing to the citizens of all the
+States the same rights and privileges.
+
+They also complained that under this arrangement the Free-Soilers gained
+control of 1,238,025 square miles of the Nation's territory, while
+Slavery only had 609,023 square miles, or less than half so much. This
+complaint, which seemed so forceful to the Pro-Slaveryites, appeared as
+rank impudence to their opponents, since it placed Slavery on the same
+plane with Freedom.
+
+
+8
+
+The great State, however, did not flourish in accordance with the
+expectations based upon its climate, natural resources and central
+position. The tide of immigration paused before her borders, or swept
+around under colder skies to Iowa and Minnesota, or to the remote
+prairies of Kansas and Nebraska. Careless as the average home-seeker
+might seem as to moral and social questions so long as he found fertile
+land at cheap prices, yet he appeared reluctant to raise his humble
+cabin on soil that had the least taint of Slavery. In spite of her long
+frontage on the two greatest rivers of the continent, and which were
+its main highways; in spite of skies and soils and rippling streams
+unsurpassed on earth; in spite of having within her borders the great
+and growing city of St. Louis, the Metropolis of the Mississippi Valley,
+Missouri in 1860, after 40 years of Statehood, had only 1,182,012
+people, against 1,711,951 in Illinois, 1,350,428 in Indiana, 674,913
+in Iowa, 172,023 in Minnesota, 2,329,511 in Ohio, 749,113 in Michigan,
+775,881 in Wisconsin, with nearly 150,000 in Kansas and Nebraska.
+
+More than a million settlers who had crossed the Mississippi within
+a few years had shunned her contaminated borders for the free air of
+otherwise less attractive localities.
+
+Nor had the Slaveholders gone into the country in the numbers that were
+expected. Less than 20,000 had settled there, which was a small showing
+against nearly 40,000 in Kentucky and 55,000 in Virginia. All these had
+conspicuously small holdings. Nearly one-third of them owned but one
+slave, and considerably more than one-half had less than five. Only one
+man had taken as many as 200 slaves into the State.
+
+
+9
+
+The Census of 1860 showed Missouri to rank eleventh among the Slave
+States, according to the following table of the number of slaves in
+each:
+
+     1.  Virginia.........490,865     10. Texas..........182,566
+
+     2.   Georgia.........462,198     11. Missouri.......114,931
+
+     3.   Mississippi.....436,631     12. Arkansas.......111,114
+
+     4.   Alabama.........435,080     13. Maryland....... 87,189
+
+     5.   South Carolina..402,406     14. Florida.........61,745
+
+     6.   Louisiana.......331,726     15. Delaware.......  1,798
+
+     7.  North Carolina...331,059     16. New Jersey......    18
+
+     8.   Tennessee.......275,719     17. Nebraska.......     15
+
+     9.   Kentucky........225,483     18. Kansas.........      2
+
+There were 3,185 slaves in the District of Columbia and 29 in the
+Territory of Utah, with all the rest of the country absolutely free.
+
+The immigrant Slaveowners promptly planted themselves where they could
+command the great highway of the Missouri River, taking up broad tracts
+of the fertile lands on both sides of the stream. The Census of 1860
+showed that of the 114,965 slaves held in the State, 50,280 were in the
+12 Counties along the Missouri:
+
+     Boone........... ....5,034     Jackson..............3,944
+
+     Calloway.............4,257     Lafayette............6,357
+
+     Chariton.............2,837     Pike.................4,056
+
+     Clay.................3,456     Platte...............3,313
+
+     Cooper...............3,800     St. Charles..........2,181
+
+     Howard...............5,889     Saline...............4,876
+
+
+Two-thirds of all the slaves in the State were held within 20 miles of
+the Missouri River.
+
+As everywhere, the Slaveowners exerted an influence immeasurably
+disproportionate to their numbers, intelligence and wealth.
+
+
+10
+
+A very large proportion of the immigration had not been of a character
+to give much promise as to the future.
+
+The new State had been the Adullam's Cave for the South, where "every
+one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt and every one
+that was discontented gathered themselves." Next to Slavery, the South
+had been cursed by the importation of paupers and criminals who had been
+transported from England for England's good, in the early history of the
+Colonies, to work the new lands. The negro proving the better worker in
+servitude than this class, they had been driven off the plantations to
+squat on unoccupied lands, where they bred like the beasts of the field,
+getting a precarious living from hunting the forest, and the bolder
+eking out this by depredations upon their thriftier neighbors. Their
+forebears had been paupers and criminals when sent from England, and the
+descendants continued to be paupers and criminals in the new country,
+forming a clearly marked social class, so distinct as to warrant the
+surmise that they belonged to a different race. As the eastern part of
+the South and the administration of the laws improved, this element
+was to some extent forced out, and spread in a noisome trail over
+Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri. While other immigrants went into the
+unbroken forest with a few rude tools and in the course of several years
+built up comfortable homes, their's never rose above abject squalor. The
+crudest of cabins sufficed them for shelter, beds of beech leaves were
+all the couches they required; they had more guns in their huts than
+agricultural or mechanical implements; they scarcely pretended to raise
+anything more than a scanty patch of corn; and when they could not put
+on their tables the flesh of the almost wild razor-back hog which roamed
+the woods, they made meat of woodchucks, raccoons, opossums or any other
+"varmint" their guns could bring down. They did not scorn hawks or owls
+if hunger demanded and no better meat could be found.
+
+
+11
+
+It was this "White Trash" which added so much to the horrors of the war,
+especially in Missouri, and so little to its real prosecution. Wolf-like
+in ferocity, when the advantages were on their side, they were wolf-like
+in cowardice when the terms were at all equal. They were the Croats,
+Cossacks, Tolpatches, Pandours of the Confederacy--of little value in
+battle, but terrible as guerrillas and bushwhackers. From this "White
+Trash" came the gangs of murderers and robbers, like those led by the
+Youngers, Jameses, Quantrils and scores of other names of criminal
+memory.
+
+As has been the case in all times and countries, these dregs of society
+became the willing tools of the Slaveholding aristocrats. With dog-like
+fidelity they followed and served the class which despised and overrode
+them. Somehow, by inherited habits likely, they seemed to avoid the
+more fertile parts of the State. They thus became "Bald Knobbers"
+and "Ozarkers" in Missouri, as they had been "Clay Eaters" in South
+Carolina, or "Sang Diggers" in Virginia.
+
+With these immigrants from the South came also large numbers of a far
+better element even than the arrogant Slaveowners or the abject "White
+Trash."
+
+
+12
+
+The Middle Class in the South was made up of much the same stock as
+the bulk of the Northerners--that is of Scotch, Scotch-Irish and North
+English--Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists and Dissenters
+generally--who had been forced out of Great Britain by the intolerant
+Episcopalians when the latter gained complete power after the
+suppression of the Rebellion of 1745. With these were also the
+descendants of the sturdy German Protestants who had been driven
+from Europe during the religious wars when the Catholics gained the
+ascendency in their particular country. These were the backbone of the
+South, and had largely settled along the foothills of the Alleghanies
+and in the fruitful valleys between the mountains, while the "White
+Trash" lived either on the barren parts of the lowlands or the bare and
+untillable highlands.
+
+
+13
+
+It is a grave mistake to confound these two classes of Non-Slaveholding
+whites in the South. They were as absolutely unlike as two distinct
+races, and an illustration of the habits of the two in migrating will
+suffice to show this. It was the custom in the Middle Classes when a boy
+attained majority that he chose for his wife a girl of the same class
+who was just ripening into vigorous womanhood. Both boy and girl had
+been brought up to labor with their own hands and to work constantly
+toward a definite purpose. They had been given a little rudimentary
+education, could read their Bibles and almanacs, "cipher" a little,
+write their names and a letter which could be read. When quite a lad the
+boy's father had given him a colt, which he took care of until it became
+a horse. To this, his first property, was added a suit of stout homespun
+cloth, which, with a rifle, an ax and some few other necessary tools,
+constituted his sole equipment for married life. The girl had been given
+a calf, which she had raised to a heifer; she had also a feather bed and
+some blankets of her own making and a little stock of the most obvious
+housekeeping utensils. With this simple outfit the young couple were
+married, and either went in debt for a little spot of land near home or
+pushed out into the new country. There they built a rude log cabin to
+shelter them from the storm, and by the time their children had reached
+the age they were when they married they had built up an unpretentious
+but very comfortable home, with their land well cleared and fenced, and
+stocked with cattle, pigs, sheep and poultry sufficient to maintain them
+in comfort. From this class came always the best and strongest men in
+the South. Comparatively few of them became Slaveowners, and then but
+rarely owned more than one or two negroes. A very large proportion found
+homes in the great free States north of the Ohio River.
+
+
+14
+
+On the other hand, none of this accession to comparative wealth seemed
+possible to the "White Trash." The boys and girls mated, squatted on
+any ground they could find unoccupied, raised there the merest shelter,
+which never by any chance improved, no matter how long they lived there,
+and proceeded to breed with amazing prolificacy others like themselves,
+destined for the same lives of ignorance and squalor. The hut of the
+"Clay Eater" in South Carolina, the "Sand Hiller" in Georgia, the "Sang
+Digger" in Virginia was the same as that his grandfather had lived in.
+It was the same that his sons and grandsons to the third and fourth
+generations built on the bleak knobs of the Ozarks or the malarious
+banks of the Mississippi. The Census of 1850 showed that about 70,000
+of the population of Missouri had come from Kentucky, 45,000 from
+Tennessee, 41,000 from Virginia, 17,000 from North Carolina and 15,000
+from the other Southern States. Nearly 40,000 had gone from Ohio,
+Indiana and Illinois, but a very large proportion of this number was the
+same element which had streamed across the southern parts of those
+States on its way to Missouri. Only 13,000 had entered from the great
+States of New York and Pennsylvania, and but 1,100 from New England.
+Nearly 15,000 Irishmen, mostly employed along the rivers, had settled
+in the State.
+
+While the Slaveowners and their "White Trash" myrmidons were Pro-Slavery
+Democrats, the Middle Class were inclined to be Whigs, or if Democrats,
+belonging to that wing of the party less subservient to Slavery which in
+later years was led by Stephen A. Douglas.
+
+
+15
+
+Upon these three distinct strata in society, which little mingled
+but were all native Americans, was projected an element of startling
+differences in birth, thought, speech and manners. The so-called
+Revolution of 1848 in Germany was a movement by the educated,
+enthusiastic, idealistic youth of the Fatherland to sweep away the horde
+of petty despots, and unite their pigmy Principalities and Duchies into
+a glorious and wide-ruling Germany. They were a generation too soon,
+however, and when the movement was crushed under the heavy hand of
+military power, hundreds of thousands of these energetic young men
+thought it safest and best to make new homes in the young Republic
+beyond the seas. The United States therefore received a migration of the
+highest character and of inestimable benefit to the country.
+
+Somewhere near 150,000 of these went to Missouri. They had none of the
+antipathy of Northern Americans to a Slave State. They were like their
+Gothic forebears, to whom it was sufficient to know that the land was
+good. Other matters could be settled by their strong right arms. The
+climate and fertility of Missouri pleased them; they saw the State's
+possibilities and flocked thither. Possibly one-half settled in the
+pleasant valleys and on the sunny prairies, following the trail of good
+land in the Southwest clear down to the Arkansas line. The other half
+settled mostly in St. Louis, and through them the city experienced
+another of its wonderful transformations. Beginning as a trading post
+of the French with the Indians, it had only as residents merchant
+adventurers from sunny France, officers and soldiers of the royal army
+and the half-breed voyageurs and trappers who served the fur companies.
+Next the Americans had swarmed in, and made the trading post a great
+market for the exchange of the grain and meat of the North, for the
+cotton and sugar of the South. Its merchants and people took their tone
+and complexion from the plantations of the Mississippi Valley.
+
+
+16
+
+Now came these Germans, intent upon reproducing there the
+characteristics of the old world cities beyond the Rhine. They brought
+with them lager beer, to which the Americans took very readily, and a
+decided taste for music, painting and literature, to which the Americans
+were not so much inclined. German signs, with their quaint Gothic
+lettering and grotesque names, blossomed out on the buildings, military
+bands in German uniforms paraded the streets, especially on Sundays.
+German theaters also open on Sunday represented by astonishingly good
+companies the popular plays of the Fatherland, and newsboys cried the
+German newspapers on the streets. Those who went into the country
+were excellent farmers, shrewd in buying and selling, and industrious
+workers. They dreamed of covering the low hills of the western part of
+the State with the vineyards that were so profitable on the Rhine and
+of rivaling the products of Johannesburg and the Moselle on the banks of
+the Gasconade and the Maramec.
+
+
+17
+
+The newcomers were skilled men in their departments of civilized
+activities--far above the average of the Americans. They were good
+physicians, fine musicians, finished painters, excellent actors and
+skillful mechanics, and each began the intelligent exercise of his
+vocation, to the great advantage of the community, which was, however,
+shocked at many of the ways of the newcomers, particularly their
+devoting Sunday to all manner of merrymaking. Still more shocking was
+their attitude toward the Slavery question. Even those Americans who
+were opposed to Slavery had a respect approaching awe of the "Sacred
+Institution." It had always been in the country; it was protected by a
+network of laws, and so feared that it could only be discussed with
+the greatest formality and circumspection. The radical Germans had
+absolutely none of this feeling. In their scheme of humanity all
+Slavery was so horrible that there could be no reason for its longer
+continuance, and it ought to be put to an end in the most summary
+manner. The epithet "Abolitionists," from which most Americans shrank
+as from an insult, had no terrors for them. It frankly described their
+mental attitude, and they gloried in it as they did in being Free
+Thinkers. They had not rebelled against timeworn traditions and
+superstitions in Germany to become slaves to something worse in this.
+
+Vigorous growths as they were, they readily took root in the new soil,
+became naturalized as fast as they could, and entered into the life
+of the country which they had elected for their homes. They joined the
+Republican Party from admiration of its Free Soil principles, and in the
+election of 1860 cast 17,028 votes for Abraham Lincoln.
+
+
+18
+
+Such were the strangely differing elements which were fermenting
+together in the formation of the great Commonwealth during those
+turbulent days from 1850 to 1860, and which were to be fused into
+unexpected combinations in the fierce heat of civil war. The same
+fermentation--minus the modifying influences of the radical Germans--was
+going on in all the States of the South except South Carolina, where the
+Middle Class hardly existed. Everywhere the Middle Class was strongly
+attached to the Union, and averse to Secession. Everywhere the
+Slaveowners, a small minority, but of extraordinary ability and
+influence, were actively preaching dissatisfaction with the Union,
+bitterly complaining of wrongs suffered at the hands of the North, and
+untiring in their machinations to win over or crush the leaders of those
+favorable to the Union. Everywhere they had the "White Trash" solidly
+behind them to vote as they wished, and to harry and persecute the Union
+men. As machinery for malevolence the "White Trash" myrmidons could
+not be surpassed. Criminal instincts inherited from their villain
+forefathers made them ready and capable of anything from maiming a Union
+man's stock and burning his stacks to shooting him down from
+ambush. They had personal feeling to animate them in this, for their
+depredations upon the hogs and crops of their thriftier neighbors had
+brought them into lifelong collisions with the Middle Class, while they
+had but little opportunity for resentment against the owners of the
+large plantations. In every State in the South the story was the same,
+of the Middle Class Union men being harassed at the command of the
+Slaveowners by the "White Trash" hounds. They had been sent into Kansas
+to drive out the Free State immigrants there and secure the territory
+for Slavery, but though backed up by the power of the Administration,
+they had been signally defeated by the numerically inferior but bolder
+and hardier immigrants from the North.
+
+
+19
+
+Force rules this world; it always has; it always will. Not merely
+physical force, but that incomparably higher type--intellectual
+force--Power of Will. It seemed that in nearly all the States of the
+South the Slaveowners by sheer audacity and force of will succeeded in
+dominating the great majority which favored the Union, and by one device
+or another committing them hopelessly to the rebellion. This was notably
+the case in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, where the
+majority repeatedly expressed itself in favor of the Union, but was
+dragooned into Secession.
+
+In Missouri, however, the Secessionists encountered leaders with will
+and courage superior to their own. Many of these were Slaveowners
+themselves, and nearly all of them were of Southern birth. Head and
+shoulders above these, standing up among them like Saul among the
+Sons of Israel, was Frank P. Blair, then in the full powers of perfect
+manhood. He was 42 years old, tall and sinewy in body, blue-eyed and
+sandy-haired. He came of the best Virginia and Kentucky stock, and had
+long been a resident and slaveowner in Missouri. As a boy he had served
+in the ranks in the Mexican War, had an adventurous career on the
+Pacific Coast, had gone back to Missouri to achieve prominence at the
+bar, and as early as 1848 had come to the front as the unflinching
+advocate of Emancipation and the conversion of Missouri into a Free
+State. Against his perfect panoply of courage and resource all the
+lances of the Slaveowners were hurled in vain. Their violence recoiled
+before him, their orators were no match for him upon the stump, and
+their leaders not his equal in party management. In 1852 he was elected
+to the Missouri Legislature as a Free Soiler, was re-elected in 1854,
+and in 1856 to Congress. His value to the Union was immeasurable, for
+he was a leader around whom the Union men could rally with the utmost
+confidence that he would never weaken, never resort to devious ways, and
+never blunder. As a Southerner of the best ancestry, he was not open to
+the charge of being a "Yankee Abolitionist," which had so much effect
+upon the Southern people of his State.
+
+[Illustration: 056-General Francis P Blair]
+
+
+20
+
+A very dangerous element was composed of a number of leaders who
+belonged to the Pro-Slavery wing, but desiring to be elected to offices,
+masked their designs under the cover of the Douglas Democracy. The most
+important of these was Claiborne F. Jackson, a politician of moderate
+abilities and only tolerable courage, but of great partisan activity. He
+professed to be a Douglas Democrat, and as such was elected Governor at
+the State election. Born in Kentucky 54 years before, he had resided in
+Missouri since 1822. A Captain in the Black Hawk War, his service had
+been as uneventful and brief as that of Abraham Lincoln, who was two
+years his junior, and he was one of the Pro-Slavery clique who had
+hounded the great Thomas H. Benton out of politics on account of his
+mild Free Soilism. In person he was tall, erect, with something of
+dignity in his bearing. He essayed to be an orator, had much reputation
+as such, but his speeches developed little depth of thought or anything
+beyond the customary phrases which were the stock in trade of all the
+orators of his class south of Mason and Dixon's line.
+
+
+21
+
+The fermentation period culminated in the Presidential campaign of 1860,
+the hottest political battle this country had ever known.
+
+The intensity of the interest felt in Missouri was shown by the bigness
+of the vote, which aggregated 165,618. As the population was but
+1,182,012, of which 114,965 were slaves, it will be seen that
+substantially every white man went to the polls.
+
+The newly-formed Republican Party, mostly confined to the radical
+Germans of St. Louis, cast 17,028 votes for Abraham Lincoln.
+
+The Slaveowners and their henchmen--"Southern Rights Democrats"--cast
+31,317 votes for John C. Breckinridge.
+
+The "Regular Democrats" polled 58,801 votes for Stephen A. Douglas and
+"Squatter Sovereignty."
+
+The remains of the "Old Line Whigs," and a host of other men who did not
+want to be Democrats and would not be Republicans, cast 58,372 votes for
+John Bell, the "Constitutional Union" candidate.
+
+Thus it will be seen that out of every 165 men who went to the polls 17
+were quite positive that the extension of Slavery must cease; 31 were
+equally positive that Slavery should be extended or the Union dissolved;
+59 favored "Squatter Sovereignty," or local option in the Territories in
+regard to Slavery; 58 thought that "all this fuss about the nigger
+was absurd, criminal, and dangerous. It ought to be stopped at once by
+suppressing, if necessary, by hanging, the extremists on both sides, and
+letting things go on just as they have been."
+
+
+22
+
+Thus so great a proportion as 117 out of the total of 165--nearly
+five-sevenths of the whole--professed strong hostility to the views of
+the "extremists, both North and South."
+
+The time was at hand, however, when they must make their election as to
+which of these opposite poles of thought and action they would drift.
+They could no longer hold aloof, suggesting mild political placeboes,
+lamenting alike the wickedness of the Northern Abolitionists and the
+madness of the Southern Nullifiers, and expressing a patriotic desire to
+hang selected crowds of each on the same trees.
+
+South Carolina had promptly responded to the election of Abraham Lincoln
+as President of the United States by passing an Ordinance of Secession,
+and seizing all the United States forts, arsenals and other places,
+except Fort Sumter, within her limits.
+
+The rest of the Cotton States were hastening to follow her example.
+
+To the 117 "Middle-of-the-Road" voters out of every total of 165 it
+was therefore necessary to choose whether they would approve of the
+withdrawal of States and seizures of forts, and become Secessionists,
+or whether they would disapprove of this and ally themselves with the
+much-contemned Black Republicans.
+
+It was the old, old vital question, asked so many times of neutrals with
+the sword at their throats:
+
+"Under which King, Bezonian? Speak, or die."
+
+
+23
+
+[Illustration: 023-The War Clouds Gather]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. THE WAR CLOUDS GATHER
+
+The storm-clouds gathered with cyclonic swiftness. South Carolina
+seceded Dec. 20, 1860, and sent a Commission to Washington to negotiate
+for the delivery of all the forts, arsenals, magazines, lighthouses,
+and other National property within her boundaries, organizing in the
+meanwhile to seize them. Her Senators and Representatives formally
+withdrew from Congress; the Judges and other Federal officials solemnly
+resigned their places; and Maj. Robert Anderson, recognizing the
+impossibility of defending the decrepit Fort Moultrie against assault,
+transferred his garrison to Fort Sumter.
+
+President Buchanan announced the fatal doctrine that while no State had
+the right to secede, the Constitution gave no power to coerce a State
+which had withdrawn, or was attempting to withdraw from the Union.
+
+Mississippi seceded Jan. 9, 1861; Florida, Jan. 10; Alabama, Jan. 11;
+Georgia, Jan. 19; Louisiana, Jan. 26; and Texas, Feb. 1;--all the Cotton
+States precipitately following South Carolina's example.
+
+
+24
+
+Each made haste--before or after Secession--to seize all the United
+States forts and property within her borders.
+
+In the midst of this political cataclysm the Legislature of Missouri met
+on the last day of 1860.
+
+The Senate consisted of 25 Democrats, seven Unionists, and one
+Republican; the House of 85 Democrats, 35 Unionists, and 12 Republicans.
+
+The retiring Governor--Robert M. Stewart--sent in his final message
+Jan. 3, and the same day his successor--Claiborne F. Jackson--was
+inaugurated, and delivered his address. Gov. Stewart was a typical
+Northern Democrat, born in New York, but long a resident of Missouri. He
+was a strong Douglas man, and believed that the Southern people had the
+Constitutional right to take their slaves into the Territories and hold
+them there, and that this right ought to be assured them. He had
+never pretended to be in love with Slavery, but he believed that the
+Constitution and laws granted full protection to the Institution. He
+denied the right of Secession, particularly as to Missouri, which had
+been bought with the money of the whole country. In his final message
+he did not hesitate to clearly set this forth, and to denounce South
+Carolina as having acted with consummate folly. He recognized the Union
+as the source of innumerable blessings, and would preserve it to the
+last. He said:
+
+As matters are at present Missouri will stand by her lot, and hold to
+the Union as long as it is worth an effort to preserve it. So long as
+there is hope of success she will seek for justice within the Union.
+She cannot be frightened from her propriety by the past unfriendly
+legislation of the North, nor be dragooned into secession by the extreme
+South. If those who should be our friends and allies undertake to render
+our property worthless by a system of prohibitory laws, or by reopening
+the slave trade in opposition to the moral sense of the civilized world,
+and at the same time reduce us to the position of an humble sentinel to
+watch over and protect their interests, receiving all the blows and none
+of the benefits, Missouri will hesitate long before sanctioning such an
+arrangement She will rather take the high position of armed neutrality.
+She is able to take care of herself, and will be neither forced nor
+flattered, driven nor coaxed, into a course of action that must end in
+her own destruction.
+
+
+25
+
+The inaugural address of the new Governor was, under a thin vail of
+professed love for the Union, a bitter Secession appeal. He said that
+the destiny of the Slaveholding States was one and the same; that what
+injured one necessarily hurt all; that separate action meant certain
+defeat by the insolent North, which was alone and wholly responsible for
+the present deplorable conditions. He applauded the "gallantry" of South
+Carolina, urged that she be not condemned for "precipitancy," and said
+significantly: "If South Carolina has acted hastily, let not her error
+lead to the more fatal one--an attempt at coercion."
+
+With reference to the Republican Party and the future policy of
+Missouri, he said:
+
+The prominent characteristic of this party * * * is that it is purely
+sectional in its locality and its principles. The only principle
+inscribed upon its banner is Hostility to Slavery;--its object not
+merely to confine Slavery within its present limits; not merely to
+exclude it from the Territories, and prevent the formation and admission
+of any Slaveholding States; not merely to abolish it in the District of
+Columbia, and interdict its passage from one State to another; but to
+strike down its existence everywhere; to sap its foundation in public
+sentiment; to annoy and harass, and gradually destroy its vitality,
+by every means, direct or indirect, physical and moral, which human
+ingenuity can devise. The triumph of such an organization is not the
+victory of a political party, but the domination of a Section. It
+proclaims in significant tones the destruction of that equality among
+the States which is the vital cement for our Federal Union. It places 15
+of the 33 States in the position of humble recipients of the bounty,
+or sullen submissionists to the power of a Government which they had no
+voice in creating, and in whose councils they do not participate.
+
+
+26
+
+It cannot, then, be a matter of surprise to any--victors or
+vanquished--that these 16 States, with a pecuniary interest at stake
+reaching the enormous sum of $3,600,000,000 should be aroused and
+excited at the advent of such a party to power.
+
+Would it not rather be an instance of unprecedented blindness and
+fatuity, if the people and Governments of these 16 Slaveholding States
+were, under such circumstances, to manifest quiet indifference, and to
+make no effort to avoid the destruction which awaited them?
+
+The meeting of the Legislature naturally brought to the State Capital at
+Jefferson City all of the powerful coterie which was self-charged with
+the work of taking Missouri into the road whither South Carolina was
+leading the Cotton States. This coterie included the Judges of the
+Supreme Court and all the State officials, and the United States
+Senators and Representatives. Ever since the Anti-Benton faction had
+accomplished the great Senator's defeat, the shibboleth for admission
+into the higher circles of Missouri Democracy had been "Southern
+Rights." As the mass of the Middle Class Democrats favored Senator
+Douglas's plan of letting the settlers in each Territory decide for
+themselves whether they would have Slavery, it was highly politic for
+every candidate to claim that he was a Douglas Democrat. It must be
+known to the inner ring, however, that he was at heart fully in accord
+with the views of the extreme Pro-Slavery men, and ready at the word to
+join the Secessionists. So thorough was this preliminary organization,
+that while in Missouri tens of thousands of professed Union men went
+over to Secession when the stress came, there was no instance of an
+avowed Pro-Slavery man cleaving to the side of the Union.
+
+
+27
+
+Next to Gov. Jackson,--surpassing him in intellectual acuteness and
+fertile energy,--was Lieut.-Gov. Thos. C. Reynolds, then in his 40th
+year, a short, full-bodied man, with jet-black hair and eyes shaded by
+gold-rimmed glasses. He boasted of being born of Virginia parents in
+South Carolina, but some of the Germans claimed to know that his right
+name was Reinhold, and that he was a Jew born in Prague, the Capital of
+Bohemia, and brought to this country when a child. He was a man of more
+than ordinary ability, and had accomplishments quite unusual in that
+day.
+
+He spoke French, German and Spanish fluently, wrote profusely and with
+considerable force, and prided himself on being a diplomat. He had seen
+some service as Secretary of Legation and Charge d' Affaires at
+Madrid. He had been elected as a Douglas Democrat, but was an outspoken
+Secessionist, and as he was ex-officio President of the Senate, he had
+much power in forming committees and shaping legislation. He clung to
+the wrecked rebel ship of state to the last, went with Gov. Jackson
+and the rest when they were driven out of the State, assumed the
+Governorship when Jackson--worn out by the terrible strains and
+vicissitudes--died at Little Rock, Ark., in December, 1862--and was last
+heard from near the end of the war, with the shattered and melancholy
+remnants of the Missouri State Government and troops, on the banks of
+the Rio Grande, writing furious diatribes against Gen. Sterling Price,
+the admired leader of the Missouri Confederates.
+
+
+28
+
+Another man of great influence in the State was United States Senator
+James S. Green, a Virginian by birth, but who had been a resident of
+Missouri for about a quarter of a century. He was a lawyer of fine
+talents, and in the Senate ranked as a debater with Douglas, Seward,
+Chase, Toombs, Wigfall, Fessenden, Wade, and others of that class. In
+Missouri he was one of the leaders of the Ultra-Slavery "Softs" against
+Thos. H. Benton; had been Minister to New Granada, and Representative
+in Congress, and in the Senate belonged to the Jefferson
+Davis-Toombs-Wigfall cabal, which was planning the disruption of the
+Union. His term expiring March 3, 1861, he was now in Jefferson City for
+the rather irreconcilable purposes of securing his re-election to the
+United States Senate and of fulfilling his pledge to his Secessionist
+colleagues to carry Missouri out of the Union.
+
+His colleague--Senator Trusten Polk--a strong, kindly, graceful man--was
+there to assist him in both purposes. Born in Delaware, he had been a
+resident of Missouri since 1835, elected Governor of the State in 1856,
+resigned to accept Benton's seat in the Senate, from which he was to be
+expelled in 1862 for disloyalty, and to follow the failing fortunes of
+the Missouri Confederates to the banks of the Rio Grande.
+
+The problem of absorbing intensity for the Secession leaders--Messrs.
+Jackson, Reynolds, Green, Polk and others--was to win over, entrap or
+constrain a sufficient number of the 117 "Doubtful" voters out of every
+165, to give them a working majority in the State. There was fiery zeal
+enough and to spare on the Secession side; what was needed was skillful
+management to convince the Union-loving peace-loving majority that the
+Northern "Abolitionists," flushed with victory, meant unheard-of wrongs
+and insults to the South; that Missouri must put herself in shape
+to protect her borders, call a halt on the insolent North, and in
+connection with the other Border States be the arbiter between the
+contending sections, and in the last resort ally herself with the other
+Slave States for mutual protection.
+
+
+29
+
+A man to be reckoned with in those days was the Commander of the
+Department of the West, which included all that immense territory
+stretching from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, except Texas,
+New Mexico, and Utah. This man was the embodiment of the Regular Army
+as it was developed after the War of 1812. At this time that Army was
+a very small one--two regiments of dragoons, two of cavalry, one of
+mounted riflemen, four of artillery, and 10 of infantry, making, with
+engineers, ordnance and staff, a total of only 12,698 officers and
+men--but its personnel and discipline were unsurpassed in the world.
+Among its 1,040 commissioned officers there was no finer soldier than
+William Selby Harney. A better Colonel no army ever had. A Colonel, mind
+you--not a General; there is a wide difference between the two, as we
+found out during the war. There are very many Americans--every little
+community has at least one--who, given a regiment, where every man is
+within reach of his eye and voice, will discipline it, provide for it,
+rule it, and fight it in the very best fashion. Give him some piece of
+work to do, of which he can see the beginning and the end, and he will
+make the regiment do every pound of which it is capable. But put in
+command of a brigade, anything beyond voice and eye, set to a task
+outreaching his visual horizon, he becomes obviously unequal to the
+higher range of duty.
+
+[Illustration: 029-The Harney Mansion]
+
+
+30
+
+A form of commanding hight (sp.), physique equal to any test of activity
+or endurance, a natural leader of men through superiority of courage
+and ability, William Selby Harney had for 43 years made an unsurpassed
+record as a commander of soldiers. He had served in the everglades of
+Florida, on the boundless plains west of the Mississippi, and in Mexico,
+during the brilliantly spectacular war which ended with our "reveling
+in the Halls of the Montezumas." He it was, who, eager for his country's
+honor and advancement, had, while the diplomats were disputing with
+Great Britain, pounced down upon and seized the debatable island of
+San Juan in Vancouver waters. For this he was recalled, but the island
+remained American territory. He was soon assigned to the Department of
+the West, with headquarters at St. Louis.
+
+
+31
+
+He had been for 12 years the Colonel of the crack 2d U. S. Dragoons, and
+for three years one of the three Brigadier-Generals in the Regular Army,
+his only seniors being Maj.-Gen. and Brevet Lieut.-Gen. Winfield Scott,
+the General-in-Chief; Brig.-Gen. John E. Wool, commanding the Department
+of the East; and Brig.-Gen. David E. Twiggs, commanding the Department
+of Texas.
+
+Gen. Harney's assignment, while a recognition of his eminent fitness
+for ruling the territory over which he had campaigned for more than a
+quarter of a century, was highly gratifying to him inasmuch as he
+was married to a wealthy St. Louis woman, and in that city he had an
+abundance of the luxurious social enjoyment so dear to the heart of the
+old warrior. A Southerner by birth and education, a large Slave-owner,
+with all his interests in the South, and at all times seemingly in
+full sympathy with the Southern spirit that dominated the Army, the
+Secessionists sanguinely expected that he would prove as pliant to their
+proposals as had Gen. Twiggs, the Commander of the Department of
+Texas. We shall see how soldierly instincts and training measurably
+disappointed them.
+
+
+32
+
+To return to the Missouri Legislature: Lieut.-Gov. Reynolds could, as a
+lieutenant always can, be more outspoken and radical than his chief,
+who labored under responsibility. On the day the Legislature met he
+published an important letter which thoroughly indicates the feeling
+of the Secessionists at that period. He urged the General Assembly to
+promptly express the determination of Missouri to resist every attempt
+by the Federal Government to coerce any State to remain in the Union, or
+to use force in any way to collect revenues or execute the laws in any
+seceding State. He denounced President Buchanan's distinction between
+"coercing a State" and "compelling the citizens of the State to obey
+the laws of the United States" as a "transparent sophistry." "To levy
+tribute, molest commerce, or hold fortresses, are as much acts of war as
+to bombard a city." He also urged immediate and thorough organization
+of the militia and other preparations for "putting the State in complete
+condition for defense." If the present controversy could not be adjusted
+before March 4, the State of Missouri "should not permit Mr. Lincoln to
+exercise any act of Government" within her borders.
+
+This was certainly distinctly defiant, and shrewdly calculated to gather
+about the new administration all the wavering men who could be attracted
+by inflammatory appeals to their prejudices against the North, to their
+State pride, and to their hopes of making Missouri the arbiter in
+the dispute. Lieut.--Gov. Reynolds followed up his pronunciamento by
+carefully organizing the Senate committees with radical Secessionists at
+the head, and the immediate introduction of bills ably contrived to put
+the control of the State in the hands of those who favored Secession.
+These committees promptly reported several bills.
+
+
+33
+
+One provided for calling a State Convention, an effective device by
+which the other Southern States had been dragged into Secession. Another
+provided for the organization of the Militia of the State, which would
+be done by officers reliable for Secession, and the third was intended
+to extinguish resistance by taking away much of the police power of the
+Republican Mayor of St. Louis, who had at his back the radical Germans,
+organized into semi-military Wide-Awake Clubs. All these bills seemed to
+be heartily approved all over the State, and the Southern Rights leaders
+were exultant at their success. Apparently the 117 "Doubtfuls" were
+flocking over to them.
+
+It seemed for a few momentous days in the opening of 1861 that Missouri
+would be inevitably swept into the tide of Secession, and even in St.
+Louis, the stronghold of Republicanism, a monster mass meeting, called
+and controlled by such afterwards--strong loyalists as Hamilton R.
+Gamble, later the Union Governor of the State, Nathaniel Paschall,
+James E. Yeatman, and Robert Campbell, unanimously passed resolutions
+declaring slave property to be held as a Constitutional right which the
+Government should secure, and if it did not, Missouri "would join with
+her sister States and share their duties and dangers," and that the
+Government should not attempt to coerce the seceding States. This word
+"coerce" had an extraordinarily ugly sound to all ears, and was a potent
+enchantment in taking many of the professedly Union men into the ranks
+of the rebellion. Even Horace Greeley recoiled from "a Union held
+together by bayonets."
+
+
+34
+
+The bill "to call a Convention to consider the relations of the State of
+Missouri to the United States, and to adopt measures for vindicating the
+sovereignty of the State, and the protection of her institutions," was
+promptly reported back to both Houses on the 9th of January, and as
+promptly passed by them, with only two adverse votes in the Senate and
+18 in the House. Of the latter 11 were from St. Louis.
+
+The Secessionists proceeded to a joyful celebration of this new triumph.
+They hastened at once to another step to ally Missouri with the South.
+A Commissioner arrived from the State of Mississippi to ask the
+co-operation of Missouri in measures of common defense and safety. The
+Governor received him with the distinction accredited an Embassador from
+a foreign power, and recommended the Legislature to do likewise. The
+serviceable Lieut.-Gov. Reynolds carried out this idea by putting
+through a joint resolution to receive the Commissioner in the House
+Chamber, with both bodies, the Governor and other chief officers of the
+State, and the Judges of the Supreme Court in attendance, and with every
+other honor. He dictated that upon the announcement of the entrance of
+the Commissioner, the whole body should respectfully rise. The radical
+Union men from St. Louis resisted this vehemently, and did not hesitate
+to apply the ugly word "traitor" to the Commissioner, and those who were
+aiding and abetting him.
+
+
+35
+
+The Commissioner made a long address, in which he said that the
+Union had been dissolved, could never be reconstructed; that war was
+inevitable, and the people of Mississippi earnestly invited those of
+Missouri to unite with their kindred for common defense and safety. A
+few days later the Legislature adopted a resolution against coercion,
+and another introduced by George Graham Vest, of the Committee on
+Federal Relations, afterwards Senator in the Confederate House from
+Missouri, and for 24 years representing Missouri in the Senate of the
+United States. This resolution declared that so "abhorrent was the
+doctrine of coercion, that any attempt at such would result in the
+people of Missouri rallying on the side of their Southern brethren to
+resist to the last extremity." There was only one vote against this in
+the Senate, and but 14 in the House.
+
+The eager young Secessionists were impatient to emulate their brethren
+farther south, and strike a definite blow--seize something that would
+wreck the sovereignty of the United States. Forts there were none. In
+the historic old Jefferson Barracks, below St. Louis, there were only
+a small squad of raw recruits, and a few officers, mostly of Southern
+proclivities, whom it would be cruel to turn out of house and home while
+they were waiting "for their States to go out."
+
+
+36
+
+There were but two Arsenals in the State; a small affair at Liberty, in
+the northwest, near the Missouri River, which contained several hundred
+muskets, a dozen cannon, and a considerable quantity of powder. The
+other was the great Arsenal at St. Louis, one of the most important in
+the country. It covered 56 acres of ground, fronting on the Mississippi
+River, was inclosed by a high stone wall on all sides but that of the
+river, and had within it four massive stone buildings standing in a
+rectangle. In these were stored 60,000 stands of arms, mostly Enfield
+and Springfield rifles, 1,500,000 cartridges, 90,000 pounds of powder, a
+number of field pieces and siege guns, and a great quantity of munitions
+of various kinds. There were also machinery and appliances of great
+value. The Arsenal was situated on rather low ground, and was commanded
+from hills near by. At the beginning of 1861 the only persons in it were
+some staff officers, with their servants and orderlies, and the unarmed
+workmen. The officer in command was Maj. Wm. Haywood Bell, a North
+Carolinian, graduate of West Point, and Ordnance Officer, but who
+had spent nearly the whole of his 40 years' service in Bureau work,
+attending meanwhile so providently to his own affairs that he was quite
+a wealthy man, with most of his investments in St. Louis.
+
+Gov. Claiborne F. Jackson had as his military adviser and executant
+Maj.-Gen. Daniel M. Frost, a New Yorker by birth and a graduate of West
+Point. He had served awhile in the Mexican War, where he received a
+brevet as First Lieutenant for gallantry at Cerro Gordo, and then became
+Quartermaster of his regiment. He had been sent to Europe as a student
+of the military art there, but resigned in 1853, to take charge of a
+planing mill and carpentry work in St. Louis. He subsequently became
+a farmer, was elected to the Missouri Senate, entered the Missouri
+Militia, rose to be Brigadier-General, and was sanguinely expected to
+become for Missouri what Lee and Jos. E. Johnston were for Virginia,
+Beauregard for South Carolina, and Braxton Bragg for Louisiana. He was
+really a good deal of a soldier, with foresight and initiative force,
+and had the Governor had the courage to follow his bold counsels, the
+course of events might have been different.
+
+[Illustration: General Claiborne Jackson]
+
+
+37
+
+As early as Jan. 8 he visited the Arsenal, and had an interview with its
+commandant, which he reported to the Governor as entirely satisfactory.
+Maj. Bell was wholly in sympathy with the South, and regarded the
+Arsenal as being virtually Missouri's property when she should choose to
+demand it. His honor as a soldier would compel him to resist any attack
+from an irresponsible mob, but a summons from the sovereign State
+of Missouri would meet with the respectful obedience to which it was
+entitled. It was therefore decided that this was the best shape in which
+to leave matters. Maj. Bell would hold the Arsenal in trust against both
+the radical St. Louis Germans and over-zealous Secessionists, who wanted
+to seize it and arm their particular followers. When Gen. Frost had
+organized the Missouri Militia to his satisfaction, he would march into
+the Arsenal, and under the plea of protecting it from mobs, use its
+contents to thoroughly arm and equip his Militia, which would thus be
+put in very much better shape than the troops of any other State.
+
+Meanwhile, Gen. Frost recommended that as little as possible be said
+about the Arsenal, in order to avoid attracting attention to it.
+
+All the same, the Arsenal was intently watched by both sides, and for
+the next four months it was the great stake for which they played, since
+its possession would go far toward giving possession of the State. There
+were but 150,000 stands of arms in the rest of the South, while here
+were 60,000.
+
+
+38
+
+Even before South Carolina seceded the ardent young Secessionists of St.
+Louis had begun the organization of "Minute Men" to "protect the State."
+Naturally, their first step in protecting the State would be to seize
+the Arsenal, to prevent its arms being used to "coerce the people."
+Their headquarters were in the Berthold House, a fine residence at the
+corner of Fifth and Pine streets, over which floated the Secession flag.
+
+Into these companies went numbers of young men from the best families
+of the South, who had come to St. Louis to take advantage of business
+opportunities, and young Irishmen, of whom there were many thousands
+in the city, and who; having in their blood an antipathy to "the Dutch"
+dating from William of Orange's days, were skillfully wrought upon by
+the assertion that the "infidel, Sabbath-breaking, beer-drinking Dutch
+who had invaded St. Louis" were of the same breed as those who harried
+Ireland and inflicted innumerable persecutions in 1689. Very effective
+in this was one Brock Champion, a big-hearted, big-bodied young
+Irishman, of much influence among his countrymen, who played little
+part, however, in the war which ensued. More conspicuous later was Basil
+Wilson Duke, a bright Kentucky lawyer, 25 years old, who was Captain of
+one of the companies, and afterwards became the second in command and an
+inspiration to John H. Morgan, the great raider. The Captain of another
+company was Colton Greene, a South Carolinian, a year or two younger
+than Duke, a merchant, a man of delicate physique and cultivated mind,
+but of great courage and constancy of purpose.
+
+
+39
+
+Everywhere in the State began a systematic persecution of the
+Unconditional Union men and the bullying of the Conditional Union men.
+Secession flags in numbers floated from buildings in St. Louis, Rolla,
+Lexington, Jefferson City, Kansas City, and elsewhere. Union meetings
+were disturbed and broken up in all the larger towns, the Star Spangled
+Banner torn down and trampled upon, and the borders of Kansas and Iowa
+were thronged with Union refugees telling how they had been robbed,
+maltreated, and threatened with death, their stock killed, their houses
+and crops burned by the "White Trash" which the Slave Power had turned
+loose upon them.
+
+When Maj. Bell had talked of "irresponsible mobs," he may have thought
+of premature young fire-eaters like Duke, Greene, and Champion, eager
+for the distinction of capturing the Arsenal, covetous of distributing
+its arms to their followers. Most likely, however, he had in mind forays
+from Illinois, or by the radical Germans of St. Louis, who were ill
+disposed toward seeing their enemies equipped from its stores.
+
+Gen. Frost had the Germans in mind as early as Jan. 8, probably
+immediately following his interview with Maj. Bell, for he sent out a
+secret circular to his trusted subordinates instructing them that "upon
+the bells of the churches sounding a continuous peal, interrupted by
+a pause of five minutes, they should assemble with their men in their
+armories, and there await further orders." One of these circulars fell
+into the hands of a good Union man, who immediately took it to Frank
+P. Blair. It was found that it was the Catholic church bells that were
+relied upon to do the ringing, implying that the enthusiastic, reckless
+Irishmen were to take the initiative.
+
+
+40
+
+The Archbishop of St. Louis was immediately seen, to prohibit the bells
+of the churches being used as a tocsin to light the flames of civil war.
+Mr. Blair sent the circular with other information to Gen. Scott, with
+an urgent request that an officer of sounder loyalty supersede Maj.
+Bell, and that some troops be sent to Jefferson Barracks against an
+emergency. Mr. Montgomery Blair, brother of F. P. Blair, Jr., and soon
+to be Postmaster-General, Gov. Yates, of Illinois, and President-elect
+Lincoln supported this request. A fortnight later Maj. Bell was
+relieved, and assigned to duty in the East.
+
+A gallant one-armed Irish First Lieutenant of the 2d U. S., one Thomas
+W. Sweeny, of whom we shall hear more later, was ordered to Jefferson
+Barracks, where it was supposed his influence with his countrymen might
+offset that of Mr. Champion. A small squad of Regulars was sent him from
+Newport Barracks.
+
+Maj. Bell foreseeing that the Army was to be no longer a place for a
+quiet gentleman with business tastes, resigned his commission, to remain
+with his well-placed investments in St. Louis.
+
+
+41
+
+All this disturbed the Secessionists. They saw that the Government had
+an eye on the important Arsenal, and did not intend to give it up as
+tamely as it had other places in the South. The arrival of the Regulars
+was made the basis of inflammatory appeals that the Government
+was trying to "overawe and coerce the people." Two days later this
+"intimidation" became flagrant. Isaac H. Sturgeon, Assistant United
+States Treasurer at St. Louis, a Kentuckian and Secessionist, had for
+reasons of his own reported to President Buchanan that he was concerned
+about the safety of $400,000 in gold in his vaults. The President handed
+the letter to Gen. Scott, who sent an order to Jefferson Barracks which
+resulted in a Lieutenant with 40 men being sent to the Post Office
+Building to protect the removal of the gold. The city was thrown into
+the greatest excitement as the troops marched through the streets, the
+papers issued extras, and it required all the efforts of the officials
+and the leaders on both sides to preserve the peace.
+
+Gov. Claiborne Jackson took advantage of the occasion to send a message
+to the Legislature, in which he said that this was an "act insulting to
+the dignity and patriotism of the people."
+
+The gold having been removed, Gen. Harney ordered the troops back to the
+Arsenal, and quiet was restored.
+
+Maj. Peter B. Hagner, of the District of Columbia, who graduated from
+West Point in 1832, and had distinguished himself in the Mexican War,
+succeeded Maj. Bell in the command of the Arsenal. His sympathies were
+strongly with the South, but not so strongly as to overmaster his desire
+to retain his commission and its emoluments. He was willing to go any
+length in serving the Secessionists that did not involve his dismissal
+from the Army. He had two brothers in the service, and all three held on
+to their commissions until forced from their hands by the grim grasp of
+death.
+
+
+42
+
+Meanwhile, Lieut.-Gov. Reynolds was pushing the Legislative work to
+carry Missouri out of the Union. The acts which proved so successful
+in the other Southern States in binding the people hand and foot and
+dragging them over to the rebellion were closely imitated. One of these
+was the celebrated "Military Bill" introduced in the Senate, Jan. 5,
+1861. This put every man of military age in the State into the Militia,
+and at the disposal of the Governor, who was given $150,000 outright
+to enable him to carry out his plans. It made everybody owe paramount
+allegiance to the State, and prescribed severe penalties, including even
+death, to be inflicted by drum-head court martial for "treason" to
+the State--for even the utterance of disrespectful words against the
+Governor or Legislature. This went a little too far for many of the
+members, and by obstinate fighting the passage of the bill was postponed
+from time to time and at last defeated.
+
+Another bill was generally understood as one to stamp out Republicanism
+in St. Louis, but officially designated as "An Act to amend an act for
+the suppression of riot in St. Louis City and County." This took out
+of the hands of the Republican Sheriff and Mayor most of their
+peace-preserving powers, which were given to a Board to be appointed by
+the Governor, thereby to tie their hands when the time came for taking
+the Arsenal. One of the Governor's Police Commissioners was Basil Duke,
+the leader of the "Minute-Men."
+
+
+43
+
+Though they had none of the noisy aggressiveness of the Secessionists,
+the leaders of the Unionists, during those bitterly intense Winter
+days, were no less able, courageous, and earnest. Blair had a masterful
+courage and determination not equalled by any man opposed to him. He was
+one of those men of mighty purpose who set their faces toward an object
+with the calm resolution to die rather than fail. Against the hardened
+steel of his relentless will the softer iron of such thrasonic
+Secessionists as Gov. Jackson, Lieut.-Gov. Reynolds, United States
+Senators James S. Green and Trusten Polk, Gen. Frost and lesser leaders,
+clashed without producing a dent.
+
+Blair had skill and tact equal to his courage. He foresaw every movement
+of his antagonists and met it with a prompt countermove. To their
+inflammatory rhetoric he opposed clear common sense, loyalty and wise
+judgment as to the future. When occasion demanded, he did not hesitate
+to publicly express the hope "that every traitor among them would be
+made to test the strength of Missouri hemp." He was swift to subordinate
+himself and "the Cause," when anything could be gained. There were many
+prominent men who wanted to save the Union, but would deny to Frank
+Blair the credit of it. He unhesitatingly gave them the highest places,
+and took the subordinate one for himself. There were tens of thousands
+of Whigs and Democrats who loved the Union, but shuddered at the thought
+of becoming Black Republicans. He abolished the Republican Party, that
+they might form a Union Party, the sole principle of which should be
+support of the Government.
+
+
+44
+
+Next to Blair was the famous "Committee of Safety," which did such
+high work for the Union during those fermenting days. These and their
+birthplaces were:
+
+O. D. Filley, New England.
+
+John How, Pennsylvania.
+
+Samuel T. Glover, Kentucky.
+
+James O. Broadhead, Virginia.
+
+J. J. Witzig, Germany.
+
+These self-denying, self-sacrificing patriots worked together with Blair
+in perfect harmony and with the utmost skill. They were more than a
+match for their Secession opponents in organization and management, and
+lost very few points in the great game that was played throughout the
+Winter, with the possession of the City, the State, and the Arsenal for
+the main prizes.
+
+The Committee of Safety had its Home Guards to offset the Minute Men.
+Where there were hundreds of these latter drilling more or less openly,
+with much fifing and drumming and flaunting of Secession flags, there
+were thousands of Home Guards meeting and training with greatest secresy
+in old foundries, breweries, and halls, with pickets out to prevent
+surprise, sawdust on the floors to drown the sound of their feet, and
+blankets at the windows to arrest the light and the words of command.
+The drill hall was only approached at night, and singly or by twos or
+threes, to avoid attracting attention. Most of these Home Guards were
+Germans, and a large proportion had had military training in Europe. The
+great problem with them, as with the Minute Men, was to get arms, and
+both sides watched the Arsenal with its 60,000 rifles and 1,500,000
+cartridges with sharp covetousness.
+
+
+45
+
+The Governor of Illinois loaned the Home Guards a few arms, but it was
+expected that these would be repaid with interest from the stores of the
+Arsenal.
+
+The appointment of Maj. Hagner to the command of the Arsenal was
+satisfactory to the Secessionists, but there was naturally a good deal
+of interest as to the bias of Capt. Thomas W. Sweeny. One day a man
+presented himself at the west gate of the Arsenal and asked to see Capt.
+Sweeny. Sweeny went to the gate and recognized an old acquaintance, St.
+George Croghan, the son of that Lieut. Croghan who had so brilliantly
+defended Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky, in the War of 1812, and
+who afterwards was for many years Inspector-General of the United
+States Army. Croghan's grandfather had been a gallant officer in the
+Revolution. It was a cold day, and Croghan wore a citizen's overcoat.
+On their way to the quarters, the guards properly saluted Sweeny as they
+passed. Said Croghan, "Sweeny, don't you think those sentinels ought to
+salute me--my rank is higher than yours?" at the same time throwing open
+his overcoat and revealing the uniform of a rebel field officer.
+
+"Not to such as that, by heavens!" responded Sweeny; and added: "If that
+is your business, you can have nothing to do with me. You had better not
+let my men see you with that thing on."
+
+Croghan assured him his business in calling was one of sincere
+friendship; but he would remark while on the subject, that Sweeny had
+better find it convenient to get out of there, and very soon, too.
+
+"Why?" asked Sweeny.
+
+Replied Croghan: "Because we intend to take it."
+
+
+46
+
+Sweeny in great excitement exclaimed: "Never! As sure as my name is
+Sweeny, the property in this place shall never fall into your hands.
+I'll blow it to hell first, and you know I am the man to do it."
+
+Nine months later this Croghan was to fall mortally wounded at the
+head of a cavalry regiment while attacking the Union troops near
+Fayetteville, W. Va., while Sweeny was to do gallant service in the
+Union army, rising to the rank of Brigadier-General of Volunteers,
+and command of a Division, and being retired in 1870 with the rank of
+Brigadier-General.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. NATHANIEL LYON'S ENTRANCE ON THE SCENE
+
+The Secessionists were in the meanwhile hardly making the headway in
+the Legislature that they had anticipated, in spite of the stimulating
+events in the extreme Southern States.
+
+A curious situation developed in the Legislature leading to the arrest
+for a while of Lieut.-Gov. Reynolds's plans for organizing the State
+for rebellion. The term of Senator James S. Green expired on the 3d
+of March, and he was desirous of being his own successor. The first
+consideration was whether Missouri was likely to stay in the Union and
+have a Senator. At the moment this seemed probable enough to warrant
+going on and electing a Senator, and the Pro-Slavery men made strenuous
+efforts to re-elect Mr. Green, but it was significant that he was deemed
+too ultra a Secessionist, and Waldo P. Johnson was elected in his stead.
+Among the many things in the war which turned out surprisingly different
+from what men had confidently expected was that Mr. Green took the
+selfish politician's view of the "ingratitude" of those who refused to
+re-elect him, sullenly retired to private life, and did not raise his
+hand nor his voice for the South during the war, while Mr. Johnson, who
+was elected because he was a better Union man, soon resigned his seat
+in the United States Senate, entered the Confederate army, became
+Lieutenant-Colonel of the 4th Mo. (Confederate), and fought till the
+close of the war.
+
+
+48
+
+Jan. 18, after a prolonged debate, both Houses passed a bill to call a
+Convention "to consider the relations of Missouri to the United States."
+This was the successful device which had been used in carrying other
+States out of the Union, and despite the conservatism of the language
+of the act it was hoped that it would be successful in this instance. In
+the Senate there were only 26 votes against it, and in the House but 18,
+of whom 11 were from St. Louis. The Southern Rights men regarded this as
+a great triumph, however, and made much jubilation throughout the State.
+The election for members to the Convention was fixed for Feb. 18, and
+the Convention was to meet on the last day of the month. This act was
+followed by the adoption of a joint resolution which expressed profound
+regret that the States of New York and Ohio had tendered men and money
+to the President for "the avowed purpose of coercing certain sovereign
+States of the South into obedience to the Federal Government," and
+declaring that the people of Missouri would rally to the side of their
+Southern brethren to "resist the invaders and to the last extremity."
+Only 14 votes were cast against this resolution.
+
+The main interest now centered upon the election of delegates to the
+Convention. New political lines ran among the people, dividing them into
+Secessionists, "Conditional Union" men and "Unconditional Union" men.
+
+
+49
+
+Blair's leadership was able to efface the Republican Party for the time
+being, and carry all of the members over to the Unconditional Unionists.
+The result of the election was a blow to the Secessionists, not one of
+whose candidates was elected.
+
+In St. Louis the Unconditional Union candidates were elected by over
+5,000 majority.
+
+The bitterly-disappointed Secessionists denounced the majority as
+"Submissionists," and threatened all manner of things.
+
+The election occurred on the same day that Jefferson Davis was
+inaugurated President of the Southern Confederacy.
+
+When the State Convention met at Jefferson City, it was found that of
+its 99 members 53 were natives of either Virginia of Kentucky, and all
+but 17 had been born in Slave States. Only 13 were natives of the North,
+three were Germans, and one an Irishman. A struggle at once ensued for
+the organization of the Convention, which resulted in a victory for the
+Union men, ex-Gov. Sterling Price being elected President by 75 votes,
+to 15 cast for Nathaniel W. Watkins, a half-brother of Henry Clay, and
+a strenuous advocate of Southern Rights. As soon as the Convention
+completed its organization it adjourned to St. Louis, to avoid the
+badgering of the pronounced Secessionists, who constituted the State
+Government, and the clamorous bullying of the crowd assembled in the
+State Capital to influence its action.
+
+
+50
+
+On assembling at St. Louis the Convention immediately addressed itself
+to the duty for which it had assembled. Judge Hamilton R. Gamble,
+a Virginian, leader of the Unconditional Union men, and afterwards
+Governor of the State, as Chairman of the Committee on Federal
+Relations, made a long report, in which it was denied that the
+grievances complained of were sufficient to involve Missouri in
+rebellion; that in a military sense Missouri's union with the Southern
+Confederacy meant annihilation; that the true position of the State
+was to try to bring back her seceding sisters, and to this effect a
+Convention of all the States was recommended, to adopt the Crittenden
+Proposition. An attempt to amend this report by the declaration that
+if the Northern States refused to assent to the Crittenden Compromise
+Missouri would then side with her sister States of the South received
+only 23 votes, but among them was that of Sterling Price, who had begun
+to drift southward.
+
+The Convention adopted Gamble's report, and a few days afterward
+adjourned subject to call of the committee.
+
+The Secessionists were greatly discouraged by the result, and the
+Legislature also adjourned. Then came another fluctuation in public
+opinion. The great majority wanted peace. The attitude of the Governor
+and his faction, who seemed to look toward peace by putting Missouri in
+a state of defense to prevent the new Republican President from making
+war, appealed to many, and in the Spring elections the Unconditional
+Union men were defeated by a small majority, and St. Louis passed from
+their official control to that of the Conditional Union Men.
+
+
+51
+
+While these events were occupying public attention there occurred
+another, little noted at the time, but which was soon to be of
+controlling importance. Feb. 6 there marched up from the steamboat
+landing to the Arsenal a company of 80 Regular soldiers of the 2d U.
+S., from Fort Riley, Kan., at the head of which was a Captain, under the
+average hight, and a well knit but rather slender frame. He had a long,
+narrow face, with full, high forehead, keen, deep-set blue eyes, and
+hair and whiskers almost red. His face was thoughtful but determined,
+his manner quick and nervous. He bore himself towards his men as an
+exact and rigid disciplinarian, mingled with thoughtful kindness for all
+who did their duty and tried their best This was Capt. Nathaniel Lyon,
+born in Connecticut, descended from old Puritan stock, with the blood of
+Cromwell's Ironsides flowing in his veins. He was then 42 years old, and
+before another birthday was to fill the country with his fame, and fall
+in battle-face to the front. He had graduated from West Point in 1841,
+the 11th in his class. That his intellectual abilities were of high
+order is shown by his standing in that class, of which Zealous B. Tower,
+an eminent engineer, and brevet Major-General, U. S. A., was the head,
+and Horatio G. Wright, who commanded the Sixth Corps during the last and
+greatest year of its history, was the second.
+
+[Illustration: 010-General Lyon]
+
+Gen. John F. Reynolds, the superb commander of the First Corps and of
+the Right Wing of the Army of the Potomac, with which he brought on the
+battle of Gettysburg, where he was killed, graduated 26th in the class,
+and Gen. Don Carlos Buell, who organized and commanded the Army of the
+Ohio, graduated 32d. Gen. Robert Garnett, the first Confederate General
+officer to fall in the struggle,--killed July 13, 1861, at Carrick's
+Ford,--was the 27th in the class. Julius P. Garesche, who graduated 16th
+in the class, became Chief of Staff to Gen. Rosecrans, and was killed at
+Stone River.
+
+
+52
+
+Besides being thoroughly versed in all that related to his profession
+of arms, Capt. Lyon was well informed in history and general literature;
+was a devoted student of the Bible and Shakspere, and wrote well and
+forcibly. What was very rare among the officers of the old Army, he was
+a radical Abolitionist, and believer in the National Sovereignty. He was
+so outspoken in these views as to render his position quite unpleasant,
+where nearly every one was so antagonistic. A weaker-willed man would
+have been forced either out of the Army or into tacit acquiescence with
+the prevailing sentiment.
+
+Upon graduation he had been assigned to the 2d U. S., and sent to get
+his first lessons in actual war fighting the Florida Indians. There his
+superiors found occasion to remark that his zeal sometimes outran
+his discretion--not an infrequent fault of earnest young men. He had
+distinguished himself and received a brevet in the Mexican War for
+gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco, and had then been sent to
+California. With a slender force he was charged with the duty of keeping
+a long frontier in order against turbulent Indians. He accomplished this
+by making the Indians more afraid of him than the whites could possibly
+be of them. No quick retreat, no impregnable fastness, could shelter
+them from his inexorable pursuit. On one occasion he carried boats on
+wagons over a mountain range to cross a river and strike an Indian lair
+where the marauders were resting in the fullest sense of security.
+His company had next been transferred to Kansas in the midst of the
+political troubles there, where, while doing his official duty with
+strict impartiality, his sympathies were actively with the Free State
+settlers.
+
+
+53
+
+For 42 years he had been growing and fitting himself for a great
+Opportunity.
+
+For once Opportunity and the Man equal to it met.
+
+Immediately after settling his company in the Arsenal, Capt. Lyon went
+to the city to meet Frank P. Blair. The two strong men recognized each
+the other's strength, and at once came into harmonious cooperation.
+
+The fate of the Arsenal, of the City of St. Louis, and of the State of
+Missouri, was settled.
+
+Before Capt. Lyon arrived, the Committee of Safety had had an alarm
+about the Arsenal, and rallied a strong force of their Home Guards in
+waiting to go to the assistance of Capt. Sweeny and his 40 men, should
+the Minute Men attack him. But the Secessionist leaders had such
+confidence in Maj. Hagner that they dissuaded the impatient Basil Duke,
+Colton Greene, Brock Champion and other eager young Captains from making
+the attack.
+
+Capt. Lyon was soon reinforced. Lieut. Warren L. Lothrop, of the 4th U.
+S. Art., a Maine man, who had risen from the ranks, came in with 40 men.
+He was afterwards to succeed Frank P. Blair, jr., as Colonel of the 1st
+Mo. Light Art. Next came Capt. Rufus Saxton, also of the 4th Art., a
+Massachusetts man, later to rise to brevet Major-General of Volunteers,
+and to play an important part in caring for the freedmen of the South
+Carolina coast.
+
+
+54
+
+Still later came Capt. James Totten, of the 2d U. S. Art., with his
+company. He had been born in Pennsylvania, but was appointed to West
+Point from Virginia, and was in command of the Arsenal at Little Rock
+until he evacuated his post, Feb. 8, before a large force of rebels,
+and retired with his command to the Indian Territory, by virtue of
+the agreement with the Governor of the State. While Lothrop and Saxton
+appear to have been taken at once into the councils of Capt. Lyon, Capt.
+Totten does not, probably because the uncompromising Lyon did not like
+his methods in Arkansas. He was, however, true to his loyalty, and rose
+eventually to the rank of Brigadier-General.
+
+There were now in the Arsenal nine officers and 484 men. Hagner and Lyon
+at once came into collision. Though Hagner belonged to the Ordnance,
+and not therefore regarded as eligible to command troops, he secured
+an order assigning himself to command according to his brevet rank
+of Major, which made him superior to Lyon. Hagner had been five years
+longer in the service than Lyon, but his commission as Captain was 20
+days junior to Lyon's. Lyon energetically protested against Hagner's
+assignment in a letter to Blair, who was then in Washington, D. C,
+looking out for matters at that end of the line, in which he said:
+
+
+55
+
+     It is obvious that the fine stone wall inclosing our grounds
+     affords us an excellent defense against attack, if we will
+     take advantage of it; and for this purpose platforms should
+     be erected for our men to stand on and fire over; and that
+     artillery should be ready at the gates, to be run out and
+     sweep down a hostile force; and sand-bags should be prepared
+     and at hand to throw up a parapet to protect the parties at
+     these pieces of artillery; inside pieces should be placed to
+     rake the whole length, and sweep down each side a party that
+     should get over the walls, traverses being erected to
+     protect parties at these pieces.   A pretty strong field
+     work, with three heavy pieces, should be erected on the side
+     toward the river, to oppose either a floating battery or one
+     that might be established on the island; and, finally,
+     besides our houses, every building should be mined, with a
+     train arranged so as to blow them up successively, as
+     occupied by the enemy. Maj. Hagner refuses, as I mentioned
+     to you, to do any of these things, and has given his orders
+     not to fly to the walls to repel an approach, but to let the
+     enemy have all the advantages of the wall to lodge himself
+     behind it, and get possession of all outside buildings
+     overlooking us, and to get inside and under shelter of our
+     outbuildings, which we are not to occupy before we make
+     resistance.    This is either  imbecility or  d----d
+     villainy,   and  in   contemplating the risks we run and the
+     sacrifices we must make in case of an attack in contrast to
+     the vigorous and effective defense we are capable of, and
+     which, in view of the cause of our country and humanity, the
+     disgrace and degradation to which the Government has been
+     subject by pusillanimity and treachery, we are now called
+     upon to make, I get myself into a most unhappy state of
+     solicitude and irritability. With even less force and proper
+     disposition, I am confident we can resist any force which
+     can be brought against us; by which I mean such force as
+     would not be overcome by our sympathizing friends outside.
+     These needful dispositions, with proper industry, can be
+     made in 24 hours. There cannot be, as you know, a more
+     important occasion nor a better opportunity to strike an
+     effective blow at this arrogant and domineering infatuation
+     of Secessionism than here; and must this all be lost, by
+     either false notions of duty or covert disloyalty? As I have
+     said, Maj. Hagner has no right to the command, and, under
+     the 62d Article of War, can only have it by a special
+     assignment of the President, which I do not believe has been
+     made; but that the announcement of Gen. Scott that the
+     command belongs to Maj. Hagner is his own decision, and done
+     in his usual sordid spirit of partisanship and favoritism to
+     pets, and personal associates, and toadies; nor can he, even
+     in the present straits of the country, rise above this, in
+     earnest devotion to justice and the wants of his country.
+
+Lyon went to Gen. Harney to urge his right to command, from seniority
+of commission; but Harney sustained Hagner, who was in some things much
+more Harney's style than Lyon. Lyon thereupon appealed to President
+Buchanan, which meant to Gen. Scott, who, of course, sustained Hagner.
+Lyon was, therefore, forced to submit until Lincoln was inaugurated.
+
+
+56
+
+There was no vanity or self-seeking in this urgency of Lyon's. In the
+Army he was distinguished for his readiness to subordinate himself to
+carry out any plans which commended themselves to him. He had repeatedly
+offered to subordinate himself to Hagner if the latter would take
+what Lyon thought only the most necessary steps at that crisis for the
+defense of the position and stores of priceless importance.
+
+What Lyon dreaded above all things was something akin to that which had
+freshly occurred at Little Rock, where Capt. Totten had withdrawn from
+the Little Rock Arsenal with his company in the face of a large mob of
+Secessionists, upon a receipt by the Governor for the arms and stores,
+and the promise that he would account for them to the United States
+Government. Lyon was determined to bury himself and his men in the
+ruins of the Arsenal before it should pass into the hands of the
+Secessionists.
+
+Basil Duke, Colton Greene, and the other chafing young Captains had
+matured a plot with the connivance of Gen. Frost, of the Militia,
+probably somewhat at his instigation, which would brush aside the
+network of intrigue which Claiborne Jackson and others were spinning,
+bring matters to a focus, and in one blow crush Union sentiment, overawe
+the timid, fasten the wavering, seize the Arsenal and launch Missouri
+upon the tide of Secession with the Cotton States.
+
+
+67
+
+The police powers of the city of St. Louis had been taken away from
+the Mayor, Frost had his Militia in readiness, the Irish were
+properly worked up to a state of exasperation against the "infidel,
+Sabbath-breaking Dutch," and hosts of Americans were in the same net
+when on the day of Lincoln's inauguration the Secession flag was boldly
+hoisted from the roof of the Berthold Mansion, in the most prominent
+part of the city. At once excitement burned to fever heat. Incensed by
+the wanton insult, the Germans and other Unconditional Union men raged
+that the flag should be torn down, and crowds gathered around the
+Berthold Mansion for that purpose. The house had, however, been
+converted into an arsenal, with all the arms and ammunition that could
+at that time be gathered, and filled with determined men under the
+leadership of Duke, Greene and others, eager to precipitate a riot,
+under the cover of which the Irish and Americans could be hurled against
+the Germans, and the Arsenal seized.
+
+Blair and the Committee of Safety saw the danger of this. Their
+followers were not so ready for battle as the enemy was, and in
+conjunction with the more conservative leaders of the other side they
+succeeded in restraining their indignant friends from opening up a day
+of blood which would have been forever memorable in the history of St.
+Louis. Blair at once hastened back to Washington, and a few days
+after the Inauguration secured from the new Secretary of War an order
+assigning Capt. Lyon to the command of the Arsenal. This had to come
+through Gen. Harney's hands, and in transmitting it he informed Capt.
+Lyon:
+
+You shall not exercise any control over the operations of the Ordnance
+Department. The arrangements heretofore made for the accommodation of
+the troops at the Arsenal and for the defense of the place will not be
+disturbed without the sanction of the Commanding General.
+
+
+58
+
+This was to save Hagner's pride, as well as propitiate Gen. Harney's
+Secession friends in St. Louis, who were becoming very uneasy at the way
+the "Yankee Abolitionist" was taking hold.
+
+The dilemma into which Gen. Harney was becoming daily more involved was
+far more perplexing than any he had encountered in his fighting days.
+A question that could be settled sword in hand never had troubled
+him much. Alas! this could not be--not then. On the one side were the
+lifelong associations and habits of thought of the plain old soldier.
+All of his friends were Southerners and Slaveholders, as he himself
+was. Nearly all of the public men he knew, the officials of the State
+of Louisiana, which he called his home; of Missouri, which was almost
+equally his home, had either gone over irrevocably to Secession, or were
+preparing to do so. In his real home, the Army, it was almost as
+bad. The next Brigadier-General above him, Daniel E. Twiggs, had just
+surrendered all the men and property under his command to the State
+of Texas. The men who controlled the War Department,--Secretary Floyd,
+Adjutant-General Samuel Cooper, Quartermaster-General Joe E. Johnston,
+Assistant Adjutants-General John Withers and George Deas, had gone into
+the Confederate army. Robert E. Lee, Gen. Scott's prime favorite, was
+preparing to do so.
+
+On the other hand were the deep, ineradicable instincts of soldierly
+loyalty to the Flag under which he had fought for 40 years. The man
+who had hanged 60 men at one time in Mexico for deserting the Flag was
+likely to have a severe struggle before he could bring himself to do the
+same. He was deeply incensed at the "Black Republicans" for irritating
+the Southerners so that they felt compelled to secede, but did not
+believe that the latter should have seceded. At least, until Missouri
+seceded he was going to maintain, as best he could, the National
+authority in his Department.
+
+
+59
+
+A flashlight is thrown on his mental attitude by his reply to
+Lieut, (afterwards General) Schofield, when informed by him of the
+above-mentioned preparations for seizing the Arsenal under the cover of
+a riot. "A -------- outrage," he exclaimed in his usual explosive way.
+"Why, the State has not yet passed the Ordinance of Secession. Missouri
+has not gone out of the United States."
+
+The limitations placed by Gen. Harney upon Lyon's assignment to command
+were aggravating. Hagner commanded the buildings, the arms, ammunition,
+and other stores, and the strong walls surrounding the grounds. Lyon
+commanded merely the men. He could not draw a musket, a cannon, or a
+cartridge for either, not even a hammer, a spade nor an ax, without
+a requisition duly approved by Harney. Nor could he change a single
+arrangement of the grounds without Harney's approval.
+
+Lyon was almost nightly meeting with the Committee of Safety, and
+visiting the drill-rooms of the Home Guards, where he advised,
+encouraged and drilled the men. The Secessionists were extremely fearful
+that in some way he would manage to get the arms and ammunition, and
+besought Harney and Hagner to omit no precaution to prevent this.
+
+When away from his Secessionist environment, Harney's soldierly
+instincts asserted themselves. Lyon's vigorous, uncompromising course
+was far more to his mind than the dull, shifty Hagner's.
+
+
+60
+
+One was zealous in the performance of his duty, and the other a red-tape
+bureaucrat, whose first thought always seemed to be to clog and hamper
+the men in the field. Harney had suffered too much from these "office
+fellows" to be especially enamored of them. Therefore he had moods, when
+he gave Lyon a free hand, which the latter made the most of until the
+General's mood changed.
+
+During one of these Lyon had undermined the walls of the buildings,
+placed batteries, built banquettes for the men to fire over the
+walls, cut portholes, reinforced the weaker places with sandbags, and
+established a vigilant sentry system to prevent surprise.
+
+The Secessionists were equally full of plans, though not of
+performances. Minute Men were organizing throughout the State to rush
+in at the given day by every train and overwhelm St. Louis, taking the
+Arsenal by sheer force of numbers. Many of the Captains of the large
+steamboats which carried on the trade between St. Louis and New Orleans
+were zealous Secessionists, and mooted plans for assailing the Arsenal
+on the river side with cannon mounted on boats, backed up by large
+crowds of men. But Gov. Jackson and his coterie still relied mainly upon
+inciting some form of riot in the city, which would allow Gen. Frost
+to get possession of the Arsenal with his Militia and "protect it from
+violence." Once in Gen. Frost's hands--then!
+
+The Secessionists scored a point and carried dismay to the Unionists by
+securing an order from Gen. Scott for Capt. Lyon to attend a Court of
+Inquiry at Fort Leavenworth. While he was gone they might carry out
+their plans with comparative ease and safety. Blair, however, succeeded
+in getting Gen. Scott to revoke the order.
+
+
+61
+
+To find out precisely what the position of affairs inside the Arsenal
+was, and to spy out its defenses, a number of prominent citizens, among
+whom was James S. Rains, afterwards Brigadier-General in the Confederate
+army, calling themselves Grand Jurors for the United States District
+Court, presented themselves at the Arsenal and attempted an entrance.
+The Sergeant of the Guard held them awhile till he could communicate
+with Capt. Lyon, and they went away in anger.
+
+There were other officers in the Arsenal whom Lyon could trust as little
+as he could Maj. Hagner, but Capts. Saxton and Sweeny and Lieut. Lothrop
+stood firmly by him in every movement, going so far as to mutually agree
+that they would shoot Maj. Hagner before he should be allowed to turn
+over the arms to the Secessionists.
+
+The bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter and the President's call
+for troops threw the country into a tumult of excitement, and changed
+the political relations everywhere. All over the South the Secessionists
+were jubilant, and those in Missouri particularly exultant. Very many
+of the waverers at once flocked over to the Secessionists, while others
+sided with the Union. To what extent this change took place was as yet
+unknown, nor which side had a majority. Public sympathy as voiced by the
+leading papers seemed to be that the Union had "been riven asunder by
+the mad policy of Mr. Lincoln, and that it was necessary for Missouri to
+take a stand with the other Border States to prevent his attempting to
+subjugate them."
+
+
+62
+
+Gen. Frost submitted a memorial to Governor Jackson, in which were the
+following recommendations:
+
+1. Convene the General Assembly at once.
+
+2. Send an agent to the South to procure mortars and siege guns.
+
+3. Prevent the garrisoning of the United States Arsenal at Liberty.
+
+4. Warn the people of Missouri "that the President has acted illegally
+in calling out troops, thus arrogating to himself the war-making power,
+and that they are therefore by no means, bound to give him aid or
+comfort in his attempt to subjugate by force of arms a people who are
+still free; but, on the contrary, should prepare themselves to maintain
+all their rights as citizens of Misouri."
+
+5. Order me (Frost) to form a military camp of instruction at or near
+the city of St. Louis; to muster military companies into the service of
+the State; and to erect batteries and do all things necessary and proper
+to be done in order to maintain the peace, dignity, and sovereignty of
+the State.
+
+6. Order Gen. Bowen to report with his command to me (Frost) for duty.
+
+He proposed to form a camp of instruction for the Militia on the river
+bluffs near the Arsenal, from which it could be commanded by guns and
+mortars to be obtained from the South when Frost with his brigade and
+that of Gen. John S. Bowen, who was afterwards to be a Major-General
+in the Confederate army and command a division at Vicksburg, with what
+volunteers they could obtain, would force Lyon to surrender the Arsenal
+and its stores.
+
+While considering these recommendations the Governor received a request
+from the Secretary of War for four regiments of infantry, Missouri's
+quota of the 75,000 men the President had called for. To this Governor
+Jackson replied the next day:
+
+
+63
+
+Your dispatch of the 13th instant, making a call upon Missouri for four
+regiments of men for immediate service, has been received. There can be,
+I apprehend, no doubt but these men are intended to form a part of the
+President's army to make war upon the people of the seceded States.
+Your requisition, in my judgment, is illegal, unconstitutional, and
+revolutionary in his objects, inhuman and diabolical, and cannot be
+complied with. Not one man will the State of Missouri furnish to carry
+on such an unholy crusade.
+
+The same day he sent Capts. Greene and Duke to Montgomery with a letter
+to the President of the Confederacy, requesting him to furnish the
+siege guns and mortars which Gen. Frost wanted, and another messenger to
+Virginia with a similar request. He also called the Legislature to meet
+at Jefferson City May 2, to take "measures to perfect the organization
+and equipment of the Militia and raise the money to place the State in
+a proper attitude for defense." He did not dare order Gen. Frost to
+establish his military camp of instruction in St. Louis, but he took
+the more prudent and strictly legal course of ordering the commanding
+officers of the several Militia Districts of the State to assemble their
+respective commands at some convenient place, and go into encampment for
+six days for drilling and discipline. This order authorized Gen. Frost
+to establish his camp wherever he pleased within the City or County of
+St. Louis.
+
+Gen. Bowen, who was in command of a force in the southwest to guard
+the State against the marauders from Kansas, was ordered to report with
+certain of his troops to Gen. Frost. The Arsenal at Liberty was at once
+seized by the Secessionists in that neighborhood, who secured several
+hundred muskets, four brass guns, and a large amount of powder. These
+proceedings of the Governor disturbed Gen. Harney greatly, and he wrote
+at once to Gen. Scott asking him for instructions.
+
+
+64
+
+Capt. Lyon did not ask or wait for instructions. He wrote at once to
+Gov. Dick Yates, of Illinois, to obtain authority to hold in readiness
+for service in St. Louis the six regiments which Illinois was called
+upon to furnish. Gov. Yates acted promptly, and received authority to
+send two or three regiments "to support the garrison of the St. Louis
+Arsenal." Lyon received orders to equip these troops, and to issue
+10,000 additional stands of arms to the agent of the Governor of
+Illinois.
+
+Mr. Blair reached St. Louis from Washington, April 17, and at once began
+acting with the boldness and foresight that the situation demanded.
+By his advice Col. Pritchard and other Union officers of the Militia
+resigned. He procured from the War Department an order placing
+5,000 stands of arms at the disposal of Lyon for arming "the loyal
+citizens"--the Home Guards--and requested orders by telegraph for Capt.
+Lyon to muster men into the service to fill Missouri's requisition, and
+to have Hagner removed.
+
+Lyon, determined not to be taken by surprise, had the streets leading to
+the Arsenal nightly patrolled and pickets stationed outside the walls.
+Gov. Jackson's Police Board complained that this was a violation of
+the City ordinances and in direct interference with their duties. They
+demanded that he should obey the law, but he refused. When they appealed
+to Harney, he at once ordered Lyon to quarter his men in the Arsenal
+and forbade him to issue arms to anyone without Harney's sanction.
+This brought Blair and Lyon to a parting of the ways with Harney. They
+demanded his removal, and April 21 Harney was removed from the command,
+and ordered to repair to Washington and report to the General-in-Chief.
+
+
+65
+
+On the same day Capt. Lyon was instructed to immediately execute the
+order previously given to "arm loyal citizens." He was also ordered to
+muster into the service four regiments, which the Governor had refused
+to furnish. As the men had long been in waiting, Lyon quickly organized
+the four regiments, which elected him their Brigadier-General. Some of
+the field officers of these regiments were notable men, and were to have
+brilliant careers during the war. The Colonel of the 1st Regiment was
+F. P. Blair, afterwards to become Major-General commanding a corps; the
+Lieutenant-Colonel was George L. Andrews, afterwards to be a Colonel
+in the Regular Army; the Major was John M. Schofield, later to be
+Major-General commanding the Twenty-third Corps, and still later
+Lieutenant-General commanding the Army of the United States. The Colonel
+of the 3d Regiment was Franz Sigel, afterwards Major-General commanding
+the Eleventh Corps and the Army of the Shenandoah.
+
+The four regiments having been filled to the maximum, there were large
+numbers yet demanding muster. From these a fifth regiment of Missouri
+Volunteers and five regiments of "United States Reserves" were formed.
+The most notable among the field officers of these were John McNeil,
+Colonel of the 3d Regiment, who afterwards became a Brigadier-General,
+and B. Gratz Brown, Colonel of the 4th U. S. Reserves, afterwards Vice
+Presidential nominee on the Greeley ticket. These additional
+regiments formed another brigade, and elected Capt. Sweeny their
+Brigadier-General. After arming these 10,000 men Lyon secured the
+balance of the stores from all danger of treachery or capture by
+transferring them to Alton, Ill.., where they would be under the
+guardianship of loyal men.
+
+
+66
+
+Thus, in a few, swift weeks after the inauguration of President Lincoln,
+Blair and Lyon, bold even to temerity, and even more sagacious than
+bold, had snatched away from the sanguine Secessionists the great
+Arsenal, with its momentous contents, which were placed at the service
+of the Union.
+
+More than 10,000 loyal men of Missouri were standing, arms in hand, on
+her soil to confront their enemies.
+
+Above all, the Government showed that it would no longer tamely submit
+to being throttled and stabbed, but would fight, then, there, and
+everywhere, for its life.
+
+
+67
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. THE CAPTURE OF CAMP JACKSON
+
+Up to the time that Gen. Harney was relieved and ordered to Washington,
+and Capt. Lyon was given a free hand, Gen. D. M. Frost's course
+and advice were worthy of his reputation as a resolute, far-seeing
+commander. With the organized military companies of his district and the
+Minute Men he had a good nucleus for action, and had he made a rush
+on the Arsenal at any of the several times that he seems to have
+contemplated, it would have been backed up by several thousand young
+Irishmen and Americans in St. Louis, as well as by tens of thousands
+from the country swarming in as fast as they could have gotten railroads
+and steamboats to carry them.
+
+Then the capture of the Arsenal would have opened the war instead of the
+firing on Fort Sumter.
+
+He was then, however, restrained by Gov. Jackson and his coterie, who
+expected to gain their ends by intrigues and manipulations which had
+proved so successful in the other States.
+
+After, however, Capt. Lyon had equipped some 10,000 Missourians from
+the Arsenal and sent most of the rest of the arms across the river into
+Illinois, Frost seems to have suddenly become doddering. The Rev. Henry
+W. Beecher used to tell a very effective story about an old house dog
+named Noble. Some time in the dim past Noble had found a rabbit in a
+hole under an apple tree. Every day ever after, for the rest of his
+life, Noble would go to the hole and bark industriously at it for an
+hour or so, with as much zeal as if he had found another rabbit there,
+which he never did.
+
+
+68
+
+There seemed to be something of this in Gen. Frost's carrying out
+his idea of establishing a camp ostensibly for the instruction of his
+Militia, on the hills near the Arsenal, which he did May 3. It is hard
+to reconcile this with any clear purpose. If he intended to assault and
+capture the Arsenal, the force that he gathered was absurdly inadequate,
+in view of what he must have known Lyon had to oppose him. Accounts
+differ as to the highest number he ever had assembled, but it must have
+been less than 2,000.
+
+His camp, which was in a beautiful grove, then in the first flush of
+the charms of early Springtime, was quite an attractive place for the
+"knightly" young Southerners who, filled with the chivalrous ideas of
+Sir Walter Scott's novels, then the prevalent romantic literature of the
+South, had made much ado before their "ladye loves" of "going off to
+the warres," and the aforesaid "ladye loves," decorated with Secession
+rosettes and the red-white-and-red colors then emblematic of Secession,
+followed their "true-loves" to the camp, and made Lindell Grove bright
+with the gaily-contrasting hues in bonnets and gowns. There were music
+and parades, presentations, flags and banners, dancing and feasting,
+and all the charming accessories of a military picnic. But some how
+the material for common soldiers did not flock to the Camp as the
+Secessionists had hoped. Possibly the stern uprising of the loyal
+people of the North in response to the firing upon Fort Sumter, and the
+mustering of solid battalions in Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas, immediately
+around the Missouri borders, had a repressing effect upon those who had
+at first thought of going with a light heart into Secession. It began to
+look as if there were going to be something more serious than a Fourth
+of July barbecue about this work of breaking up the Union.
+
+
+69
+
+Certainly, recruits had not come to Camp Jackson, which Frost had so
+named in honor of the Governor of the State, as they had flocked into
+similar camps farther South. Nor had they come in the numbers which were
+assembled around Lyon and Blair, appealing for arms. Still, the men
+in Camp Jackson had a resolute purpose, under all the frivolity and
+merry-making of the gay camp, and presently Capts. Colton Greene
+and Basil Duke returned with the cheering news that their mission to
+Jefferson Davis had been entirely successful. Heavy artillery would be
+furnished with which to batter down the walls of the Arsenal, and
+force the Home Guards to fight or surrender. They brought with them
+the following encouraging letter from the President of the Southern
+Confederacy:
+
+     Montgomery, Ala., April 23, 1861. His Excellency C. F.
+     Jackson, Governor of Missouri.
+
+     Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge yours of the 17th
+     Instant, borne by Capts. Greene and Duke, and have most
+     cordially welcomed the fraternal assurances it brings.
+
+     A misplaced but generous confidence has, for years past,
+     prevented the Southern States from making the preparation
+     required by the present emergency, and our power to supply
+     you with ordnance is far short of the will to serve you.
+     After learning as well as I could from the gentlemen
+     accredited to me what was most needful for the attack on the
+     Arsenal, I have directed that Capts. Greene and Duke should
+     be furnished with two 12-pounder howitzers and two 32-
+     pounder guns, with the proper ammunition for each. These,
+     from the commanding hills, will be effective, both against
+     the garrison and to breach the inclosing walls of the place.
+     I concur with you as to the great importance of capturing
+     the Arsenal and securing its supplies, rendered doubly
+     important by the means taken to obstruct your commerce and
+     render you unarmed victims of a hostile invasion.
+
+
+
+70
+
+     We look anxiously and hopefully for the day when the star of
+     Missouri shall be added to the constellation of the
+     Confederate States of America.
+
+     With best wishes, I am, very respectfully, yours,
+
+     JEFFERSON DAVIS.
+
+This promise was at once made good by a letter to the Governor of
+Louisiana to deliver the required war material from the stores in the
+lately-captured arsenal at Baton Rouge. These, carefully disguised as
+marble, ale, and other innocent stores, were shipped upon the steamboat
+J. C. Swan, and consigned to a well-known Union firm in St. Louis, with
+private marks to identify them to the Secessionists, who, on the watch
+for them, had them at once loaded on drays and taken to Camp Jackson.
+Their movements, however, were made known to Blair and the Committee of
+Safety by their spies, and Capt. Lyon was urged to seize the stores
+upon their arrival at the wharf, but he preferred to allow them to reach
+their destination, where they would serve to fix the purpose of the camp
+upon those commanding the garrison.
+
+Lyon, who as a soldier had naturally chafed under the insulting presence
+on the hills of a force hardly concealing its hostility under a thin
+vail of professed loyalty, at once resolved upon the capture of the
+camp. The more cautious of the Union men tried to restrain him. They
+argued that the camp would expire by legal limitation within a few days.
+To this Lyon opposed the probability that the Legislature would pass the
+military bill in some form and make the camp a permanent one.
+
+
+71
+
+Then, those timorous ones insisted that the forms of the law should
+be employed, and that the United States Marshal, armed with a writ of
+replevin to recover United States property, should precede the attack
+upon the camp. Lyon fretted under this; The writ of replevin was a
+tiresome formality to men who talked of fighting and were ready to
+fight; furthermore, if served and recognized, Frost might put off the
+Marshal with some trumpery stuff of no value. Still further came the
+news that Harney, with Gen. Scott's assistance, had reinstated himself
+in favor at Washington, and would return the following Sunday. It was
+now Wednesday, the 8th of May.
+
+Above all, Lyon saw with a clearer insight than the strict law-abiders
+the immense moral effect of his contemplated action. Heretofore all the
+initiativeness, all the aggressiveness, all the audacity, had been on
+the side of the Secessionists. They were everywhere taking daring steps
+to the confusion and overthrow of the conservative Unionists, and so
+dragging with them hosts of the wavering. He longed to strike a quick,
+sharp blow to teach the enemies of the Government that they could no
+longer proceed with impunity, but must expect a return blow for every
+one they gave, and probably more.
+
+
+72
+
+On Wednesday evening, May 8, Capt. Lyon requested Mr. J. J. Witzig, one
+of the Committee of Safety, to meet him at 2 o'clock the next day with
+a horse and buggy. At the appointed hour Witzig went to Lyon's quarters
+and inquired for the "General," by which title Lyon was known after his
+election as Brigadier-General of the Missouri Militia. As he entered
+Lyon's room, Witzig saw a lady seated near the door, vailed and
+evidently waiting for some one. He inquired if she was waiting for the
+General to come in, and seating himself near the window awaited the
+coming of Lyon. A few minutes later the lady arose, lifted her vail, and
+astonished Mr. Witzig with the very unfeminine features of Lyon himself.
+Mrs. Alexander had loaned him the clothes, and succeeded in attiring him
+so that the deception was complete. Taking a couple of heavy revolvers,
+Gen. Lyon entered a barouche belonging to the loyal Franklin Dick, and
+was driven by Mr. Dick's servant leisurely out to Camp Jackson, followed
+by Mr. Witzig in a buggy. Lyon saw everything in the camp that he wished
+to see; noticed that the streets were named Davis Avenue, Beauregard
+Avenue, and the like; took in the lay of the ground, and returning
+toward the Arsenal, stopped and directed Witzig to summon the other
+members of the Committee of Safety to immediately meet him at the
+Arsenal.
+
+He stated to them, when they gathered, the necessity of at once
+capturing the camp, and his determination to do so and hold all in it
+as prisoners of war. Blair and Witzig warmly approved this; Filley and
+Broadhead finally acquiesced, while How and Glover were opposed to both
+the manner and time and wanted a writ of replevin served by the United
+States Marshal. If Gen. Frost refused to respect this, Lyon could then
+go to his assistance.
+
+
+73
+
+Lyon yielded so far as to allow Glover to get out the writ of replevin,
+but he was not disposed to dally long with that subterfuge, and his line
+of battle would not be far behind the Marshal. Even before he went out
+to the camp he had sent an Aid to procure 36 horses for his batteries
+from the leading livery stables in the city, because he feared that
+Maj. McKinstry, the Chief Quartermaster of the Department, could not
+be trusted; a doubt which seems to have been well founded, for Maj.
+McKinstry afterwards refused to pay for the horses until he was
+compelled to do so by a peremptory order from Lyon. The Secessionist
+spies were as vigilant and successful as those of the Unionists, and
+Gen. Frost was promptly informed of the designs upon him, whereupon on
+the morning of the fateful May 10 he dispatched Col. Bowen, his Chief of
+Staff, with the following letter to Gen. Lyon:
+
+     Headquarters, Camp Jackson,
+
+     Missouri Militia, May 10, 1861. Capt. N. Lyon, Commanding
+     United States troops in and about St. Louis Arsenal.
+
+     Sir: I am constantly in receipt of information that you
+     contemplate an attack upon my camp. Whilst I understand you
+     are impressed with the idea that an attack upon the Arsenal
+     and the United States troops is intended on the part of the
+     Militia of Missouri, I am greatly at a loss to know what
+     could justify you in attacking: citizens of the United
+     States, who are in the lawful performance of duties
+     devolving upon them, under the Constitution, in organizing
+     and instructing the Militia of the State in obedience to her
+     laws, and therefore have been disposed to doubt the
+     correctness of the information I have received.
+
+     I would be glad to know from you personally whether there is
+     any truth in the statements that are constantly poured into
+     my ears. So far as regards any hostility being intended
+     toward the United States or its property or representatives,
+     by any portion of my command, or as far as I can learn (and
+     I think I am fully informed) of any other part of the State
+     forces, I can say positively that the idea has never been
+     entertained. On the contrary, prior to your taking command
+     of the Arsenal, I proffered to Maj. Bell, then in command of
+     the very few troops constituting its guard, the services of
+     myself and all my command, and, if necessary, the whole
+     power of the State to protect the United States in the full
+     possession of all her property. Upon Gen. Harney's taking
+     command of this Department I made the same proffer of
+     services to him and authorized his Adjutant-General, Capt.
+     Williams, to communicate the fact that such had been done to
+     the War
+
+
+74
+
+     Department. I have had no occasion to change any of the
+     views I entertained at that time, neither of my own volition
+     nor through orders of my constitutional commander.
+
+     I trust that after this explicit statement we may be able,
+     by fully understanding each other, to keep far from our
+     borders the misfortunes which so unhappily afflict our
+     common country.
+
+     This communication will be handed you by Col. Bowen, my
+     Chief of Staff, who may be able to explain anything not
+     fully set forth in the foregoing.
+
+     I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
+
+     D. M. FROST,
+
+     Brigadier-General, Commanding Camp Jackson, M. V. M.
+
+It is an almost impossible task for the historian to reconcile this
+extraordinary letter with Gen. Frost's standing as an officer and a
+gentleman. It certainly passes the limits of deception allowable in war,
+and has no place in the ethics of civil life.
+
+The camp was located where it was for the generally understood purpose
+of attacking the Arsenal, and this purpose had been recommended to the
+Governor of the State by Gen. Frost himself. Every Secessionist, North
+and South, understood and boasted of it. Jefferson Davis approved of
+this, and he sent artillery with which to attack the Arsenal, which was
+then in Frost's camp. Gen. Lyon refused to receive the letter. He was
+busily engaged in preparations to carry its answer himself. He had under
+arms almost his entire force. Two regiments of Home Guards were left
+on duty protecting the Arsenal, and to be ready for any outbreak in the
+city, and a majority of the Regulars were also so employed.
+
+
+75
+
+Gen. Lyon was a thorough organizer, and had his work well in hand with
+every one of his subordinates fully instructed as to his part. The
+previous military training of the Germans here came into good play,
+and regiments formed quickly and moved promptly. Col. Blair, with his
+regiment and a battalion of Regulars, marched to a position on the west
+of the camp. Col. Schuttner with his regiment went up Market street;
+Col. Sigel led his column up Olive street; Col. Brown went up Morgan
+street; and Col. McNeil up Clark avenue. A battery of six pieces went
+with a Regular battalion, at the head of which rode Gen. Lyon. The news
+of the movement rapidly diffused through the city; everybody was excited
+and eagerly expectant; and the roofs of the houses were black with
+people watching events. Not the least important, factor were the
+Secessionist belles of the city, whose lovers and brothers were in Camp
+Jackson, and who, with that inconsequence which is so charming in the
+young feminine mind, were breathlessly expectant of their young heroes
+each surrounding himself with a group of "Dutch myrmidons," slain by his
+red right hand.
+
+So admirably had Lyon planned that the heads of all his columns appeared
+at their designated places almost simultaneously, and Gen. Frost found
+his camp entirely surrounded in the most soldierly way. The six light
+pieces galloped into position to entirely command the camp. With a
+glance of satisfaction at the success of his arrangements, Gen. Lyon
+rode up to Sweeny, his second in command, and said:
+
+"Sweeny, if their batteries open on you, deploy your leading company as
+skirmishers, charge on the nearest battery, and take it."
+
+Sweeny turned to the next two companies to him, and ordered them to move
+their cartridge-boxes to the front, to prepare for action. Lyon then
+sent Maj. B. G. Farrar with the following letter to Gen. Frost:
+
+
+76
+
+     Headquarters United States Troops,
+
+     St. Louis, Mo., May 10, 1861. Gen. D. M. Frost, Commanding
+     Camp Jackson.
+
+     Sir: Your command is regarded as evidently hostile to the
+     Government of the United States.
+
+     It is for the most part made up of those Secessionists who
+     have openly avowed their hostility to the General
+     Government, and have been plotting at the seizure of its
+     property and the overthrow of its authority. You are openly
+     in communication with the so-called Southern Confederacy,
+     which is now at war with the United States; and you are
+     receiving at your camp, from said Confederacy and under its
+     flag, large supplies of the material of war, most of which
+     is known to be the property of the United States. These
+     extraordinary preparations plainly indicate none other than
+     the well-known purpose of the Governor of this State, under
+     whose orders you are acting, and whose purpose, recently
+     communicated to the Legislature, has just been responded to
+     in the most unparalleled legislation, having in direct view
+     hostilities to the General Government and cooperation with
+     its enemies.
+
+     In view of these considerations, and of your failure to
+     disperse in obedience to the proclamation of the President,
+     and of the eminent necessities of State policy and welfare,
+     and the obligations imposed upon me by Instructions from
+     Washington, it is my duty to demand, and I do hereby demand
+     of you, an immediate surrender of your command, with no
+     other conditions than that all persons surrendering under
+     this demand shall be humanely and kindly treated. Believing
+     myself prepared to enforce this demand, one-half hour's time
+     before doing so will be allowed for your compliance
+     therewith. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
+
+     N. LYON, Captain, 2d United States Infantry,
+     Commanding Troops.
+
+
+There were a few anxious minutes following this, but it must be said to
+Frost's credit as a soldier that he promptly recognized the situation
+and acted upon it. Soon a horseman rode out from the camp, and
+approaching Lyon handed him the following note:
+
+
+77
+
+     Camp Jackson, Mo., May 10, 1861. Capt. N. Lyon, Commanding
+     U. S. Troops.
+
+     Sir: I, never for a moment having conceived the Idea that so
+     illegal and unconstitutional a demand as I have just
+     received from you would be made by an officer of the United
+     States Army, am wholly unprepared to defend my command from
+     this unwarranted attack, and shall therefore be forced to
+     comply with your demand.
+
+     I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
+
+     D. M. FROST, Brigadier-General, Commanding Camp Jackson,
+     Missouri Volunteer Militia.
+
+
+Lyon read it, turned to his second in command and remarked: "Sweeny,
+they surrender."
+
+Sweeny turned to his men with the order to replace their
+cartridge-boxes, which they did with an air of disappointment. There
+had been so much talk during the weeks and months of preparation about
+fighting and such irritating threatenings, that the Union troops were
+anxious to "take a fall" out of their opponents, and see what would be
+the result. Lyon dismounted, and unfortunately the fractious horse of
+one of his Aids at that instant kicked him in the stomach, knocking
+him senseless. While in this condition, Wm. D. Wood, Frost's
+Adjutant-General, rode up and inquired for Gen. Lyon. Gen. Sweeny,
+desiring to conceal Lyon's condition from the enemy, replied that he
+would receive any message intended for the General. Col. Wood then said:
+
+     "Gen. Frost sends his compliments to Gen. Lyon, and wishes
+     to know if the officers will be allowed to retain their
+     side-arms, what disposition shall be made of Government
+     property, and if a guard will be sent to relieve his men now
+     on post, and take possession of everything when the camp
+     shall be evacuated?"
+
+
+78
+
+Sweeny replied affirmatively, when Wood rode off and Sweeney returned to
+Lyon, to find him slowly recovering. Lyon approved of Sweeny's answer,
+and directed Sweeny to take possession of the camp with two companies of
+Regulars. Frost's men stacked arms and marched off through a lane formed
+by the 1st Mo., which faced inward. Up to this time everything had gone
+on peacefully. The surrendered Militia, without any special protest or
+demonstration, took their places quietly under guard. Not so with
+the immense mob which had gathered, expecting to see the Militia make
+sanguinary havoc of their assailants. These were deeply chagrined at the
+tame issue of the affair, and after exhausting all the vile epithets
+at their command, began throwing stones, brickbats, and other missiles,
+which the soldiers received as patiently as they did the contumely, when
+the bolder of the mob began firing with revolvers. Presently one of
+Co. F, 3d Mo., commanded by Capt. C. Blandowski, was shot dead, several
+severely wounded, and the Captain himself fell with a bullet through his
+leg. As he fell he ordered his men to fire, which resulted in about 20
+of the rioters dropping under a volley from the soldiers' muskets. The
+mob fled in dismay, and Gen. Lyon ordered his troops to cease firing.
+
+One of the leaders of the mob had deliberately fired three times at
+Capt. Saxton, of the Regulars, and had laid his revolver across his
+arm for a fourth more deliberate shot, when one of Capt. Saxton's men
+bayoneted while another shot him. When the smoke cleared away, it was
+found that 15 had been killed. Three of these were prisoners from Camp
+Jackson, and two were women whose morbid curiosity, or worse, had led
+them to mingle with the mob, One was a child.
+
+Capt. Blandowski died of his wounds the next day.
+
+
+79
+
+At 6 o'clock the troops and prisoners marched back to the Arsenal,
+leaving Gen. Sweeny with his Regulars in charge of Camp Jackson. On the
+way rioters thronged the line of march and vilely abused the soldiers,
+but Lyon was vigilant in restraining his men, and prevented their making
+any return by firing upon their assailants.
+
+During the night and the next day the prisoners were all released,
+the privates taking an oath not to serve in any capacity against the
+Government during the war, and the officers giving a parole not to serve
+in any military capacity against the United States. It was provided
+that the parole should be returned upon anyone surrendering himself as a
+prisoner of war, and was accompanied with a protest against the justice
+of executing it. One exception, Capt. Emmett MacDonald, who had been
+efficient in bringing the Irishmen into opposition to the "Dutch,"
+refused to accept the parole on the ground taken by all the others that
+they had done nothing wrong, and finally secured his release through a
+writ of habeas corpus.
+
+The excitement that night in St. Louis was fearful, with the
+Secessionists raging. It is to the credit, however, of James McDonough,
+whom Governor Jackson's Secessionist Police Commissioners had appointed
+Chief of Police, that, whatever his sympathies, he did not allow them to
+interfere with his official duties, and exerted himself to the utmost to
+preserve the municipal peace. The violent Secessionists started to mob
+the offices of the Republican papers, and to attack the residences of
+Union leaders, but were everywhere met by squads of police backed up
+by an armed force of Home Guards, which, with the appeals of the
+conservative men of influence on both sides, managed to stay the storm.
+
+
+80
+
+McDonough could not, however, prevent a number of outrages, and several
+of the Home Guards caught alone were killed by the rowdies that night
+and the next day--Saturday. This incensed the Germans terribly, and
+stories reached the Secession parts of the city that they contemplated
+fearful revenge, which they could wreak, having arms in their own
+hands, while the "natural protectors" of the people--Frost's military
+companies--were prisoners of war and disarmed.
+
+The Mayor issued a proclamation to quiet the people, and requested all
+keepers of drinking places to at once close and remain closed during the
+excitement. All minors were ordered to remain in doors for three days,
+and all good citizens were requested to remain in doors after nightfall
+and to avoid gatherings and meetings.
+
+As was usual, a good many people who meant no evil obeyed this
+proclamation, while the mobites, who meant a great deal of harm, paid no
+attention to it. Saturday afternoon, the 5th Regiment of United States
+Reserves, under the command of Lieut-Col. Robert White, attempted to
+go to their barracks, when they were assailed by a mob with stones,
+brickbats and pistol shots. The patience of the soldiers finally
+gave way, and they fired into the crowd, killing several persons--and
+wounding many others.
+
+
+81
+
+[Illustration: General John C. Fremont]
+
+Sunday the Secessionists were in a panic, and began a wild flight
+from the city. Every vehicle that could be obtained was employed at
+exorbitant prices to carry men, women and children, baggage and personal
+effects, to the depots and wharves, where the railroads and steamboats
+were ready to receive them. The Mayor attempted to stay the stampede by
+a speech at the Planters' House, in which he assured the people that the
+Home Guards were entirely under the control of their officers, and would
+only be used to preserve the peace and protect property.
+
+What was more effective was the news that Gen. Harney, hurrying back
+from Washington, had arrived the preceding evening and resumed command.
+Harney had reached the city on Saturday evening, May 11, and Sunday
+morning called at the Arsenal on Col. Blair, not Gen. Lyon, whom he
+informed of his intentions to remove the Home Guards from the Arsenal
+and disband them. Blair succeeded in convincing him that this was beyond
+his authority, and did not hesitate to say that his attempt to do so
+would be resisted. Being convinced, Harney sent a messenger to the Board
+of Police Commissioners, who were anxiously awaiting the result of his
+visit, to the effect that he had "no control over the Home Guards,"
+which was intended to mean that he could not remove or disband them, but
+which the Commissioners and the people understood to mean that he had
+lost control over them.
+
+
+82
+
+The panic at once resumed its former proportions, and Gen. Harney found
+it necessary to issue a proclamation, in which he said that the public
+peace must and would be preserved, and the lives and property of the
+people protected, but he trusted that he would not be compelled to
+resort to martial law. He would avoid all cause of irritation and
+excitement whenever called upon to aid the local authorities by using
+in preference the Regular troops. Therefore he began by restricting the
+Home Guards to the German parts of the city, while he moved about 250
+Regulars, under the command of Capts. Totten and Sweeny and Lieuts.
+Saxton and Lothrop, with four pieces of artillery, into a central
+position, where they went into quarters, to the great relief of
+everybody.
+
+It will be perceived that a remarkable change had come over the people
+since a few weeks before, when the arrival of a little squad of Regulars
+at the Sub-Treasury to protect its gold had thrown the city in the
+wildest excitement over "the attempt to overawe and cow the people of
+Missouri."
+
+Confidence was restored, and quiet ensued. Gen. Frost lodged a protest
+with Gen. Harney, in which he recited the circumstances of Lyon's attack
+upon him, claimed that every officer and soldier in his command had
+taken, with uplifted hand, the following oath:
+
+     You, each and every one of you, do solemnly swear that you
+     will honestly and faithfully serve the State of Missouri
+     against her enemies, and that you will do your utmost to
+     sustain the Constitution and laws of the United States and
+     of this State against all violence, of whatsoever kind or
+     description, and you do further swear that you will well and
+     truly execute and obey the legal orders of all officers
+     properly placed over you whilst on duty; so help you God.
+
+A casual inspection shows how cunningly this was framed. It will be
+perceived that every one solemnly swore to "serve the State of Missouri
+against all her enemies," and to "obey the orders of the officers"
+placed over him, while he was merely enjoined to do his utmost to
+sustain the Constitution and laws of the United States and this State
+against all violence.
+
+
+83
+
+It is easy to see how such an obligation would be construed.
+
+Gen. Frost recited again that he had offered to help Gen. Lyon protect
+the United States property with his whole force, and if necessary
+with that of Missouri, and appealed to Gen. Harney not to require the
+indignity of a parole, but to order the restoration of all the officers
+and men to liberty, and of all the property of the State and of private
+individuals. The language of this protest did as little to enhance the
+reputation of Gen. Frost as his letter to Gen. Lyon.
+
+It was an intense disappointment to the Secessionists everywhere that
+he made no show of a fight before surrendering. It would have been the
+greatest satisfaction to all of them had he chosen to make Camp Jackson
+a Thermopylae or an Alamo. Such a sacrifice would have been of priceless
+worth in firing the Southern heart, and placing him high among the
+world's heroes. Somehow the idea of martyrdom did not appeal to him, as
+it has not to millions of other men placed in critical positions. The
+wonder to the calm student of history is that, having made such a bold
+bluff at Lyon, he did not "fill his hand" better, to use a sporting
+phrase, and prevent Lyon from "calling" him so effectually. The frost
+which was in his name settled on this "young Napoleon" thereafter--the
+country was filled with young Napoleons at that time--and though he
+commanded a brigade in the Confederate army for some two years or more,
+his name is only "mentioned" afterward in the Rebellion Records.
+
+
+84
+
+Lyon's decisive act did not meet with the unanimous approval of the
+Union men of the State. There began then that unhappy division between
+the "Conservative Union men" and the "Radicals" which led to so many
+collisions, and sorely distracted President Lincoln. The "Radicals" who
+fell under the lead of F. P. Blair, and had their representative in
+the Cabinet at Washington in the shape of Montgomery Blair, the
+Postmaster-General, dubbed their opponents "Claybanks," while the
+latter, whose representative in the Cabinet was Edward Bates, the
+Attorney-General, tainted with the name of "Charcoals" their opponents.
+The "Conservatives," who represented a very large portion of the wealth
+and education of the State, had for leaders such men as Hamilton R.
+Gamble, Robert Campbell, James E. Yeatman, H. S. Turner, Washington
+King, N. J. Eaton, and James H. Lucas. They at once sent a delegation to
+Washington to represent to Mr. Lincoln that Lyon, while undoubtedly "a
+loyal and brave soldier," was "rash," "imprudent," and "indiscreet."
+This representation carried great weight, for they were all men of the
+highest character and standing, and at their instance Gen. Harney was
+pushed further to the front again.
+
+The "Old Dragoon" now asserted itself in Harney, as it was likely to
+when there was the smell of gunpowder in the air. Lyon's course was, in
+spite of the intense influence of Harney's Secession convives, very much
+to the taste of the old fighter. He wrote to Gen. Scott that he approved
+Lyon's action, and replied to the Judge in the habeas corpus writ of
+Capt. McDonald, that the man had been properly arrested. May 14 he
+issued a proclamation in which he said:
+
+
+85
+
+     It is with regret that I feel it my duty to call your
+     attention to the recent act of the General Assembly of
+     Missouri, known as the "Military Bill," which is the result,
+     no doubt, of the temporary excitement that now pervades the
+     public mind. This bill cannot be regarded in any other light
+     than an indirect Secession ordinance, Ignoring even the form
+     resorted to by other States. Manifestly, its most material
+     provisions are in conflict with the Constitution and laws of
+     the United States. To this extent it is a nullity, and
+     cannot and ought not to be upheld or regarded by the good
+     citizens of Missouri. There are obligations and duties
+     resting upon the people of Missouri under the Constitution
+     and laws of the United States which are paramount, and which
+     I trust you will carefully consider and weigh well before
+     you will allow yourselves to be carried out of the Union
+     under the form of yielding obedience to this military bill,
+     which is clearly in violation of your duties as citizens of
+     the United States.
+
+     It must be apparent to every one who has taken a proper and
+     unbiased view of the subject that, whatever may be the
+     termination of the unfortunate condition of things in
+     respect to the so-called Cotton States, Missouri must share
+     the destiny of the Union. Her geographical position, her
+     soil, productions, and, in short, all her material
+     interests, point to this result. We cannot shut our eyes
+     against this controlling fact. It is seen and its force is
+     felt throughout the Nation. So important is this regarded to
+     the great interests of the country, that I venture to
+     express the opinion that the whole power of the Government
+     of the United States, if necessary, will be exerted to
+     maintain Missouri in her present position in the Union. I
+     express to you, in all frankness and sincerity, my own
+     deliberate convictions, without assuming to speak for the
+     Government of the United States, whose authority here and
+     elsewhere I shall at all times and under all circumstances
+     endeavor faithfully to uphold. I desire above all things
+     most earnestly to invite my fellow-citizens dispassionately
+     to consider their true interests as well as their true
+     relations to the Government under which we live and to which
+     we owe so much.
+
+     In this connection I desire to direct attention to one
+     subject which, no doubt, will be made the pretext for more
+     or less popular excitement. I allude to the recent
+     transactions at Camp Jackson, near St. Louis. It is not
+     proper for me to comment upon the official conduct of my
+     predecessor in command of this Department, but it is right
+     and proper for the people of Missouri to know that the main
+     avenue of Camp Jackson, recently under the command of Gen.
+     Frost, had the name of Davis; and a principal street of the
+     same camp that of Beauregard, and that a body of men had
+     been received into that camp by its commander which had been
+     notoriously organized in the interests of the Secessionists,
+     the men openly wearing the dress and badge distinguishing
+     the Army of the so-called Southern Confederacy. It is also a
+     notorious fact that a quantity of arms had been received
+     into the camp which were unlawfully taken from the United
+     States Arsenal at Baton Rouge, and surreptitiously passed up
+     the river in boxes marked "Marble."
+
+
+86
+
+     Upon facts like these, and having in view what occurred at
+     Liberty, the people can draw their own inferences, and it
+     cannot be difficult for any one to arrive at a correct
+     conclusion as to the character and ultimate purpose of that
+     encampment. No Government in the world would be entitled to
+     respect that would tolerate for a moment such openly
+     treasonable preparations. It is but simple justice, however,
+     that I should state the fact that there were many good and
+     loyal men in the camp who were in no manner responsible for
+     its treasonable character. Disclaiming as I do all desire or
+     intention to interfere in any way with the prerogatives of
+     the State of Missouri or with the functions of its executive
+     or other authorities, yet I regard it as my plain path of
+     duty to express to the people, In respectful but at the same
+     time decided language, that within the field and scope of my
+     command and authority the "supreme law" of the land must and
+     shall be maintained, and no subterfuges, whether in the
+     forms of legislative acts or otherwise, can be permitted to
+     harass or oppress the good and law-abiding people of
+     Missouri. I shall exert my authority to protect their
+     persons and property from violations of every kind, and
+     shall deem it my duty to suppress all unlawful combinations
+     of men, whether formed under pretext of military
+     organizations or otherwise.
+
+     WM. S.  HARNEY. Brigadier-General, United States Army,
+     Commanding.
+
+
+These were certainly "brave words, my masters," and had great influence
+upon the people of Missouri. Unhappily there was reason to think
+afterwards that Gen. Harney was not quite living up to them.
+
+When the account of stock of the capture of Camp Jackson came to be
+taken, the invoice was as follows:
+
+Three 32-pounders.
+
+Three mortar-beds.
+
+A large quantity of balls and bombs in ale barrels.
+
+Artillery pieces, in boxes of heavy plank, the boxes marked "Marble,"
+"Tamaroa, care of Greeley & Gale, St Louis--Iron Mountain Railroad."
+
+Twelve hundred rifles, of late model, United States manufacture.
+
+Tents and camp equipage.
+
+Six brass field pieces.
+
+Twenty-five kegs of powder.
+
+Ninety-six 10-Inch bombshells.
+
+Three hundred six-inch bombshells. ..
+
+
+87
+
+Six brass mortars, six inches diameter.
+
+One iron mortar, 10 inches.
+
+Three iron cannon, six inches.
+
+Five boxes of canister shot.
+
+Fifty artillery swords.
+
+Two hundred and twenty-seven spades.
+
+Thirty-eight hatchets.
+
+Eleven mallets.
+
+One hundred and ninety-one axes.
+
+Forty horses.
+
+Several boxes of new muskets.
+
+A very large number of musket stocks and musket barrels; together with
+lots of bayonets, bayonet scabbards, etc.
+
+One thousand one hundred and ten enlisted men were taken prisoners,
+besides from 50 to 75 officers.
+
+Nothing legislates so firmly and finally as a successful sword-blow
+for the right. Gen. Lyon's capture of Camp Jackson was an epoch-making
+incident. In spite of the protests of the wealthy and respectable
+Messrs. Gamble, Yeatman, and others, it was the right thing, done at
+the right time, to stay the surging sweep of the waves of Secession.
+It destroyed the captivating aggressiveness of the "Disunionists," and
+threw their leaders upon the defensive. Other people than they had wants
+and desires which must be listened to, or the Loyalists would find a way
+to compel attention. The Secessionists must now plead at their bar; not
+they in the court of those who would destroy the Government.
+
+
+88
+
+[Illustration: 088-The Scott-Harney Agreement]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. THE SCOTT-HARNEY AGREEMENT
+
+The General Assembly of Missouri met at Jefferson City, in obedience to
+the Governor's call, on the 2d of May, and the Governor, after calling
+attention of the body to the state of the country, made an out-and-out
+appeal for Secession, saying that the interests and sympathies of
+Missouri were identical with those of other Slaveholding States, and she
+must unquestionably unite her destiny with theirs. She had no desire for
+war, but she would be faithless as to her honor and recreant as to her
+duty if she hesitated a moment to make complete preparations for the
+protection of her people, and that therefore the Legislature should
+"place the State at the earliest practicable moment in a complete state
+of defense." As this is what the Legislature had expected, and what it
+had met for, no time was lost in going into secret session to carry out
+the program.
+
+
+89
+
+The first of these was the odious Military Bill, the passage of which
+was stubbornly resisted, step by step, by the small band of Union men.
+This, it will be recollected, put every able-bodied man into the
+Militia of Missouri, under the orders of officers to be appointed by
+the Governor; compelled him to obey implicitly the orders received from
+those above him, and prescribed the heinous crime of "treason to
+the State," which extended even to words spoken in derogation of the
+Governor or Legislature. Offenses of this kind were to be punished by
+summary court-martial, which had even the power to inflict death. Other
+bills perverted the funds for the State charitable institutions into the
+State military chest, seized the school fund for the same purpose, and
+authorized a loan from the banks of $1,000,000 and another of $1,000,000
+of State bonds, to provide funds by which to carry out the program.
+
+On the evening of Friday, May 10, while these measures were being fought
+over, the Governor entered the House with a dispatch which he handed to
+Representative Vest, afterwards United States Senator from Missouri, who
+sprang upon a chair and thrilled all his hearers by reading that "Frank
+Blair, Capt. Lyon and the Dutch" had captured Camp Jackson, seized
+all the property there, and marched the State troops prisoners to the
+Arsenal. The wild scene that followed is simply indescribable. For many
+months there had been much talk about "firing the Southern heart," and
+here was something of immediate and furnace heat.
+
+As soon as the members recovered from the stun of the blow, they went
+into paroxysms of passion. In a few minutes the Military Bill was rushed
+through, followed by the others, and a new one to appropriate $10,000
+for the purpose of securing an alliance with the Indians on the borders
+of the State. This done, the members bolted out in search of weapons
+with which to arm themselves, as there was a rumor that the awful Blair
+and Lyon with their "mercenaries" were on the march to subject the
+Legislature to the same treatment that they had Frost's Militia.
+
+
+90
+
+Muskets, shotguns, rifles, pistols and pikes were brought out, cleaned
+up, bullets molded and cartridges made, and the Governor ordered the
+members of his staff to seize a locomotive and press on as fast as
+possible towards St. Louis to reconnoiter the advance of the enemy; if
+necessary, to destroy the bridges over the Gasconade and Osage Rivers to
+obstruct the march.
+
+No enemy was found, but the zealous Basil Duke, in order not to be
+guilty of any sin of omission, burnt a part of the Osage bridge. The
+meeting of the Legislature in the evening was grotesque, as every member
+came with a more or less liberal supply of arms, usually including
+a couple of revolvers and a bowie-knife in belt. During the exciting
+session which followed, rifles stood by the desks or were laid across
+them, with other arms, and it was good luck more than anything else
+that no casualty resulted from accidental discharge of fire-arms. The
+excitement grew over the stirring events in St. Louis of Saturday and
+Sunday, and the Governor immediately proceeded to the exercise of the
+extraordinary powers conferred upon him by the Military Bill.
+
+
+91
+
+As the star of Gen. D. M. Frost sank ingloriously below the horizon of
+Camp Jackson, that of Sterling Price rose above it to remain for four
+years the principal luminary in the Confederate firmament west of the
+Mississippi.
+
+[Illustration: 038-General Sterling Price]
+
+That does not seem to depend upon intellectual superiority, upon greater
+courage or devotion, or even upon clearer insight. A man leads
+his fellows--many of whom are his superiors in most namable
+qualities--simply because of something unnamable in him that makes him
+assume the leadership, and they accept it. There was hardly a prominent
+man in Missouri who was not Price's superior in some quality usually
+regarded as essential. For example, he was a pleasing and popular
+speaker, but Missouri abounded in men much more attractive to public
+assemblages. He was a fair politician, but rarely got more than the
+second prize. He had distinguished himself in the Mexican War,
+but Claiborne Jackson made more capital out of his few weeks of
+inconsequential service in the Black Hawk War than Price did out of the
+conquest of New Mexico and the capture of Chihuahua.
+
+He served one term in Congress, but had failed to secure a renomination.
+He had been elected Governor of Missouri while his Mexican laurels were
+yet green, but when he tried to enter the Senate, he was easily defeated
+by that able politician and orator, James S. Green.
+
+Though he belonged to the dominant Anti-Benton faction of the Missouri
+Democracy and the Stephen A. Douglas wing, he never was admitted to the
+select inner council, nor secured any of its higher rewards, except one
+term as Governor.
+
+At the outbreak of the war he was holding the comparatively unimportant
+place of Bank Commissioner. For all that, he was to become and
+remain throughout the struggle the central figure of Secession in the
+trans-Mississippi country.
+
+
+92
+
+Officers of high rank and brilliant reputation like Ben McCulloch, Earl
+Van Dorn, Richard Taylor and E. Kirby Smith were to be put over him, yet
+his fame and influence outshone them all.
+
+Unquestionably able soldiers such as Marmaduke, Shelby, Bowen, Jeff
+Thompson, Parsons, M. L. Clark and Little, were to serve him with
+unfaltering loyalty as subordinates.
+
+The Secessionist leaders of Missouri, headed by Gov. Reynolds, were to
+denounce him for drunkenness, crass incapacity, gross blundering, and a
+most shocking lack of discipline and organization.
+
+Very few commanding officers ever had so many defeats or so few
+successes. He was continually embarking upon enterprises of the greatest
+promise and almost as continually having them come to naught; generally
+through defeats inflicted by Union commanders of no special reputation.
+
+Yet from first to last his was a name to conjure with. No other than his
+in the South had the spell in it for Missourians and the people west of
+the Mississippi. They flocked to his standard wherever it was raised,
+and after three years of failures they followed him with as much eager
+hope in his last disastrous campaign as in the first, and when he died
+in St. Louis, two years after the war, his death was regretted as a
+calamity to the State, and he had the largest funeral of any man in the
+history of Missouri.
+
+
+93
+
+Sterling Price was born in 1809 in Prince Edward County, Va., of a
+family of no special prominence, and in 1831 settled upon a farm
+in Chariton County, Mo. He went into politics, was elected to the
+Legislature, and then to Congress for one term, after which he commanded
+a Missouri regiment in Doniphan's famous march to the Southwest, where
+he showed great vigor and ability. He was a man of the finest physique
+and presence, six feet two inches high, with small hands and feet and
+unusually large body and limbs; a superb horseman; with a broad, bland,
+kindly face framed in snow-white hair and beard. His name would indicate
+Welsh origin, but his face, figure, and mental habits seemed rather
+Teutonic. He had a voice of much sweetness and strength, and a paternal
+way of addressing his men, who speedily gave him the sobriquet of "Pap
+Price." He appeared on the field in a straw hat and linen duster in the
+Summer, and with a blanket thrown over his shoulders and a tall hat in
+Winter. These became standards which the Missourians followed into
+the thick of the fight, as the French did the white plume of Henry of
+Navarre.
+
+He had been elected as a Union man to the Convention, which at once
+chose him for President, but his Unionism seemed to be a mere varnish
+easily scratched off by any act in favor of the Union.
+
+Thus, immediately after the occurrences in St. Louis, he went to the
+Governor with the remark that "the slaughter of the people of Missouri"
+in St. Louis had proved too much for him, and his sword was at the
+service of the State.
+
+
+94
+
+It is significant of the way men were swayed in those days, that the
+murder of the German volunteers patriotically rallying to the defense
+of the Arsenal, and the murder and outrages upon the Union people
+throughout the State, did not affect Gen. Price at all, but he was moved
+to wrath by the shooting down of a few rioters.
+
+His going over was welcomed as a great victory by the Secessionists,
+offsetting the capture of Camp Jackson. Gov. Jackson promptly availed
+himself of the offer, and at once appointed Gen. Price Major-General
+in command of the forces of Missouri to be organized under the Military
+Bill.
+
+Though even to Gen. Harney's eyes the Military Bill was repugnant and he
+denounced it as direct Secession, the Governor proceeded with all speed
+to execute it.
+
+Each Congressional District in the State was made a Military Division.
+A Brigadier-General was appointed to the command of each, and ordered to
+immediately proceed to the enrollment of the men in it who were fit for
+military duty, and to prepare them for active service.
+
+The able and witty Alexander W. Doniphan--"Xenophon" Doniphan of Mexican
+fame--who had made the astonishing march upon New Mexico and Chihuahua,
+was appointed to command one of the Divisions, but he was too much of a
+Union man, and declined. It was significant from the first that all
+the officers commissioned were more or less open Secessionists, and
+commissions were refused to some who sought them because they would not
+swear to make allegiance to Missouri paramount to that of the United
+States.
+
+
+95
+
+As finally arranged the Divisions were commanded as follows:
+
+First Division, M. Jeff Thompson.
+
+Second Division, Thos. A. Harris.
+
+Third Division, M. L. Clark.
+
+Fourth Division, Wm. Y. Slack.
+
+Fifth Division, A. E. Steen.
+
+Sixth Division, M. M. Parsons.
+
+Seventh Division, J. H. McBride.
+
+Eighth Division, Jas L. Rains.
+
+All of these were men of decided ability and standing, and Parsons, M.
+L. Clark and Slack had served with credit in the Mexican War. Parsons
+became a Major-General in the Confederate army, and Clark, Slack, Steen
+and Rains Brigadier-Generals.
+
+A striking figure among them was M. Jeff Thompson, called the "Missouri
+Swamp Fox" by his admirers, and who aspired to become the Francis Marion
+of the Southern Confederacy. He was a tall, lank, wiry man, at least
+six feet high, about 35 years old, with a thin, long, hatchet face, and
+high, sharp nose, blue eyes, and thick, yellow hair combed behind his
+ears. He wore a slouch white hat with feather and a bob-tailed coat,
+short pantaloons, and high rough boots. A white-handled bowie-knife,
+stuck perpendicularly in his belt in the middle of his back, completed
+his armament, and he was never seen without it. His weakness was for
+writing poetry, and he "threw" a poem on the slightest provocation.
+Fortunately none of these has been preserved.
+
+
+96
+
+Each Brigadier-General soon raised in his Division several regiments and
+battalions of infantry, troops of cavalry, and batteries of artillery,
+composed of very excellent material, for the young men of the Middle
+Class were persuaded that it was their duty to respond to the State's
+call to defend her. The strongest political, social and local influences
+were brought to bear to bring them into the ranks, and the Missouri
+State Guard was formed, which was to fight valorously against the
+Government on many bitterly contested fields.
+
+The White Trash, always impatient of the restrains of law and
+organization, did not enter so largely into these forces, but remained
+outside, to form bands of bushwhackers and guerrillas, to harry
+Union men and curse the State with their depredations, in which the
+Secessionists were scarcely more favored than the Union men.
+
+The influence of Gen. Scott and Attorney-General Bates, added to the
+passionate representations of the Gamble-Yeatman delegation, and the
+frantic telegrams from Missouri, had restored Harney to full power, with
+Lyon, who had been commissioned a Brigadier-General of Volunteers, as
+his subordinate.
+
+Harney was exerting himself to the utmost to restore peace and
+confidence in Missouri, and when free from the social influence of
+the Secessionists who surrounded him his soldierly instincts made him
+perceive that the emergency was greater than he had calculated upon. In
+one of these better moods he telegraphed to the Adjutant-General, May
+17, that he ought to have 10,000 stand of arms placed at his disposal
+to arm the Union men of Missouri; that Iowa be called upon to send him
+6,000, and Minnesota 3,000 men. Then the Secessionists would get hold
+of him again, and induce another mood, such as brought about a conference
+between him and Gov. Jackson and Gen. Price, leading to an agreement
+which Gen. Harney published in a proclamation. The agreement was as
+follows:
+
+[Illustration: 090-General Franz Sigel]
+
+
+97
+
+     Saint Louis, May 21, 1861.
+
+     The undersigned, officers of the United States Government
+     and of the Government of the State of Missouri, for the
+     purpose of removing misapprehensions and allaying public
+     excitement, deem it proper to declare publicly that they
+     have this day had a personal interview in this city, in
+     which it has been mutually understood, without the semblance
+     of dissent on either part, that each of them has no other
+     than a common object equally interesting and important to
+     every citizen of Missouri--that of restoring peace and good
+     order to the people of the State in subordination to the
+     laws of the General and State Governments. It being thus
+     understood, there seems no reason why every citizen should
+     not confide in the proper officers of the General and State
+     Governments to restore quiet, and, as among the best means
+     of offering no counter-influences, we mutually recommend to
+     all persons to respect each other's rights throughout the
+     State, making no attempt to exercise unauthorized powers, as
+     it is the determination of the proper authorities to
+     suppress all unlawful proceedings, which can only disturb
+     the public peace.
+
+     Gen. Price, having by commission full authority over the
+     Militia of the State of Missouri, undertakes, with the
+     sanction of the Governor of the State, already declared, to
+     direct the whole power of the State officers to maintain
+     order within the State among the people thereof, and Gen.
+     Harney publicly declares that, this object being thus
+     assured, he can have no other occasion, as he has no wish,
+     to make military movements, which might otherwise create
+     excitements and jealousies which he most earnestly desires
+     to avoid.
+
+     We, the undersigned, do mutually enjoin upon the people of
+     the State to attend to their civil business of whatever sort
+     it may be, and it is to be hoped that the unquiet elements
+     which have threatened so seriously to disturb the public
+     peace may soon subside and be remembered only to be
+     deplored.
+
+     STERLING PRICE, Major-General Missouri State Guard.
+     WILLIAM S. HARNEY, Brigadier-General Commanding.
+
+
+Harney was convinced of the sincerity of Jackson and Price in carrying
+out this agreement, which he submitted for approval to the War
+Department.
+
+
+98
+
+F. P. Blair wrote to the Secretary of War urging that the four regiments
+assigned to Missouri for three years' service, which Lyon was to
+command, should not be officered by the Governor of Missouri, but that
+it would be better that they be nominated by Gen. Lyon, subject to the
+approval of the President, and he said: "The agreement between Harney
+and Gen. Price gives me great disgust and dissatisfaction to the Union
+men; but I am in hopes we can get along with it, and think that Harney
+will insist on its execution to the fullest extent, in which case it
+will be satisfactory."
+
+In spite of Gen. Harney's faith, he was inundated with complaints from
+all parts of the State as to loyal citizens in great numbers being
+outraged, persecuted, and driven from their homes. These complaints also
+reached the President, and Adjutant-General Thomas called Gen. Harney's
+attention to them in a strong letter May 27, in which he said: "The
+professions of loyalty to the Union by the State authorities of Missouri
+are not to be relied upon. They have already falsified their professions
+too often, and are too far committed to Secession to be entitled to
+your confidence, and you can only be sure of desisting from their wicked
+purposes when it is out of their power to prosecute them."
+
+
+99
+
+Two days later Gen. Harney replied that the State was rapidly becoming
+tranquilized; that he was convinced that his policy would soon restore
+peace and confidence in the ability of the Government to maintain its
+authority. He asserted that the agreement between himself and Price
+was being carried out in good faith. At the same time he called the
+attention of Gen. Price to the reports that the Secessionists had seized
+15,000 pounds of lead at Lebanon, a lot of powder elsewhere, had
+torn down the American Flag from several post offices, and hoisted
+Secessionist flags in their places, and that troops and arms were coming
+into Missouri from Arkansas and elsewhere, etc., etc. Price replied that
+he was satisfied that the information was incorrect; that neither he nor
+the Governor knew of any arms or troops coming into the State from any
+quarter; that he was dismissing his troops, and that Gen. Harney had
+better not send out any force, as it would exasperate the people.
+
+Again Gen. Harney wrote Gen. Price reciting fresh acts of disloyalty and
+outrage, and saying that unless these ceased, he would feel justified
+in authorizing the organization of Home Guards among the Union men to
+protect themselves. Price replied at length opposing the organization
+of Home Guards as having a tendency to "excite those who now hold
+conservative peace positions into exactly the contrary attitude, an
+example of which we have in St. Louis. It would undoubtedly, in my
+opinion, lead to neighborhood collision, the forerunner of civil war."
+Price finished by calling attention to his orders to all citizens to
+scrupulously protect property and rights, irrespective of political
+opinion, denying the reports which had reached Gen. Harney, and
+reiterating that he was carrying out the agreement in good faith.
+
+
+100
+
+Lyon, Blair and the other Unconditional Union leaders had become
+convinced of what they feared; to wit, that the agreement simply tied
+Harney's hands, and prevented any assertion of the Government's power to
+protect its citizens, while leaving the Secessionists free to do as they
+pleased and mature their organization until they were ready to attack
+the Union men and sweep the State into Secession.
+
+In spite of Gen. Scott and Attorney-General Bates, the Administration
+at Washington was rapidly coming to this conclusion, and sent a special
+messenger to St. Louis from Washington with dispatches to Col. Blair.
+In an envelope was found a notice from the War Department to Capt. Lyon
+that he had been appointed a Brigadier-General to rank from the 18th of
+May, and there was also an order relieving Gen. Harney from the command
+of the Department of the West, and granting him leave of absence
+until further orders. There was a private letter to Col. Blair in the
+handwriting of President Lincoln, in which he expressed his anxiety in
+regard to St. Louis and Gen. Harney's course. He was, however, a little
+in doubt as to the propriety of relieving him, but asked Col. Blair to
+hold the order until such time as in his judgment the necessity for such
+action became urgent. This for several reasons:
+
+     We had better have him for a friend than an enemy. It will
+     dissatisfy a good many who would otherwise remain quiet.
+     More than all, we first relieved him, then restored him; now
+     If we relieve him again the public will ask: "Why all this
+     vacillation?"
+
+Col. Blair fully understood and sympathized with the President. He put
+the letter and order in his pocket and talked confidentially to Lyon in
+regard to it. They decided not to publish the order until it would be
+wicked to delay it. They both liked and admired Harney, and if he could
+be decisively separated from his Secession environment, he could be
+of the greatest possible value. They would give him the opportunity of
+thoroughly testing his policy.
+
+
+101
+
+Blair tried his best to arouse Gen. Harney to a sense of what was
+going on, and particularly to demand suspension of the execution of the
+Military Bill, but without effect. He sent to Gen. Harney telegrams
+and correspondence, showing that the Brigadier-Generals were rapidly
+organizing their forces, that emissaries were stirring up the Indians,
+and that Chief Ross, of the Cherokee Nation, had promised 15,000
+well-armed men to help the Secessionists. When Harney called Price's
+attention to this, Price calmly pooh-poohed it all as of no consequence.
+
+Therefore, on May 30, Blair decided that the emergency for the delivery
+of the order had come, and sent it to Gen. Harney, and at the same time
+wrote to the President in explanation of what he had done.
+
+Gen. Harney wrote the Adjutant-General of the Army a pathetic letter, in
+which he said:
+
+     My confidence in the honor and integrity of Gen. Price, in
+     the purity of his motives, and in his loyalty to the
+     Government, remains unimpaired. His course as President of
+     the State Convention that voted by a large majority against
+     submitting an Ordinance of Secession, and his efforts since
+     that time to calm the elements of discord, have served to
+     confirm the high opinion of him I have for many years
+     entertained.
+
+     My whole course as Commander of the Department of the West
+     has been dictated by a desire to carry out in good faith the
+     instructions of my Government, regardless of the clamor of
+     the conflicting elements surrounding me, and whose advice
+     and dictation could not be followed without involving the
+     State in blood and the Government in the unnecessary
+     expenditure of millions. Under the course I pursued Missouri
+     was secured to the Union, and the triumph of the Government
+     was only the more glorious, being almost a bloodless
+     victory; but those who clamored for blood have not ceased to
+     impugn my motives. Twice within a brief space of time have
+     I been relieved from the command here; the second time in a
+     manner that has inflicted unmerited disgrace upon a true and
+     loyal soldier. During a long life, dedicated to my country,
+     I have seen some service, and more than once I have held her
+     honor in my hands; and during that time my loyalty,
+
+
+102
+
+     I believe, was never questioned; and now, when in the
+     natural course of things I shall, before the lapse of many
+     years, lay aside the sword which has so long served my
+     country, my countrymen will be slow to believe that I have
+     chosen this portion of my career to damn with treason my
+     life, which is so soon to become a record of the past, and
+     which I shall most willingly leave to the unbiased judgment
+     of posterity. I trust that I may yet be spared to do my
+     country some further service that will testify to the love I
+     bear her, and that the vigor of my arm may never relax while
+     there is a blow to be struck in her defense.
+
+     I respectfully ask to be assigned to the command of the
+     Department of California, and I doubt not the present
+     commander of the Division is even now anxious to serve on
+     the Atlantic frontier.
+
+     I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
+
+     WM. S. HARNEY, Brigadier-General, U. S. Army.
+
+He started for Washington, but the train on which he was going was
+captured at Harper's Ferry by a Secession force, and he was taken a
+prisoner to Richmond, where the authorities immediately ordered his
+release.
+
+The Government made no further use of him; he was retired in 1863 as a
+Brigadier-General. At the conclusion of the struggle, in which he took
+no further part, he was brevetted a Major-General, and died in the
+fullness of years May 9,1889, at his home at Pass Christian, Miss.
+
+Once more Gen. Lyon was in the saddle, this time for good, with Frank
+Blair and the Radicals massed behind him.
+
+
+103
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. THE LAST WORD BEFORE THE BLOW
+
+Brig.-Gen. Nathaniel Lyon was now in full command, not only of the City
+of St. Louis and the State of Missouri, but of all the vast territory
+lying between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, except Texas, New
+Mexico, and Utah.
+
+His sudden elevation from a simple Captain heading a company to wide
+command did not for an instant dizzy him as it seemed to McClellan and
+Fremont, who had made similar leaps in rank. Where McClellan surrounded
+himself with all the pomp and circumstance of glorious war as he had
+seen it exemplified by officers of his rank in Europe, where he was
+followed at all times by a numerous and glittering staff, resplendent
+with military millinery; and where Fremont set up a vice-regal court,
+in which were heard nearly all the tongues of the Continent, spoken by
+pretentious adventurers who claimed service in substantially every war
+since those of Napoleon, and under every possible flag raised in those
+wars, Lyon did not change a particle from the plain, straightforward,
+earnest soldier he had always been. His common dress was the private
+soldier's blouse with the single star of his rank, and a slouch hat. He
+was accoutered for the real work of war, not its spectacular effects.
+Grant was not simpler than he. Dominated by a great purpose, he made
+himself and every one and every thing about him tend directly towards
+that focus. He had only enough of a staff to do the necessary work, and
+they must be plain, matter-of-fact soldiers like himself, devoting their
+energies through all their waking hours to the cause he had at heart.
+
+
+104
+
+His first Chief of Staff was Chester Harding, a Massachusetts man, a
+thoroughgoing, practical, businesslike Yankee, animated by intense love
+of the Union. He preferred, however, service in the field, and became
+Colonel of the 10th Mo., then of the 25th, and later of the 43d
+Mo., doing good service wherever placed, and receiving at the last a
+well-earned brevet as Brigadier-General of Volunteers.
+
+While Gen. Lyon was organizing the Home Guards into volunteer regiments
+at the Arsenal, there came to his assistance a rather stockily-built
+First Lieutenant of the Regular Army, who was in the prime of manhood,
+with broad, full face and well-developed and increasing baldness, a
+graduate of West Point, and of some eight years' experience in the
+military establishment.
+
+John McAllister Schofield was born in Illinois, the son of an itinerant
+Baptist preacher, who mainly devoted himself to the cause of church
+extension. Schofield's name would indicate Germanic extraction. His face
+and figure supports the same theory, as do most of his mental habits.
+The McAllister in his name hints at an infusion of Celtic blood, of
+which we find few if any intellectual traces. Without any special
+enthusiasm or public demonstration of his attachment to principle, with
+a great deal of the courtier in his ways, he was yet firm, courageous
+and persistent in the policy he had marked out for himself. He was
+true to the Union cause, in his own way, from the time he offered his
+services to Gen. Lyon, was obedient and helpful to his superiors, always
+did more than respectably well what was committed to his charge, and no
+failure of any kind lowers the high average of his performance.
+
+
+105
+
+When after four years of the most careful scrutiny and tutelage the
+Military Academy at West Point graduates a young man, it assumes that it
+has absolutely determined his X--that is, has sounded and measured
+his moral and intellectual depth, and settled his place in any human
+equation.
+
+It will, therefore, be quite interesting in making our estimate of Gen.
+Schofield, to examine the label attached to him upon his graduation from
+West Point in the class of 1853.
+
+At the head of that class was the brilliant James B. McPherson, who was
+to rise to the command of a corps and then to the Army of the Tennessee,
+and fall before Atlanta, to the intense sorrow of every man in the army
+who had come in contact with him.
+
+The second in the class was William P. Craighill, a fine engineer
+officer, who, however, rose no higher during the war than a brevet
+Colonel.
+
+The third in the class was Joshua W. Sill, a splendid soldier, who died
+at the head of his brigade on the banks of Stone River.
+
+The fourth in the class was William R. Boggs, a Georgian, who became
+a Brigadier-General in the Confederate army and achieved no special
+distinction.
+
+
+106
+
+The fifth in the class was Francis J. Shunk, of Pennsylvania, who went
+into the ordnance and became a brevet Major.
+
+The sixth in the class was William Sooy Smith, an Ohio man, who attained
+the rank of Brigadier-General, and who achieved prominence in civil life
+as an engineer.
+
+The seventh in the class was John M. Schofield, who was commissioned
+in the artillery, and who had had some years of army experience in the
+forts along the South Atlantic coast.
+
+In the 45 who graduated below Schofield were many names afterwards to
+become very prominent in history.
+
+John S. Bowen, of Georgia, who commanded a regiment of the Home Guards,
+and who did his utmost to drag his State into Secession, afterward be-.
+coming a Major-General in the Confederate army, graduated 13th in the
+class.
+
+William R. Terrill, of Virginia, killed at Perryville while in command
+of a Union brigade, was the 16th.
+
+John R. Chambliss, of Virginia, who was killed while commanding a
+Confederate brigade at Deep Bottom, Va., was the 31st, and William McE.
+Dye, who commanded a brigade with success in the Trans-Mississippi,
+afterwards helped to organize the Khedive's army, and who died while in
+command of the Korean army, was the 32d.
+
+Philip H. Sheridan, one of the most brilliant commanders the world ever
+saw, stood 34th in the class, and Elmer Otis, of Philippine fame, was
+the 37th.
+
+
+107
+
+John B. Hood, who rose to the rank of a full General in the Confederate
+army, and commanded the forces arrayed against Sherman and Thomas at
+Atlanta and Nashville, was the 44th.
+
+It is very interesting to study this list and compare it with the
+confident markings made by the West Point Faculty when the young men
+were dismissed to the active life for which the Academy had prepared
+them. It at least shows that, judged by West Point standards,
+Schofield's intellectual equipment was of the very best. He had married
+the daughter of his Professor of Physics, and children had come to
+them; promotion was very slow; he had wearied of the dull routine of
+the artillery officer in seacoast forts, and had seriously thought of
+resigning and entering the profession of law. Friends had dissuaded
+him from this, secured him a position as Professor of Physics in the
+Washington University at St. Louis, and Gen. Scott, who liked him,
+induced him to remain in the service and obtained for him a year's leave
+of absence to enable him to accept the professorship. He was engaged in
+his duty of teaching at the University and of writing a work on physics,
+of which he was very proud, when the firing on Fort Sumter took place.
+His political views were those of the Douglas wing of the Democracy, and
+he remained a Democrat ever after. He made no public profession of his
+views on the Slavery question or Secession, but immediately wrote to
+Washington offering to cancel his leave of absence, and was directed to
+report to Gen. Lyon for the duty of mustering in the volunteers.
+
+
+108
+
+Inasmuch as the Governor, with much contumely, had refused to supply
+the four regiments from Missouri which the President had called for,
+Schofield, with his unfailing respect for the law, saw no way to fulfill
+his duty, until Gen. Scott, who was dimly perceiving the gigantic nature
+of the emergency, reluctantly gave authority to muster in and arm the
+Home Guards, adding the indorsement, pathetically eloquent as to his
+aged slowness of recognition that old things were passing away and new
+being born in volcanic travail--"This is irregular, but, being times of
+revolution, is approved."
+
+Schofield showed his heart in the matter by becoming a Major of the
+first regiment organized.
+
+The whole atmosphere at once changed with Lyon's permanent assignment to
+command.
+
+The Union people of Missouri, those who really believed that the
+Government was worth fighting for, no longer had to retire, as they had
+from Harney's presence, with cold comfort, and advice to stop thinking
+about fighting and attend to their regular business, but were welcomed
+by Lyon, had their earnestness stimulated by his own, and were given
+direct advice as to how they could be of the most service. They were
+encouraged to put themselves in readiness, strike blow for blow, and
+if possible to give two blows for one. The work of preparation
+was systematized, and everything made to move toward the one great
+event--the Government's overwhelming assertion of its power.
+
+Home Guards were organized in every County where Union men wanted to do
+so, and began presenting a stubborn front to their opponents, who were
+being brought together under the Military Bill.
+
+
+109
+
+Gov. Jackson and Gen. Price did not lose all heart at the change in
+commanders. They seemed to have hopes that they might in some way mold
+Lyon to their wishes as they had Harney, and sought an interview with
+him. Gen. Lyon was not averse to an interview, and sent to Jackson and
+Price the following passport:
+
+     Headquarters, Department of the West,
+
+     St. Louis, June 8, 1861.
+
+     It having been suggested that Gov. Claiborne F. Jackson and
+     ex-Gov. Sterling Price are desirous of an interview with
+     Gen. Lyon, commanding this Department, for the purpose of
+     effecting, if possible, a pacific solution of the domestic
+     troubles of Missouri, it is hereby stipulated on the part of
+     Brig.-Gen. N. Lyon, U. S. A., commanding this Military
+     Department, that, should Gov. Jackson or ez-Gov. Price, or
+     either of them, at any time prior to or on the 12th day of
+     June, 1861, visit St. Louis for the purpose of such
+     interview, they and each of them shall be free from
+     molestation or arrest on account of any charges pending
+     against them, or either of them, on the part of the United
+     States, during their journey to St. Louis and their return
+     from St Louis to Jefferson City.
+
+     Given under the hand of the General commanding, the day and
+     year above written.
+
+     N. LYON,
+
+     Brigadier-General, Commanding.
+
+
+Accordingly on June 12, 1861, Price and Jackson arrived at St. Louis by
+special train from Jefferson City, put up at the Planters' House, and
+informed Gen. Lyon of their arrival. The old State pride cropped out
+in a little dispute as to which should call upon the other. Jackson as
+Governor of the "sovereign and independent" State of Missouri and Price
+as Major-General commanding the forces, felt that it was due them that
+Lyon, a Brigadier-General in the United States service, should visit
+them rather than they him at the Arsenal. Lyon's soul going direct to
+the heart of the matter, was above these technicalities, waved them
+aside impatiently, and said that he would go to the Planters' House and
+call on them.
+
+
+110
+
+Accompanied by Col. Frank P. Blair and Maj. Conant, of his Staff, he
+went at once to the Planters' House, and there ensued a four hours'
+interview of mightiest consequences to the State and the Nation.
+
+Jackson and Price were accompanied by Col. Thomas L. Snead, then an
+Aid of the Governor, afterwards Acting Adjutant-General of the Missouri
+State Guards, Chief of Staff of the Army of the West, and a member of
+the Confederate Congress. He makes this statement as to the opening of
+the conference:
+
+"Lyon opened it by saying that the discussion on the part of his
+Government 'would be conducted by Col. Blair, who enjoyed its confidence
+in the very highest degree, and was authorized to speak for it.' Blair
+was, in fact, better fitted than any man in the Union to discuss with
+Jackson and Price the grave questions then at issue between the United
+States and the State of Missouri, and in all her borders there were
+no men better fitted than they to speak for Missouri on that momentous
+occasion.
+
+"But despite the modesty of his opening, Lyon was too much in earnest,
+too zealous, too well informed on the subject, too aggressive, and too
+fond of disputation to let Blair conduct the discussion on the part of
+his Government. In half an hour it was he who was conducting it, holding
+his own at every point against Jackson and Price, masters though they
+were of Missouri politics, whose course they had been directing and
+controlling for years, while he was only the Captain of an infantry
+regiment on the Plains. He had not, however, been a mere soldier in
+those days, but had been an earnest student of the very questions that
+he was now discussing, and he comprehended the matter as well as any
+man, and handled it in the soldierly way to which he had been bred,
+using the sword to cut knots that he could not untie."
+
+
+111
+
+Really the interview soon became a parley between the two strong men who
+were quickly to draw their swords upon one another. The talking men, the
+men of discussion and appeal passed out, and the issue was in the hands
+of the men who were soon to hurl the mighty weapons of war.
+
+Jackson, who was a light, facile politician, used to moving public
+assemblies which were already of his mind, had but little to say in
+the hours of intense parley, but interjected from time to time with
+parrot-like reiteration, that the United States troops must leave the
+State and not enter it. "I will then disband my own troops and we shall
+certainly have peace."
+
+Blair, an incomparably stronger man, but still a politician and rather
+accustomed to accomplishing results by speeches and arguments, soon felt
+himself obscured by the mightier grasp and earnestness of Lyon, and took
+little further part. There remained, then, the stern, portentous parley
+between Lyon and Price, who weighed their words, intending to make every
+one of them good by deadly blows. They looked into one another's eyes
+with set wills, between which were the awful consequences of unsheathed
+swords.
+
+Gen. Price stated at some length his proposals, and claimed that he
+had carried out his understanding with Gen. Harney in good faith, not
+violating it one iota.
+
+
+112
+
+Gen. Lyon asked him sharply how that could be, according to Gen.
+Harney's second proclamation in which he denounced the Military Bill as
+unconstitutional and treasonable?
+
+Gen. Price replied that he had made no agreement whatever with Gen.
+Harney about the enforcement or carrying out of the Military Bill.
+
+Gen. Lyon answered this by presenting a copy of the following memorandum
+which had been sent by Gen. Harney as the only basis on which he would
+treat with Jackson and Price:
+
+     Memorandum for Gen. Price.--May 21, 1861.
+
+     Gen. Harney is here as a citizen of Missouri, with all his
+     interests at stake in the preservation of the peace of the
+     State.
+
+     He earnestly wishes to do nothing to complicate matters, and
+     will do everything in his power, consistently with his
+     Instructions, to preserve peace and order.
+
+     He is, however, compelled to recognize the existence of a
+     rebellion in a portion of the United States, and in view of
+     it he stands upon the proclamation of the President itself,
+     based upon the laws and Constitution of the United States.
+
+     The proclamation demands the dispersion of all armed bodies
+     hostile to the supreme law of the land.
+
+     Gen. Harney sees in the Missouri Military Bill features
+     which compel him to look upon such armed bodies as may be
+     organized under its provisions as antagonistic to the United
+     States, within the meaning of the proclamation, and
+     calculated to precipitate a conflict between the State and
+     the United States.
+
+     He laments the tendency of things, and most cordially and
+     earnestly invites the co-operation of Gen. Price to avert
+     it.
+
+     For this purpose Gen. Harney respectfully asks Gen. Price to
+     review the features of the bill, in the spirit of law,
+     warmed and elevated by that of humanity, and seek to
+     discover some means by which its action may be suspended
+     until some competent tribunal shall decide upon its
+     character.
+
+     The most material features of the bill calculated to bring
+     about a conflict are, first, the oath required to be taken
+     by the Militia and State Guards (an oath of allegiance to
+     the State of Missouri without recognizing the existence of
+     the Government of the United States); and, secondly, the
+     express requirements by which troops within the State not
+     organized under the provisions of the Military Bill are to
+     be disarmed by the State Guards.
+
+     Gen. Harney cannot be expected to await a summons to
+     surrender his arms by the State troops.
+
+     From this statement of the case the true question becomes
+     immediately visible and cannot be shut out of view.
+
+     Gen. Price Is earnestly requested to consider this, and Gen.
+     Harney will be happy to confer with him on the subject
+     whenever It may suit his convenience.
+
+     N. B.--Read to Gen. Price, In the presence of Maj. H. B.
+     Turner, on the evening of the 21st of May.
+
+[Illustration: 100-General David Hunter]
+
+
+113
+
+Naturally this threw Gen. Price into much confusion, and his face
+reddened with mortification, but after a few minutes he said that he did
+not remember hearing the paper read; that it was true that Hitchcock and
+Turner had come from Gen. Harney to see him, but he could recall nothing
+of any such paper being presented. The discussion grew warmer as Gen.
+Lyon felt more strongly the force of his position. Gen. Price insisted
+that no armed bodies of Union troops should pass through or be stationed
+in Missouri, as such would occasion civil war. He asserted that Missouri
+must be neutral, and neither side should arm. Gov. Jackson would protect
+the Union men and would disband his State troops.
+
+Gen. Lyon opposed this by saying, in effect, "that, if the Government
+withdrew its forces entirely, secret and subtle measures would be
+resorted to to provide arms and perfect organizations which, upon
+any pretext, could put forth a formidable opposition to the General
+Government; and even without arming, combinations would doubtless form
+in certain localities, to oppress and drive out loyal citizens, to
+whom the Government was bound to give protection, but which it would
+be helpless to do, as also to repress such combinations, if its forces
+could not be sent into the State. A large aggressive force might be
+formed and advanced from the exterior into the State, to assist it in
+carrying out the Secession program; and the Government could not, under
+the limitation proposed, take posts on these borders to meet and repel
+such force.
+
+
+114
+
+The Government could not shrink from its duties nor abdicate its
+corresponding right; and, in addition to the above, it was the duty of
+its civil officers to execute civil process, and in case of resistance
+to receive the support of military force. The proposition of the
+Governor would at once overturn the Government privileges and
+prerogatives, which he (Gen. Lyon) had neither the wish nor the
+authority to do. In his opinion, if the Governor and the State
+authorities would earnestly set about to maintain the peace of the
+State, and declare their purposes to resist outrages upon loyal citizens
+of the Government, and repress insurrections against it, and in case of
+violent combinations, needing co-operation of the United States
+troops, they should call upon or accept such assistance, and in case of
+threatened invasion the Government troops took suitable posts to
+meet it, the purposes of the Government would be subserved, and no
+infringement of the State rights or dignity committed. He would take
+good care, in such faithful co-operation of the State authorities to
+this end, that no individual should be injured in person or property,
+and that the utmost delicacy should be observed toward all peaceable
+persons concerned in these relations."
+
+Gen. Lyon based himself unalterably upon this proposition, and could not
+be moved from it by anything Price or Jackson could say.
+
+Gov. Jackson entered into the discussion again to suggest that they
+separate and continue the conference further by correspondence; but
+Lyon, who felt vividly that the main object of the Secessionists was to
+gain time to perfect their plans, rejected this proposition, but said
+that he was quite willing that all those present should reduce their
+views to writing and publish them; which, however, did not strike
+Jackson and Price favorably. As to the close of the interview, Maj.
+Conant says:
+
+
+115
+
+"As Gen. Lyon was about to take his leave, he said: 'Gov. Jackson,
+no man in the State of Missouri has been more ardently desirous of
+preserving peace than myself. Heretofore Missouri has only felt the
+fostering care of the Federal Government, which has raised her from the
+condition of a feeble French colony to that of an empire State. Now,
+however, from the failure on the part of the Chief Executive to comply
+with constitutional requirements, I fear she will be made to feel its
+power. Better, sir, far better, that the blood of every man, woman and
+child of the State should flow than that she should successfully defy
+the Federal Government.'"
+
+Col. Snead has published this account of the close of the conference:
+
+"Finally, when the conference had lasted four or five hours, Lyon closed
+it, as he had opened it. 'Rather,' said he (he was still seated, and
+spoke deliberately, slowly, and with a peculiar emphasis), 'rather than
+concede to the State of Missouri the right to demand that my Government
+shall not enlist troops within her limits, or bring troops into the
+State whenever it pleases, or move its troops at its own will into, out
+of, or through the State; rather than concede to the State of Missouri
+for one single instant the right to dictate to my Government in any
+matter however unimportant, I would (rising as he said this, and
+pointing in turn to every one in the room) see you, and you, and you,
+and you, and every man, woman, and child in the State, dead and buried.'
+
+
+116
+
+"Then turning to the Governor, he said: 'This means war. In an hour one
+of my officers will call for you and conduct you out of my lines.'
+
+"And then, without another word, without an inclination of the head,
+without even a look, he turned upon his heel and strode out of the room,
+rattling his spurs and clanking his saber, while we, whom he left,
+and who had known each other for years, bade farewell to each other
+courteously and kindly, and separated--Blair and Conant to fight for the
+Union, we for the land of our birth."
+
+When the great American painter shall arise, one of the grandest themes
+for his pencil will be that destiny-shaping conference on that afternoon
+in June, 1861. He will show the face of Gov. Jackson as typical of that
+class of Southern politicians who raised the storm from the unexpected
+violence of which they retreated in dismay. There will be more than a
+suggestion of this in Jackson's expression and attitude. He entered
+the conference full of his official importance as the head of the great
+Sovereign State, braving the whole United States, and quite complacent
+as to his own powers of diction and argument. He quickly subsided,
+however, from the leading character occupying the center of the stage
+to that of chorus in the wings, in the deadly grapple of men of mightier
+purpose--Lyon and Price, who were to ride the whirlwind he had been
+contriving, and rule the storm he had been instrumental in raising.
+
+
+117
+
+Even Blair, immeasurably stronger mentally and morally than
+Jackson--Blair, tall, sinewy, alert, with face and pose revealing
+the ideal leader that he was--even he felt the presence of stronger
+geniuses, and lapsed into silence.
+
+The time for talking men was past Captains of hosts were now uttering
+the last stern words, which meant the crash of battle and the death and
+misery of myriads. Hereafter voices would be in swords, and arguments
+flame from the brazen mouths of cannon hot with slaughter.
+
+Sterling Price, white-haired, large of frame, imposing, benignant,
+paternal, inflexible as to what he considered principle, was to point
+the way which 100,000 young Missourians were to follow through a
+thousand red battlefields.
+
+Nathaniel Lyon, short of stature, red-haired, in the prime of manhood
+and perfected soldiership, fiery, jealous for his country's rights and
+dignity, was to set another 100,000 young Missourians in battle array
+against their opponents, to fight them to complete overthrow.
+
+After they withdrew from the conference, Gov. Jackson, as Price's
+trumpeter, sounded the call "to arms" in a proclamation to the people of
+Missouri.
+
+
+118
+
+[Illustration: 118-The St Louis Levee]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. GEN. LYON BEGINS AN EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGN
+
+Gen. Sterling Price was soldier enough to recognize that Gen. Lyon was a
+different character from the talking men who had been holding the center
+of the stage for so long. When his trumpet sounded his sword was sure to
+leap from its scabbard. Blows were to follow so quickly upon words as to
+tread upon their heels.
+
+At the close of the interview of June 11, Gen. Lyon, with Col. Blair and
+Maj. Conant, returned to the Arsenal, while Gov. Jackson and Gen. Price
+hurried to the depot of the Pacific Railroad, where they impressed a
+locomotive, tender and cars, and urged the railroad men to get up steam
+in the shortest possible time. Imperative orders cleared the track ahead
+of them, and they rushed away for the Capital of the State with all
+speed.
+
+At the crossing of the Gasconade River they stopped long enough to
+thoroughly burn the bridge to check Lyon's certain advance, and while
+doing this Sterling Price cut the telegraph wires with his own hands.
+The train then ran on to the Osage River, where, to give greater
+assurance against rapid pursuit, they burnt that bridge also.
+
+Arriving at Jefferson City about 2 o'clock in the morning, the rest
+of the night was spent in anxious preparation of a proclamation by the
+Governor to the people of Missouri, which was intended to be a trumpet
+call to bring every man capable of bearing arms at once to the support
+of the Governor and the furtherance of his plans.
+
+
+119
+
+According to the Census of 1860 there were 236,402 men in Missouri
+capable of bearing arms, and if the matter could be put in such a way
+that a half or even one-third of these would respond to the Governor's
+mandate, a host would be mustered which would quickly sweep Lyon and his
+small band out of the State. The proclamation to effect this which was
+elaborated by the joint efforts of Gov. Jackson and Col. Snead,
+the editor of the St. Louis Bulletin, a Secessionist organ, and the
+Governor's Secretary and Adjutant-General, together with Gen. Price.
+
+Considered as a trumpet call it was entirely too verbose. Col. Snead
+could not break himself of writing long, ponderous editorials. The more
+pertinent paragraphs were:
+
+     To the People of Missouri:
+
+     A series of unprovoked and unparalleled outrages have been
+     inflicted upon the peace and dignity of this Commonwealth
+     and upon the rights and liberties of its people, by wicked
+     and unprincipled men, professing to act under the authority
+     of the United States Government. The solemn enactments
+     of your Legislature have been nullified; your volunteer
+     soldiers have been taken prisoners; your commerce with your
+     sister States has been suspended; your trade with your
+     fellow-citizens has been, and is, subjected to the harassing
+     control of an armed soldiery; peaceful citizens have been
+     imprisoned without warrant of law; unoffending and
+     defenseless men, women, and children have been ruthlessly
+     shot down and murdered; and other unbearable indignities
+     have been heaped upon your State and yourselves....
+
+     They (Blair and Lyon) demanded not only the disorganization
+     and disarming of the State Militia, and the nullification of
+     the Military Bill, but they refused to disarm their own Home
+     Guards, and insisted that the Federal Government should
+     enjoy an unrestricted right to move and station its troops
+     throughout the State, whenever and wherever that might, in
+     the opinion of its officers, be necessary, either for  the
+     protection of the "loyal subjects" of the Federal Government
+     or for the repelling of invasion; and they plainly announced
+     that it was the intention of the Administration to take
+     military occupation, under these pretexts, of the whole
+     State, and to reduce it, as avowed by Gen. Lyon himself, to
+     the "exact condition of Maryland."
+
+
+120
+
+     The acceptance by me of these degrading terms would not only
+     have sullied the honor of Missouri, but would have aroused
+     the Indignation of every brave citizen, and precipitated the
+     very conflict which it has been my aim to prevent. We
+     refused to accede to them, and the conference was broken
+     up....
+
+     Now, therefore, I, C. F. Jackson, Governor of the State of
+     Missouri, do, in view of the foregoing facts, and by virtue
+     of the power invested in me by the Constitution and laws of
+     this Commonwealth, issue this, my proclamation, calling the
+     Militia of the State, to the number of 60,000, into the
+     active service of the State, for the purpose of repelling
+     said invasion, and for the protection of the lives, liberty,
+     and property of the citizens of this State. And I earnestly
+     exhort all good citizens of Missouri to rally under the flag
+     of their State, for the protection of their endangered homes
+     and firesides, and for the defense of their most sacred
+     rights and dearest liberties.
+
+This proclamation was given out to the press, but even before it
+appeared the Governor had telegraphed throughout the State to leading
+Secessionists to arm and rush to his assistance.
+
+This did not catch Gen. Lyon at all unawares. He had long ago determined
+upon a movement to Springfield, which, being in the midst of the farming
+region, was the center of the Union element of southwest Missouri.
+Immediately, upon reading the Governor's proclamation, he saw the
+necessity of forestalling the projected concentration by reaching
+Jefferson City with the least possible delay. Before he retired that
+night he had given orders for the formation of a marching column, and
+had placed the affairs of his great Department outside of this column,
+of which he proposed to take personal command, in the hands of Col.
+Chester Harding, to whom he gave full powers to sign his name and issue
+orders.
+
+
+121
+
+Having thought out his plans well beforehand, Gen. Lyon began his
+campaign with well-ordered celerity. Part of the troops he had at
+command were sent down the southwestern branch of the Pacific Railroad
+to secure it. Others were sent to points at which the militia were known
+to be gathering to disperse them.
+
+Gen. Lyon himself, with his staff, the Regulars, infantry and artillery,
+and a force of volunteers, embarked on two steamboats to move directly
+upon Jefferson City by the way of the Missouri River.
+
+They arrived at the Capital of Missouri about 2 o'clock in the afternoon
+of June 15, and were met with an enthusiastic reception from the loyal
+citizens, of whom a large proportion were Germans. Gov. Jackson had only
+been able to assemble about 120 men, with whom he made a hasty retreat
+to Boonville, about 50 miles further up the river, which had been
+selected by Gen. Price as one of his principal strategic points.
+Boonville is situated on the highlands at a natural crossing of the
+Missouri, and by holding it communication could be maintained between
+the parts of the State lying north and south of the river, and thus
+allow the concentration of the Militia, which Gov. Jackson had called
+out. The hights on the river bank would enable the river to be blockaded
+against expeditions ascending it, and the entire length of the stream to
+Kansas City, about 100 miles in a direct line, could be thus controlled.
+
+The Missouri River divides the State unequally, leaving about one-third
+on the north and two-thirds on the south. Of the 99 Counties in the
+State, 44 are north of the Missouri River, but these are smaller than
+those south.
+
+
+122
+
+Gov. Jackson had telegraphed orders for the Brigade-Generals commanding
+the districts into which the State had been divided to concentrate their
+men with all haste at Boonville and at Lexington, still further up the
+river, nearly midway between Boonville and Kansas City. The beginnings
+of an arsenal were made at Boonville, to furnish arms and ammunition.
+
+Gen. Lyon saw the strategic importance of the place, and did not propose
+to allow any concentration to be made there. He did not, as most Regular
+officers were prone, wait deliberately for wagons and rations and other
+supplies, but with a truer instinct of soldiership comprehended that
+his men could live wherever an enemy could, and leaving a small squad
+at Jefferson City, immediately started his column for Boonville, sending
+orders to other columns in Iowa and Kansas to converge toward that
+place.
+
+Progress up the Missouri River was tedious, as the water was low, and
+the troops had to frequently disembark in order to allow the boats to
+go over the shoals. It was reported to Gen. Lyon that about 4,000
+Confederates had already concentrated at Boonville.
+
+While Gen. Price was the Commander-in-Chief, several prominent
+Secessionists were commanders upon the field of the whole or parts
+of the force. The man, however, who was the most in evidence in the
+fighting was John Sappington Marmaduke, a native Missourian, born in
+Saline County in 1833, and therefore 28 years old. He was the son of a
+farmer, had been at Yale and Harvard, and then graduated from West Point
+in 1857, standing 30 in a class of 38. He had been on frontier duty with
+the 7th U. S. until after the firing on Fort Sumter, when he resigned to
+return to Missouri and raise a regiment for the Southern Confederacy.
+He was to rise to the rank of Major-General in the Confederate army,
+achieve much fame for military ability, and be elected, in 1884,
+Governor of the State.
+
+
+123
+
+The column immediately under the command of Gen. Lyon consisted
+of Totten's Light Battery (F, 2d U. S. Art.); Co. B, 2d U. S.; two
+companies of Regular recruits; Col. Blair's Missouri regiment and
+nine companies of Boernstein's Missouri regiment; aggregating somewhere
+between 1,700 and 2,000 men. On the evening of Sunday, June 16, the
+boats carrying the command arrived within 15 miles of Boonville, and
+lay there during the night. The next morning they proceeded up to within
+about eight miles of the town, when all but one company of Blair's
+regiment and an artillery detachment disembarked and began a land march
+upon the enemy's position. The remaining company and the howitzer were
+sent on with the boats to give the impression that an attack was to be
+made from the river side.
+
+The people in the country reported to Gen. Lyon that the enemy was fully
+4,000 strong, and intended an obstinate defense. He therefore moved
+forward cautiously, arriving at last at the foot of a gently undulating
+slope to a crest one mile distant, on which the enemy was stationed,
+with the ground quite favorable for them. Gen. Lyon formed a line of
+battle about 300 yards from the crest, with Totten's battery in the
+rear and nine companies of Boernstein's regiment on the right, under
+the command of Lieut.-Col. Schaeffer, and the Regulars and Col. Blair's
+regiment on the left. It was a momentous period, big with Missouri's
+future.
+
+
+124
+
+The engagement opened with Capt. Totten shelling the enemy's position
+and the well-drilled German infantry advancing with the Regulars, firing
+as they went. The question was now to be tried as to the value of the
+much-vaunted Missouri riflemen in conflict with the disciplined
+Germans. The former had been led to believe that they would repeat the
+achievements of their forefathers at New Orleans.
+
+Under the lead of Col. Marmaduke, the Confederates stood their ground
+pluckily for a few minutes, but the steady advance of the Union troops,
+with the demoralizing effect of the shells, were too much for them. Col.
+Marmaduke attempted to make an orderly retreat, and at first seemed
+to succeed, but finally the movement degenerated into a rout, and the
+Confederates scattered in wild flight, led by their Governor, who, like
+James II. at the battle of the Boyne, had witnessed the skirmish from a
+neighboring eminence. The losses on each side were equal--two killed
+and some eight or nine wounded.
+
+Lyon pushed on at once to the camp of the enemy, and there captured some
+1,200 pairs of shoes, 20 to 30 tents, and a considerable quantity of
+ammunition, with quite a supply of arms, blankets and personal effects.
+
+
+125
+
+The detachment which had gone by the river on the boats aided in
+securing the victory by a noisy bombardment with their howitzer,
+and landing at the town, captured two six-pounders, with a number of
+prisoners. The Mayor of Boonville came out and formally surrendered
+the town to Gen. Lyon and Col. Blair. Parties were sent out the various
+roads to continue the pursuit, and Gen. Lyon issued the following
+proclamation, admirable in tone and wording, to counteract that of the
+Governor and quiet the people, especially as to interference with slave
+property:
+
+     To the People of Missouri:
+
+     Upon leaving the city of St. Louis, In consequence of the
+     declaration of war made by the Governor of this State
+     against the Government of the United States, because I would
+     not assume in its behalf to relinquish its duties and
+     abdicate its rights of protecting loyal citizens from the
+     oppression and cruelties of Secessionists in this State, I
+     published an address to the people, in which I declared my
+     intention to use the force under my command for no other
+     purpose than the maintenance of the authority of the General
+     Government and the protection of the rights and property of
+     all law-abiding citizens. The State authorities, in
+     violation of an agreement with Gen. Harney, on the 21st of
+     May last, had drawn together and organized upon a large
+     scale the means of warfare, and having made declaration of
+     war, they abandoned the Capital, issued orders for the
+     destruction of the railroad and telegraph lines, and
+     proceeded to this point to put in execution their purposes
+     toward the General Government. This devolved upon me the
+     necessity of meeting this issue to the best of my ability,
+     and accordingly I moved to this point with a portion of the
+     force under my command, attacked and dispersed hostile
+     forces gathered here by the Governor, and took possession of
+     the camp equipage left and a considerable number of
+     prisoners, most of them young and of immature age, who
+     represent that they have been misled by frauds ingeniously
+     devised and industriously circulated by designing leaders,
+     who seek to devolve upon unreflecting and deluded followers
+     the task of securing the object of their own false ambition.
+     Out of compassion for these misguided youths, and to correct
+     impressions created by unscrupulous calumniators, I have
+     liberated them, upon condition that they will not serve in
+     the impending hostilities against the United States
+     Government. I have done this in spite of the known facts
+     that the leaders in the present rebellion, having long
+     experienced the mildness of the General Government, still
+     feel confident that this mildness cannot be overtaxed even
+     by factious hostilities having In view its overthrow; but
+     if, as in the case of the late Camp Jackson affair, this
+     clemency than still be misconstrued, it is proper to give
+     warning that the Government cannot be always expected to
+     indulge it to the compromise of its evident welfare.
+
+
+126
+
+     Having learned that those plotting against the Government
+     have falsely represented that the Government troops intended
+     a forcible and violent invasion of Missouri for the purposes
+     of military despotism and tyranny, I hereby give notice to
+     the people of this State that I shall scrupulously avoid all
+     interferences with the business, rights, and property of
+     every description recognized by the laws of this State, and
+     belonging to law-abiding citizens; but that it is equally my
+     duty to maintain the paramount authority of the United Sates
+     with such force as I have at my command, which will be
+     retained only so long as opposition shall make it necessary;
+     and that it is my wish, and shall be my purpose, to devolve
+     any unavoidable rigor arising in this issue upon those only
+     who provoke it.
+
+     All persons who, under the misapprehensions above mentioned,
+     have taken up arms, or who are now preparing to do so, are
+     invited to return to their homes, and relinquish their
+     hostile attitude to the General Government, and are assured
+     that they may do so without being molested for past
+     occurrences.
+
+     N. LYON,
+
+     Brigadier-General, U. S. Vols., Commanding.
+
+
+Several thousand of Jackson's Militia had already assembled at
+Lexington, nearly midway between Boonville and Kansas City. When they
+heard of the affair at Boonville they realized that they were in danger
+of being caught between the column advancing from that direction and
+the one under Maj. Sturgis, which Gen. Lyon had ordered forward from
+Leavenworth through Kansas City, while a third, under Col. Curtis, was
+approaching from the Iowa line. They dispersed at once, to fall back
+behind the Osage River, at Gen. Price's direction. Thus Lyon gained
+complete control of the Missouri River in its course through the State,
+enabling him to cut off the Confederates in the northern from those in
+the southern part of the State.
+
+
+127
+
+Another success which came to him was the seizure of the office of
+the St. Louis Bulletin, and the discovery there of a letter from Gov,
+Jackson to the publisher, which completely proved all the allegations
+that had been made as to the Governor's action, decisively contradicted
+the material assertions in his proclamations and vindicated Gen. Lyon
+from the charges against him of undue precipitancy. The letter was long,
+personal and confidential. In it he said:
+
+     I do not think Missouri should secede today or tomorrow, but
+     I do not think it good policy that I should so disclose. I
+     want a little time to arm the State, and I am assuming every
+     responsibility to do it with all possible dispatch. Missouri
+     should act in concert with Tennessee and Kentucky. They are
+     all bound to go out, and should go together, if possible. My
+     judgment is that North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas will
+     all be out in a few days, and when they go Missouri should
+     follow. Let us, then, prepare to make our exit. We should
+     keep our own counsels. Every man in the State is in favor of
+     arming the State. Then let it be done. All are opposed to
+     furnishing Mr. Lincoln with soldiers. Time will settle the
+     balance.
+
+     Nothing should be said about the time or the manner in which
+     Missouri should go out. That she ought to go, and will go at
+     the proper time, I have no doubt. She ought to have gone out
+     last Winter, when she could have seized the public arms and
+     public property, and defended herself. That she has failed
+     to do, and must wait a little while. Paschall is a base
+     submissionist, and desires to remain with the North, if
+     every Slave State should go out. Call on every country paper
+     to defend me, and assure them I am fighting under the true
+     flag. Who does not know that every sympathy of my heart is
+     with the South? The Legislature, in my view, should sit in
+     secret session, and touch nothing but the measures of
+     defense.
+
+     Though in point of fighting and losses this initial campaign
+     ending with the skirmish at Boonville had been
+     insignificant, its results far surpassed those of many of
+     the bloodiest battles of the rebellion. The Governor of the
+     State was in flight from his Capital; his troops had been
+     scattered in the first collision; control had been gained of
+     the Missouri River, cutting the enemy's line in two; and
+     above all, there was the immense moral effect of the defeat
+     in action of the boastful Secessionists by the much
+     denounced "St. Louis Dutch."   This alone accounted for the
+     acquisition of many thousand wavering men to the side of the
+     Union. Missourians were not different from the rest of
+     mankind, and every community had its large proportion of
+     those who, when the Secessionists seemed to have everything
+     their own way, inclined to that side, but came back to their
+     true allegiance at the first sign of the Government being
+     able to assert its supremacy. The Government was now aroused
+     and striking--and striking successfully. Its enemies were
+     immensely depressed, and its friends correspondingly elated.
+
+
+129
+
+     Gen. Lyon's next thought was to drive Gov. Jackson and his
+     Secession clique out of Missouri into Arkansas, free the
+     people from their pernicious influence, protect the Union
+     people, especially in the southwestern part of the State,
+     and keep tens of thousands of young men from being persuaded
+     or dragged into the rebel army.
+
+     He would demonstrate the Government's position so
+     convincingly that there would be no longer any doubt of
+     Missouri's remaining in the Union.
+
+
+129
+
+[Illustration: 129-The Storm Gathers]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. STORM GATHERS IN SOUTHWESTERN MISSOURI
+
+The Osage River enters Missouri from Kansas about 60 miles south of the
+Missouri River, and flowing a little south of east empties into that
+river a few miles below Jefferson City. It thus forms a natural line of
+defense across the State, which Gen. Price's soldierly eye had noted,
+and he advised the Governor to order his troops to take up their
+position behind it, gain time for organization, and prepare for battle
+for possession of the State.
+
+Gen. Lyon had also noticed the strategic advantages of the Osage River,
+and did not propose to allow his enemies to have the benefit of them.
+He did not intend to permit them to concentrate there, and be joined in
+time by heavy forces already coming up from Arkansas, Indian Territory,
+and Texas. While he was collecting farm wagons around Boonville
+to move his own columns forward, laboring to gather a sufficient stock
+of ammunition and supplies, and planning to make secure his holding of
+the important points already gained, he began moving other columns under
+Gen. Sweeny and Maj. Sturgis directly upon Springfield, the central
+point of the southwestern part of the State, which would take the Osage
+line in the rear, and compel Jackson and Price to retreat with their
+forces across the Missouri line into Arkansas.
+
+
+130
+
+This would clear the State of the whole congerie of Secession leaders,
+remove the young men from their influence, stop the persecutions of
+the Union men in that section, and cement Missouri solidly in the Union
+line. He also wrote Gen. B. M. Prentiss, in command of the troops
+at Cairo, asking co-operation by clearing out the rebels from the
+southeastern portion of the State. Lyon's far-reaching plans did not
+stop with Missouri. He also contemplated pushing his advance directly
+upon Little Rock, through the Union-loving region in northwestern
+Arkansas, and clinching that State as firmly as Missouri.
+
+The next day after the decisive little victory at Boonville occurred an
+event which greatly raised the drooping spirits of the Secessionists,
+and was much exaggerated by them in order to offset their defeat at
+Boonville by Lyon.
+
+Benton is one of the interior Counties of the State, lying on both sides
+of the Osage River. In 1860 its people had cast 74 votes for Lincoln,
+306 for Bell and Everett, 100 for Breckinridge, and 574 for Stephen A.
+Douglas. All the County officials and leading men were Secessionists,
+and doing their utmost to aid the rebellion; still, the Union people,
+under the leadership of A. H. W. Cook and Alex. Mackey, were undaunted
+and earnestly desirous of doing effective service for the United States.
+Cook and Mackey had been warned to leave the State, and Cook had done
+so, but returned to take part in the capture of Camp Jackson, and
+afterward went back to his home to organize the Germans and Americans
+there for their own defense.
+
+
+131
+
+A meeting was held at which the Stars and Stripes were raised, and nine
+companies of Home Guards organized, sworn into service, and given arms.
+These companies went into camp in a couple of barns some three miles
+south of Cole Camp, where their presence and support to the
+Union sentiment was the source of the greatest irritation to the
+Secessionists, who attempted to disperse them by legal processes, and
+failing in this, determined to attack them. In the meanwhile all but
+about 400 of the men were allowed to return to their homes to put their
+affairs in order for a prolonged absence.
+
+About 1,000 Secessionists, under the command of Walter S. O'Kane,
+marched on June 19 to attack them. Col. Cook was informed of the
+intended attack and prepared for it by throwing out pickets and
+summoning his absentees.
+
+At 3 o'clock in the morning of June 20 the Secessionists reached the
+pickets, whom they bayonetted to prevent their giving the alarm, and
+rushed in upon the sleeping Unionists, pouring volley after volley
+into the barns. The men in one of the barns had been warned, but were
+prevented from firing by the Union Flag which the Secessionists carried.
+Many of them who managed to get out of the barns were rallied behind the
+corn cribs, and began an obstinate fight which lasted till daylight. The
+absentees, whom Col. Cook had summoned, came up during the engagement,
+but not being able to comprehend the situation, rendered no assistance.
+Finally all the Union men got together and retreated in good order,
+repulsing their pursuers.
+
+
+132
+
+The reports as to this affair are so conflicting that it is difficult
+to determine the truth. It seems pretty certain that Col. Cook had
+only about 400 men. He reports that he was attacked by 1,200, but the
+Secessionists say that O'Kane's force was only 350. Cook reports his
+loss as 23 killed, 20 wounded, and 30 taken prisoners, while Pollard,
+the Secessionist historian, insists that we lost 206 killed, a large
+number wounded, and over 100 taken prisoners, with the Secession loss
+of 14 killed and 15 or 20 wounded. Probably the truth lies between
+these two extremes, the only definite thing being that the Secessionists
+captured 362 muskets.
+
+There were five or six prominent Secessionists among the killed, one of
+them being Mr. Leach, the editor of the Southwestern Democrat.
+
+Col. Cook gathered up his men, received some additional recruits, some
+arms and ammunition, and pushed on to Warsaw, on the Osage, one of the
+points of concentration indicated by Gen. Price, capturing 1,500 pound
+cans and 1,500 kegs of fine rifle powder, many tons of pig-lead, 70
+stand of small-arms, a steamboat-load of tent cloth, a lot of State
+Guard uniforms, four Confederate flags, and 1,200 false-faces which
+had been used by the "border ruffians" in their political operations
+in Kansas. A little further on they surrounded and captured 1,000
+Secessionists, and paroled them on the spot.
+
+The Secessionists, on the other hand, took much comfort out of the
+surprise and defeat and the acquisition of 362 new muskets and 150 more
+which they had beguiled from a German company in a neighboring County.
+
+
+133
+
+In the meanwhile the Conservatives, aided by Lieut-Gen. Scott, whose
+distrust of "Capt." Lyon never abated, secured the addition of Missouri
+to the Department commanded by McClellan, whom it was thought would hold
+the "audacious" officer in check. Lyon, though he felt that McClellan,
+then far distant in West Virginia, could not give matters in the State
+the attention they needed, yet loyally accepted the assignment, wrote at
+once to McClellan cordially welcoming him as his commander, and giving
+full information as to the conditions, with suggestions as to what
+should be done. Col. Blair and the Radicals were much displeased at
+this move, and began efforts to have Missouri erected into a separate
+Department and placed under the command of John C. Fremont, lately
+appointed a Major-General, and from whose military talents there were
+the greatest expectations.
+
+As the first Presidential candidate of the Republican Party Fremont
+had a strong hold upon the hearts of the Northern people. During the
+campaign of 1856 there had been the customary partisan eulogies of the
+candidates, which placed "the Great Pathfinder" and all he had done in
+the most favorable light before the American people. Above all he was
+thought to be thoroughly in sympathy with the policy which Blair and his
+following desired to pursue.
+
+In reality Fremont was a man of somewhat more than moderate ability, but
+boundless aspirations. He was the son-in-law of Senator Benton, and
+his wife, the queenly, ambitious, handsome Jessie Benton Fremont, was
+naturally eager for her husband to be as prominent in the National
+councils as had been her father. What Fremont was equal to is one of
+the many unsolved problems of the war, but certainly he was not to the
+command of the great Western Department, including the State of Illinois
+and all the States and Territories west of the Mississippi River and
+east of the Rocky Mountains, to which he was assigned by General Orders,
+No. 40, issued July 3,1861.
+
+
+134
+
+Fremont's father was a Frenchman, who had married a Virginia woman, and
+followed the occupation of a teacher of French at Norfolk, Va., but
+died at an early age, leaving the members of his family to struggle for
+themselves. Fremont became a teacher of mathematics on a sloop of war,
+then Professor of Mathematics for the Navy, and later a surveyor and
+engineer for railroad lines, and was commissioned by President Van Buren
+a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. Owing to the opposition
+of Senator Benton, his daughter had to be secretly married to Lieut.
+Fremont in 1841, but soon after the Senator gave his son-in-law the
+benefit of his great influence.
+
+Fremont was designated to conduct surveys across the continent into the
+unknown region lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, and
+made several very important explorations. He was in California prior to
+the outbreak of the Mexican War, and became involved in hostilities
+with the Mexicans. When the war did break out he assumed command of the
+country around under authority from Commodore Stockton, and proceeded
+to declare the independence of California. A quarrel between him and
+Stockton followed, and later another quarrel ensued with Gen. Kearny,
+who had been sent into this country in command of an expedition.
+
+
+135
+
+He was court-martialed by Gen. Kearny's orders and found guilty of
+mutiny, disobedience, and conduct prejudicial to good order and military
+discipline. He was sentenced to be dismissed, but the majority of the
+court recommended him to the clemency of President Polk, who refused
+to approve the verdict of mutiny, but did approve the rest, though
+he remitted the penalty. Fremont, refusing to accept the President's
+pardon, then resigned from the Army, settled in California, and bought
+the famous Mariposa estate, containing rich gold mines. He became a
+leader of the Free-Soil Party in California, and was elected to the
+Senate for a brief term of three weeks. He was nominated by the first
+Republican Convention in Philadelphia, June 17, 1856, and in his letter
+of acceptance expressed himself strongly against the extension of
+Slavery, and in favor of free labor. The hot campaign of 1856 resulted
+in a surprising showing of strength by the new party. Fremont received
+114 electoral votes from 11 States to 174 from 19 States for Buchanan
+and eight votes from Maryland for Fillmore. The popular vote was 874,000
+for Fillmore, 1,341,000 for Fremont, and 1,838,000 for Buchanan.
+
+Lyon welcomed the appointment of Fremont to command, because he felt
+the need of having a superior officer at hand who would appreciate the
+urgency of the situation, and stand between him and the authorities at
+Washington, who apparently did not understand the emergency, were not
+honoring his requisitions for money, arms, and supplies, and who were
+drawing to the eastward the troops that Lyon felt ought to be sent to
+him. It was also satisfactory to him that the State of Illinois was
+in the Department, since the important point of Cairo should be
+administered with reference to controlling the situation in southeastern
+Missouri.
+
+
+136
+
+
+The first distrust of Fremont came from his deliberation in repairing to
+his command. The people of Missouri felt very keenly that no time should
+be lost in the General arriving on the spot and getting the situation in
+hand, but in spite of all importunities, Fremont lingered for weeks
+in New York, and it required a rather sharp admonition from the War
+Department to start him for St. Louis, where he arrived as late as July
+25.
+
+Lyon's prompt advance upon Jefferson City now bore fruit in another
+direction. The Union people of Missouri decided that as Gov. Jackson,
+Lieut-Gov. Reynolds and other State officials had abandoned the State
+Capital to engage in active rebellion against the United States, the
+State Convention, which had been called to carry the State out of the
+Union, but which had so signally disappointed the expectations of its
+originators, should reconvene, declare the State offices vacant, and
+instate a loyal Government A strong party desired that a Military
+Governor should be appointed, and urged Col. Frank P. Blair for that
+place, but he refused to countenance the project. The Convention, by a
+vote of 56 to 25, declared the offices of Governor, Lieutenant-Governor
+and Secretary of State vacant, and elected Hamilton R. Gamble Governor,
+Willard P. Hall Lieutenants Governor, Mordecai Oliver Secretary of
+State, and George A. Bingham Treasurer. An oath of loyalty was adopted
+to be required of all citizens before being allowed to vote, and to be
+taken by all incumbents of office and all who should be qualified for
+office thereafter.
+
+
+137
+
+Gov. Jackson established his Capital at Lamar, in Barton County, about
+30 miles south of the Osage, and the men who had been appointed to
+command the Militia Districts began to come in with their contingents.
+None seemed to know about the flanking columns which had been sent out
+toward Springfield, to take the line of the Osage in the rear, and they
+were astounded when forces under Sweeny and Sigel, which had dispersed
+the gathering Militia before them at Holla, Lebanon, and other
+intervening points, reached Springfield, and began sending out from
+there expeditions to Neosho, Ozark, Sarcoxie and other towns in the
+southwestern corner. Col. Franz Sigel, who had shown much activity and
+enterprise, learned at Sarcoxie that several divisions of State Guards
+under Gens. Rains, Parsons, Slack and Clark were to the north of him,
+and the Governor and Gen. Price were endeavoring to bring them together
+in order to turn upon and crush Gen. Lyon in his advance from Boonville.
+Sigel's men, who were anxious to accomplish something decisive before
+the expiration of their three months' term, brought about a decision
+in their commander's mind to march upon the force encamped upon Pool's
+Prairie, whip and scatter it, and then attack the other forces in turn.
+
+
+138
+
+After making the necessary detachments to guard his flanks and rear,
+Col. Sigel had under his command nine companies of the 8d Mo., 550 men
+under Lieut.-Col. Hassendeubel; seven companies of the 5th Mo., under
+Col. Charles E. Salomon, 400 men, and two batteries of light artillery,
+four guns each, under Maj. Backof.
+
+After a hard day's march of 22 miles in very hot weather, Col. Sigel
+came, on the evening of July 4, about one mile southeast of Carthage,
+on the south side of Spring River. He made preparations to attack the
+enemy, reported to be from 10 to 15 miles in his front.
+
+That night Gov. Jackson received news of Sigel's advance, and gathered
+his forces to resist him. He had already concentrated many more men than
+Sigel had expected, and had with him seven pieces of artillery. Most
+of his men carried the arms which they had brought from home, and
+were arranged, according to the provisions in the Military Bill, into
+divisions, of which there were no less than four present. The Second
+Division, commanded by Brig.-Gen. James S. Rains, who afterward attained
+much reputation in the Confederate army, had present 1,208 infantry and
+artillery and 608 cavalry. The Third Division, commanded by Gen. John B.
+Clark, also to attain eminence in the Confederate army, had 365
+present. The Fourth Division, commanded by Gen. Wm. Y. Slack, later
+a Brigadier-General in the Confederate army, had 500 cavalry and 700
+infantry. The Sixth Division, commanded by Gen. Monroe M. Parsons, who
+served with distinction throughout the war, had altogether about 1,000
+men and four pieces of artillery. The official returns show that Gov.
+Jackson had thus 4,375 men with seven guns to oppose something over
+1,000 men with eight guns under Col. Sigel. The Union force was strong in
+artillery, while the Confederates were powerful in cavalry, of which
+the Unionists had none. Both sides were poorly supplied with ammunition,
+especially for the cannon, and loaded these with railroad spikes, bits
+of trace chains, etc.
+
+
+139
+
+Early on the morning of July 5 Sigel marched out of camp, crossing the
+Spring River about one mile north of Carthage, and soon came upon an
+open prairie. He advanced slowly and cautiously along the Lamar Road,
+with his wagons under a small escort following a mile or so in the rear.
+Nine miles north of Carthage and three miles north of Coon Creek he came
+in sight of the Governor's troops drawn up in line of battle on a slight
+rise of the prairie, and about one mile and a half away. The enemy's
+skirmish line, which was under the command of Capt. J. O. Shelby, of
+whom we shall hear much more later, opened fire on Sigel's advance, but
+was soon driven across the creek and through the narrow strip of timber
+less than one-half mile wide, followed by Sigel's men in line of battle.
+They came out on the smooth prairie, covered with a fine growth of
+grass, and offering unequalled facilities for manuvering, except that
+from the ridge Sigel's line could be accurately observed and its numbers
+known.
+
+Sigel formed his line of battle within a half mile of the enemy's
+position, distributed his artillery along it, then ordered an advance,
+and opened the battle with a fire from his guns, which was promptly
+responded to by the enemy's pieces. The distance was so close that
+the Union guns could fire canister and shell very effectively; but the
+enemy, perceiving that Sigel had no cavalry, sent out their numerous
+mounted force on a flank movement, which soon compelled the retirement
+of the line across the creek, where the battle was renewed and
+maintained for two hours, during which time the enemy suffered some loss
+from the artillery fire.
+
+
+140
+
+Again the enemy made a flank movement with their cavalry, reaching this
+time back toward the baggage-train, to which Sigel retreated. The Union
+men broke up the cavalry formation, and Sigel followed this with a
+charge which scattered his enemies and enabled him to continue his
+retreat unmolested across the prairie in full sight of his foes. Sigel
+could also see the rallied cavalry making a wide circuit over the
+prairie to gain the hights of Spring River and cut off his retreat Gen.
+Rains, who led this movement, succeeded in reaching the road at Spring
+River, but in coming up Sigel at once attacked with his artillery, and
+after a brisk little engagement of half an hour drove the enemy out of
+the woods, and marched on to Carthage, which he reached about 5 o'clock,
+and there prepared to give a short rest to his men, who were worn out by
+18 miles of marching under a hot sun and almost continual fighting
+and manuvering. The Secessionists renewed their attack, but were again
+driven off by the infantry and artillery, and the march was resumed.
+
+Again Gens. Slack, Parsons, and Clark pushed their men forward on the
+Union flank, while Rains renewed his attack, and again they were all
+repulsed, largely by the skillful handling of the artillery. As darkness
+came on the Secessionists disappeared, but Sigel moved on to Sarcoxie,
+12 miles distant, and went into camp.
+
+
+141
+
+Gov. Jackson's forces camped in and around Carthage, and the next day
+marched to Neosho, where they met Gen. Ben McCulloch coming up from
+Arkansas with a force of Arkansans and Texans and also 1,700 of the
+State Guards, which Gen. Price had brought forward. In the fighting the
+Union side had lost 13 killed and 21 wounded. The Confederates report
+74 killed and wounded in the four divisions under the command of Gov.
+Jackson.
+
+[Illustration: 141-Sigel Crossing the Osage]
+
+The battle of Carthage produced a great sensation over the country,
+the Confederates rejoicing that they had cut through the Union line
+and forced it to retreat, while Sigel received unstinted praise for his
+skillful retreat and the masterly handling of his artillery. While one
+battery would hold the enemy in check, another would be placed at the
+most advantageous position in the rear, where it would withdraw behind
+it to repeat the manuver. Several times during the day the batteries
+were cunningly masked, and the enemy rushed up to the muzzle, to receive
+the death-dealing discharge full in the faces of the compact mass.
+
+
+142
+
+This brings Gen. Sigel prominently before us. Of the many
+highly-educated Germans who had migrated to this country in consequence
+of their connection with the Revolution of 1848, Franz Sigel had, far
+and away, the most brilliant reputation as a soldier. A slight, dark,
+nervous man, with a rather saturnine countenance, he was born at
+Zinsheim, Baden, Nov. 18, 1824, and was therefore in his 37th year. He
+graduated from the Military School at Carlsruhe with high promise, which
+he filled by becoming one of the Chief Adjutants in the Grand Duke's
+army. He ardently shared the aspirations of the young Germans for German
+Unity, and resigned his commission in 1847 to become one of the leaders
+in the revolutionary forces. He was appointed to chief command of the
+army sent from the Grand-Duchy to the assistance of the revolutionists
+in Hesse-Darmstadt, but a disagreement arose, another was appointed to
+the command, and Sigel assumed the position of Minister of War. Upon the
+defeat of the expedition by the Prussian forces, he resumed the chief
+command of the demoralized men, and conducted a brilliantly successful
+retreat to a place of safety in the fortress of Rastadt. This
+achievement at the age of 24 seemed to stamp the character of his
+military career.
+
+
+143
+
+At the collapse of the revolution he escaped to Switzerland, which
+expelled him, and he then came to New York, where he supported himself
+as a teacher of mathematics, later engaging in the same occupation in
+St. Louis, where he was living when the war broke out, and rendered
+invaluable service in organizing and leading the Germans in support of
+Blair and Lyon.
+
+Unfortunately for his reputation, the war upon which he had now entered
+was to be carried on by stern aggressiveness, to which he seemed
+unsuited. He had a strong hold on the affections of the Germans, whose
+support of the Union was exceedingly valuable, and in spite of repeated
+failures to satisfy the expectations of his superior officers, he was
+promoted and given high commands, in all of which his misfortune was
+the same. After Rastadt he seemed bent only upon conducting brilliant
+retreats, and that from Carthage greatly helped to confirm this
+tendency. He was finally relegated to the shelf, which contained so many
+men who had started out with brilliant promise, and died in New York
+in 1902, supported during his later years by a pension of $100 a month
+granted him by Congress.
+
+After resting his men a few hours at Sarcoxie, Sigel marched on to
+Springfield, where Gen. Sweeny was, and to which point Gen. Lyon hurried
+with all the force he could gather, to forestall the junction of Gen.
+Ben McCulloch's Arkansas column with the force that Price and Jackson
+would bring to him.
+
+
+144
+
+There was strong need of his presence there and of his utmost efforts.
+He had rolled back the Secession tide only to have it gather volume
+enough to completely submerge him. Not only had Gov. Jackson and
+Sterling Price concentrated many more men than he had, but a still
+stronger column composed of Arkansans and Texans under the noted Gen.
+Ben. McCulloch was near at hand and pushing forward with all speed.
+
+Benjamin McCulloch, a tall, bony, sinewy man of iron will and dauntless
+courage, was easily a leader and master of the bold, aggressive spirits
+who had wrested Texas away from Mexico and erected her into a great
+State. He had achieved much reputation in the command of the Texan
+Rangers during the Mexican War and in the Indian fights which succeeded
+that struggle. As a soldier and a fighter he had the highest fame of
+any living Texan, except Sam Houston, and when he espoused the cause of
+Secession he drew after him many thousands of the adventurous,
+daring young men of the State. The Confederate army had immediately
+commissioned him a Brigadier-General, and he had set about organizing,
+with his accustomed energy and enterprise, a strong column for
+aggressive service west of the Mississippi. Warlike young leaders,
+ambitious for distinction, hastened to join him with whatever men they
+could raise, for such was their confidence that they felt his banner
+would point to the most direct road to fame and glory. Many of these,
+then Captains and Colonels, afterward rose to be Generals in the
+Confederate army. He had proposed to the Confederate Government to aid
+the situation in Virginia by active operations in Missouri, and to this
+plan the Governors of Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas gave their hearty
+consent and co-operation. McCulloch had another motive for aggressive
+action, as it would determine the position of the Indians.
+
+[Illustration: 145-Genereal Henry W. Halleck]
+
+
+145
+
+The wisest among the Chiefs of the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Creeks and
+Seminoles desired to remain neutral in the struggle, since they did not
+wish to bring down upon them the wrath of the Kansas people, who
+were within easy striking distance. By prompt action these wavering
+aborigines could be brought into the Confederate ranks and be made to
+render important assistance.
+
+He had already crossed the Missouri line with 3,000 mounted men, and on
+the night of the 4th of July came to Buffalo Creek, 12 miles southwest
+of Neosho, where he was joined by Gen. Price with 1,700 mounted men, and
+he sent urgent messages back to the rest of his men to hurry forward
+to him. These were so well obeyed that he shortly had, independent of
+Price's men, fully 5,000 men from Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana, who
+were better equipt and organized than the Missourians.
+
+Gov. Jackson and Gen. Price also sent urgent messages for concentration,
+which were as promptly responded to. The result was that there were
+shortly assembled Confederates under Gen. McCulloch and "State Guards"
+under Gov. Jackson and Gen. Price, a total estimated by Maj. Sturgis and
+others at 23,-000 men. For lack of proper arms and organization, many
+of these were not very effective. McCulloch says that the great horde of
+mounted men "were much in the way," and hindered rather than helped
+But they were certainly very effective in harrying the Union people; in
+impressing recruits; in embarrassing Lyon's gathering of supplies; in
+driving in the small parties he sent out, and confining his operations
+to the neighborhood of Springfield.
+
+
+146
+
+In the meanwhile the great disaster of Bull Run had occurred to depress
+the Union people and fill the Secessionists with unbounded enthusiasm
+and confidence. The thoughts of the Government and of the loyal
+people of the country became concentrated upon securing the safety of
+Washington. Troops were being rushed from every part of the country to
+the National Capital. Lyon's forces were constantly dwindling, from
+the expiration of the three months for which the regiments had been
+enlisted. The men felt the need of their presence at home, to attend
+to their hastily-left affairs, and could see no prospect of a decisive
+battle as a reason for remaining. Gen. Lyon importuned Gen. Fremont and
+the War Department for some regiments, for adequate supplies for those
+he had, and money with which to pay them. The War Department, however,
+could apparently think of nothing else than making Washington safe,
+while Gen. Fremont, deeming St. Louis and Cairo all-important, gathered
+in what troops he could save from the eastward rush, for holding those
+places. Gen. Scott even proposed to deprive Gen. Lyon of his little
+squad of Regulars, and sent orders for seven companies to be forwarded
+East.
+
+Laboring with all these embarrassments, Gen. Lyon confronted the storm
+rising before him with a firm countenance.
+
+
+147
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX. EVE OF THE BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK
+
+Mountainous perplexities and burdens weighed upon Gen. Lyon during the
+last days of July.
+
+The country was hysterical over the safety of the National Capital, and
+it seemed that the Administration was equally emotional. Every regiment
+and gun was being rushed to the heights in front of Washington, and all
+eyes were fixed on the line of the Potomac.
+
+The perennial adventurer in Gen. Fremont did not fail to suggest to him
+that the greatest of opportunities might develop in Washington, and he
+lingered in New York until peremptorily ordered by Gen. Scott to his
+command. He did not arrive in St. Louis until July 25.
+
+Like Seward, Chase, McClellan, and many other aspiring men, Fremont
+had little confidence that the untrained Illinois Rail Splitter in the
+Presidential chair would be able to keep his head above the waves in the
+sea of troubles the country had entered. The disaster at Bull Run was
+but the beginning of a series of catastrophes which would soon call for
+a stronger brain and a more experienced hand at the helm.
+
+Then?
+
+
+148
+
+Mrs. Jessie Benton Fremont was not the only one to suggest that the man
+for the hour would be found to be the first Republican candidate for
+President--the Great Pathfinder of the Rocky Mountains!
+
+Upon his arrival at St Louis Gen. Fremont was immediately waited upon by
+the faithful Chester Harding and others who had been awaiting his coming
+with painful anxiety. They represented most energetically Gen. Lyon's
+predicament, without money, clothing or rations, and with a force even
+more rapidly diminishing than that of the enemy was augmenting. They
+revealed Gen. Lyon's far-reaching plans of making Springfield a base
+from which to carry the war into Arkansas, and begged for men, money,
+arms, food; shoes and clothing for him.
+
+Fremont was too much engrossed in forming in the Brant Mansion that
+vice-regal court of his--the main requirement for which seemed to be
+inability to speak English--to feel the urgency of these importunities.
+
+The country was swarming with military adventurers from Europe, men with
+more or less shadow on their connection with the foreign armies, and
+eager to sell their swords to the highest advantage. They swarmed around
+Fremont like bees around a sugar barrel, much to the detriment of the
+honest and earnest men of foreign birth who were rallying to the support
+of the Union.
+
+Next to his satrapal court of exotic manners and speech, Fremont was
+most concerned about the safety of Cairo, Ill., a most important
+point, then noisily threatened by Maj.-Gen. Leonidas Polk, the militant
+Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana, and his subordinate, the
+blatant Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, of Mexican War notoriety.
+
+
+149
+
+Gen. Fremont made quite a show of reinforcing Cairo, sending a most
+imposing fleet of steamboats to carry the 4,000 troops sent thither.
+
+Pretense still counted for much in the war. Later it burnt up like dry
+straw in the fierce blaze of actualities.
+
+Not being Fremont's own, nor contributing particularly to his
+aggrandizement, Gen. Lyon's plans and aims had little importance to his
+Commanding General.
+
+Gen. Lyon saw clearly that the place to fight for St. Louis and Missouri
+was in the neighborhood of Springfield, and by messenger and letter he
+importuned that St. Louis be left to the care of the loyal Germans of
+the Home Guards, who had shown their ability to handle the city, and
+that all the other troops there and elsewhere in the State be rushed
+forward to him, with shoes and clothing for his unshod, ragged soldiers,
+and sufficient rations for the army, which had well-nigh exhausted the
+country upon which it had been living for so long.
+
+But Fremont frittered away his strength in sending regiments to chase
+guerrilla bands which dissolved as soon as the trail became too hot.
+
+Two regiments were ordered to Lyon from points so distant that they
+could not make the march in less than 10 days or a fortnight, and some
+scanty supplies sent to Rolla remained there because of lack of wagons
+to carry them forward to Springfield, 120 miles away.
+
+
+150
+
+Later Gen. Fremont testified before the Committee on the Conduct of the
+War that he had ordered Gen. Lyon, if he could not maintain himself at
+Springfield, to fall back to Rolla, but singularly he did not produce
+this order.
+
+Though Gen. Lyon had marched his men 50 miles in one day to prevent the
+junction of Gen. Ben Mc-Culloch's Arkansas column with the hosts Gen.
+Sterling Price was gathering from Missouri, he was not able to interpose
+between them.
+
+On Saturday, Aug. 3, the Confederates had all gotten together on the
+banks of Crane Creek, 55 miles southwest of Springfield, with general
+headquarters in and around the village of Cassville.
+
+How many were concentrated is subject to the same obscurity which
+usually envelops Confederate numbers. Lyon estimated there were 30,000.
+Later estimates by competent men put the number at 23,000. Gen. Snead,
+Price's Adjutant-General, put the number at 11,000, which would be a
+severe reflection on the loyalty of the Missouri Secessionists to their
+Governor, since Gen. McCulloch certainly brought up about 5,000 from
+Arkansas, which would leave only 6,000 to respond to Gov. Jackson's
+proclamation, and gather under the standards set up by his seven
+Brigadier-Generals--Parsons, Rains, Slack, J. B. Clark, M. L. Clark,
+Watkins and Randolph.
+
+While Lyon had incomparable troubles, there was far from concord in the
+camp of his opponents. Like thousands of other men, McCulloch's ambition
+far transcended his abilities. He at once assumed the attitude that as a
+Brigadier-General in the Confederate army he out-ranked Sterling Price,
+who was a Major-General of state troops. This, at that early period
+of the war, was a humorous reversal of the State Sovereignty idea, so
+flagrant in the minds of those precipitating Secession.
+
+
+151
+
+Jefferson Davis and his school of thought had been fierce in their
+contention that the part was greater than the whole, and that the
+States were greater than the General Government. Yet Gen. McCulloch
+was unflinching in his insistence that a Confederate Brigadier-General
+outranked a State Major-General. The dispute became quite acrimonious,
+but was at last settled by Price's yielding to McCulloch, so anxious was
+he that something decisive should be done toward driving back Lyon and
+"redeeming the State of Missouri." According to Gen. Thomas L. Snead,
+his Chief of Staff, he went to Gen. McCulloch's quarters on Sunday
+morning, Aug. 4, and after vainly trying to persuade McCulloch to attack
+Lyon, he said:
+
+     "I am an older man than you, Gen. McCulloch, and I am not
+     only your senior in rank now, but I was a Brigadier-General
+     in the Mexican War, with an independent command, when you
+     were only a Captain; I have fought and won more battles
+     than you have ever witnessed; my force is twice as great as
+     yours; and some of my officers rank, and have seen more
+     service than you, and we are also upon the soil of our own
+     State; but, Gen. McCulloch, if you will consent to help us
+     to whip Lyon and to repossess Missouri, I will put myself
+     and all my forces under your command, and we will obey you
+     as faithfully as the humblest of your own men. We can whip
+     Lyon, and we will whip him and drive the enemy out of
+     Missouri, and all the honor and all the glory shall be
+     yours,  All that we want is to regain our homes and to
+     establish the independence of Missouri and the South. If you
+     refuse to accept this offer, I will move with the
+     Missourians alone against Lyon; for it is better that they
+     and I should all perish than Missouri be abandoned without a
+     struggle. You must either fight beside us or look on at a
+     safe distance and see us fight all alone the army which you
+     dare not attack even with our aid. I must have your answer
+     before dark, for I intend to attack Lyon tomorrow."
+
+
+152
+
+Gen. McCulloch replied that he was expecting dispatches from the East,
+but would make known his determination before sundown. At that time,
+accompanied by Gen. Mcintosh, in whose abilities Gen. McCulloch had
+the highest confidence, and was largely influenced by him, he went
+to Price's headquarters and informed him that he had just received
+dispatches that Gen. Pillow was advancing into the southeastern part of
+the State from New Madrid with 12,000 men, and that he would accept the
+command of the united forces and attack Lyon. Price at once published an
+order that he had turned over the command of the Missouri troops to Gen.
+McCulloch, but reserved the right to resume command at any time he might
+see fit.
+
+Their friends in Springfield kept Price and McCulloch well-informed as
+to Lyon's diminishing force and perplexities.
+
+Brilliant as McCulloch may have been in command of 100 or so men, he was
+clearly unequal to the leadership of such a host. He was as much feebler
+in temper to Lyon as he was inferior in force and grasp to Sterling
+Price.
+
+
+153
+
+An audacious stroke by Lyon on Friday, Aug. 2, quite unsettled his
+nerves. Getting information that his enemies were moving on him by three
+different roads, Lyon formed the soldierly determination to move out
+swiftly and attack one of the columns and crush it before the other
+could come to its assistance.
+
+Putting Capt. D. S. Stanley--of whom we shall hear much hereafter--at
+the head with his troop of Regular cavalry, and following him with a
+battalion of Regulars under Capt. Frederick Steele--of whom we shall
+also hear a great deal hereafter--and a section of Totten's Regular
+Battery, he marched out the Cassville Road with his whole force and at
+Dug Springs, 20 miles away, came up with McCulloch's advance, commanded
+by Brig.-Gen. J. S. Rains, of the Missouri State Guards, of whom, too,
+we shall hear much. Col. Mcintosh, McCulloch's adviser, was also on the
+ground with 150 men.
+
+Rains attempted to put into operation the tactics employed against Sigel
+at Carthage, but Steele and Stanley were men of different temper, and
+attacked him so savagely as to scatter his force in wild confusion.
+
+Lyon marched forward to within six miles of the main Confederate
+position, and lay there 24 hours, when, not deeming it wise to attack so
+far from his base, retired unmolested to Springfield.
+
+This startling aggressiveness quite overcame Gen. McCulloch, and
+the conduct of the Missourians disgusted him. He was strong in his
+denunciation of them and quite frank in his reluctance to attack
+Gen. Lyon without further information as to "his position and
+fortifications," and complained bitterly that he could get no
+information as to the "barricades" in Springfield and other positions
+he might encounter. He said that "he would not make a blind attack on
+Springfield," and "would order the whole army back to Cassville rather
+than bring on an engagement with an unknown enemy."
+
+
+154
+
+Gen. Price was strenuous in his insistence upon attack, and
+finally McCulloch consented to meet all the general officers at his
+headquarters. In the council McCulloch was plain in his unwillingness to
+engage Lyon or to enter on any aggressive campaign, but Price, seconded
+by Gens. Parsons, Bains, Slack and McBride, were most determined that
+Lyon should be attacked at once, and declared that if McCulloch
+would not do it he would resume command and fight the battle himself.
+McCulloch finally yielded, and ordered a forward movement, and on
+the morning of Aug. 6 the entire force was in camp along the bank of
+Wilson's Creek, about six miles south of Springfield. This position
+was taken largely because of its proximity to immense cornfields, which
+would supply the troops and animals with food.
+
+Wilson's Creek, rising in the neighborhood of Springfield, flows west
+some five miles, and then runs south nine or 10 miles in order to empty
+into the James River, a tributary of White River. Tyrel's Creek and
+Skegg's Branch, which have considerable valleys, are tributaries of
+Wilson's Creek. Above Skegg's Branch rises a hill, since known as Bloody
+Hill, nearly 100 feet high. Its sides are scored with ravines, the rock
+comes to the surface in many places, and the hight was thickly covered
+with an overgrowth of scrub-oak. There are other eminences and ravines,
+generally covered with scrub-oak and undergrowth, and the Confederates
+were camped in an irregular line along these for a distance of about
+three miles up and down Wilson's Creek, from the extreme right to the
+extreme left. Here they remained three days, with the much-disturbed
+McCulloch riding out every day with his Maynard rifle slung over his
+shoulder for a personal reconnoissance, which, as far as could be judged
+from his conversation on his return, was quite unsatisfactory.
+
+
+155
+
+He had little stomach for the attack, and naturally found reasons
+against it.
+
+Price and his Generals, on the other hand, were fretting over the delay.
+Price's accurate information of Lyon's condition made him sure that Lyon
+would do the obvious thing--retreat. It was the warlike thing to do
+to attack at once, which had every chance of success. Success meant as
+telling a stroke for Secession in the West as Bull Run had been in
+the East It would be quite as sensational, for there was no refuge or
+rallying point for the beaten Union army short of Rolla, 120 miles away,
+and the rough country, cut by innumerable valleys, gorges and streams,
+would enable the swarming mounted force to get in its wild work, and not
+permit the escape of a man, a gun or a wagon.
+
+McCulloch, yielding to Price's importunities, ordered the army forward,
+and at dawn of Aug. 19 he and Mcintosh were sitting down to breakfast
+with Price and Snead, preparatory to leading their forces forward, when
+they were startled by their pickets being driven in. McCulloch, who had
+hated Rains from Old Army days, and despised him and his Missourians
+since the Dug Springs affair, remarked contemptuously, "O, it's only one
+of Rains's scares," and turned to his meal.
+
+
+156
+
+But the matter instantly became more pressing than breakfast. Gen.
+Lyon had returned to Springfield Monday, Aug. 5, to meet an intense
+disappointment. Not a thing had been sent to meet his desperate needs.
+Fremont had ordered one regiment from Kansas and from the Missouri River
+to go forward to him, but they could hardly reach him in less than
+a fortnight. There were at that time some 44 regiments in
+Missouri--regiments commanded by men whose names afterward shine in
+history--U. S. Grant, John Pope, S. A. Hurlbut, John M. Palmer, John
+B. Turchin, S. B. Curtis, Morgan L. Smith, O. E. Salomon, John McNeil,
+etc.,--but they were kept garrisoning posts, chasing guerrillas, and at
+almost everything else than hurrying forward toward him, as they should
+have been.
+
+Two of his regiments--the 3d and 4th Mo.--took their discharge and
+started for St. Louis. The 1st Iowa's time was out, but Lyon asked the
+men to stay with him a few days longer, and they did to a man.
+
+Aside from the military reasons for holding Springfield there were
+others which appealed to Lyon's mind with equal power. His heart had
+bled over the outrages committed by the Secessionists upon the Union
+people in that section of the State. The presence of his army was the
+only security that the loyal people had that their farms would not
+be robbed and themselves murdered. Hundreds of them had gone into
+Springfield to be under his protection. How they could be ever gotten
+back to a place of safety in retreat was the gravest of problems. Gen.
+Schofield, at that time his Adjutant-General, and who disapproved of
+fighting the battle of Wilson's Creek, thinks that this consideration
+had more weight with him than the military reasons, and induced him to
+fight where the judgment of the soldier was against it.
+
+
+157
+
+Four anxious days longer Lyon remained at Springfield. He called a
+council of his principal officers, and the unanimous decision was that
+the army should retreat.
+
+On Aug. 9 he sent the following letter to Gen. Fremont, the last he ever
+wrote:
+
+     General: I retired to this place, as I before informed you,
+     reaching here on the 5th. The enemy followed to within 10
+     miles of here. He has taken a strong position, and is
+     recruiting his supply of horses, mules, and provisions by
+     forages Into the surrounding country, his large force of
+     mounted men enabling him to do this without much annoyance
+     from me. I find my position extremely embarrassing, and am
+     at present unable to determine whether I shall be able to
+     maintain my ground or be forced to retire. I can resist any
+     attack from the front, but if the enemy move to surround me
+     I must retire. I shall hold my ground as long as possible,
+     though I may, without knowing how far, endanger the safety
+     of my entire force, with its valuable material, being
+     induced by the valuable considerations involved to take the
+     step. The enemy showed himself in considerable force
+     yesterday five miles from here, and has doubtless a full
+     purpose of attacking me.
+
+     N. LYON, Commanding.
+
+
+168
+
+The simple, soldierly dignity of this is pathetic. There is no murmur of
+complaint, such as a man treated as he had been was eminently justified
+in making. After sending this note, Gen. Lyon received intelligence that
+one of his cavalry parties had been attacked by rebel cavalry, but
+after a brief fight had beaten them off. He thereupon sent out a
+reconnoitering party to learn if the Secessionists had moved forward,
+and the party presently returned with two Texan and two Tennesseean
+prisoners, from whom Lyon learned for the first time of the junction of
+McCulloch's forces and Price's. He at once decided upon a bold stroke.
+Everything was prepared as if in readiness for retreat, with the tents
+struck and the Quartermaster's and Commissary's stores in the wagons.
+Quartermaster Alexis Mudd went to headquarters and asked Gen. Lyon:
+
+"When do we start back?"
+
+The General fixed his keen blue eyes upon the Quartermaster and said,
+clearly and firmly:
+
+"When we are whipped back, and not until then."
+
+An order was at once issued for every man to be prepared to march at 6
+o'clock that evening, without any luggage, and with all the ammunition
+he could carry.
+
+Calling a council of officers, Gen. Lyon announced his intention to move
+out and attack the enemy in his chosen position. Gen. Sigel proposed
+that he be allowed to take his regiment and Col. Salomon's to move
+independently and take the enemy in flank and rear. The other officers
+strongly opposed this, while Gen. Lyon withheld his consent, but finally
+yielded to Sigel's entreaties and authorized the movement, giving Sigel
+1,400 infantry, two companies of cavalry and six pieces of artillery, to
+move along the Fayetteville Road until he should reach the right flank
+and rear of the enemy, and at daybreak attack them vigorously.
+
+Lyon was to retain 3,700 men and 10 pieces of artillery and move down
+the Mount Vernon Road and attack in the morning on the left front and
+flank simultaneously with Sigel's attack on the right.
+
+
+159
+
+A force of 250 Home Guards with two pieces of artillery was left at
+Springfield to guard the trains and public property. Col. Sigel's column
+moved out at 6:30 o'clock in the evening by the left and arrived at
+daybreak of the 10th within two miles of the extreme right and rear of
+the enemy's camp, where they proceeded to cut off and bring into camp
+some 40 stragglers who were out foraging. This was done to prevent their
+carrying intelligence into camp.
+
+Gen. Lyon with the First, Second and Third Brigades, set out about the
+same hour, and by 1 o'clock in the morning came within sight of the
+enemy's camp-fires, where they halted until morning. Capt. Plummer was
+ordered to deploy his battalion to act as skirmishers on the left, while
+Maj. Osterhaus did the same on the right with his battalion of the 2d
+Mo.
+
+
+160
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X. BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK
+
+If the idea of an attack by Gen. Lyon was remote from Gen. McCulloch's
+thoughts, it was entirely absent from those of Gen. Sterling Price.
+Gen. Price's mind was concentrated upon the plan to which he had wrung
+McCulloch's reluctant consent of advancing that morning upon Lyon in
+four columns, and thereby crushing him, probably capturing his army
+entire or driving him into a ruinous retreat The first messengers
+bringing the news of Lyon's close proximity were received with
+contemptuous disbelief by McCulloch, but on their heels came an Aid from
+Gen. Rains with the announcement that the fields in front of Rains
+were "covered with Yankees, infantry and artillery." This roused all to
+soldierly activity. Neither Price nor McCulloch lacked anything of
+the full measure of martial courage, and both at once sped to their
+respective commands to lead them into action.
+
+After breaking up the council of war, the previous afternoon, Gen.
+Lyon said very little beyond giving from time to time, as circumstances
+called, sharp, precise, practical orders. Naturally talkative and
+disputatious, he was, when action was demanded, brief, sententious, and
+sparing of any words but what the occasion demanded. He had carefully
+thought out his plan of march and battle to the last detail--determined
+exactly what he and every subordinate, every regiment and battery
+should do, and his directions to them were clear, concise, prompt and
+unmistakable.
+
+[Illustration: 165-Battlefield of Wilson's Creek]
+
+
+161
+
+He rode with Maj. Schofield, his Chief of Staff, to the place where they
+halted about midnight in sight of the rebel campfires and slept with
+him in the brief bivouac under the same blanket. To Schofield he seemed
+unusually depressed. The only words he said, beyond necessary orders,
+were almost as if talking to himself:
+
+"I would give my life for a victory."
+
+Again, in response to Schofield's discreet criticism of the wisdom of
+dividing his forces and giving Sigel an independent command, he said
+briefly:
+
+"It is Sigel's plan."
+
+Sige's theoretical knowledge of war and his experience were then felt to
+be so overshadowing to everybody else's as to estop criticism.
+
+The men of Lyon's little army lay down on their grassy bivouac with
+feelings of tensest expectation. With the exception of the few of the
+Regulars who had been in the Mexican and Indian wars, not one of them
+had ever heard a gun fired in anger. They had been talking battle for
+three months. Now it was upon them, but none of them could realize how
+sharp would be the combat, nor how exceedingly well they were going to
+acquit themselves.
+
+At the first streak of dawn Lyon was up--all activity and
+anticipation--to open the battle. He had wisely selected the two men who
+were to strike the first blows.
+
+
+162
+
+Capt. Jos. B. Plummer, who commanded the Regulars deployed as
+skirmishers on the left, and who sun should set, was a man after Lyon's
+own heart He was strongly in favor of the battle, and afterward defended
+it as the wisest thing to do under the circumstances. He was born in
+Massachusetts, and had graduated in 1841 in the same class with Lyon
+and Totten, whose battery was to do magnificent service, and avenge the
+insults and humiliations of Little Rock. Rummer's standing in his class
+was 22, where Lyon's was 11 and Totten's 25. He had been in garrison in
+Vera Cruz during the Mexican War, and so had escaped getting the brevets
+"for gallant and meritorious conduct" which had been so freely bestowed
+on all who had been "present" at any engagement, but had reached the
+rank of Captain in 1862, a year later than Capt Lyon. He was to rise
+to Colonel of the 11th Mo. and Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and
+everywhere display vigor and capacity in important commands, but to have
+his career cut short by his untimely death near Corinth, Miss., Aug.
+9,1862, at the age of 43 years. Maj. Peter Joseph Osterhaus, who
+commanded the two companies of his regiment--the 2d Mo.--deployed on
+the right, was the best soldier in that wonderful immigration of bright,
+educated, enthusiastic young Germans who took refuge in this country
+after the failure of the Revolution of 1848. At least, he was tried
+longer in large commands, and rose to a higher rank than any of them.
+Sigel and Carl Schurz became, like him, Major-Generals of Volunteers,
+but his service was regarded as much higher than theirs, and he was
+esteemed as one of the best division and corps commanders in the Army of
+the Tennessee. After long service as a division commander he commanded
+the Fifteenth Corps on the March to the Sea. He was born in Prussia,
+educated as a soldier, took part in the Revolution, migrated to this
+country, and was invaluable to Lyon in organizing the Home Guards among
+the Germans to save the Arsenal He still lives, a specially honored
+veteran, at Mannheim, in Prussia.
+
+
+163
+
+Capt. Jas. Totten, whose battery was placed in the center, was to win a
+Lieutenant-Colonel's brevet for his splendid service during the day, but
+got few honors during the rest of the war. He became a Brigadier-General
+of Missouri Militia, and received the complimentary brevets of Colonel
+and Brigadier-General when they were generally handed round on March 13,
+1865, but his unfortunate habits caused his dismissal from the Army in
+1870. He was then Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Inspector-General.
+
+There were many men among Lyon's subordinates whose conduct during the
+day brought them prominence and started them on the way to distinction.
+
+Maj. Samuel D. Sturgis, of the 4th U. S. Cav., a Pennsylvanian, who was
+that day to win the star of a Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and
+who commanded the First Brigade, afterward rose to the command of a
+division, fought with credit at Second Manassas, South Mountain and
+Fredericksburg, for which he received brevets, and was overwhelmingly
+defeated, while in command of an independent expedition, by Forrest,
+at Guntown, Miss., June 10, 1864, and passed into retirement. He became
+Colonel of the 7th U. S. Cav. after the war. He was a graduate of West
+Point in 1882.
+
+
+164
+
+Lieut-Col. I. F. Shepard, who was Lyon's Aid, became a Brigadier-General
+of Volunteers.
+
+Maj. John M. Schofield, Lyon's Adjutant-General, has been spoken of
+elsewhere.
+
+Capt Gordon Granger, 3d U. S. Cav., a New Yorker and a graduate of the
+class of 1841, was Lyon's Assistant Adjutant-General, and won a brevet
+for his conduct that day. He was a man of far more than ordinary
+abilities--many pronounced him a great soldier, and said that only his
+unbridled tongue prevented him rising higher than he did. He became
+a Major-General and a Corps Commander, led the troops to Thomas's
+assistance at the critical moment at Chickamauga, but fell under the
+displeasure of Sherman, who relieved him. He afterward commanded the
+army which captured Forts Gaines and Morgan, and received the surrender
+of Mobile.
+
+Capt Frederick Steele, 2d U. S., Gen. Grant's classmate and lifelong
+friend, who had won brevets in Mexico, commanded a battalion of two
+companies. He was to become Colonel of the 8th Iowa, Brigadier and
+Major-General, and render brilliant service at Vicksburg and in
+Arkansas.
+
+Maj. John A. Halderman, 1st Kan., who succeeded to the command of
+the regiment when Col. Deitzler was wounded, was commended by all his
+superior officers, for his handsome conduct. He had been appointed
+by Gen. Lyon Provost Marshal-General of the Western Army, and was
+afterwards commissioned a Major-General. He entered the diplomatic
+service under President Grant; became Minister to Siam, and was praised
+all over the world for his success in bringing that country into touch
+with civilization.
+
+
+165
+
+Lieut.-Col. G. L. Andrews, who in the absence of Col. F. P. Blair,
+commanded the 1st Mo., was a Rhode Island man, who afterward entered the
+Regular Army, fought creditably through the war, and in 1892 was retired
+as a Colonel.
+
+In the 1st Mo. was Capt. Nelson Cole, who was severely wounded. He
+served through the war, rose to be a Colonel, became Senior Vice
+Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a
+Brigadier-General of Volunteers in the war with Spain.
+
+In the 1st Kan. were Col. Geo. W. Detzler, who later became a
+Brigadier-General; Capt. Powell Clayton, who was to become a Colonel,
+Brigadier-General, Governor of Arkansas, Senator, and Embassador to
+Mexico, and Capt. Daniel McCook, who was to become Brigadier-General,
+and fall at Kene-saw.
+
+In the 2d Kan. were Col. Robert B. Mitchell, of Ohio, who rose to be
+Brigadier-General and did gallant service in the Army of the Cumberland;
+Maj. Charles W. Blair, who became a Brigadier-General, and Capt. Samuel
+J. Crawford, who became a Colonel, a brevet Brigadier-General, and
+Governor of Kansas.
+
+In the 1st Iowa were Lieut.-Col. W. H. Merritt, a New Yorker, who
+commanded the regiment and afterwards became a Colonel on the staff, and
+Capt. Francis J. Herron, who became a Major-General of Volunteers and
+commanded a division at Prairie Grove, Vicksburg, and in Texas.
+
+
+166
+
+There were very many in these regiments serving as privates and
+non-commissioned officers who afterwards made fine records as
+commanders of companies and regiments and became distinguished in
+civil life. Taken altogether, Lyon's army was an unusually fine body of
+fighting men. The Iowa and Kansas men were ardent, enthusiastic youths,
+accustomed to the use of the gun, and who hunted their enemies as they
+did the wild beasts they had to encounter. They were free from the
+superstition inculcated in the Eastern armies that the soldier's duty
+was to stand up in the open and be shot at. When it was necessary to
+stand up they stood up gallantly, but at other times they took advantage
+of every protection and lay behind any rock or trunk of tree in wait for
+the enemy to come within easy range, and then fired with fatal effect.
+
+The older Regulars trained to Indian fighting were equally effective,
+and speedily brought the mass of recruits associated with them into
+similar efficiency.
+
+Nowhere else at that early period of the war was the fire of the Union
+soldiers so deliberate and deadly as at Wilson's Creek.
+
+The Confederates had no pickets out--not even camp-guards. They had
+been marched and countermarched severely for days, and were resting
+preparatory to advancing that morning on Springfield. Many were at
+breakfast, many others starting out to get material for breakfast in the
+neighboring fields. Rains's Division was the most advanced, and Rains
+reports that he discovered the enemy when about three miles from camp,
+and that he put his Second Brigade--mounted men commanded by Col.
+Caw-thorn, of the 4th Mo.--into line to resist the advance. He says that
+the brigade maintained its position all day, which does not agree with
+the other accounts of the battle.
+
+
+167
+
+Before Gen. Lyon--a mile and a half away--rose the eminence, afterward
+known as "Bloody Hill," which overlooked the encampment of the
+Confederates along Wilson's Creek, and on which substantially all the
+fighting was to take place. From it the Confederate trains were in short
+reach, and the rout of the enemy could be secured. Its central position,
+however, made it easy to concentrate troops for its defense and bring up
+reinforcements.
+
+Capt. Plummer sent forward Capt. C. C. Gilbert, 1st U. S., with his
+company to guard the left of the advance, cross Wilson's Creek, and
+engage the right of the enemy. Capt. Gilbert was a soldier of fine
+reputation, who was to win much credit on subsequent fields; to rise to
+the rank of Brigadier-General and the brief command of a corps, and then
+to fall under the displeasure of his commanding officers. Capt. Gilbert
+moved forward rapidly until he came to Wilson's Creek, where his
+skirmishers were stopped by swamps and jungles of brushwood, when Capt.
+Plummer caught up with him, and the whole battalion finally crossed
+the creek and advanced into a cornfield, easily driving away the first
+slight force that attempted to arrest them.
+
+In the meanwhile quite a number of the enemy was discovered assembling
+on the crest of the ridge, and Gen. Lyon forming the 1st Mo. into line
+sent them forward on the right to engage these, while the 1st Kan. came
+up on the left and opened a brisk fire, with Totten's battery in the
+center, which also opened fire.
+
+
+168
+
+This was about 10 minutes past 5, when the battle may be said to
+have fairly opened. The 1st Iowa and the 2d Kan., with Capt. Steele's
+battalion of Regulars, were held in reserve. Rains's Missourians
+responded pluckily to the fire, and Gen. Price began rushing up
+assistance to them until he says that he had over 2,000 men on the
+ridge. The 1st Kan. and the 1st Mo. pressed resolutely forward,
+delivering their fire at short range, and after a sharp contest of 20
+minutes the Missourians gave way and fled down the hill.
+
+There was a brief lull, in which the Union men were encouraged by
+hearing Sigel's artillery open two miles away, on the other flank of
+the enemy, and Lyon found his line preparatory to pushing forward and
+striking the trains. Already there were symptoms of panic there, and
+some of the wagons were actually in flames.
+
+Gen. Rains soon succeeded in rallying his men.
+
+Gens. Slack, McBride, Parsons and Clark rushed to his assistance with
+what men they could hastily assemble, and Gen. Price led them forward in
+a line covering Gen. Lyon's entire front. Both sides showed an earnest
+disposition to come to close quarters, and a fierce fight lasting for
+perhaps half an hour followed. Sometimes portions of the Union troops
+were thrown into temporary disorder, but they only fell back a few
+yards, when they would rally and return to the field. The enemy strove
+to reach the crest of the ridge and drive the Union troops back, but
+were repulsed, while the Union troops, following them to the foot of the
+ridge, were driven back to the crest.
+
+
+169
+
+The Confederates brought up a battery, which, however, was soon silenced
+by the fire concentrated upon it from Totten's battery and that of
+Lieut. Du Bois. In the meanwhile Capt. Plummer had been pushing his
+Regulars thru the corn and oat fields toward the battery which he wanted
+to take, and was within 200 yards of it when Capt. Mcintosh, an officer
+of the Old Army, and now Adjutant-General for McCulloch, saw the danger
+and rushed up the 3d La. and the 2d Ark. against Plummer's left The
+Regulars made a stubborn resistance for a few minutes, but their line
+was enveloped by the long line of the two regiments, and they fell back
+with considerable haste across the creek toward Totten's battery.
+
+Mcintosh saw his advantage and pursued it to the utmost, sending his
+Louisianians and Arkansans forward on the double-quick to prevent
+Plummer from rallying. The watchful DuBois saw the trouble the Regulars
+were in, and turning his guns upon his pursuers enfiladed them with
+canister and shell with such effect that they in turn ran, and were
+rallied by Mcintosh behind a little log house, into which DuBois put a
+couple of shells and sent them further back.
+
+By this time the battle was two hours old and the roar of the conflict
+died down, except on the extreme right, where the 1st Mo. was still
+having a bitter struggle with a superior force of fresh troops with
+which Price was endeavoring to turn the Union right flank.
+
+
+170
+
+Gen. Lyon, who had watched every phase of the battle closely, ordered
+Capt. Totten to move part of his battery to the support of the 1st
+Mo., but as the Captain was about to open he was restrained by seeing
+a regiment advancing to within a distance of about 200 yards, carrying
+both a Federal and a Confederate flag. It was the direction from which
+Sigel had been anxiously expected, and as the uniform of the advancing
+regiment was similar to that of Sigel's men, both the infantry and the
+artillery withheld their fire until the enemy revealed his character by
+a volley, when Capt Totten opened all his guns upon them with canister
+and inflicted great slaughter.
+
+Capt Cary Gratz, of the 1st Mo., was so indignant at this treachery that
+he dashed out and shot down the man who was carrying the Union flag,
+only to be shot down himself almost immediately afterwards by several
+bullets from the Confederates. The 2d Kan. was also hurried forward to
+support the 1st Mo. Capt Steele's battalion was brought up and the
+1st Iowa was sent in to relieve the 1st Kan., which had suffered quite
+severely and was nearly out of ammunition.
+
+The battle was renewed with much greater fierceness than ever, the
+Confederates advancing in three or four ranks, lying down, kneeling,
+standing, sometimes getting within 30 or 40 yards of the Union line
+before they were forced back.
+
+Gen. Lyon was everywhere where his presence was needed to encourage the
+troops, rally them, and bring them back into line. His horse was shot,
+and he received a wound in the head and one on the ankle. He continued
+to walk along the line, but he was evidently much depressed by the way
+in which Price and McCulloch succeeded in bringing forward fresh troops
+to replace those which had been driven from the field. He said to
+Maj. Schofield sadly, "I fear the day is lost." Schofield replied
+encouragingly, dismounted one of his orderlies and gave the horse to
+Lyon, when they separated, each to lead a regiment It was now 9 o'clock,
+or little after, and there was a lull in the fight, during which
+time the enemy seemed to be reorganizing his force, and Lyon began
+concentrating his into a more compact form on the crest of the ridge.
+
+
+171
+
+Capt. Sweeny called Lyon's attention to his wounds, but Lyon answered
+briefly, "It is nothing."
+
+Schofield moved off to rally a portion of the 1st Iowa, which showed
+a disposition to break under the terrific fire, and lead it back into
+action. Gen. Lyon rode for a moment or two with the file closers on the
+right of the 1st Iowa, and then turned toward the 2d Kan., which was
+moved forward under the lead of Col. Mitchell. In a few moments the
+Colonel fell, wounded, and Gen. Lyon shouted to the regiment to come on,
+that he would lead them. The next instant, almost, a bullet pierced his
+breast and he fell dead. Lehman, his faithful orderly, was near him when
+he fell, and rushed to his assistance, raising a terrible outcry,
+which some of the officers near promptly quieted lest it discourage the
+troops.
+
+After a bitter struggle of fully half an hour the Confederates were
+driven back all along the line, and the battle ceased for a little
+while. The Confederates retired so completely that it looked as if the
+battle was won, and Maj. Schofield, finding Maj. Sturgis, informed him
+that he was in command, and the principal officers were hastily gathered
+together for a consultation. The first and most anxious inquiry of all
+was as to what had become of Sigel. It was all-important to know that.
+If a junction could be formed with him the army could advance and drive
+the enemy completely from the field.
+
+
+172
+
+Sigel had crossed Wilson's Creek and come into line within easy range
+of McCulloch's headquarters, where Capt Shaeffer opened with his battery
+upon a large force of Arkansan, Texan and Missourian troops who were
+engaged in getting breakfast. They were so demoralized by the awful
+storm of shells that at least one regiment--Col. Greer's of Texas--did
+not recover its composure during the day, and took little if any part in
+the rest of the engagement.
+
+Col. Churchill succeeded in rallying his Arkansas regiment, but before
+he could return and engage Sigel he received urgent orders to hurry over
+to the right and help drive back Lyon. Sigel's men moved forward into
+the deserted camp, but unfortunately broke ranks and began plundering
+it.
+
+McCulloch had rushed over to his headquarters in time to meet the
+fugitives, and by great exertions succeeded in rallying about 2,000 men,
+with whom he attacked Sigel's disorganized men in the camps, and
+drove them out. Sigel succeeded in rallying a portion of his men, when
+McCulloch advanced upon them with a regiment the uniforms of which were
+so like that of the volunteers under Lyon that his men could not be
+persuaded that it was not a portion of Lyon's troops advancing to their
+assistance, and they withheld their fire until the Confederates were
+within 10 paces, when the latter poured in such a destructive volley
+that men and horses went down before it, and Sigel's Brigade was utterly
+routed, with a loss of some 250 prisoners and a regimental flag, which
+was afterwards used to deceive the Union troops.
+
+
+173
+
+With the exception of the two troops of Regular cavalry under Capt.
+E. A. Carr, which seem to have done nothing during this time, Sigel's
+Brigade disappeared completely from the action, and Sigel and Salomon,
+with a few men, rode back to Springfield, where it is said that they
+went to bed. This inexplicable action by Sigel bitterly prejudiced the
+other officers against him, and was continually coming up in judgment
+against him.
+
+There is no doubt of Sigel's personal courage, but why, with the sound
+of Lyon's cannon in his ears, and knowing full well the desperate
+struggle his superior officer was engaged in, he made no effort to
+rally his troops or to take any further part in the battle, is beyond
+comprehension. Col. Salomon, who accompanied him in his flight to
+Springfield, afterward became Colonel of a Wisconsin regiment, and made
+a brilliant record.
+
+It was yet but little after 9 o'clock, and despite the stubbornness of
+the fighting no decisive advantage had been gained on either side.
+
+The Union troops were masters of the savagely contested hill, but all
+their previous efforts to advance beyond, pierce the main Confederate
+line, and reach the trains below had been repulsed. Had they better make
+another attempt?
+
+The hasty council of war decided that it would be unsafe to do so until
+Col. Sigel was heard from. The army was already badly crippled, for the
+1st Kan. and the 1st Mo. had lost one-third of their men and half their
+officers, the others had suffered nearly as severely, and everybody was
+running short of ammunition. They had marched all night, and gone
+into battle without breakfast, had been fighting five hours, and were
+suffering terribly from heat, thirst and exhaustion.
+
+
+174
+
+The council was suddenly brought to an end by seeing a large force which
+Price and McCulloch had rallied come over the hill directly in the Union
+front A battery which Gen. Price had established on the crest of the
+hill somewhat to the left opened a fire of canister and shrapnel, but
+the Union troops showed the firmest front of any time during the day,
+and Totten's and DuBois's batteries hurled a storm of canister into the
+advancing infantry. Gen. Price had brought up fresh regiments to replace
+those which had been fought out, and it seemed as if the Union line
+would be overwhelmed. But the officers brought up every man they could
+reach. Capt Gordon Granger threw three companies of the 1st Mo., three
+companies of the 1st Kan., and two companies of the 1st Iowa, which had
+been supporting DuBois's battery, against the right flank of the enemy
+and by their terrible enfilade fire sent it back in great disorder. On
+the right Lieut.-Col. Blair, with the 2d Kan., was having an obstinate
+fight, but with the assistance of a section of Totten's battery under
+Lieut. Sokalski the enemy was at last driven back clear out of sight.
+
+The battle had now raged bitterly for six hours, with every attempt of
+the enemy to drive foe stubborn defenders from the crest of the hill
+repulsed. The slope on the eminence was thickly strewn with the dead and
+wounded. The Confederates had suffered fearfully. Cols. Weightman and
+Brown, who commanded brigades, had been killed, and Gens. Price,
+Slack and Clark wounded. The loss of subordinate officers had been very
+heavy. They had been clearly fought to a finish, and an attempt of their
+cavalry to turn the Union right flank had been repulsed with great loss
+by Totten's battery and several companies of the 1st Mo. and the 1st
+Kan. The shells produced the greatest consternation among the horses and
+men, as they were delivered at short range with unerring aim. The entire
+Confederate line left the field, disappearing thru the thick woods in
+the valley to their camp on Wilson's Creek, somewhat to the right of the
+Union center.
+
+
+175
+
+Another brief council of war resulted in an order from Maj. Sturgis to
+fall back. Nothing could be heard from Sigel, the men were exhausted,
+the ammunition nearly gone, and it seemed best to retire while there was
+an opportunity left. As subsequently learned this was a great mistake,
+because the Confederate army was in full retreat, and an advance from
+the Union army would have sent them off the field for good.
+
+The Union officers did the best they could according to their light, and
+their retirement was in the best order and absolutely unmolested.
+
+The retreat began about 11:30 and continued two miles to a prairie
+northeast of the battleground, where a halt was made to enable the
+Surgeons to collect the wounded in ambulances. Gen. Lyon's body had been
+placed in an ambulance, but by someone's order was taken out again and
+left on the prairie with the rest of the dead.
+
+About 5 o'clock in the afternoon the army reached Springfield, and
+there found Sigel and Salomon and most of their brigade, with the others
+coming in from all directions.
+
+
+176
+
+In spite of his conduct on the battlefield, Sigel's great theoretical
+knowledge and experience in European wars decided that the command
+should be turned over to him, and he was formally placed at the head.
+
+According to official reports the casualties in the Union army were as
+follows:
+
+[Illustration: 176-Table of Union Casualties]
+
+The official reports give the casualties in the Confederate army as
+follows:
+
+[Illustration: 177-Table of Confederate Casualties]
+
+
+177
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI. THE AFTERMATH OF WILSON'S CREEK
+
+An analytical study of the losses in the preceding chapter will aid in a
+more thoro appreciation of the most bitter battle fought on the American
+Continent up to that time, and by far the severest which had ever been
+waged west of the Allegheny Mountains. It will be perceived that the
+loss in the Union army was almost wholly in Gen. Lyon's column of 4,000
+men, or less, which suffered to the extent of almost one-third of
+its number. In the 1,300 men in Gen. Sigel's command the loss was
+insignificant, except in prisoners.
+
+Both sides fought with a stubbornness absolutely unknown in European
+wars, but the regiments of the Union army seemed to be inspired with
+that higher invincibility of purpose which characterized their great
+leader.
+
+Judged by the simple equation of losses, the Union regiments displayed a
+far greater tenacity of purpose than the Confederates. We have no exact
+figures as to the number in each Union regiment, as there were constant
+changes taking place; a great many men had served their time out and
+more were claiming and receiving their discharges.
+
+Aug. 4, 1861, six days before the battle, Gen. Lyon gave from
+"recollection" the following estimate of the strength of his command,
+which must have been considerably reduced in the seven days between that
+and the battle, and from which must be deducted some 250 men left to
+guard the trains and property in Springfield:
+
+
+178
+
+[Illustration: 179-Table]
+
+
+179
+
+It is altogether unlikely that the 1st Mo., for example, took into
+battle within 100 or more of the 900 men assigned to it, and the same
+thing is true of the 900 men given for the 1st Iowa, and the 700 each
+for the two Kansas regiments.
+
+If we assume that the 1st Mo. and the 1st Iowa had 800 men each and the
+Kansas regiments 600 each, we find that the loss of 295 for the 1st
+Mo., 284 for the 1st Kan., and 154 for the 1st Iowa to be appalling. The
+Regulars suffered severely, but not so badly as the volunteers.
+
+Among those who were noted for gallant conduct in the battle of Wilson's
+Creek was Eugene F. Ware, then a private in the 1st Iowa, and who
+afterward became a Captain in the 7th Iowa Cav. In civil life
+he attained a leading place at the Kansas bar, and was appointed
+Commissioner of Pensions by President Roosevelt.
+
+
+180
+
+None of the Confederate regiments engaged suffered to anything like
+the same extent, and as they were driven from the field, while the
+Union regiments maintained their position and were even ready for
+further aggression, the palm of higher purposes and more desperate
+fighting must be unhesitatingly conceded to the Union volunteers. Few of
+the Confederate commanders give reports of the number they carried into
+action, but many of their regiments must have been approximately as
+strong as those of the Union, and they had many more of them.
+
+The moral effect of the battle was prodigious on both sides. The Union
+troops were conscious of having met overwhelming forces and fought them
+to a stand-still, if not actual defeat. Every man felt himself a victor
+as he left the field, and only retreated because the exigencies of the
+situation rendered that the most politic move.
+
+It was consequently a great encouragement to the Union sentiment
+everywhere, and did much to retrieve the humiliation of Bull Run. The
+Confederates naturally made the very most of the fact that they had been
+left masters of the field, and they dilated extensively upon the killing
+of Gen. Lyon and the crushing defeat they had administered upon Sigel,
+with capture of prisoners, guns and flags. They used this to so good
+purpose as to greatly stimulate the Secession spirit thruout the State.
+
+
+181
+
+Gen. McCulloch's dispatches to the Confederate War Department are, to
+say the least, disingenuous. His first dispatch that evening stated
+that the enemy was 12,000 strong, but had "fled" after eight hours' hard
+fighting. His second official report, dated two days after the battle,
+gave his "effective" forces at 5,300 infantry, 15 pieces of artillery
+and 6,000 horsemen, armed with flintlock muskets, rifles and shotguns.
+He says: "There were, other horsemen with the army, but they were
+entirely unarmed, and instead of being a help they were continually
+in the way." He repeatedly pronounces the collisions at the different
+periods of the battle as "terrific," and says: "The incessant roar of
+musketry was deafening, and the balls fell as thick as hailstones." His
+next sentences are at surprising variance with the concurrent testimony
+on the Union side; for he says: "Nothing could withstand the impetuosity
+of our final charge. The enemy fell back and could not again be rallied,
+and they were seen at 12 m. fast retreating among the hills in the
+distance. This ended the battle. It lasted six hours and a half."
+
+By this time Gen. McCulloch had reduced the Union force to between 9,000
+and 10,000, and he claims the Union loss to have been 800 killed, 1,000
+wounded and 300 prisoners. He gave his own loss at 265 killed, 800
+wounded and 30 missing. His colleague, Gen. Price, he curtly dismisses
+with this brief laudation: "To Gen. Price I am under many obligations
+for assistance on the battlefield. He was at the head of his force,
+leading them on and sustaining them by his gallant bearing."
+
+
+182
+
+Gen. Price's report is more accurate and soldierlike, but he says that
+after several "severe and bloody conflicts" had ensued, and the battle
+had been conducted with the "greatest gallantry and vigor on both
+sides for more than five hours, the enemy retreated in great confusion,
+leaving their Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Lyon, dead upon the battlefield,
+over 500 killed and a great number wounded." He claims that his forces
+numbered 5,221 officers and men, of whom 156 were killed and 517
+wounded. This would make the loss of his whole division of 5,000 men
+673, or about the same lost by the 1st Mo. and the 1st Kan., with these
+two regiments still maintaining their position, while the enemy retired.
+
+It seems difficult to understand why, if the enemy "retreated in great
+confusion," as reported by Mc-Culloch and Price, the several thousand
+horsemen who did little or nothing during the battle were not let loose
+to complete the ruin of the Union forces. No matter how poorly armed or
+disciplined these might have been, their appearance on the flank of the
+retiring column would have been fatal to any orderly retreat such as was
+conducted. The universal testimony of the Union officers and soldiers is
+that there was no enemy in sight when they started to leave the field,
+and that they suffered no molestation whatever, though they halted two
+miles from the field and in plain sight for some time.
+
+It also passes comprehension that this horde of irregular horsemen
+were not employed during the long hours of the battle in making some
+diversion in the rear of the Union army.
+
+Both Price and McCulloch seem to have had their attention so fully
+engrossed in bringing up new regiments to keep Lyon from breaking thru
+their lines and reaching their trains that they had no opportunity to
+give orders or organize manuvers by the horsemen, and nobody seems to
+have suggested to the mounted men that they could employ their time
+better than by standing back and watching the progress of the terrible
+conflict between the two opposing lines of infantry.
+
+
+183
+
+It appears that the Union officers in the council called by Gen. Sturgis
+were not at all unanimous for retreat. Capt. Sweeny, altho severely
+wounded, vehemently insisted upon pursuing the enemy, and Capt. Gordon
+Granger, also severely wounded, rode up to Sturgis, pointed out that
+there was not a man in sight and that the fire could be seen from where
+the retreating foe was burning his wagons, and he urged the pursuit so
+vigorously that Sturgis had to repeat his order for him to leave the
+field.
+
+Col. Sigel, in his report made at Rolla eight days after the battle,
+made a long and labored explanation of his operations during the day. He
+thus explained his failure to do more:
+
+     In order to understand clearly our actions and our fate, you
+     will allow me to state the following facts:
+
+     1st. According to orders, it was the duty of this brigade to
+     attack the enemy in the rear and to cut off his retreat,
+     which order I tried to execute, whatever the consequences
+     might be.
+
+     2d. The time of service of the 6th Regiment Mo. Volunteers
+     had expired before the battle. I had induced them, company
+     by company, not to leave us in the most critical and
+     dangerous moment, and had engaged them for the time of eight
+     days, this term ending on Friday, the 9th, the day before
+     the battle.
+
+     3d. The 3d Regiment, of which 400 three-months men had been
+     dismissed, was composed for the greatest part of recruits,
+     who had not seen the enemy before and were only
+     insufficiently drilled.
+
+     4th. The men serving the pieces and the drivers consisted of
+     infantry taken from the 3d Regiment and were mostly
+     recruits, who had had only a few days' instruction.
+
+     5th. About two-thirds of our officers had left us. Some
+     companies had no officers at all; a great pity, but a
+     consequence of the system of the three months' service.
+
+Later, when Gen. Sigel was seeking promotion, Maj. Schofield, then a
+Brigadier-General, sent the following communication to Gen. Halleck:
+
+
+184
+
+     St Louis, Mo.. Feb. 18, 1862. Maj.-Gen.   Halleck,
+     Commanding  Department  of  the   Missouri.
+
+     General: The question of the merits of Brig.-Gen. Franz
+     Slgel as a commander having assumed such shape as to deeply
+     involve the interests of the service, I deem it my duty to
+     make a statement of facts which came to my knowledge during
+     the campaign of last Summer in the Southwest, ending in the
+     death of Gen. Lyon and the retreat of his army from
+     Springfield.
+
+     Soon after the capture of Camp Jackson, in May, Gen. Lyon
+     sent Col. Slgel, with his two regiments of infantry and two
+     batteries of artillery, to the southwestern part of the
+     State, by way of Rolla, to cut off the retreat of Price's
+     force which he (Lyon) was about to drive from Boonville. Col.
+     Sigel passed beyond Springfield, reaching a point not far
+     from the Kansas line, and on the main road used by Price's
+     men in their movement south to join him. Here he left a
+     single company of infantry in a small town, with no apparent
+     object, unless that It might fall in the hands of the enemy,
+     which it did the next day (6th of July). Sigel met Price the
+     next day, and fought the celebrated "battle of Carthage."
+     Sigel had about two regiments of infantry, well armed and
+     equipped, most of the men old German soldiers, and two good
+     batteries of artillery. Price had about twice Sigel's number
+     of men, but most of them mounted, armed with shotguns and
+     common rifles, and entirely without organization and
+     discipline, and a few pieces of almost worthless artillery.
+     Sigel retreated all day before this miserable rabble,
+     contenting himself with repelling their irregular attacks,
+     which he did with perfect ease whenever they ventured to make
+     them. The loss on either side was quite insignificant. Price
+     and McCulloch were thus permitted to join each other
+     absolutely without opposition; Sigel, who had been sent
+     there to prevent their Junction, making a "masterly
+     retreat."
+
+     Several days before the battle of Wilson's Creek it was
+     ascertained beyond a doubt that the enemy's strength was
+     about 22,000 men, with at least 20 pieces of artillery,
+     while our force was only about 5,000. About the 7th of
+     August the main body of the enemy reached Wilson's Creek,
+     and Gen. Lyon decided to attack him. The plan of attack was
+     freely discussed between Gen. Lyon, the members of his
+     staff, CoL Sigel, and several officers of the Regular Army.
+     Col. Sigel, apparently anxious for a separate command,
+     advocated the plan of a divided attack.   All others, I
+     believe, opposed it.
+
+     On the 8th of August the plan of a single attack was
+     adopted, to be carried out on the 9th. This had to be
+     postponed on account of the exhaustion of part of our
+     troops. During the morning of the 9th Col. Sigel had a long
+     interview with Gen. Lyon, and prevailed upon him to adopt
+     his plan, which led to the mixture of glory, disgrace and
+     disaster of the ever-memorable 10th of August Slgel, in
+     attempting to perform the part assigned to himself, lost his
+     artillery, lost his infantry, and fled alone, or nearly so,
+     to Springfield, arriving there long before the battle was
+     ended. Yet he had almost nobody killed or wounded. One piece
+     of his artillery and 500 or 600 infantry were picked up and
+     brought in by a company of Regular cavalry.   No effort was
+     made by Sigel or any of his officers to rally their men and
+     join Lyon's Division, altho the battle raged furiously for
+     hours after Sigel's rout; and most of his men in their
+     retreat passed in rear of Lyon's line of battle.
+
+
+185
+
+     On our return to Springfield, at about 5 o'clock p. m., Maj.
+     Sturgis yielded the command to Col. Sigel, and the latter,
+     after consultation with many of the officers of the army,
+     decided to retreat toward Rolla; starting at 2 o'clock a. m.
+     in order that the column might be in favorable position for
+     defense before daylight. At the hour appointed for the
+     troops to move I found Col. Sigel asleep in bed, and his own
+     brigade, which was to be the advance guard, making
+     preparations to cook their breakfast It was 4 o'clock before
+     I could get them started. Sigel remained in command three
+     days, kept his two regiments in front all the time, made
+     little more than ordinary day's marches, but yet did not get
+     in camp until 10, and on one occasion 12 o'clock at night.
+     On the second day he kept the main column waiting, exposed
+     to the sun on a dry prairie, while his own men killed beef
+     and cooked their breakfast. They finished their breakfast at
+     about noon, and then began their day's march.
+
+     The fatigue and annoyance to the troops soon became so
+     intolerable that discipline was impossible. The officers,
+     therefore, almost unanimously demanded a change. Maj.
+     Sturgis, in compliance with the demand, assumed the command.
+
+     My position as Gen. Lyon's principal staff officer gave mo
+     very favorable opportunities for judging of Gen. Sigel's
+     merits as an officer, and hence I appreciate his good as
+     well as his bad qualities more accurately than most of those
+     who presume to judge him. Gen. Sigel, in point of
+     theoretical education, is far above the average of
+     commanders in this country. He has studied with great care
+     the science of strategy, and seems thoroly conversant with
+     the campaigns of all the great captains, so far as covers
+     their main strategic features, and also seems familiar with
+     the duties of the staff; but in tactics, great and small
+     logistics, and discipline he is greatly deficient. These
+     defects are so apparent as to make it absolutely impossible
+     for him to gain the confidence of American officers and men,
+     and entirely unfit him for a high command in our army. While
+     I do not condemn Gen. Sigel in the unmeasured terms so
+     common among many, but on the contrary see in him many fine
+     qualities, I would do less than my duty did I not enter my
+     protest against the appointment to a high command in the
+     army of a man who, whatever may be his merits, I know cannot
+     have the confidence of the troops he is to command.
+
+     I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
+
+     J. M. SCHOFIELD, Brigadier-General. U. S. Volunteers.
+
+
+This was accompanied by a statement embodying the same facts and signed
+by substantially all the higher officers who had been with Lyon.
+
+
+186
+
+At the first halt of the army, about two miles from the battlefield,
+while the dead and wounded were being gathered up, it was discovered
+that Gen. Lyon's body had been left behind. The Surgeon and another
+officer volunteered to take an ambulance and return to the battlefield
+for it They were received graciously by Gen. McCulloch; the body was
+delivered to them and they reached Springfield with it shortly after
+dark. The Surgeon made an attempt to embalm it by injecting arsenic
+into the veins, but decomposition, owing to exposure to the hot sun, had
+progressed too far to render it practicable, and they were compelled to
+leave it when the army moved off.
+
+Mrs. Phelps, wife of the member of Congress from that District, and
+a true Union woman, obtained it and had it placed in a wooden coffin,
+which was hermetically sealed in another one of zinc. Fearing that it
+might be molested by the Confederate troops when they entered the city,
+Mrs. Phelps had the coffin placed in an out-door cellar and covered with
+straw. Later she took an opportunity of having it secretly buried at
+night.
+
+Thinking that the remains had been brought on, Mr. Danford Knowlton,
+of New York, a cousin, and Mr. John B. Hasler, of Webster, Mass., a
+brother-in-law of Gen. Lyon, came on at the instance of the Connecticut
+relatives to obtain the remains. Not finding them at St. Louis,
+they went forward to Rolla, where Col. Wyman furnished them with an
+ambulance, with which they proceeded to Springfield under a flag
+of truce. They were kindly received by Gen. Price, and also by Gen.
+Parsons, whose brigade was encamped on the ground where the body was
+buried, and exhuming it, brought it to St. Louis. The city went into
+mourning, and the remains were conducted by a military and civic
+procession to the depot, where they were delivered to the Adams Express
+Company to be conveyed East under an escort of officers and enlisted
+men.
+
+
+187
+
+At every station on the road crowds gathered to pay their tribute of
+respect to the deceased hero and distinguished honors were paid at
+Cincinnati, Pittsburg, New York, and Hartford. The body was taken to
+Eastford, Conn., where the General was born, and in the presence of
+a large assemblage was interred in a grave beside his parents, in
+accordance with the desire the General expressed while in life.
+
+Upon opening Lyons' will it was found that he had bequeathed all his
+savings, prudent investments and property, amounting to about $50,000,
+to the Government to aid it in the prosecution of the war for its
+existence.
+
+Aug. 25, Gen. Fremont issued congratulatory orders, in which he said:
+
+     The General Commanding laments, in sympathy with the
+     country, the loss of the indomitable Gen. Nathaniel Lyon.
+     His fame cannot be better eulogized than in these words in
+     the official report of his gallant successor, Maj. Sturgis,
+     U. S. Cavalry: "Thus gallantly fell as true a soldier as
+     ever drew a sword; a man whose honesty of purpose was
+     proverbial; a noble patriot, and one who held his life as
+     nothing where his country demanded it of him. Let us emulate
+     his prowess and undying devotion to his duty!"
+
+     The order also permitted the regiments and other
+     organizations engaged to put "Springfield" on their colors,
+     and directed that the order should be read at the head of
+     every company in the Department of Missouri.
+
+
+188
+
+Dec. 30, 1861, Congress passed a joint resolution, in which it said:
+
+     That Congress deems it just and proper to enter upon its
+     records a recognition of the eminent and patriotic services
+     of the late Brig-Gen. Nathaniel Lyon.   The country to whose
+     service he devoted his life will guard and preserve his fame
+     as a part of its own glory.
+
+     2. That the thanks of Congress are hereby given to the brave
+     officers and soldiers who, under the command of the late
+     Gen. Lyon, sustained the honor of the flag, and achieved
+     victory against overwhelming numbers at the battle of
+     Springfield, in Missouri, and that, in order to commemorate
+     an event so honorable to the country and to themselves, it
+     is ordered that each regiment engaged shall be authorized to
+     bear upon its colors the word "Springfield," embroidered in
+     letters of gold. And the President of the United States is
+     hereby requested to cause these resolutions to be read at
+     the head of every regiment in the Army of the United States.
+
+
+189
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII. A GALAXY OF NOTABLE MEN
+
+The Union commanders were naturally very apprehensive that as soon as
+Price and Mc-Culloch realized that the field had been abandoned they
+would precipitate upon them their immense horde of vengeful horsemen.
+Such was not the case. Nothing tells so eloquently of the severity of
+the blow which Lyon had dealt his enemies than that it was two whole
+days before Price and McCulloch were in a frame of mind to move forward
+10 miles and occupy Springfield, the goal of their campaign. This delay
+was golden to the Union commanders, hampered as they were by hosts of
+Union refugees fleeing from the rebel wrath, and incumbering the column
+with all manner of vehicles and great droves of stock. Considering the
+activity of the Missourians in guerrilla warfare, and the vicious way
+they usually harried the Union forces, it is incomprehensible, except on
+the theory that the Confederate forces had been stunned into torpor
+by the blow. The Union column was able to make its long retreat of
+125 miles from Springfield to Rolla and traverse an exceedingly rough
+country cut up every few miles by ravines, gorges and creeks, without
+the slightest molestation from the six or eight thousand horsemen whom
+McCulloch had complained were so much in the way during the battle on
+the banks of Wilson's Creek.
+
+
+190
+
+Gen. McCulloch made a number of lengthy and labored explanations to the
+Confederate War Department of his failure to make any pursuit, but in
+the light of facts that then should have been attainable none of these
+was at all satisfactory. He admits that he did not enter Springfield
+until after his scouts had brought him satisfactory assurances that the
+Union army had abandoned the town. Aug. 12 he advanced to Springfield,
+and issued proclamations to the people announcing himself as their
+deliverer, and that his army "by great gallantry and determined courage"
+had entirely "routed the enemy with great slaughter."
+
+If he expected to be received and feted as a liberator he was sorely
+disappointed, and in one of his letters he says in connection with his
+customary uncomplimentary allusions to Gen. Price's army, "and from all
+I can see we had as well be in Boston as far as the friendly feelings of
+the inhabitants are concerned."
+
+The truth was that the advance of the Confederates had had a blighting
+effect upon that large portion of the people which had hoped to remain
+neutral in the struggle.
+
+Gen. Lyon, with all his intensity of purpose, had kept uppermost in mind
+that he was an agent of the law, and his mission was to enforce the
+law. He had kept his troops under excellent discipline, had permitted
+no outrages upon citizens, and had either paid for or given vouchers for
+anything his men needed, and had generally conducted himself in
+strict obedience of the law. His course was a crushing refutal of the
+inflammatory proclamations of Gov. Jackson and others about the Union
+soldiers being robbers, thieves, ravishers and outragers.
+
+
+191
+
+Quite different was the course of the twenty or more thousand men whom
+Price and McCulloch led into Springfield. They were under very little
+discipline of any kind, and were burning with a desire to punish and
+drive out of the country not merely those who were outspoken Unionists,
+but all who were not radical Secessionists. They knew that the sentiment
+in Springfield and the country of which it was the center was in favor
+of the Union, and they wanted to stamp this out by terror.
+
+While this brought to their ranks a great many of the more pliant
+neutrals, it drove away from them a great number, and put into the ranks
+of the Union many who had been more or less inclined to the pro-slavery
+element.
+
+The soreness between Price and McCulloch which had been filmed over
+before the battle by Price subordinating himself and his troops to
+McCulloch, became more inflamed during the stay at Springfield. In spite
+of the fact that the Missouri troops had done much better fighting, and
+suffered severer losses in the battle than McCulloch, he persisted in
+denouncing them as cowards, stragglers and mobites, without soldierly
+qualities.
+
+The following extracts from a report to J. P. Benjamin, Confederate
+Secretary of War, will show the temper which pervaded all his
+correspondence, and was probably still more manifest in his personal
+relations with the Missourians:
+
+     It was at this point that I first saw the total inefficiency
+     of the Missouri mounted men under Brig.-Gen. Rains. A
+     thousand, more or less, of them composed the advance guard,
+     and whilst reconnoiterlng the enemy's position, some eight
+     miles distant from our camp, were put to flight by a single
+     cannon-shot, running in the greatest confusion, without the
+     loss of a single man except one who died of overheat or
+     sunstroke, and bringing no reliable information as to the
+     position or fore of the enemy; nor were they of the
+     slightest service as scouts or spies afterwards.
+
+
+192
+
+     As evidence of this I will mention here the fact of the
+     enemy being allowed to leave his position, six miles distant
+     from us, 20 hours before we knew it; thus causing us to make
+     a night march to surprise the enemy, who was at that time
+     entirely out of our reach. A day or two previous to this
+     march the Generals of the Missouri forces, by common consent
+     on their part and unasked on mine, tendered me the command
+     of their troops, which I at first declined, saying to them
+     it was done to throw the responsibility of ordering a
+     retreat upon me if one had to be ordered for the want of
+     supplies, their breadstuffs giving out about this time; and,
+     in truth, we would have been in a starving condition had it
+     not been for the young corn, which was just in condition to
+     be used.    *    *    *
+
+     The battle over, it was ascertained that the camp followers,
+     whose presence I had so strongly objected to, had robbed our
+     dead and wounded on the battlefield of their arms, and at
+     the same time had taken those left by the enemy. I tried to
+     recover the arms thus lost by my men, and also a portion of
+     those taken from the enemy, but in vain. Gen. Pearce made an
+     effort to get back those muskets loaned to Gen. Price before
+     we entered Missouri the first time. I was informed he
+     recovered only 10 out of 615. I then asked that the battery
+     be given me, which was one taken by the Louisiana regiment
+     at the point of the bayonet. The guns were turned over by
+     the order of Gen. Price, minus the horses and most of the
+     harness. I would not have demanded these guns had Gen. Price
+     done the Louisiana regiment justice in his official report
+     The language used by him was calculated to make the
+     impression that the battery was captured by his men Instead
+     of that regiment    *    *    *
+
+McCulloch was a voluminous writer, both to the Confederate War
+Department and to personal and official friends, and few of these
+communications are without some complaint about the Missouri troops.
+Everything that he had failed to do was due to their inefficiency,
+their lack of soldierly perceptions, and conduct. They would give him
+no information, would not scout nor reconnoiter, and he was continually
+left in the dark as to the movements of the enemy. When they were
+attacked he claimed that they would run away in a shameful manner. His
+dislike of Gen. Rains seemed to grow more bitter continually.
+
+[Illustration: 195-General Samuel R. J. Curtis]
+
+
+193
+
+Gen. Price saw a great opportunity and was anxious to improve it. The
+retreat of the Union forces from Springfield opened up the whole western
+part of the State, and a prompt movement would carry the army forward to
+the Missouri River again, where it could control the navigation of
+that great stream, receive thousands of recruits now being assembled at
+places north of the river, separate the Unionists of Missouri from the
+loyal people in Kansas and Nebraska, and hearten up the Secessionists
+everywhere as much as it disheartened the Union people, and possibly
+recover St. Louis.
+
+He pressed this with all earnestness upon Gen. McCulloch, only to have
+it received with cold indifference or strong objections. He proposed
+that if McCulloch would undertake the movement, that he, Price, would
+continue in subordination to him and give him all the assistance that
+his troops could give.
+
+There is no doubt that Price was entirely right in his views, and that
+a prompt forward movement with such forces as he and McCulloch commanded
+would have been a very serious matter for the Union cause and carry
+discouragement everywhere to add to that which had been caused by the
+disaster of Bull Run.
+
+The relations between the two Generals constantly became more strained,
+and for the latter part of the two weeks which McCulloch remained at
+Springfield there was little communication between them. Gen. Price made
+good use of the time to bring in recruits from every part of the State
+which was accessible and to organize and discipline them for further
+service.
+
+At the end of a fortnight Gen. McCulloch suffered Gen. Pearce to return
+to Arkansas with his Arkansas Division, while Gen. McCulloch retired
+with his brigade of Louisianians and Texans, and Price was left free to
+do as he pleased.
+
+
+194
+
+The death of Gen. Lyon at last aroused Gen. Fremont to a fever of energy
+to do the things that he should have done weeks before. He began a
+bombardment of Washington with telegrams asking for men, money and
+supplies, and sent dispatches of the most urgent nature to everybody
+from whom he could expect the least help. He called on the Governors of
+the loyal Western States to hurry to him all the troops that they could
+raise, and asked from Washington Regular troops, artillery, $3,000,000
+for the Quartermaster's Department, and other requirements in
+proportion. He made a requisition on the St. Louis banks for money, and
+showed a great deal of fertility of resource.
+
+Aug. 15, five days after the battle, President Lincoln, stirred up by
+his fusillade of telegrams, dispatched him the following:
+
+     Washington, Aug. 15, 1861. To Gen. Fremont:
+
+     Been answering your messages ever since day before
+     yesterday. Do you receive the answers? The War Department
+     has notified all the Governors you designate to forward all
+     available force. So telegraphed you. Have you received these
+     messages?    Answer immediately.
+
+                    A. LINCOLN.
+
+
+With relation to his conduct toward Gen. Lyon, Gen. Fremont afterward
+testified to this effect before the Committee on the Conduct of the War:
+
+     A glance at the map will make it apparent that Cairo was the
+     point which first demanded immediate attention. The force
+     under Gen. Lyon could retreat, but the position at Cairo
+     could not be abandoned; the question of holding Cairo was
+     one which involved the safety of the whole Northwest. Had
+     the taking of St. Louis followed the defeat of Manassas, the
+     disaster might have been irretrievable; while the loss of
+     Springfield, should our army be compelled to fall back upon
+     Rolla, would only carry with it the loss of a part of
+     Missouri--a loss greatly to be regretted, but not
+     irretrievable. Having reinforced Cape Girardeau and Ironton,
+     by the ut-most exertions, I succeeded in getting together
+     and embarking with a force of 3,800 men, five days after my
+     arrival in St Louis.
+
+
+195
+
+     From St. Louis to Cairo was an easy day's Journey by water,
+     and transportation abundant To Springfield was a week's
+     march; and before I could have reached it Cairo would have
+     been taken and with it, I believe, St Louis.
+
+     On my arrival at Cairo I found the force under Gen. Prentiss
+     reduced to 1,200 men, consisting mainly of a regiment which
+     had agreed to await my arrival. A few miles below, at New
+     Madrid, Gen. Pillow had landed a force estimated at 20,000,
+     which subsequent events showed was not exaggerated. Our
+     force, greatly increased to the enemy by rumor, drove him
+     to a hasty retreat and permanently secured the position.
+
+     I returned to St. Louis on the 4th, having in the meantime
+     ordered Col. Stephenson's regiment from Boonville, and Col.
+     Montgomery's from Kansas, to march to the relief of Gen.
+     Lyon.
+
+     Immediately upon my arrival from Cairo, I set myself at
+     work, amid incessant demands upon my time from every
+     quarter, principally to provide reinforcements for Gen.
+     Lyon.
+
+     I do not accept Springfield as a disaster belonging to my
+     administration. Causes wholly out of my jurisdiction had
+     already prepared the defeat of Gen. Lyon before my arrival
+     at St Louis.
+
+
+The ebullition of the Secession sentiment in Missouri following the news
+of the battle of Wilson's Creek made Gen. Fremont feel that the most
+extraordinary measures were necessary in order to hold the State. He
+had reasons for this alarm, for the greatest activity was manifested
+in every County in enrolling young men in Secession companies and
+regiments. Heavy columns were threatening invasion from various points.
+One of these was led by Gen. Hardee, a Regular officer of much ability,
+who had acquired considerable fame by his translation of the tactics in
+use in the Army. He had been appointed to the command of North Arkansas,
+and had collected considerable force at Pocahontas, at the head of
+navigation on the White River, where he was within easy striking
+distance of the State and Lyon's line of retreat, and was threatening
+numberless direful things.
+
+
+196
+
+McCulloch and Price had sent special messengers to him to urge him to
+join his force with theirs to crush Lyon, or at least to move forward
+and cut off Lyon's communications with Rolla. They found Hardee within
+400 yards of the Missouri State line. He had every disposition to do as
+desired, but had too much of the Regular officer in him to be willing
+to move until his forces were thoroly organized and equipped. There was
+little in him of the spirit of Lyon or Price, who improvised means for
+doing what they wanted to do, no matter whether regulations permitted it
+or not.
+
+Hardee complained that though he had then 2,300 men and expected to
+shortly raise this force to 5,000, one of his batteries had no horses
+and no harness, and none of his regiments had transportation enough for
+field service, and that all regiments were badly equipped and needed
+discipline and instruction.
+
+Later, Hardee repaired many of these deficiencies, and was in shape to
+do a great deal of damage to the Union cause, and of this Fremont and
+his subordinates were well aware. Gens. Polk and Pillow, with quite
+strong forces at Columbus, were threatening Cairo and southeast
+Missouri, and an advance was made into the State by their picturesque
+subordinate, Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, the poet laureate of the New Madrid
+marshes and the "Swamp Fox" who was to emulate the exploits of Francis
+Marion. Thompson moved forward with a considerable force of irregular
+mounted men, the number of which was greatly exaggerated, and it was
+reported that behind him was a column commanded by Pillow, ranging all
+the way from 8,000 to 25,000.
+
+
+197
+
+Gen. Fremont set an immense force of laborers to work on an elaborate
+system of fortification for the city of St. Louis, and also began the
+construction of fortifications at Cape Girardeau, Ironton, Rolla and
+Jefferson City. He employed laborers instead of using his troops, in
+order to give the latter opportunity to be drilled and equipped.
+He issued the following startling General Order, which produced the
+greatest commotion in the State and outside of it:
+
+     Headquarters of the Western Department,
+
+     St Louis, Aug. 31, 1861.
+
+     Circumstances in my judgment of sufficient urgency render it
+     necessary that the Commanding General of this Department
+     should assume the administrative power of the State. Its
+     disorganized condition, the devastation of property by bands
+     of murderers and marauders who infest nearly every County in
+     the State, and avail themselves of the public misfortunes
+     and the vicinity of a hostile force to gratify private and
+     neighborhood vengeance, and who find an enemy wherever they
+     find plunder, finally demand the severest measures to
+     repress the daily increasing crimes and outrages which are
+     driving off the inhabitants and ruining the State. In this
+     condition the public safety and the success of our arms
+     require unity of purpose, without let or hindrance to the
+     prompt administration of affairs.
+
+     In order, therefore, to suppress disorders, to maintain, as
+     far as now practicable, the public peace, and to give
+     security and protection to the persons and property of loyal
+     citizens, I do hereby extend and declare established martial
+     law thru-out the State of Missouri. The lines of the army of
+     occupation in this State are, for the present, declared to
+     extend from Leavenworth, by way of the posts of Jefferson
+     City, Rolla and Ironton to Cape Girardeau, on the
+     Mississippi River. All persons who shall be taken with arms
+     in their hands within these lines shall be tried by court-
+     martial, and, if found guilty, will be shot. The property,
+     real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri
+     who shall take up arms against the United States, or shall
+     be directly proven to have taken active part with their
+     enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the
+     public use; and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby
+     declared free men.
+
+     All persons who shall be proven to have destroyed, after the
+     publication of this order, railroad tracks, bridges or
+     telegraphs, shall suffer the extreme penalty of the law.
+
+     All persons engaged in treasonable correspondence, in giving
+     or procuring aid to the enemies of the United States, in
+     disturbing the public tranquility by creating and
+     circulating false reports or incendiary documents, are in
+     their own interest warned that they are exposing themselves.
+
+
+198
+
+     All persons who have been led away from their allegiance are
+     required to return to their homes forthwith; any such
+     absence, without sufficient cause, will be held to be
+     presumptive evidence against them.
+
+     The object of this declaration is to place in the hands of
+     the military authorities the power to give Instantaneous
+     effect to existing laws, and to supply such deficiencies as
+     the conditions of war demand. But it is not intended to
+     suspend the ordinary tribunals of the country, where the law
+     will be administered by the civil officers in the usual
+     manner and with their customary authority, while the same
+     can be peaceably exercised.
+
+     The Commanding General will labor vigilantly for the public
+     welfare, and, in his efforts for their safety, hopes to
+     obtain not only the acquiescence, but the active support, of
+     the people of the country.
+
+     J. C. FREMONT,
+
+     Major-General Commanding.
+
+
+Another man who appeared on the scene as Colonel of the 2d Iowa was
+Samuel R. Curtis, an Ohio man, who graduated from West Point in 1831, in
+the same class with Gens. Ammen, Humphreys and W. H. Emory. He resigned
+the next year and became a prominent civil engineer in Ohio. He served
+in the Mexican War as Colonel of the 2d Ohio, and at the close of that
+struggle returned to his profession of engineering, removed to Iowa, and
+at the outbreak of the war was a member of Congress from that State. He
+was a man of decided military ability, and the victory won at Pea Ridge
+was his personal triumph. He was to rise to the rank of Major-General
+and command an independent army, but become involved in the factional
+fights in Missouri and have his further career curtailed.
+
+
+199
+
+Still another name which appears with increased frequency about this
+time is that of U. S. Grant, an Ohio man, who had graduated from West
+Point in 1843, and had shown much real enterprise and soldiership in
+Mexico, but had fallen under the disfavor of his commanding officers;
+had been compelled to resign while holding the rank of Captain in the
+4th U. S., and for eight years had had a losing struggle in trying to
+make a living in civil pursuits. A happy accident put him at the head of
+the 21st Ill., with which he had entered Missouri to guard the Hannibal
+& St. Joseph Railroad, and incidentally to dispose of one Thomas A.
+Harris, a very energetic and able man who held a Brigadier-Generalship
+from Gov. Jackson, and who was making himself particularly active in
+the neighborhood of that railroad. Grant showed much energy in chasing
+around for Harris, but had never succeeded in bringing him into battle,
+though when he left for other scenes Harris was hiding among the knobs
+of Salt River, with his command reduced to three enlisted men and his
+staff.
+
+Though he was out of favor with Gen. McClellan and many others who
+were directing military operations, in some way a Brigadier-General's
+commission came to U. S. Grant, and he was assigned to the District of
+Southeastern Missouri, with headquarters at Cape Girardeau, where his
+duty was to hold in check the poetical M. Jeff Thompson, the noisy
+Gideon J. Pillow and the prelatic Leonidas J. Polk in their efforts to
+get control of the southeastern corner of the State and menace Cairo and
+St. Louis.
+
+Maj. Sturgis was promptly made a Brigadier-General to date from Wilson's
+Creek, and assigned to the command of Northeast Missouri, where he had
+five or six thousand men under him.
+
+Capt. Fred Steele had accepted a commission as Colonel of the 8th Iowa;
+Capt. Jos. B. Plummer shortly took the Colonelcy of a new regiment, the
+11th Mo.; Capt. Totten became Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel of the 1st
+Mo. Art., of which Schofield was Major.
+
+
+200
+
+Notwithstanding the feeling of the officers and soldiers who had
+participated in the battle of Wilson's Creek against Sigel, it was found
+so necessary to "recognize the Germans" and hold them strongly for the
+Union cause that he was made a Brigadier-General to date from May 17,
+1861, which put him in the same class of Volunteer Brigadier-Generals as
+Hunter, Heintzelman, Fitz John Porter, Wm. B. Franklin, Wm. T. Sherman,
+C. P. Stone, Don Carlos Buell, John Pope, Philip Kearny, Joseph
+Hooker, U. S. Grant, John A. McClernand and A. S. Williams, all of whose
+volunteer commissions bore the date of May 17. This was subsequently a
+cause of trouble.
+
+There appeared also another of those figures so common among the State
+builders of this country, and upholding to the fullest the character
+of a leader of pioneers. James H. Lane was an Indiana man, son of a
+preacher; had served with credit as Colonel of Indiana troops in Mexico,
+and had been Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana and Member of Congress, but
+getting at odds with his party had migrated to Kansas, where his natural
+talents and fiery, aggressive courage speedily brought him to the front
+as the leader of the warlike Free State men, who resisted with force and
+arms the attempts of the Pro-slavery men to dominate the Territory.
+His instant readiness for battle and the unsparing energy with which he
+prosecuted his enterprises so endeared him to the Free State men that
+when the State was admitted there was no question about his election as
+her first United States Senator.
+
+
+201
+
+Kansas had promptly raised two regiments, which had fought superbly
+at Wilson's Creek and afterwards joined in the retrograde movement to
+Rolla. This left Kansas without any protection, and the people naturally
+reasoned that in the advance upon the territory left unguarded by the
+retirement of the Union army, Gen. Price and his Missourians would
+embrace the opportunity to pay back with interest the debt of vengeance
+which had been running since the wars of '56 and '57. Therefore Lane
+received the authority to recruit five regiments in Kansas, and went
+about his work with his characteristic energy.
+
+The 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Kan. at once began organizing, receiving
+many recruits from the young Union men who had been forced to leave
+Missouri, and within a week or more after the battle of Wilson's Creek
+Gen. Lane had mustered an effective force of about 2,500 men, who had
+received some clothing and equipment and much instruction from the
+Regular officers and men at Forts Scott, Riley and Leavenworth.
+
+With these forces in hand under a man of Lane's well-known character,
+neither Gen. Price nor his men had much disposition to meddle with
+Kansas, even if the General had not other and more comprehensive views.
+
+Gen. Price was not waiting for Fremont's plans to develop before
+executing his own. He employed the two weeks after the battle in
+diligently organizing his men, and Aug. 26 left Springfield at the head
+of a column of about 10,000 enthusiastic young Missourians, who had
+in that brief time made great progress in soldiership. He caused great
+alarm at Fort Scott, by pointing the head of his column toward that
+place, and arriving within 10 miles of it on the night of the 1st
+of September, sent Rains's Division, which was made up of men from
+southwest Missouri, forward to reconnoiter.
+
+
+202
+
+Rains's advance of 30 mounted men under Capt. Rector Johnson pushed
+forward to within sight of Fort Scott, on the morning of Sept. 1, and
+captured a drove of 80 Government mules which had been sent out to graze
+on the prairies. They also carried off all the able-bodied men that they
+could find on their line of march. Two companies of the newly-raised
+Kansas cavalry promptly attacked Johnson's command, which fell back
+across the line toward the main body, encamped at Dry Wood. Gen. Lane
+gathered up such of his volunteers as were in reach, and moved to Dry
+Wood, where he offered Gen. Rains battle, but the latter declined to be
+drawn from the shelter in the woods in which he had formed his lines,
+and Lane did not think it was prudent to attack a force the strength of
+which he could not ascertain.
+
+A noisy, long-range skirmish ensued, which terminated at nightfall by
+Lane withdrawing his forces to Fort Scott. The next day, leaving Col.
+Jennison with 400 cavalry in Fort Scott, Lane crossed the Little Osage
+and threw up fortifications on its banks to oppose Price's further
+advance and give him battle should he attempt to move into Kansas.
+
+Gen. Price declined to fight him in his chosen position, but drew his
+forces together and started to execute his cherished plan of advancing
+to the Missouri River and forming connection there with the troops
+which Gens. Harris and Green had been raising in northern Missouri, not
+seriously molested in their work by the Union forces under Gens.
+Pope and Sturgis. The action at Dry Wood was made the most of by the
+Secessionists, who claimed a defeat for the terror-striking "Jim" Lane.
+The casualties were insignificant for the forces engaged, as there were
+but five killed and 12 wounded on the Union side, and four killed and 16
+wounded on the Confederate.
+
+
+203
+
+It was feared that after Gen. Price had moved forward to the Missouri
+River McCulloch would come up from Arkansas and take Fort Scott, which
+he had been authorized to do by the Confederate Secretary of War;
+but McCulloch seems to have had other ideas, and spent the weeks in
+inaction.
+
+The situation of the Union men of southwest Missouri became gloomy in
+the extreme. The whole country was overrun with guerrilla bands hunting
+down the Union men, and not infrequently shooting them on sight.
+
+Gen. Fremont had seriously alarmed Polk, Pillow and Thompson by his
+showy reinforcement of Cairo with 3,800 men. Though Pillow was reputed
+to have about 20,000 troops at his disposal, he was seized with a great
+fear, wrote to Hardee at Pocahontas urging him to come to his help, and
+limited the sphere of the operations of his dashing lieutenant, M. Jeff
+Thompson. Maj.-Gen. Polk seems to have also been deeply impressed,
+for he wrote to Pillow urging him to put his troops in trenches in the
+neighborhood of New Madrid, strongly fortify that place and stretch a
+chain across the river to prevent the passage of gunboats.
+
+Then Polk had another tremor, and ordered Pillow to evacuate New Madrid
+at once, taking his men and heavy guns across the river to the strong
+works of Fort Pillow. Pillow, however, as insubordinate and self-seeking
+as he had been in the Mexican War, and thirsting for the distinction of
+taking Cape Girardeau, did not obey his superior's orders, but retained
+his forces at New Madrid. He had the audacity to write to his superior,
+"Withdraw your control over me for a few hours."
+
+
+204
+
+Pillow, merely hanging on to the remotest fringe of the State, assumed
+the title of "Liberator of Missouri", and his correspondence, orders and
+proclamations were headed, "Headquarters Army of Liberation."
+
+About the same time an old acquaintance, Lieut-Gov. Thos. C. Reynolds,
+he of the ready pen and fluent phrases, taking advantage of a hasty
+journey of Gov. Jackson to Richmond, assumed full gubernatorial powers,
+set up his capital in Pillow's camp at New Madrid, and proceeded to
+clothe him with the most extraordinary prerogatives. He made himself the
+whole of the "Sovereign people of Missouri," and issued a proclamation
+withdrawing the State from the Union. He said that "disregarding the
+forms and considering only realities, I view an ordinance for the
+separation from the North and union with the Confederate States as
+a mere outward expression giving notice to others of an act already
+consummated in the hearts of the people." He then proceeded to establish
+a military despotism which made the worst of what had been said of
+Fremont pale before it. He clothed all the military commanders--not
+merely those of Missouri provided by the odious Military Act, but
+such Confederate commanders as Pillow and Hardee, who should enter the
+State--with a most absolute power over the lives and property of the
+people of Missouri.
+
+
+205
+
+The following oath was prescribed which all citizens were to be
+compelled to take by any officer of the Missouri State Guards or
+Confederate army who might come upon them:
+
+     Know all men, that I------------, of the County of----------,
+     State of Missouri, do solemnly swear that I will bear
+     true faith and allegiance to the State of Missouri, and
+     support the Constitution of the State, and that I will not
+     give aid, comfort, information, protection or encouragement
+     to the enemies or opposers of the Missouri State Guards, or
+     their allies, the armies of the Confederate States, upon the
+     penalty of death for treason.
+
+In the meanwhile Gen. Price, more practical and capable than any of
+them, with true military foresight was rushing his troops toward the
+Missouri River, gaining recruits and arousing enthusiasm with every
+day's march. Leading his own advance he hurried towards Warrensburg, the
+County seat of Johnson County, about 30 miles south of Lexington,
+where he hoped to seize about $100,000 deposited in the State banks.
+He arrived too late for this however, because the Union troops had the
+same object in view, and had anticipated him, carrying the money off
+with them and leaving behind some very clever caricatures, drawn by the
+skillful artists among the Germans, which irritated Price and his men
+more than it was reasonable they should.
+
+The Union commander at Warrensburg, Col. Everett Peabody, of the
+13th Mo., had kept himself well informed as to Price's movements, and
+retreated from Warrensburg to Lexington, burning the bridges after he
+had crossed them. He sent notice to Fremont of Price's movements.
+
+Col. James A. Mulligan, with the 23d 111., an Irish regiment, was
+ordered forward to Lexington to Col. Peabdy's assistance, and to hold
+the place to the last.
+
+
+206
+
+The 1st Ill. Cav., Col. Thos. A. Marshall, and fragments of Home Guard
+regiments in process of organization, were drawn back to Lexington, in
+face of the advance of Price's columns. There was also a mongrel field
+battery, consisting of one 4-pounder, three 6-pounders, one 12-pounder
+and two little 4-inch howitzers, the latter being useless on account of
+having no shells.
+
+The cavalry was only armed with pistols and sabers.
+
+No official Union reports are on file as to the affair, but the total
+strength of the garrison is given unofficially at from 2,640 to 3,300.
+The correspondent of the Missouri Republican gives these figures:
+
+     23d 111., Col. Mulligan...............................    800
+
+     Home   Guards,   Col.   White..........................   500
+
+     13th Mo., Col. Peabody................................    840
+
+     1st Ill. Cav., CoL Marshall...........................    500
+
+     Total...................................................2,040
+
+Col. Mulligan assumed command of the whole by seniority of commission.
+He was an Irishman with all his race's pugnacity, and also its
+effervescence. He was born in Utica, N. Y., in 1830, had graduated from
+a Roman Catholic college, studied law, and edited the principal Roman
+Catholic paper in the West, "The Tablet."
+
+
+207
+
+Lexington, which is the County seat of Lafayette County, was a
+very important place in frontier times, and the center of the great
+hemp-growing region of Missouri. It is situated on the south bank of the
+Missouri River, about 300 miles by its course above St. Louis, and about
+84 miles below Kansas City by water, or 42 miles by rail. It consisted
+of two towns, Old and New Lexington, about a mile apart, having
+altogether about 5,000 people. It had some manufactories and two or
+three colleges, one of which, the Masonic College, situated on high
+ground between Old and New Lexington, a half mile from the river, was
+taken by Col. Mulligan for his position, which he proceeded to fortify
+with high, substantial works to accommodate 10,000 men, inclosing about
+15 acres on the summit of the bluffs. Between 2,000 and 3,000 horses and
+other animals of the trains were gathered inside this inclosure.
+
+A week before Col. Mulligan's arrival, on Sept. 9, Gov. Jackson had
+briefly set up his Capital there, and held a session of that portion
+of the Legislature which adhered to him. The approach of Col. Pea-body
+caused a precipitate adjournment, and there was left behind $800,000 in
+coin, which was buried in the cellar of the college, with the great seal
+of the State of Missouri.
+
+At dawn on Sept. 12, Gen. Price, riding with his advance, Rains's
+Division, struck the Union pickets stretching through the cornfields
+outside of Lexington, but though he brought up all his infantry within
+reach, and McDonald's, Guibor's, and Clark's batteries, his heads of
+columns were beaten back everywhere by the stubborn Union soldiers, who
+had been waiting three days for him, and he wisely decided to withdraw
+two or three miles and wait for the rest of his forces and ammunition
+wagons to come up.
+
+
+208
+
+Col. Mulligan telegraphed to Col. Jeff C. Davis, at Jefferson City--120
+miles away--the fact of Price's advance and his need for help, and Davis
+sent the news to Fremont, who ordered forward three regiments and two
+batteries to Davis, and directed him to reinforce Mulligan, which he
+could do by rail and river. Fremont also sent orders to Pope and Sturgis
+to help Mulligan out, but there was not much urgency in the orders, and
+each of his subordinates seems to have taken his own time and way of
+obeying or not obeying.
+
+Jeff C. Davis had at that time something over 5,000 men at Jefferson
+City, and subsequent reinforcements raised this number, it was claimed,
+to 11,000--certainly to 8,000. Davis afterward became a valuable
+division and corps commander, but he certainly did not show up well in
+this transaction. He, also, had too much of the "Regular" in him. He
+complained of a lack of wagons and harness, commissary supplies and
+ammunition, to enable him to make a forward movement. He had none of the
+spirit of Lyon and Price, to impress teams and supplies and make means
+to do what ought to be done.
+
+It was harvest time in that fertile part of Missouri, and his army need
+not have suffered for food, wherever he went. But all that he did was
+to send forward a couple of regiments to occupy points and prevent the
+Secessionists from crossing the river at those places. They had all
+either crossed or found other unguarded places.
+
+Pope showed similar incapacity. He had 5,000 men in easy reach of
+Lexington, but he was more engrossed in the Hannibal & St Joseph
+Railroad and in matters in Keokuk and Canton than in Lexington. He
+telegraphed to Gen. Fremont that he would move forward 4,000 men to
+Lexington, and actually did send forward Lieut.-Col. Scott with the 3d
+Iowa and Robt. F. Smith with the 16th 111., with instructions to form
+a junction at liberty, in Clay County, and then proceed to Lexington.
+Lieut-Col. Scott pushed on to the Blue Mills Landing on the Missouri
+River, where he came in contact with a large Secession force. Six
+regiments of the Missouri State Guard were there, making their way to
+Lexington.
+
+
+209
+
+D. R. Atchison, former Senator from Missouri, President of the United
+States Senate, and of much notoriety during the Kansas and Nebraska
+troubles, took command of this force and attacked Col. Scott, compelling
+rapid retreat. Atchison reported to Price the usual story about the
+small number under his command and the large force of the Yankees
+routed, but this does not harmonize with his praises to Cols. Sanders,
+Patten, Childs, Cundliff, Wilfley, and Maj. Gause, each of whom he says
+handled his "regiment" with great gallantry.
+
+Col. Smith met Col. Scott in his retreat, learned from him the
+overwhelming force in front, and retreated with him, so that portion of
+the relief came to naught.
+
+Gen. Sturgis moved forward from Mexico with about 4,000 men and reached
+the Missouri River, but finding no means for crossing, and surveying the
+host that was gathered around the city, retired with such haste as to
+leave his tents and camp equipage.
+
+Gen. Price proceeded with astonishing deliberation, when we consider
+that he must have known that Fremont had something over 20,000 men
+within striking distance.
+
+Retreat was still open for Col. Mulligan, as he had two steamboats
+at his command, but he felt that his orders obliged him to remain in
+Lexington for the protection of much public property which had been
+gathered there, and that as his situation was known to Gen. Fremont,
+relief would be speedily sent to him.
+
+
+210
+
+In the meantime, every hour had swelled Gen. Price's forces. Some of
+the Secession writers have claimed that there were actually as many as
+38,000 men gathered in his camps. Of course, a large proportion of his
+force was useless unless to help beat off a relieving column, because,
+owing to the small extent of the position occupied by Col. Mulligan,
+only a limited number of men could be employed against it, and 10,000
+were as effective as 100,000. A very large portion of Gen. Price's
+forces were men who flocked to his camp as to a picnic or a barbecue,
+because something was going on, and they fell away from him again when
+he began a backward movement, as rapidly as they came.
+
+Then ensued for six days a very strange battle. Swarms of Missourians
+crowded the ravines in the bluffs, behind trees, stones, the walls,
+fences and chimneys of the houses, and whatever else would afford
+adequate protection, and kept up an incessant fusillade upon the
+garrison safely ensconced behind thick banks of earth. When a squad
+occupying a secure shelter grew tired, or had fired away all its
+ammunition, it would go back to camp for dinner, when their places would
+be taken by others eager to share in the noise and excitement and have
+a story to take back home of the number of Yankees who had fallen under
+their deadly aim. If all these stories of the men "who had been at
+Lexington" could have been true, more men would have been sent to
+the grave than answered Lincoln's call for 500,000 volunteers. The
+artillerists were as enthusiastic and industrious as the men with
+"Yager" rifles and shotguns, and banged away with unflagging zeal and
+corresponding lack of mortality. The walls of the college were badly
+scarred, but the worst effect was that an occasional shell would take
+effect among the horses, and drop on the ground carcasses which speedily
+putrified under the hot sun, and added an unbearable stench to the
+other hardships of the garrison.
+
+
+211
+
+This went on day and night, for the moon was bright, and there was
+no reason why a man who had powder and shot, and could not get an
+opportunity at any of the coverts during the day, should not put in
+pleasantly a few hours at night.
+
+Naturally a rain of bullets, even though they might hit rarer than
+lightning strokes, had a wearing effect on the garrison.
+
+While this noisy fusillade by the mob of truculent bushwhackers was
+going on, there were much more soldierly occurrences by the more
+soldierly men on both sides.
+
+There were sorties and counter-sorties in which the greatest gallantry
+was displayed on both sides, and in which substantially all the losses
+occurred. The Secessionists captured a Union flag in one of these, which
+was balanced by a Secession flag captured by the 1st 111. Cav. Owing to
+the great superiority of the enemy in numbers, the finality of all these
+was against the garrison, which was everywhere pushed back from
+the edges of the bluff, and also from some buildings on the bluffs
+overlooking the works.
+
+Gen. Rains's Division invested the eastern and northeastern position of
+Mulligan's works; Gen. Parsons the southwestern, with Clark's Division,
+commanded by Col. Congreve Jackson, and Steen's Division as reserves.
+
+
+212
+
+Col. Rives, commanding Gen. Slack's Division, occupied the west along
+the river bank and captured the steamboats by which Mulligan could
+escape or receive reinforcements; Gens. Harris and Mc-Bride extended
+this line along the north, cutting off the garrison from all access to
+the river and water. This became very effective in forcing surrender, as
+not only the men but the animals suffered terribly from thirst.
+
+By the morning of Sept. 18, six days after the first encounter with the
+pickets, Gen. Price had all his forces up and properly disposed about
+the garrison. He and his principal subordinates were very weary of
+the noisy and fruitless bushwhacking, and eager for something more
+conclusive.
+
+Orders were issued for the whole line to close in upon the Union works,
+and they were gallantly responded to and met as gallant resistance from
+the beleaguered garrison in the 52 hours of stubborn fighting which
+ensued. Col. Congreve Jackson, commanding Gen. John B. Clark's Third
+Division, reported that he succeeded in getting to within 460 yards of
+the College.
+
+Col. Benj. A. Rives, commanding Gen. Slack's Fourth Division, says
+that after having been driven back by a gallant counter-assault, he got
+within 100 yards of the College.
+
+Gen. Steen lays claim for his division of having defeated Lieut.-Col.
+Scott, after which he passed back into the reserve.
+
+
+213
+
+Gen. Mosby M. Parsons, commanding the Sixth Division, says that he
+reached to within 500 yards of the College, and also crossed the river
+with 3,000 men, to repel Sturgis, who "retired in confusion, leaving 200
+of their tents."
+
+Gen. J. H. McBride, commanding the Seventh Division, says that he
+succeeded in forming a breastwork with hemp bales "100 yards from the
+enemy's works."
+
+Gen. Jas. S. Rains says that with the Second Division, numbering 3,025
+rank and file, he succeeded in gaining a position 350 yards north and
+500 yards east of the College.
+
+Gen. Thos. A. Harris does not give the point he reached, but the
+concurrent testimony is that he was the closest of all, and is supported
+by the fact that his division sustained the heaviest loss. To his
+division is due the credit of the famous device of hemp bales as
+advancing breastworks.
+
+Gen. Price quietly appropriates the credit for the device to himself,
+saying in his report:
+
+On the morning of the 20th inst I caused a number of hemp bales to
+be transported to the river nights, where moveable breastworks were
+speedily constructed out of them by Cols. Harris, McBride, Rives and
+Maj. Winston, and their respective commands. Capt. Kelly's battery
+was ordered at the same time to the position occupied by Gen. Harris's
+force, and quickly opened an effective fire under the direction of its
+gallant Captain.
+
+These demonstrations, particularly the continued advance of the hemp
+breastworks, which were as efficient as the cotton bales at New Orleans,
+quickly attracted attention and excited and alarmed the enemy. They
+were, however, repulsed in every instance by the unflinching courage and
+fixed determination of the men.
+
+Gen. Harris says in his report to Gen. Price: "I then directed Capt.
+Geo. A. Turner, of my staff, to request of you 132 bales of hemp, which
+you promptly credited.
+
+
+214
+
+"I directed the bales to be wet in the river to protect them against the
+casualties of fire of our troops and the enemy's, and soon discovered
+that the wetting was so materially increasing the weight as to prevent
+our men in their exhausted condition from rolling them to the crest of
+the hill. I then adopted the idea of wetting the hemp after it had been
+transported to this position."
+
+The credit has also been stoutly claimed for Col. Thomas Hinkle, of
+Wellington County, Mo., who two years later was killed in command of
+a guerrilla organization. No matter whose, the idea was singularly
+effective, and despite the most gallant efforts of the garrison, the
+hemp bales were steadily rolled nearer, until by 2 o'clock in the
+afternoon of the 20th they were in places as close as from 50 to 75
+yards of the Union works. At this distance it would be easy to mass
+an overpowering force behind their cover to rush upon and instantly
+overwhelm the garrison.
+
+The garrison, which had now been fighting for eight long days; which was
+so short of ammunition that most of the cartridge boxes were empty, and
+there was no supply from which to refill them; which was tortured with
+thirst, surrounded with hundreds of animals dying from lack of water, at
+last raised the white flag.
+
+After eight days of waiting there was no more sign of rescue than there
+was on the first, and everywhere they could look their enemies swarmed
+in apparently limitless numbers. Gen. Price granted the garrison
+honorable terms. The officers were to remain as prisoners of war, the
+men to lay down their arms, take the oath not to fight any more against
+Missouri, and to be sent across the river and allowed to go whither they
+would.
+
+
+215
+
+With shrewd policy he allowed Col. Mulligan to retain his sword and
+showed him a great many civilities. Mulligan was a representative
+Irishman, and this would bear fruit in the attitude of the Irish toward
+the war. In his report to Gov. Jackson Gen. Price sums up the fruits of
+his victory as follows:
+
+Our entire loss in this series of engagements amounts to 25 killed and
+72 wounded. The enemy's loss was much greater.
+
+The visible fruits of this almost bloodless victory are very
+great--about 3.500 prisoners, among whom are Cols. Mulligan, Marshall,
+Peabody, White, and Grover, Maj. Van Horn and 118 other commissioned
+officers, five pieces of artillery and two mortars, over 8,000 stands of
+Infantry arms, a large number of sabers, about 750 horses, many sets of
+cavalry equipments, wagons, teams and ammunition, more than 8100,-000
+worth of commissary stores, and a large amount of other property. In
+addition to all this, I obtained the restoration of the great seal
+of the State and the public records, which had been stolen from their
+proper custodian, and about $900,-000 in money, of which the bank at
+this place had been robbed, and which I have caused to be returned to
+it.
+
+Of Gen. Price's characteristics that of under-statement was certainly
+not one; but there is no use caviling about this, since the disaster was
+in all conscience bad enough for the Union side.
+
+Col Mulligan's official report is not included in the Rebellion Records.
+It was quite a rhetorical statement of the affair, with unstinted praise
+for his own regiment and Irish valor generally, much condemnation for
+the Germans, between whom and the Irish there was at that time a great
+deal of feeling, and absolutely ignoring all the rest who participated
+in the defense. This was particularly unjust to the 1st ID. Cav. While
+the 23d 111. had taken the best and strongest part of the line, the 1st
+111. Cav. had defended the weakest and most exposed part, that, too,
+with only pistols and sabers, and had captured the only flag taken
+during the siege.
+
+
+216
+
+The total loss of the garrison is usually given as 39 killed and 120
+wounded.
+
+Probably Gen. Price in his report only mentioned the losses in his
+organized forces. If his wounded did not exceed 72, his men showed
+unusual ability in keeping under cover.
+
+While the loss did not approach that of the desperate fight at Wilson's
+Creek, yet it was respectably large according to European standards, the
+garrison having lost about six per cent before surrendering.
+
+Gen. Fremont announced this calamity to Washington in the following
+telegrams:
+
+     Headquarters Western Department, St. Louis, Sept. 28, 1861.
+     I have a telegram from Brookfleld that Lexington has fallen
+     into Price's hands, he having cut off Mulligan's supply of
+     water. Reinforcements 4,000 strong, under Sturgis, by
+     capture of ferryboats, had no means of crossing the river in
+     time. Lane's force from the southwest and Davis's from the
+     southeast upwards of 11,000, could not get there in time. I
+     am taking the field myself, and hope to destroy the enemy
+     either before or after the junction of forces under
+     McCulloch. Please notify the President immediately.
+
+     J. C. FREMONT,
+
+     Major-General Commanding. Col. E. D. Townsend, Assistant
+     Adjutant-General, Headquarters of the Army, Washington, D.C.
+
+
+     Headquarters Western Department, Sept 23, 1861. Nothing
+     since my dispatch of this morning. Our loss 39 killed, 120
+     wounded. Loss of enemy, 1,400 killed and wounded. Our non-
+     commissioned officers and privates sworn and released.
+     Commissioned officers held as prisoners. Our troops are
+     gathering around the enemy. I will send you from the field
+     more details in a few days.
+
+     JOHN   C. FREMONT, Major-General   Commanding. Hon. S.
+     Cameron, Secretary of War.
+
+The patient and much enduring President answered as follows:
+
+     Headquarters of the Army, Washington, Sept. 23, 1861. John
+     C. Fremont, Major-General Commanding, St Louis, Mo.: Your
+     dispatch of this day is received. The President is glad that
+     you are hastening to the scene of action. His words are "He
+     expects you to repair the disaster at Lexington without loss
+     of time."                                WINFIELD SCOTT.
+
+Fremont began to topple to his fall.
+
+
+217
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. FREMONT'S MARVELOUS INEFFECTIVENESS.
+
+Gen. Sterling Price had scored a victory which gave him an enduring hold
+upon the confidence and esteem of the Missourians. With the least means
+he had achieved the most success of any Confederate General so far. His
+conduct at the battle of Wilson's Creek had endeared him to the men he
+commanded. He exposed himself with utmost indifference to the fiercest
+firing, showed good judgment as to movements, was not discouraged after
+repeated repulses, and was everywhere animating and encouraging the men
+and bringing them forward into line of battle.
+
+He sympathized with those who were wounded, and had them cared for, and
+immediately returned to the fighting with fresh troops.
+
+It is true, however, that he had shown no generalship, but merely
+demonstrated himself a good Colonel, in leading up one regiment after
+another and putting them into the fight.
+
+Lexington brought an immensity of prestige to Price and encouragement to
+the Secessionists and did a corresponding injury to the Union cause. It
+added immeasurably to the burdens which President Lincoln had to bear.
+He could make Brigadier-and Major-Generals, but he could not endow them
+with generalship.
+
+The Senate could confirm them, but they were still more confirmed in the
+dull, unenterprising routine of camp and administrative regulations.
+
+
+218
+
+The modest bars of a Captain on their shoulder straps had been, as it
+were, changed in the twinkling of an eye into the refulgent stars of
+a General, but they seemed to take this as a deserved tribute to their
+personal worth, rather than as an incentive and opportunity for the
+greater things which had made their predecessors illustrious.
+
+Fremont, in the palatial Brandt Mansion, for which the Government was
+paying the very unusual rent of $6,000 per year, was maintaining a vice
+regal court as difficultly accessible as that of any crowned head
+of Europe. His uncounted and glittering staff, which seemed to have
+received the Pentecostal gift of tongues--in which English was not
+included--was headed by a mysterious "Adlatus,"--a title before unknown
+in America or to the dictionaries, and since retired to oblivion.
+Naturally, the Adlatus's command of English was limited. His knowledge
+of Missouri was even more so. Though commanding Missouri and dealing
+intensely with Missouri affairs, the men surrounding Fremont were
+everything but Missourians or those acquainted with Missouri affairs. It
+would have been surprising to find one of them who could bound the State
+and name its principal rivers.
+
+This, too, in the midst of a multitude of able, educated, influential
+Missourians who were ardent Unionists and were burning with zeal to
+serve the cause. Not one of them appears in the Fremont entourage.
+
+
+219
+
+Gens. Pope, Sturgis, Jeff C. Davis, Hunter,--all Regulars and trained
+to war; Sigel, with his profound theoretical knowledge and his large
+experience; Curtis, lately returned to the Army with his military
+training supplemented by wide experience in civil life; Hurlbut, the
+brilliant orator and politician, were all busily engaged in something
+or other that kept them from interfering with Price while he lingered on
+the Missouri River gathering up recruits and stripping the Union farmers
+of that rich agricultural region of cattle and grain sufficient to feed
+his army during the coming Winter, and of horses and wagons to haul off
+his spoils and thoroly equip his army with transportation.
+
+The only really soldierly thing done at this time was by the "political
+General,"--the erratic, demagogic, trumpet-sounding "Jim" Lane. He
+was commanding men who had come out from home to do something toward
+fighting the war and not to stay in camp and be drilled into automatons.
+He could only maintain his hold on them and his ascendency in Kansas
+politics by action.
+
+Learning that Price had left a large stock of ammunition at the
+important little town of Osceola, the head of navigation on the Osage
+River, under strong guard, Lane led his brigade a swift march from
+Kansas upon the town, and succeeded in surprising the garrison, which,
+after a brief resistance, retreated and left it to Lane's mercy,
+whereupon he proceeded to not only destroy the very considerable
+quantity of stores which Price had accumulated there, but to burn down
+the town. This was an exceedingly ill-advised ending to a piece of
+brilliant soldiership, because not only was it injustice to an enemy,
+but it was a severe blow upon Union men who owned full one-third of the
+property destroyed.
+
+
+220
+
+A large number of these were engaged in the trade of the Southwest, for
+which Osceola was a distributing center. Goods were brought up the river
+during the high water and then shipped through the country by wagons.
+The town was also the County seat of St. Clair County, and contained the
+public records, etc.
+
+Still more unfortunate was it that Lane's act was taken as an excuse for
+the Missouri guerrillas to retaliate upon Kansas towns and the property
+of the Union people in their own State. Lane says in his report: "The
+enemy ambushed the approaches to the town, and after being driven from
+them by the advance under Cols. Montgomery and Weer, they took refuge in
+the buildings of the town to annoy us. We were compelled to shell them
+out, and in doing so the place was burned to ashes, with an immense
+amount of stores of all descriptions. There were 15 or 20 of them
+killed and wounded; we lost none. Full particulars will be furnished you
+hereafter."
+
+This shows that even he felt the necessity of apologizing for the act,
+but the apology is too transparent. The fact was that the Kansas men
+saw an opportunity to pay back some of their old scores against the
+Missourians and did not fail to improve it.
+
+In spite of Gen. Fremont's promise to the President to "take the field
+himself and attempt to destroy the enemy," he moved with exceeding
+deliberation. It is true that he left St. Louis for Jefferson City,
+Sept. 27, a week after Mulligan's surrender, but that week had been
+well employed by Price in gathering up all that he could carry away and
+making ready to avoid the blow which he knew must fall.
+
+
+221
+
+After arriving at Jefferson City, Fremont, instead of taking the troops
+which were near at hand and making a swift rush upon his enemy, the
+only way in which he could hope to hurt him, began the organization of
+a "grande armee" upon the European model, and that which McClellan was
+deliberately organizing in front of Washington.
+
+The impatient people, who were paying the $3,000,000 a day which the war
+was now beginning to cost, and who had begun to murmur for results, were
+amused by stories of plans of sweeping down the Mississippi clear to
+New Orleans, taking Memphis, Vicksburg and other strongholds on the way,
+severing the Southern Confederacy in twain, so that it would fall into
+hopeless ruin.
+
+This was entirely possible at that time with the army that had been
+given Fremont, had it been handled with the ability and boldness of
+Sherman's March to the Sea.
+
+Two weeks after Mulligan's surrender Fremont announced the formation of
+this grand "Army of the West," containing approximately 50,000 men. This
+was grouped as follows:
+
+The First Division, to which Gen. David Hunter was assigned, consisted
+of 9,750 men, and was ordered to take position at Versailles, about 40
+miles southwest of Jefferson City, and became the Left Wing of the Army.
+
+Gen. John Pope was given command of the Second Division of 9,220 men and
+ordered to take station at Boonville, 50 miles northwest of Jefferson
+City. His position was to be the Right Wing of the army.
+
+The Third Division, 7,980 strong, was put under command of Gen. Franz
+Sigel, and made the advance of the army, with its station at Sedalia and
+Georgetown, 64 miles west of Jefferson City.
+
+
+222
+
+The Fifth Division, commanded by Gen. Asboth, had 6,461 men, and
+constituted the reserve at Tipton, on the railroad, 38 miles west of
+Jefferson City.
+
+The Fifth Division, 5,388 men, under Gen. Justus McKinstry, formed the
+center and was posted at Syracuse, five miles west of Tipton.
+
+Beside these, Gen. Sturgis held Kansas City with 3,000 men and Gen.
+Jas. H. Lane, with 2,500 men, was to move in Kansas down the State line,
+between Fort Scott and Kansas City, to protect Kansas from an incursion
+in that direction, and as opportunity offered attack Price's flank.
+
+Thus, there were 38,789 effectives in the five divisions, which with
+Sturgis's and Lane's forces made a total force of 44,289, not including
+garrisons which swell the total of the army to over 90,000.
+
+Among these Division Commanders were two whom Fremont had discovered and
+created Brigadier-Generals out of his own volition, without consultation
+at Washington.
+
+These were Gens. Asboth and McKinstry. Gen. Alexander (Sandor)
+Asboth, born in 1811, was a Hungarian and an educated engineer, with
+considerable experience in and against the Austrian army. He had entered
+ardently into the Revolution of 1848, and built a bridge in a single
+night by which the Revolutionary army crossed and won the brilliant
+victory of Nagy Salo. He became Adjutant-General of the Hungarian army,
+and when the Revolution was crushed by Russian troops, escaped with
+Kossuth into Turkey, came to this country, and became a naturalized
+citizen. He was by turns farmer, teacher, engineer, and manufacturer of
+galvanized articles. He sided with the Union Germans, went on Fremont's
+staff, and was appointed a Brigadier-General. The Senate refused to
+recognize the appointment, but in consideration of his good service
+he was reappointed, served creditably through the war, was brevetted
+a Major-General, and after the war sent as Minister to the Argentine
+Confederation, where he died in 1868.
+
+
+223
+
+The other, Justus McKinstry, was born in New York and appointed to the
+Military Academy from Michigan, where he graduated 40th in the class of
+1838, of which Beauregard, Barry, Irvin McDowell, W. J. Hardee, R. S.
+Granger, Henry H. Sibley, Edward Johnson and A. J. Smith were members.
+He had served creditably in the Mexican War, receiving a brevet for
+gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco, and at the outbreak of the war
+was a Major and Quartermaster at St. Louis, where he did very much to
+frustrate Lyon's plans and was regarded by him as a Secessionist
+at heart. He continued to hold his position, however, as Chief
+Quartermaster of the Department of the West until Fremont appointed him
+Brigadier-General.
+
+Shortly after Fremont's removal he was placed under arrest at St. Louis
+and ordered before a court-martial, which did not convene, and he was
+at last summarily dismissed for "neglect and violation of duty, to the
+prejudice of good order and military discipline." He became a stock
+broker in New York City, and afterwards a land agent at Rolla, Mo.
+
+It will be seen by the map that the disposition of the troops was good,
+and that Fremont had the advantage of short lines from Sedalia and Rolla
+to cut Price's line of retreat, recapture the spoils he was hastening to
+a place of safely, and destroy, or at least disperse, his army.
+
+
+224
+
+Fremont, however, made no use of this advantage, and Price seems to have
+had no apprehension that he would. Price remained in Lexington until
+Oct 1, serenely contemplating the gigantic preparations made for his
+destruction, and then having gathered up all that he could readily get,
+and reading Fremont's order for a forward movement of the Army of the
+West, thought, like the prudent meadow lark, that probably something
+would be now done, and the time had come for moving. He began a
+deliberate retreat, crossing the Osage River at Osceola, and reaching
+Greenfield, 150 miles away, at the very comfortable pace of 15 miles a
+day.
+
+Gen. Fremont ordered the Army of the West forward, but the so-called
+pursuit was very much like hunting a fox on a dray. He was encumbered
+with immense trains, for which bridges had to be built over numerous
+streams and roads made thru the rough country. The trains seemed to
+contain a world of unnecessary things and an astonishing lack of those
+necessary. Apparently almost anybody who had anything to sell could find
+purchasers among the numerous men about Fremont's headquarters who had
+authority to buy, or assumed it.
+
+One astonishing item in the purchases was a great number of half barrels
+for holding water, rather an extraordinary provision in a country like
+Missouri, where in the month of October water is disposed to be in
+excessive quantities.
+
+Notwithstanding the astonishing purchase of mules by everybody and
+anybody, none of the Division Commanders seem to have had mules enough
+to pull their wagons.
+
+
+225
+
+The division started out like the horses of a balky team. Gen. Pope, of
+the Right Wing, left Jefferson City Oct. 11, Sigel got away from Sedalia
+with the Third Division Oct. 13, the same day Hunter left Tipton with
+the Left Wing, and Asboth followed on Oct 14. Even when they started
+their progress was very slow, for the columns were halted at streams
+to build bridges and in the rough countries to wait for the sappers and
+miners to make passable roads.
+
+When one column was halted, all the rest had to do likewise, for though
+Price kept the safe distance of 100 miles away, Fremont was in constant
+apprehension of battle, and held his columns in close supporting
+distance. He did not get across the Osage River until Oct. 25, or nine
+days after Price's leisurely crossing that important stream, on the
+banks of which it was confidently expected that he would give battle.
+
+Price, with his diminishing forces, had no such intention, but fell
+back toward Neosho, to cover as long as possible the Granby Mines, seven
+miles from that place, which were the most important source of lead
+for the Southern Confederacy, to which they supplied 200,000 pounds per
+month.
+
+Gov. Jackson took advantage of this breathing spell to call the
+Legislature together at Neosho, where it held a two weeks' "rump"
+session of the small minority of that body which favored Secession.
+They passed an ordinance of Secession and elected Senators and
+Representatives to the Confederate Congress, adjourning when they heard
+that Fremont had at last passed the Osage.
+
+
+226
+
+Then Price took up his line of retreat toward the southern boundary of
+the State to get near Gen. Ben McCulloch, who had posted his forces at
+Cross Hollow, in Benton County, northwest Arkansas. Gen. Price took
+up his position at Pineville, in the extreme southwestern corner of
+Missouri, where the rough, hilly country offered great chances to the
+defense, and again began communication with Gen. McCulloch to induce him
+to unite his force with his own and attack the Union army.
+
+He had correctly estimated Fremont's generalship, and thought there was
+a possibility of massing his and McCulloch's forces, to attack a portion
+of Fremont's army, drive it back and defeat him in detail. McCulloch,
+in spite of his ranger reputation, entirely lacked Price's aggressive
+spirit, and thought that it would be much better to fall back to the
+Boston Mountain, about 50 miles farther south, and make a stand there.
+He so informed Gen. Price.
+
+While McCulloch had no disposition to enter Missouri and defend it
+against the Union troops, he had no hesitation about treating it as
+part of Confederate territory. Desiring to embarrass and delay Fremont's
+advance as much as possible, he sent forward his Texas cavalry to burn
+the mills, forage and grain as far in the direction of Springfield as
+they could safely go, and urged Price to do the same. McCulloch's Texans
+soon lighted up the southwest country with burning mills, barns and
+stacks.
+
+To this Gen. Price was bitterly opposed. The mills and grain were in
+many instances the property of the Secessionists, and to destroy them
+would be to inflict worse punishment on his own people than the Union
+commanders had ever done, and would embitter them against his cause.
+
+
+227
+
+Price repeatedly represented to McCulloch that altogether they would
+have 25,000 men, and if McCulloch did not desire to go forward they
+could make a good defensive battle inside the State on the hills around
+Pineville. To leave it would cause the loss of very many Missourians who
+had enlisted in the State Guard to defend Missouri, and who would feel
+that they had no cause to fight outside of the State.
+
+After crossing the Osage Fremont halted near Connersville, about 25
+miles south of Warsaw, where he crossed the river, and then advanced
+with Sigel to Bolivar, on the Springfield road, and sent forward Maj.
+Charles Zagonyi with 150 of his famous Body Guard and Maj. F. J. White
+with 180 men of the 1st Mo. Cav., to make a reconnoissance in the
+direction of Springfield.
+
+Fremont's Body Guard had played a large part in the pomp and
+circumstance of his administration. Maj. Chas. Zagonyi was a picturesque
+and effervescent Hungarian, who recounted fascinating stories of
+his experience as a subordinate to Gen. Bern during the Hungarian
+Revolution. Fremont had authorized him to raise a body guard, in
+imitation of the famous troops of Europe, and the novelty of the
+organization attracted to it a great number of quite fine young men,
+most of whom were from the country around Cincinnati--one company being
+from Kentucky. They were formed into three companies, mounted on fine
+blooded bay horses, showily uniformed and each armed with two navy
+revolvers, a five-barreled rifle and a saber.
+
+All the officers were Americans except three--one Hollander and two
+Hungarians. The members of the Guard, in addition to their expensive
+and showy outfit, did not conceal from the other soldiers that they were
+picked men and considered themselves superior to the ordinary run, which
+did not enhance their popularity with their comrades.
+
+
+228
+
+Majs. Zagonyi and White marched all that night, and the next day, about
+noon, when about eight miles north of Springfield, learned that there
+was a force of at least 1,500 Confederates in the town.
+
+One of the rebel pickets who had not been captured hastened back
+to Springfield and gave the alarm, so that the Confederates were in
+readiness for them. Feeling that this would be so, Majs. Zagonyi and
+White determined to move around the town and approach it from the west
+on the Mt. Vernon road. In this movement White became separated from
+Zagonyi, who, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, came most unexpectedly
+upon the Secessionists drawn up in line at the end of a long lane.
+
+A heavy rail fence intervened between Zagonyi and the head of the lane,
+and an opening had to be made through this under a heavy fire from the
+enemy. The moment a gap was made, Zagonyi shouted to his men to follow
+him, and do as he did, raising the battle cry, "Fremont and the Union."
+He dashed gallantly forward, straight for the center of the rebel line,
+followed at a gallop by his command. The Confederate fire did fearful
+execution upon the Guard as it was crowded in the lane, but in a few
+seconds the lane was passed and the cavalry saber began doing its wild
+work.
+
+
+229
+
+The center of the enemy's lines was at once broken by the terrible
+impact of galloping horses and the Confederates began a panicky retreat,
+followed by the vengeful horsemen shooting and sabering them as they
+ran. The infantry ran through the town to the shelter of the woods, and
+the Confederate cavalry fell back down the road, pursued by the Guard
+until it was getting nightfall, when Zagonyi recalled them and returned
+to the Court House, raised the Union flag from it, released the Union
+prisoners confined in the jail, gathered up his dead and wounded, and
+after dark decided to fall back until he met the advance of the army.
+
+He had lost 15 men killed and 26 wounded, and reported that he had found
+23 Confederates dead after the charge was over. This brilliant action,
+which was then compared with the Charge of the Light Brigade at
+Balaklava, redeemed the soldiers of the Guards in the eyes of their
+comrades, and it became an honor to belong to that organization.
+
+The next morning Maj. White reached Springfield with a few Home Guards,
+where he found the Confederates still dazed by the occurrences of the
+day before, and he was careful not to undeceive them as to his strength.
+He solemnly received the flag of truce, said that he would have to refer
+the matter to Gen. Sigel, threw out his men as pickets, permitted the
+people to bury their dead, and then prudently fell back to meet the
+advance of the army.
+
+Fremont took up his quarters in Springfield, and began ostentatious
+preparations for an immediate decisive battle, though Price was then
+more than 50 miles away from him. This Fremont should have known, for
+in some mysterious manner he was within ready communication with him,
+so much so as to be able to conclude the following remarkable convention
+which was duly published in a joint proclamation:
+
+
+230
+
+     To All Peaceably-Disposed Citizens of the State of Missouri,
+     Greeting:
+
+     Whereas a solemn agreement has been entered into by and
+     between Maj.-Gens. Fremont and Price, respectively,
+     commanding; antagonistic forces in the State of Missouri, to
+     the effect that in the future arrests or forcible
+     interference by armed or unarmed parties of citizens within
+     the limits of said State for the mere entertainment or
+     expression of political opinions shall hereafter cease; that
+     families now broken up for such causes may be reunited, and
+     that the war now progressing shall be exclusively confined
+     to armies in the field:
+
+     Therefore, be it known to all whom it may concern:
+
+     1.  No arrests whatever on account of political opinions, or
+     for the merely private expression of the same, shall
+     hereafter be made within the limits of the State of
+     Missouri, and all persons who may have been arrested and are
+     now held to answer upon such charges only shall be forthwith
+     released; but it is expressly declared that nothing in this
+     proclamation shall be construed to bar or interfere with any
+     of the usual and regular proceedings of the established
+     courts under statutes and orders made and provided for such
+     offenses.
+
+     2.  All peaceably disposed citizens who may have been driven
+     from their homes because of their political opinions, or who
+     may have left them from fear of force and violence, are
+     hereby advised and permitted to return, upon the faith of
+     our positive assurances that while so returning they shall
+     receive protection from both the armies in the field
+     wherever it can be given.
+
+     3.  All bodies of armed men acting without the authority or
+     recognition of the Major-Generals before named, and not
+     legitimately connected with the armies in the field, are
+     hereby ordered at once to disband.
+
+     4.  Any violation of either of the foregoing articles shall
+     subject the offender to the penalty of military law,
+     according to the nature of the offense.
+
+     In testimony whereof the aforesaid Maj.-Gen. John Charles
+     Fremont, at Springfield, Mo., on this 1st day of November,
+     A. D. 1861, and Maj.-Gen. Sterling Price, at Cassville, Mo.,
+     on this 6th day of November, A. D. 1861, have hereunto set
+     their hands, and hereby mutually pledge their earnest
+     efforts to the enforcement of the above articles of
+     agreement according to their full tenor and effect, to the
+     best of their ability.
+
+     J. C FREMONT, Major-General   Commanding.
+
+     STERLING PRICE, Major-General Commanding.
+
+
+The practical effect of this was that Price was allowed to send such of
+his men as he wished home for the Winter, with a safeguard against their
+being molested by the Union troops, but it had no effect in protecting
+Union men from being harassed by guerrilla tormentors, who cared as
+little for conventions and proclamations as for the Sermon on the Mount.
+
+
+281
+
+In the meanwhile Fremont's astonishing ill success in purely military
+matters, the freely expressed opinion of all who came in contact with
+him as to his glaring incompetence, added to the fearful stories of
+the corruption of the men immediately surrounding him, were making
+his position very insecure. President Lincoln sent his intimate and
+life-long friend, David Davis, whom he was about to elevate to the
+Supreme Bench, to St. Louis with a commission to investigate the
+rank-smelling contracts and disbursements. No report was ever made
+public, but it was generally known that they found even worse than they
+feared.
+
+The Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, undertook a tour of investigation
+on his own account, accompanied by Adj't-Gen. Lorenzo Thomas. Some of
+the things which they found are set forth in the following extracts from
+the memorandum from Gen. Thomas to his superior officer:
+
+Gen. Curtis said of Gen. Fremont that he found no difficulty in having:
+access to him, and when he presented business connected with his
+command, it was attended to. Gen. Fremont never consulted him on
+military matters, nor informed him of his plans. Gen. Curtis remarked
+that while he would go with freedom to Gen. Scott and express his
+opinions, he would not dare to do so to Gen. Fremont. He deemed Gen.
+Fremont unequal to the command of an army, and said that he was no more
+bound by law than by the winds.
+
+Col. Andrews, Chief Paymaster, called and presented irregularities in
+the Pay Department, and desired instruction from the Secretary for his
+government, stating: that he was required to make payments and transfers
+of money contrary to law and regulations. Once, upon objecting to what
+he conceived an improper payment, he was threatened with confinement by
+a file of soldiers. He exhibited an order for the transfer of $100,000
+to the Quartermaster's Department, which was irregular. Exhibited
+abstract of payment by one Paymaster (Maj. Febiger) to 42 persons,
+appointed by Gen. Fremont, viz: one Colonel, three Majors, eight
+Captains, 15 First lieutenants, 11 Second Lieutenants, one Surgeon,
+three Assistant Surgeons; total 42. Nineteen of these have appointments
+as engineers, and are entitled to cavalry pay.
+
+
+282
+
+Maj. Allen, Principal Quartermaster, had recently taken charge at
+St Louis, but reported great irregularities in his Department, and
+requested special Instructions. These he deemed important, as orders
+were communicated by a variety of persons, in a very irregular manner,
+requiring disbursements of money. These orders were often verbally
+given. He was sending, under Gen. Fremont's orders, large amounts of
+forage from St. Louis to.... where corn was abundant and very cheap. The
+distance was 160 miles. He gave the indebtedness of the Quartermaster's
+Department in St. Louis to be $4,606,809.73.
+
+By direction of Gen. Meigs, advertisements were made to furnish grain
+and hay, and contracts made for specific sums--28 cents per bushel for
+corn, 30 cents for oats, and $17.95 per ton for hay. In face of this
+another party at St. Louis--Balrd, or Baird A Palmer (Palmer being of
+the old firm in California of Palmer, Cook & Co.)--were directed to
+send to Jefferson City (where hay and corn abound) as fast as possible
+100,000 bushels of oats, with a corresponding amount of hay, at 33 cents
+per bushel for grain and $19 per ton for hay.
+
+Capt Edward M. Davis, a member of his staff, received a contract by the
+direct order of Gen. Fremont for blankets. They were examined by a board
+of army officers consisting of Capt Hendershott, 4th U. S. Art,
+Capt Haines, Commissary of Subsistence, and Capt Turnley, Assistant
+Quartermaster. The blankets were found to be made of cotton and were
+rotten and worthless. Notwithstanding this decision they were purchased,
+and given to the sick and wounded soldiers in hospitals.
+
+One week after the receipt of the President's order modifying Gen.
+Fremont's proclamation relative to emancipation of slaves, Gen. Fremont
+by note to Capt McKeever, required him to have 200 copies of the
+original proclamation and address to the army, of same date, printed
+and sent immediately to Ironton, for the use of Maj. Gavitt, Indiana
+Cavalry, for distribution through the country. Capt McKeever had the
+copies printed and delivered. The order is as follows:
+
+     "Adjutant-General will have 200 copies of proclamation of
+     Commanding General, dated Aug. 30, together with the address
+     to the army of same date, sent immediately to Iron-ton, for
+     the use of Maj. Gavitt Indiana Cavalry. Maj. Gavitt will
+     distribute it through the country.
+
+     "J. C. Ft.
+
+     "Commanding General.
+
+     "Sept. 23, 1861."
+
+As soon as I obtained a view of the several encampments at Tipton,
+I expressed the opinion that the forces there assembled could not be
+moved, as scarcely any means of transportation were visible. I saw Gen.
+Hunter, second in command, and conversed freely with him. He stated that
+there was great confusion, and that Fremont was utterly incompetent;
+that his own division was greatly scattered, and the force then present
+defective in many respects; that he required 100 wagons, yet he was
+ordered to march that day, and some of his troops were already drawn
+out on the road. His cavalry regiment (Ellis's) had horses, arms
+(indifferent), but no equipments; had to carry their cartridges in their
+pockets; consequently, on their first day's march from Jefferson
+City, in a heavy rain, the cartridges carried about their persons were
+destroyed. This march to Tipton (36 miles) was made on a miry, heavy
+earth road parallel to the railroad, and but a little distance from it.
+The troops were directed by Gen. Fremont to march without provisions or
+knapsacks, and without transportation. A violent rainstorm came up, and
+the troops were exposed to it all night, were without food for 24 hours,
+and when food was received the beef was found to be spoiled.
+
+
+283
+
+Gen. Hunter stated that he had just received a written report from one
+of his Colonels, informing him that but 20 out of 100 of his guns would
+go off. These were the guns procured by Gen. Fremont in Europe. I may
+here state that Gen. Sherman, at Louisville, made a similar complaint
+of the great inferiority of these European arms. He had given the men
+orders to file down the nipples. In conversation with Col. Swords,
+Assistant Quartersmaster-General; at Louisville, just from California,
+he stated that Mr. Selover, who was in Europe with Gen. Fremont, wrote
+to some friend In San Francisco that his share of the profit of the
+purchase of these arms was $30,000.
+
+Gen. Hunter expressed to the Secretary of War his decided opinion that
+Gen. Fremont was incompetent and unfit for his extensive and important
+command. This opinion he gave reluctantly, owing to his position as
+second in command.
+
+President Lincoln sent the following characteristic letter to Gen. S. R.
+Curtis, who, being in command at St. Louis, was directly accessible, and
+a man in whose discretion the President felt he might trust:
+
+
+     Washington, Oct 24, 1861. Brig.-Gen. S. R. Curtis.
+
+     Dear Sir: On receipt of this with the accompanying
+     incisures, you will take safe, certain and suitable measures
+     to have the inclosure addressed to Maj.-Gen. Fremont
+     delivered to him with all reasonable dispatch, subject to
+     these conditions only, that if, when Gen. Fremont shall be
+     reached by the messenger--yourself or anyone sent by you--he
+     shall then have, in personal command, fought and won a
+     battle, or shall then be actually in battle, or shall then
+     be in the immediate presence of the enemy in expectation of
+     a battle, it is not to be delivered, but held for further
+     orders. After, and not until after, the delivery to Gen.
+     Fremont, let the inclosed addressed to Gen. Hunter be
+     delivered to him.
+
+     Tour obedient servant,
+                                A. LINCOLN.
+
+The following decisive order was one of the inclosures:
+
+
+     Headquarters of the Army, Washington, Oct. 24, 1861.
+
+     General Orders No. 18.
+
+     Maj.-Gen. Fremont, of the U. S. Army, the present Commander
+     of the Western Department of the same, will, on the receipt
+     of this order, call Maj.-Gen. Hunter, of the U. S.
+     Volunteers, to relieve him temporarily in that command, when
+     he (Maj.-Gen. Fremont) will report to General Headquarters,
+     by letter, for further orders.
+                  WINFIELD SCOTT.
+
+
+284
+
+A special messenger arrived at Springfield, Nov. 2, with the order,
+which created consternation at Fremont's headquarters. It is more than
+probable that Fremont felt his elevation to be such that he could try
+conclusions with the Administration, and refuse to obey the order.
+
+There was considerable talk at that time about military headquarters as
+to a dictator, and this was so rife about McClellan's that his journal
+constantly abounds in allusions which indicate that he was putting the
+crown away from him with increasing gentleness each time. There was much
+of the same atmosphere about the headquarters of the Army of the West,
+and it is claimed that Fremont at first decided not to obey the order,
+but on Sigel's urgent representations finally concluded to do so, and
+issued the following farewell order to his troops:
+
+     Headquarters Western Department,
+
+     Springfield, Mo., Nov. 2, 1861. Soldiers of the Mississippi
+     Army:
+
+     Agreeably to orders this day received I take leave of you.
+     Altho our army has been of sudden growth, we have grown up
+     together, and I have become familiar with the brave and
+     generous spirit which you bring to the defense of your
+     country, and which makes me anticipate for you a brilliant
+     career. Continue as you have begun, and give to my successor
+     the same cordial and enthusiastic support with which you
+     have encouraged me. Emulate the splendid example which you
+     have already before you, and let me remain, as I am, proud
+     of the noble army which I had thus far labored to bring
+     together.
+
+     Soldiers, I regret to leave you. Most sincerely I thank you
+     for the regard and confidence you have invariably shown me.
+     I deeply regret that I shall not have the honor to lead you
+     to the victory which you are just about to win, but I shall
+     claim to share with you in the joy of every triumph, and
+     trust always to be fraternally remembered by my companions
+     in arms.
+
+     J. C. FREMONT,
+
+     Major-General, U. S. Army.
+
+
+285
+
+He left at once for St Louis, with his Body Guard for an escort. Though
+these men had been enlisted for three years, they were ordered by
+Gen. McClellan to be mustered out, and Maj. Zagonyi was offered the
+Colonelcy of a new regiment.
+
+The time and manner of the removal enabled Gen. Fremont's ardent
+partisans to complain loudly that he was relieved on the eve of a battle
+in which he would have accomplished great things, and was thus denied an
+opportunity to achieve lasting fame and render essential service to the
+country. The evidence, however, is conclusive that at that time Price
+was at Pineville, fully 50 miles away, and in the midst of a very rough
+country, instead of being in Fremont's immediate front, as Fremont
+certainly supposed.
+
+Whether he would have accepted battle after Fremont had reached him at
+Pineville, is a matter of conjecture. The pressure in favor of Fremont
+continued strong enough, however, to bring about the offer of a new
+command to him the following year, but it was grotesquely shrunken from
+the proud proportions of that from which he had been relieved. It was
+styled the Mountain Department, and embraced a large portion of
+West Virginia. Even in this restricted area he again failed to give
+satisfaction.
+
+June 8, 1862, he fought an indecisive battle against Stonewall Jackson
+at Cross Keys, took umbrage at being placed under the command of
+Gen. John Pope, whom he had once commanded, asked to be relieved
+from command, and joined the ranks of the bitter critics of President
+Lincoln's Administration, though still retaining his commission and pay
+as a Major-General.
+
+He still thought his was a name to conjure with, and May 31,1864,
+accepted the nomination for President from a convention of dissatisfied
+Republicans assembled at Cleveland, resigning his commission at last,
+June 4, 1864.
+
+
+286
+
+The chill reception with which the country received his nomination at
+last disillusionized even him, and in September he withdrew from the
+field, to clear the way for Lincoln's re-election. He then became
+connected with the promotion of a Pacific railway over the southern of
+the routes which he had surveyed, lost his money and property in the
+course of time, appealed to Congress for relief, and in 1890 was
+by special act put on the retired list of the Army with the rank of
+Major-General.
+
+
+237
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV. THE SAD RETREAT FROM SPRINGFIELD.
+
+The partisans of Gen. Fremont bitterly blamed Gen. David Hunter for
+having intrigued to succeed Fremont, and they rejoiced that his tenure
+of that office proved to be so short-lived. This was both fallacious and
+unjust.
+
+Gen. David Hunter, while not of the highest type of military ability,
+was yet far above mediocrity. He was one of the best examples of the Old
+Regular Army officer--thoroughly devoted to his profession, a master of
+all its details, incorruptible, inflexible, and intolerant to all whose
+character and conduct lowered the standard of what Hunter thought an
+American officer should be.
+
+He was born in the District of Columbia, graduated from West Point in
+1822, 25th in a class of 40 members, and had an extensive experience in
+Indian fighting, commanding for several years a troop of dragoons. He
+resigned in 1836, but re-entered the Army in 1842 as a Paymaster and
+served as Chief Paymaster of Gen. Wool's Division in the Mexican War.
+
+At the outbreak of the war of the rebellion he had been made Colonel
+of the 6th U. S. Cav.--a new regiment--and commanded a division at Bull
+Run, where he showed great gallantry and was wounded. He had been sent
+out to Fremont as his second in command and adviser, in the hope that
+he would control in some measure the commander's erratic course and be
+instrumental in promoting better methods in his administration.
+
+
+238
+
+He was true to his duties in communicating to his superiors just what he
+found in the Department of the West and properly representing Fremont's
+incompetence. It was not intended that he should have permanent command
+of the army, and probably no man was less desirous that he should be
+than he himself, for he had a modest opinion of his own abilities and
+never hesitated to subordinate himself when he thought another man would
+do better in the place.
+
+The command was given him merely as a stop-gap until another commander
+could be determined upon.
+
+In the same envelope which contained Lincoln's letter to Gen. Curtis
+inclosing the order for the supersedure of Gen. Fremont, was another
+reading as follows:
+
+     Washington, Oct. 24, 1861. To the Commander of the
+     Department of the West
+
+     Sir:   The command of the Department of the West having
+     devolved upon you, I propose to offer you a few suggestions.
+     Knowing how hazardous it is to bind down a distant commander
+     in the field to specific lines and operations, as so much
+     always depends on a knowledge of localities and passing
+     events, it is intended, therefore, to leave a considerable
+     margin for the exercise of your judgment and discretion.
+     The main rebel army (Price's) west of the Mississippi is
+     believed to have passed Dade County in full retreat upon
+     northwestern Arkansas, leaving Missouri almost freed from
+     the enemy, excepting in the southeast of the State.
+     Assuming this  basis of fact, it seems desirable, as you are
+     not likely to overtake Price, and are in danger of making
+     too long a   line from your own base of supplies and
+     reinforcements, that  you should give up the pursuit halt
+     your main army, divide   it into two corps of observation,
+     one occupying Sedalla and    the other Rolla, the present
+     termini of railroad; then recruit the condition of both
+     corps by reestablishing and improving their discipline and
+     instruction, perfecting their clothing and  equipments, and
+     providing less uncomfortable quarters.    Of course, both
+     railroads must be guarded and kept open, judiciously
+     employing just so much force as is necessary for this. 'From
+     these two points, Sedalia and Rolla, and especially in
+     judicious cooperation with Lane on the Kansas border, it
+     would be so easy to concentrate and repel an army of the
+     enemy returning on Missouri from the southwest that It is
+     not probable any such attempt to return will be made before
+     or during the approaching cold weather.
+
+
+289
+
+     Before Spring the people of Missouri will probably be in no
+     favorable mood to renew for next year the troubles which
+     have so much afflicted and impoverished them during this. If
+     you adopt this line of policy, and if, as I anticipate, you
+     will see no enemy in great force approaching, you will have
+     a surplus of force, which you can withdraw from these points
+     and direct to others, as may be needed, the railroads
+     furnishing ready means of reinforcing their main points, if
+     occasion requires. Doubtless local uprisings will for a time
+     continue to occur, but these can be met by detachments and
+     local forces of our own, and will ere long tire out of
+     themselves.
+
+     While, as stated in the beginning of the letter, a large
+     discretion must be and is left with yourself, I feel sure
+     that an indefinite pursuit of Price or an attempt by this
+     long and circuitous route to reach Memphis will be
+     exhaustive beyond endurance, and will end in the loss of the
+     whole force engaged.   Your obedient servant,
+
+     A. LINCOLN.
+
+
+This letter, undoubtedly dictated by McClellan, who was then
+the dominant military influence at Washington, is yet strikingly
+characteristic of President Lincoln, and abounds in that profound common
+sense which made him easily the first General of the War.
+
+The army was already 125 miles away from its base of suppliess on the
+railroad, with a terrible rough intervening country. Consequently, the
+problem of supplying it was of momentous seriousness and the expense
+appalling.
+
+Though in the midst of a region of wonderful fertility, with its crops
+gathered in barns, no one seems to have though of utilizing these. They
+left them for Price to gather in, while they hauled their supplies from
+Rolla. Our officers as yet were only in the primer class in war.
+
+
+240
+
+The letter also shows the firm hold of the prevailing opinion that
+Secession was only a temporary madness, from which the people would
+recover when the Winter gave them time to reflect and reason. Probably
+this would have been the case had the Government put forth its power
+with crushing effectiveness. But the first year of the war was to end
+with the Secessionists successful almost everywhere, and big scores
+to their credit in Missouri. The fresh disaster at Ball's Bluff on the
+Potomac unnerved many loyal people.
+
+Possibly President Lincoln did not anticipate that his suggestions would
+be carried out so literally. His best information was that Price's army
+had virtually gone to pieces, and that by taking post at Sedalia
+and Rolla the central and southwestern parts of the State could be
+effectually controlled by parties sent out from there. He could not
+have conceived that Price had a strong, compact, aggressive army well
+in hand, and that the new commander of the Department of the West would
+march away from it without striking a blow or making a manuver to reduce
+its capacity for harmfulness.
+
+Certainly some shreds of Lyon's mantle must have fallen on that proud
+array of new-made Generals, and they would insist on striking a quick,
+sharp blow, as a return for Lexington, for the honor of the Union
+army, and to curb Price's rising conviction that he was an irresistible
+conqueror.
+
+But the next day after receiving his assignment to command, Gen. Hunter
+made a reconnoissance in force to the battlefield of Wilson's Greek,
+where Fremont had persisted in believing that Price was waiting to give
+him battle. He found no enemy on the scene of the terrible battle of two
+months before. Instead, all his information was to the effect that Price
+was among the rugged fastnesses about Pineville, 50 miles away, with
+McCulloch still farther off in the Boston Mountains.
+
+
+241
+
+Hunter therefore ordered his columns to countermarch and proceeded to
+carry out the President's instructions promptly and exactly.
+
+This backward movement, without a blow at Price, abandoned the whole of
+the Union loving country of southwestern Missouri to the Secessionists,
+and was a measureless calamity.
+
+The Union people, taking heart from the advance of Fremont with his
+great army, had returned to their homes and attempted to re-establish
+themselves upon their farms and in their business. All these hopes were
+suddenly dashed to the ground by the retirement of the army, and they
+had to flee again in haste before the immediate advance of Price to
+occupy the abandoned region.
+
+It was not his army which was so terrible, but the horde of guerrilla
+bands, which rushed out like venomous serpents after a warm rain, intent
+upon rapine, outrage and murder. It was the "Poor White Trash" let
+loose under such leaders as Quantrill, the Young-ers, Jameses, Haywards,
+Freemans, and a thousand others of bandit infamy.
+
+Aside from these calamities, the retreat, added to Price's victory at
+Lexington, was a most stifling moral depression of the Union sentiment
+in Missouri.
+
+While the condition of things in the greater central and southwestern
+parts of Missouri had been grievously unsatisfactory for many weeks,
+and seemed to be growing steadily more so, it was otherwise in the
+southeastern section.
+
+
+242
+
+The so-called Ozark Mountains, which are really a series of rough,
+picturesque highlands, separating the watersheds of the Missouri and the
+Arkansas Rivers, begin on the Mississippi at the mouth of the Meramec
+River, 20 miles below St. Louis, and extend along the Mississippi,
+rising frequently into cliffs of limestone 350 feet high, to Gape
+Girardeau, 44 miles above Cairo, Ill.
+
+This range, less than 100 miles wide, one of the richest in the world in
+minerals, sinks away on the north and west to the valleys of the Osage
+and the Missouri and the prairies which stretch across Kansas and the
+Indian Territory to the Rocky Mountains. To the southeast it falls into
+the lowlands and swamps along the Mississippi, making there a separate
+and distinct section--about the size of Connecticut--and of entirely
+different character from the rest of the State. Over 3,000 square miles
+of this--or nearly three times the size of Rhode Island--are swamps
+thickly wooded with towering cypresses, and covered with jungles
+impenetrable to man. The principal town In the region was New Madrid, a
+fever-smitten little village on the banks of the Mississippi, 44 miles
+below Cairo. It had once much promise, but the terrible earthquakes
+of 1811-12 had seamed the surrounding country with great crevices and
+gulches, adding hopelessly to its forbidding character, and giving a
+mortal blow to New Madrid's expectations.
+
+The region was drained--as far as it was drained--by the St. Francis
+River, a considerable stream, navigable nearly to the Missouri line, and
+emptying into the Mississippi nine miles above Helena, Ark.
+
+Besides the Mississippi River there were then two routes of access from
+St. Louis to this region. One was by the Iron Mountain Railroad, which
+ran through the Ozarks to Pilot Knob, 84 miles from the city, and the
+other by common road through Fredericktown, 105 miles from St. Louis.
+
+
+243
+
+Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston--regarded by Jefferson Davis as a great
+military genius, and appointed to command the entire Confederate army
+in the West--had some idea of moving an army up through the swamps to
+these roads, flanking the Union position at Cairo and taking St. Louis.
+The St. Francis River would aid in supplying the army. His immediate
+subordinate, Maj. Gen. Polk, was still more in favor of the plan, and it
+went in this proportion down through Gen. Gideon Pillow, with his "Army
+of Liberation," to the most enthusiastic advocate, of the scheme,
+our poetical acquaintance, Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, file "Swamp Fox of
+Missouri." The idea was to move in concert with Price coming up from the
+southeast.
+
+Maj.-Gen. Leonidas Polk, C. S. A., who had been placed in command of
+the Mississippi River, and subsequently had the States of Arkansas
+and Missouri added to his Department, had gathered about him in the
+neighborhood of Memphis some 25,000 or 30,000 Mississippi, Louisiana,
+Tennessee and other troops, with which, scorning Kentucky's claim of
+neutrality, he advanced to Columbus, Ky., the terminus of the Mobile &
+Ohio Railroad, and 20 miles from Cairo, Ill. Upon the high bluff there
+he proceeded to construct one of those "Gibraltars" so numerous in the
+early history of the war.
+
+With the force at his command and the opposition he was likely to meet
+from the Union commanders in southeast Missouri, a march on St. Louis
+by the roads indicated was a promising venture. Besides the forces
+immediately around him, he had control of McCulloch's, Pearce's and
+Hardee's columns in Arkansas, and potential control of Price's and
+Thompson's Missouri forces, making altogether an aggregate approaching
+70,000 men.
+
+
+244
+
+But he hesitated, while Pillow fretted and fumed, and wrote that while
+he honored his superior officer as a prelate and admired him as a
+patriot, he had small opinion of his military judgment.
+
+M. Jeff Thompson, who had no mean opinion of his own abilities, wrote
+to Jefferson Davis that what the Southern Confederacy needed in that
+quarter was "a first-class leader," and he cast a unanimous vote for
+himself for that position.
+
+In the meantime an event occurred as to the significance of which Polk,
+Pillow and Thompson were as unappreciative as the country at large.
+
+In August, U. S. Grant, lately commissioned a Brigadier-General, was
+sent down to Cape Girardeau to look after matters in southeast Missouri,
+including Cairo, Ill., and he took with him his former regiment,
+the 21st Ill., to the command of which Col. John W. S. Alexander had
+succeeded. A peculiarity of Gen. Grant, which President Lincoln speedily
+noticed, was that wherever he was "things kept moving." There were no
+grand reviews, no sounding proclamations, no sensational announcements
+of plans, but somehow everybody about him was found to be speedily
+employed in an effective way against the enemy. But little clamor ever
+came from Grant for reinforcements or additional strength. If he was
+given a thousand men he at once set them to work doing all that 1,000
+men were capable of. Given 2,000 men he would do twice as much, and
+so on. If supplies were not furnished him, he gathered them from the
+surrounding country, giving vouchers carefully based on the prevailing
+market rates. If no wagons or teams were at hand, he impressed them and
+gave vouchers.
+
+
+245
+
+As unassertive and modest as Grant seemed to be, he had a remarkable
+faculty for bringing in everybody near him and securing from them prompt
+and energetic obedience to his orders.
+
+Among Gen. Grant's subordinates was our old acquaintance, Capt. J. B.
+Plummer, who had done such good work at Wilson's Creek and who was now
+in command of the 11th Mo. There was also Col. W. P. Carlin, a Captain
+in the Regular Army, whom the Governor of Illinois had wisely made
+Colonel of the 88th 111. Carlin, a graduate of West Point in the class
+of 1850, was a somewhat austere, highstrung man, wrapped up in his
+profession, an excellent soldier, and feverishly anxious to do his duty
+and justify his promotion to the important position he held.
+
+Like all Regulars he was jealously sensitive about his rank, and one
+of his first performances was insistence that he outranked Col. C. E.
+Hovey, of the 33d Ill., and should therefore have command of the post.
+Hovey, who had been Principal of the Normal Institute before becoming
+a Colonel, felt that his position had been quite as high as that of a
+Captain in the Regular Army, and his men, who entered warmly into the
+dispute, could hardly understand how the Colonel of the 38th Ill. could
+outrank the Colonel of the 33d, and though they at last gave way, there
+was some bitterness of feeling.
+
+
+246
+
+Though Gen. Grant had only about 14,000 men all told, he kept Johnston,
+Polk and Thompson, with their 30,000, so well employed guarding points
+that he threatened, or might take without threatening, that their
+superiority was neutralized and they were kept on the defensive.
+
+Burning with desire to do something, M. Jeff Thompson, who, in spite of
+his gasconade, was really a brave, enterprising man, and a good deal of
+a soldier, started out from Columbus early in October with some 2,000
+men, expecting to be joined by other forces on the way, capture Ironton
+and Frederick-town, open up the road for Pillow's columns to St. Lous,
+and to co-operate with Gen. Price.
+
+He went down the river in boats to New Madrid and there began a march
+across the country toward Bloomfield, which was to become the base of
+so many of his subsequent operations. Leaving his infantry under the
+command of Col. Aden Lowe, of the 3d Mo. State Guards, a prominent young
+attorney and politician, to follow more slowly, Thompson pushed on with
+500 mounted men, whom he calls "dragoons," made a wide circuit, and
+struck the railroad north of Ironton at Big River Bridge, only about
+40 miles from St Louis. He had made astonishing progress so far, and
+jubilantly reported to Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, who had come to
+Columbus to watch the movement, that his men were so anxious to fight
+that he reached his objective point two days ahead of the appointed
+time.
+
+
+247
+
+At the Big River Bridge he struck a small company of a somewhat noted
+regiment, the 33d Ill. (the Normal Regiment), largely made up of
+students and teachers in the Normal Institute of Illinois, who, despite
+the disparity in numbers, gave him a sharp little fight, in which he
+lost two killed and quite a number wounded. He reported having captured
+45 prisoners, with a quantity of supplies, and succeeded in burning
+the bridge across the river. While engaged in distributing the supplies,
+another company of the 33d Ill., hearing the noise, came up to the
+assistance of their comrades, and Thompson had another fight on his
+hands, in which he admits he lost four men killed and quite a number
+wounded, but insists that he "killed another lot of the enemy and took
+10 prisoners." He said he "had the enemy terribly frightened," and that
+if Albert Sidney Johnston had the rest of his men in striking distance
+that he could take Ironton, with its 12,000,000 rations stored for the
+Winter, in an hour.
+
+Johnston transmitted Thompson's report to Richmond with a complimentary
+indorsement. Thompson also reported having received several hundred
+recruits and captured about 17,000 pounds of lead. These were destined
+to be the last of his rejoicings for some time.
+
+Thompson sent word to all the commanders of Confederate forces in the
+neighborhood to join in his attack on Ironton, promising them victory
+and unlimited spoils.
+
+Gen. Grant ordered Col. Carlin to move forward with his force from Pilot
+Knob and attack Thompson's main body, which was then in the neighborhood
+of Fredericktown. He also ordered Col. J. B. Plum-mer to march from Cape
+Girardeau, strike at Thompson's line of retreat, and endeavor to capture
+his whole force.
+
+
+248
+
+Thompson had cunningly magnified the number of his troops, and Plummer
+and Carlin were both impressed with the idea that he had somewhere in
+the neighborhood of 5,000 or 6,000 men and was likely to be joined by
+Gen. Hardee's column from Pocahontas, Ark., with many more.
+
+Grant, with that accurate knowledge of his enemy which was one of his
+conspicuous traits and never failed him at any time during the war,
+informed them that Thompson had only between 2,000 and 3,000 men. As
+usual in Grant's operations, the columns moved on time and arrived when
+expected.
+
+Col. Carlin moved Oct. 20 from Pilot Knob with about 3,000 men made up
+of the 21st Ill., Col. Alexander; 33d HI., Col. C. E. Hovey; 38th Ill.,
+Maj. Gilman; 8th Wis., Col. Murphy; part of the 1st Ind. Cav., Col.
+Conrad Baker, and some of the guns of the 1st Mo. Art., under the charge
+of Maj. Schofield.
+
+Col. Plummets column, about 1,500 strong, consisted of the 17th Ill.,
+Col Ross; 20th Ill., Col. Marsh; 11th Mo., Lieut.-Col. Panabaker; Lieut.
+White's section of Taylor's Illinois Battery, and two companies of
+cavalry commanded by Capts. Stewart and Lan-gen.
+
+Col. Plummer moved to Dallas, on Johnston's line of retreat, and there
+sent through a messenger to Col. Carlin, stating where he was and
+what his intentions were, so that the two forces could cooperate.
+The messenger was captured by some of the Missourians, and therefore
+Thompson came into possession of the plans of his enemies. He moved back
+with his train until he saw it safely on its way to Greenville, and
+then returned with his command toward Fredericktown to accommodate his
+opponents with a fight if they desired it and to gain time for his train
+to get back to Bloomfield and New Madrid.
+
+
+249
+
+Not finding Thompson at Dallas, Col. Plummer moved up to Fredericktown,
+arriving there at noon, Monday, Oct. 21, and found that Col. Carlin
+had arrived with his forces about 8 o'clock in the morning. There was
+immediately one of those squabbles over rank which were so frequent
+on both sides during the early part of the war and not absent from its
+history at any time.
+
+In spite of being a younger man than Col. Plummer, a younger Captain in
+the Regular Army, and in spite of Plummer's experience in the Mexican
+War and at Wilson's Creek, Carlin insisted upon the command of the
+whole, upon the grounds that he had been commissioned a Colonel Aug.
+15, and by the Governor of Illinois; while Plummer's commission was from
+Fremont. Carlin insisted that he had a plan by which Thompson's whole
+force could be captured, but was at length induced to yield the command
+to Plummer, who went ahead with the combined force to attack Thompson,
+leaving Carlin, who was exhausted and ill, in town with a portion of his
+command.
+
+Possibly, what helped induce Carlin to yield was the knowledge of an
+agreement between Col. Plummer and Col. Ross, of the 17th Ill., who
+outranked both of them, that if Carlin persisted in his claim, Ross
+should assert his seniority and take command of the whole. Carlin
+retained the 8th Wis. and two 24-pound howitzers in Fredericktown to
+hold the place, while Plummer took the rest of the force and started out
+in search of Thompson.
+
+He did not have to go very far.
+
+
+250
+
+A half mile from town shots were heard, and the cavalry came back with
+the information that the enemy was just ahead. The leading infantry
+regiment, the 17th Ill., went into line to the left and moved forward
+into a cornfield, where the enemy's skirmishers were immediately
+encountered.
+
+Lieut. White came up with his section of artillery and opened fire upon
+a hill about 600 yards distant where it was likely that Thompson had his
+artillery masked. Thompson's guns could not stand the punishment quietly
+and opened up only to be speedily suppressed by other guns which Maj.
+Schofield hurried up to join two which had been firing.
+
+Col. Lowe, commanding the Missouri State Guards, first engaged, was soon
+shot through the head and his regiment began falling back before the
+steady advance of the 17th Ill., to which was soon added the fire of the
+33d Ill. and a part of the 11th Mo.
+
+At first the Missourians fell back steadily, but after the rough
+handling of the artillery their retreat became a rout and Col. Baker
+dashed forward with the 1st Ind. Cav. in pursuit.. A half mile in the
+rear Thompson succeeded in rallying his men and also brought one piece
+of artillery into action, receiving the cavalry with a fierce volley, by
+which Maj. Gavitt, who had been active and prominent in the operations
+in that section, and Capt. Highman were killed.
+
+Notwithstanding this, the cavalry rallied, charged, and took the gun,
+which they had, however, to soon give up under a charge led by Thompson
+himself.
+
+
+251
+
+The 17th Ill. had already secured one gun, and now as the infantry
+came up Thompson's men broke and retreated rapidly in every direction.
+Hearing the noise of the fighting, Col. Carlin arose from a sick-bed,
+galloped to the battlefield, and took command of a part of the troops.
+The pursuit was continued by the infantry for 10 miles, and by the
+cavalry 12 miles farther, when it was decided that Thompson's men had
+scattered and gained a refuge in the swamps, and that further pursuit
+would be useless.
+
+Plummer recalled his forces to Fredericktown. He claims that he took 80
+prisoners, of whom 38 were wounded, and buried 158 of Thompson's dead,
+with other bodies being found from time to time in the woods. His own
+loss he reports as six killed and 16 wounded.
+
+Thompson reported that he had lost 20 killed, 27 wounded, and 15
+prisoners, but that he "had mowed down the enemy as with a scythe;"
+that "they acknowledge a loss of 400 killed and wounded," etc, etc. He
+admitted he had lost one cannon by its being disabled so that it could
+not be brought from the field. He said that his "dragoons" had stampeded
+in a shameful way, but that his infantry had behaved very well.
+Later, he reported from New Madrid that his command was "very much
+demoralized."
+
+Gen. Polk seems to have been much depressed by the news of Thompson's
+defeat, because he ordered an abandonment of the post at New Madrid and
+the bringing over of the men and guns to his "Gibraltar" at Columbus.
+
+Gen. Grant, though probably disappointed at the failure of his plans to
+capture Thompson's force, was careful to write complimentary letters to
+all the commanders, recognizing their good services in the expedition.
+
+
+262
+
+The fight at Fredericktown quieted things pretty effectually in
+southeastern Missouri, and ended for a long while the project of
+capturing St Louis by the New Madrid route.
+
+Gen. Grant was preparing some startling things to occupy the attention
+of Johnston, Polk and Pillow in quite another quarter.
+
+
+263
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI. GEN. H. W. HALLECK IN COMMAND.
+
+Henry Wager Halleck, who succeeded Gen. Fremont in command of the
+Department of Missouri, Nov. 9, 1861, had been pointed to as a
+brilliantly shining example of what West Point could produce. He was
+born in 1819 near Utica, N. Y., of a very good family, and had graduated
+July 1, 1839, from West Point, third in a class of which Isaac
+I. Stevens, afterward to conclude a brilliant career by dying a
+Major-General on the field of battle, was the head. Other conspicuous
+members of the class were Maj.-Gens. James B. Ricketts, E. O. C. Ord,
+H. J. Hunt, and E. R. S. Can-by, of the Union army, and A. R. Lawton, a
+Confederate Brigadier-General. Halleck was commissioned in the Corps of
+Engineers, and during the Mexican War received a couple of the brevets
+so easily won in that conflict.
+
+With his attainments and cast of mind, he made an admirable staff
+officer for Commodore Shubrick and Gens. Mason and Riley in their
+administration of California while the territory was being reduced to an
+American possession. He became a Captain in his Corps in 1852, but the
+opportunities in California were so tempting, that he resigned to enter
+the practice of the law and embark in various business enterprises of
+railroad building and quicksilver mining. He was unusually successful
+in all these, becoming Director-General of the New Almaden Quicksilver
+Mining Company, President of a railroad, and a member of a leading law
+firm. He kept up his military connection by accepting the commission of
+Major-General commanding the California Militia.
+
+
+264
+
+He was a constant student and a ready writer, and during this time
+published a number of military and scientific books, some of which were
+original and others translations.
+
+Intellectually, professionally and socially he stood very high, and
+the bestowal of a Major-General's commission upon him, dating from Aug.
+19,1861, met with universal approval, though it gave him seniority in
+that coveted rank to many distinguished soldiers. At that time Halleck
+was in his 46th year and the very prime of his powers. He was tall,
+spare, and commanding in figure, with a clean-shaven, authoritative,
+intellectual face in which men read great things. He had large,
+searching eyes, which seemed to penetrate the one with whom he was
+talking. As far as education and observation could go, Halleck was
+as complete a soldier as could be produced. Whatever could be done by
+calculation and careful operation, he could do on a high plane. He only
+lacked military instinct and soldierly intuition. Of that moral force
+which frequently overleaps mere physical limitation he seems to have had
+little, nor could he understand it in others.
+
+There was in him none of the fiery zeal of Lyon, or the relentless
+pugnacity of Grant; apparently these qualities were so absent in him
+that he did not know how to deal with them in others. He never put
+himself at the head of his troops to lead them in battle.
+
+
+255
+
+He could build up, block by block, with patient calculation, without
+comprehension that somewhere might be a volcanic energy suddenly
+unloosed which would scatter his blocks like straws.
+
+If he had political convictions, they were so unobtrusive as to be
+rarely mentioned in connection with him. Probably his views were the
+same as generally prevailed among the Regular Army officers of that day
+which were represented by the attitude of the Douglas Democrats and "Old
+Line Whigs."
+
+He believed, above all things, in law and system, and wanted all the
+affairs of this world to go ahead in strict accordance with them. The
+soldier epithet of "Old Brains" was bestowed upon him, and he seemed to
+relish the appellation.
+
+In the long and specific letter of instructions accompanying his
+assignment to command, Gen. McClellan directed him to carefully
+scrutinize all commissions and appointments, and revoke those not
+proceeding from the President or Secretary of War; to stop all pay and
+allowances to them, and if the appointees gave any trouble, send them
+out of the Department, and if they returned, place them in confinement.
+He was to examine into the legality of all organizations of troops
+serving in the Department, and deal with those unauthorized in a similar
+summary way. All contracts were to be rigidly probed, and payment
+suspended on those of which there was the slightest doubt. All officers
+who had in any way violated their duty to the Government were to be
+arrested and brought to prompt trial.
+
+
+256
+
+Halleck began at once to justify the high expectations entertained
+of him. Order and system followed the erratic administration of his
+predecessor. Soldiers were subjected to vigorous discipline, but they
+were given the supplies to which they were entitled, and they were made
+to feel that they were being employed to some purpose.
+
+The futile and aggravating marches made in pursuit of the elusive
+guerrillas and bushwhackers, who were never caught, were replaced by
+well-directed movements striking at the heart of the trouble.
+
+Acting under Gen. Price's orders sometimes, but frequently under their
+own impulses to commit outrages, inflict blows, and create excitement, a
+large part of the State was covered by bands of guerrillas who appeared
+as citizens, were well armed, rode good horses, and were annoyingly
+successful in sweeping down on the railroad stations, water tanks,
+bridges, and settlements of Union people, burning, destroying, and
+creating havoc generally.
+
+Gen. Halleck proclaimed martial law, and issued an order that any
+man disguised as a peaceful citizen, if caught in the act of burning
+bridges, etc., should be immediately shot. The troops proceeded to
+execute this order with good hearts. A large number of the offenders
+were shot down in the neighborhoods where they had committed their
+offenses; others were taken before a military commission and condemned
+to the same fate.
+
+Gens. Pope, Prentiss, Schofield and Henderson were given sufficient
+forces and ordered to move directly upon the more important bodies of
+Secessionists who formed a nucleus and support for these depredators.
+They all did so with good effect.
+
+Gen. Prentiss moved against a force about 3,000 strong operating in
+Howard, Boone and Calloway Counties, and succeeded in striking them very
+heavily at Mount Zion Church, where they were dispersed with a loss of
+25 killed, 150 wounded, 30 prisoners, 90 horses, and 105 stands of arms.
+
+
+257
+
+Gen. Pope operating from Sedalia achieved even better success, capturing
+Col. Robinson's command of 1,300 men and about 60 officers, 1,000 horses
+and mules, and 73 wagons loaded with powder, lead and supplies and 1,000
+stands of arms.
+
+Gen. Prentiss very effectually cleaned out the State north of the
+Missouri River, and in conjunction with Gen. Pope's operations south of
+it, made it so threatening for Gen. Price, who had advanced to the Osage
+River to support the Secessionists there, that he broke up his camp and
+rather hurriedly retreated to Springfield.
+
+The year 1861 therefore ended with the Union men again in possession of
+nearly four-fifths of the State, with their hands full of prisoners and
+supplies captured from the enemy.
+
+The Secessionists of St. Louis had been encouraged by the untoward
+course of events in the East. After Bull Run had come the shocking
+disaster of Ball's Bluff, and with Gen. Price only a short distance away
+on the Osage threatening Jefferson City and north Missouri, they felt
+their star in the ascendant, and became unbearably insolent. Gen.
+Halleck repressed them with a vigorous hand, yet without causing
+the wild clamor of denunciation which characterized Gen. Butler's
+Administration of New Orleans.
+
+
+258
+
+It will be remembered that at that time it was thought quite the thing
+for young Secessionist women to show their "spirit" and their devotion
+to the South by all manner of open insult to the Yankee soldiers.
+Spitting at them, hurling epithets of abuse, and contemptuously
+twitching aside their skirts were regarded as quite the correct thing
+in the good society of which these young ladies were the ornaments.
+This had become so intolerable in New Orleans, that Gen. Butler felt
+constrained to issue his famous order directing that women so offending
+should be treated as "women of the town plying their vocation." This
+was made the pretext of "firing the Southern heart" to an unwarranted
+degree, and Jeff Davis issued a proclamation of outlawry against Ben
+Butler, with a reward for his head.
+
+Sanguine Secessionists hoped that this "flagrant outrage" by "Beast
+Butler" would be sufficient cause for the recognition of the Southern
+Confederacy by France and England.
+
+Gen. Halleck met the same difficulty as Butler very shrewdly. The Chief
+of Police of St. Louis had some measure of control over the disreputable
+women of the city, and made law for them. Under Gen. Hal-leek's order he
+instructed these women to vie with and exceed their respectable sisters
+in their manifestations of hostility to the Union cause and of devotion
+to the South. Where the fair young ladies of the Southern aristocracy
+were wearing Secession rosettes as big as a rose, the women of the
+demimonde sported them as big as a dahlia or sunflower. Where the
+young belle gave a little graceful twitch to her skirts to prevent any
+possible contamination by touching a passing Yankee, the other class
+flirted theirs' aside in the most immodest way. It took but a few days
+of this to make the exuberant young ladies of uncontrollable rebel
+proclivities discard their Secession rosettes altogether, and subside
+into dignified, self-respecting persons, who took no more notice of a
+passing Union soldier than they did of a lamp-post or tree-box.
+
+
+259
+
+Another of Gen. Halleck's orders did not result so happily. It will be
+remembered that Gen. Fremont declared free the slaves of men in arms
+against the Government, and that their freedom would be assured them
+upon reaching the Union lines.
+
+In the inflamed condition of public sentiment in the Border States on
+the negro question this was very impolitic, and the President promptly
+overruled the order.
+
+Gen. Halleck went still further in the issuance of the following
+order, which created as intense feeling in the North as Gen. Fremont's
+"Abolition order" had excited in the Border States:
+
+It has been represented that important information respecting: the
+number and condition of our forces is conveyed to the enemy by means of
+fugitive slaves who are admitted within our lines. In order to remedy
+this evil, it is directed that no such persons be hereafter permitted to
+enter the lines of any camp, or of any forces on the march, and that any
+now within such lines be immediately excluded therefrom.
+
+It was particularly distasteful to the Radicals in Missouri who had been
+represented by Gen. Fremont. During his administration the Union
+party in the State had divided into two wings--the Radicals and the
+Conservatives, who soon came to hate each other almost if not quite as
+badly as they did the Secessionists. The Radicals, or, as their enemies
+called them, "the Charcoals," were largely made up, as before stated, of
+the young, aggressive, idealistic Germans who had poured into Missouri
+after the suppression of the Rebellion of 1848, and who looked upon
+slavery as they did on "priest-craft" and "despotism"--all monstrous
+relics of barbarism. They had absolutely no patience with the "peculiar
+institution," and could not understand how any rational, right-thinking
+man could tolerate it or hesitate about sweeping it off the earth at
+the first opportunity. Those of them who had gone into the army had only
+done so to fight for freedom, and without freedom the object of their
+crusade was lost.
+
+
+260
+
+The German newspapers attacked Halleck with the greatest bitterness,
+meetings were held to denounce him and secure his removal, and strong
+efforts were made to obtain Sigel's promotion to a Major-General and his
+assignment to the command.
+
+Gen. Halleck, in a letter to F. P. Blair, explained and justified this
+order, as follows:
+
+Order No. 3 was, in my mind, clearly a military necessity. Unauthorized
+persons, black or white, free or slave, must be kept out of our camps,
+unless we are willing to publish to the enemy everything we do or intend
+to do. It was a military, and not a political order.
+
+I am ready to carry out any lawful instructions in regard to fugitive
+slaves which my superiors may give me, and to enforce any law which
+Congress may pass. But I cannot make law, and will not violate it. You
+know my private opinion on the policy of confiscating the slave property
+of the rebels in arms. If Congress shall pass it, you may be certain
+that I shall enforce it.
+
+Among other well-taken measures was the passage of a law by Congress
+authorizing the enrollment of citizens of Missouri into regiments to
+be armed, equipped and paid by the United States, but officered by the
+Governor of Missouri, and employed only in the defense of the State.
+This had many advantages besides giving the services to the Government
+of about 13,000 very good soldiers. It brought into the ranks many
+wavering young men who did not want to fight against the Union, nor did
+they want to fight against the South. To enlist for the "defense of the
+State" satisfied all their scruples.
+
+
+261
+
+The time had come when every young man in the State had to be lined up
+somewhere. He could not remain neutral; if he was not for the Union he
+would inevitably be brought into the Secession ranks.
+
+The law authorized the necessary staff and commanding officers for
+this force, and prescribed that it should be under the command of a
+Brigadier-General of the United States selected by the Governor of
+Missouri.
+
+Our old acquaintance, John M. Schofield, Gen. Lyon's Chief of Staff at
+the battle of Wilson's Creek, who had since done good work in command of
+a regiment of Missouri artillery, was commissioned a Brigadier-General
+to date from Nov. 21, 1861, and put in command of the Missouri Enrolled
+Militia, beginning thus a career of endless trouble, but of quite
+extended usefulness.
+
+It will be remembered that Brig.-Gen. U. S. Grant, recently promoted
+from the Colonelcy of the 21st Ill., had been relieved from his command
+at Jefferson City, and sent to that of a new district consisting of
+southeast Missouri and southern Illinois. He had made his headquarters
+temporarily at Cape Girardeau, to attend to M. Jeff Thompson, who was
+determined to lead the way for Gens. Leonidas Polk and Gideon Pillow
+into St. Louis by the Mississippi River route. Grant, as we have seen,
+organized his movements so well that Thompson was driven back from
+Fredericktown and Ironton with some loss, and returned to his old
+stamping-ground at New Madrid, below Columbus, Ky., where Polk had
+established his headquarters and the fighting center of the Confederacy
+in the West.
+
+
+262
+
+Polk was reputed to have at that time some 80,000 men under his command,
+and Grant, following his usual practice of getting into proximity to his
+enemy, transferred his headquarters to Cairo, where, also in accordance
+with his invariable habit, he begun to furnish active employment for
+those under him in ways unpleasant for his adversary. An enemy in the
+territory assigned to Gen. Grant was never allowed much opportunity to
+loll in careless indolence. This idiosyncrasy of Gen. Grant made him
+rather peculiar among the Union Generals at that stage of the war.
+
+Two days after Grant arrived at Cairo he learned that Gen. Polk was
+moving to take Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennessee River, 45 miles
+above Cairo. This was a most important point, as a lodgment there would
+have stopped navigation on the Ohio, and absolutely controlled that
+on the Cumberland and Tennessee. Grant at once decided that he would
+anticipate him and telegraphed for permission to St. Louis, but his
+telegram and another one still more urgent received no attention, and
+he proceeded to act on his own volition, loading his men on the steamers
+and starting for Paducah in the night, arriving there in the morning,
+thereby anticipating the rebel advance some six or eight hours. This was
+characteristic of Grant's other operations around Cairo, and it was not
+long until he had that point not only free from apprehension as to what
+Polk might do against it with his mighty army, but he had Polk becoming
+anxious as to what Grant might do against him at Columbus, which he had
+proclaimed as the "Gibraltar of the West."
+
+
+263
+
+Everywhere in his district Grant had introduced the best discipline
+into the force of 20,000 men which he had collected. He had looked
+out carefully for their wants, and had them well supplied, and he was
+gaining their confidence as well as his own by well directed movements
+which always led to considerable results.
+
+Fremont, who had at last started out in his grand movement against
+Price, was fearful that Price's army might be strongly reinforced by
+Polk from Columbus, and it was made Grant's duty to prevent this.
+
+Grant with his habitual boldness had been desirous of moving directly
+against Columbus, but the reputed strength of the works and the force
+there made the suggestion carry shivers to the minds of his superiors,
+where the memories of Bull Run and Ball's Bluff were so painfully
+recent. But if Grant was not allowed to do one thing, he would always
+do another. He heard of a force under M. J. Thompson, numbering about
+3,000, on the St. Francois River, about 50 miles to the southwest of
+Cairo, and promptly started Col. Richard J. Oglesby with about 3,000 men
+to beat up Jeff Thompson and destroy him.
+
+Later he ordered Col. W. H. L. Wallace to take the remainder of the
+11th Ill., and some other troops to move after Oglesby, to give him help
+should he need it.
+
+Soon after, believing that Jeff Thompson had gotten out of Col.
+Oglesby's reach, he sent another order to Oglesby to move directly upon
+New Madrid and take the place. This was a bold performance, for the
+capture of New Madrid would have placed him on the Mississippi below
+Columbus and cut off Polk's principal line of supplies.
+
+
+264
+
+Urgent dispatches continued to come from Fremont to prevent any
+reinforcement of Price from Columbus, and Grant started in to impress
+Gen. Polk with the idea that he would have quite enough to attend to at
+home. He sent orders to Gen. C. F. Smith, commanding at Paducah, to send
+a column out to threaten Columbus from that side, and to Col. Marsh to
+advance from Mayfield, Ky., and Grant himself, gathering up about 3,000
+men from the troops he had around Cairo, embarking them on steamers, and
+under the convoy of two gunboats (the Lexington and Tyler), steamed down
+the river directly for Columbus, 20 miles away.
+
+Nov. 6 the flotilla dropped down the river to within six miles and in
+full view of Columbus, and landed a few men on the Kentucky side. This
+was to still further confuse the mind of Gen. Polk, and make him believe
+that he must expect an attack on the land side in co-operation with the
+forces advancing from Paducah and from Mayfield directly in front of
+Cairo.
+
+Gen. Grant says that when he started out he had no intention of making
+a fight, and of course did not contemplate any such thing as a direct
+attack with the force he had upon the immensely superior numbers at
+Columbus, but he saw his men were eager to do something, and that
+they would be greatly discontented if they returned without a fight.
+Therefore, on learning that the enemy was crossing troops to the little
+hamlet of Belmont, opposite Columbus, presumably with the intention
+of cutting off and crushing Oglesby, he resolved to strike a blow, and
+determined to break up the small camp at Belmont, which would give the
+enemy something else to think about.
+
+
+265
+
+About an hour after daybreak he began landing his men on the west side
+of the Mississippi River, while the gunboats moved down a little further
+and waked up the enemy by throwing shells into the works at Columbus.
+Grant handled his men with the skill he always displayed on the field of
+battle, pushing forward the main body through the corn fields and
+woods, but leaving a regiment in a secure position in a dry slough as
+a resource for an emergency. They with the gunboats were to protect the
+transports.
+
+Gen. Polk probably saw all this, but interpreted it as a mere feint
+to get him to send troops across the river and thus strip his
+fortifications so as to make easier the work of the columns advancing
+from Paducah and Mayfield. He therefore held his men with him and did
+not interfere with Grant's movements.
+
+Grant pushed on through the cornfields and woods for a mile or more,
+and then rearranged his lines and pushed forward a heavy line of
+skirmishers. By this time the enemy in camp at Belmont had learned of
+the movement, and started out to meet it. The two lines of skirmishers
+soon came in contact, and there was a spiteful, bickering fire opened
+between them. Both sides were expert woodsmen and riflemen, and thoroly
+at home at this kind of work. The Union line pressed the Confederates
+slowly back for four hours, receiving and inflicting considerable
+losses. Grant's horse was shot under him, but he got another, and kept
+his place in the advance, directing and encouraging the men, whom he
+says acted like veterans and behaved as well as any troops in the world
+could have done.
+
+
+266
+
+He pushed the enemy so closely that when the latter reached the abatis
+they broke into confusion and rushed over the river bank for shelter,
+yielding possession of their camp to the victorious Unionists.
+
+This triumph completely intoxicated the victors. They broke ranks, threw
+down their guns, began rummaging through the camps for trophies, running
+up and down and cheering wildly. Their officers were no better than
+they. Many of them had been political "spellbinders" in civil life and
+very naturally proceeded to "improve the occasion" by getting on
+stumps and delivering enthusiastic Union speeches and addresses of
+congratulation over the gallantry of their men and the wonderful victory
+achieved. In vain did Gen. Grant try to recall them to a sense of
+soldierly duty and discipline. He alone appeared to comprehend the
+object of the expedition, and what was necessary to be next done. He
+could not rally enough men to go down the river bank and capture
+the garrison which was sheltered there. A number of the men who were
+attracted by the captured cannon began firing them with great jubilation
+down the river at steamboats which they saw there, and Grant tried to
+have them, since they would fire guns, turn them upon the steamers which
+were coming across from Columbus loaded with troops. Polk had at last
+waked up to what was being done across the river, and began a fire upon
+Belmont from his siege guns, while he hurried troops aboard steamers to
+recover the lost position.
+
+
+267
+
+The shells began to startle the exultant soldiers, and Grant took
+advantage of this to employ them in setting fire to the tents and other
+camp equipage. Presently the sky of victory was overcast by the sudden
+announcement that the rebels were in line of battle between them and the
+transports, and that they were cut off and surrounded. The exultation of
+victory was followed by almost a panic, but Grant steadied them with
+the quiet assurance "We have cut our way in here, and we can cut it out
+again." This was taken up by the officers as they reformed their men for
+the battle.
+
+Again the skirmish line was pushed forward in search of the enemy, but
+he offered only a moderate resistance, and the troops made their way
+back to the transports with little difficulty, though the excitement was
+tremendous.
+
+The commanders of the gunboats had kept alert, and came promptly forward
+to engage the guns on the Columbus bluffs and later to discourage the
+pursuing rebels with liberal volleys of grape and canister, which, as
+the bend of the river gave them an enfilade on the river line, were
+delivered with great effect and considerable slaughter.
+
+The troops were gotten again on board the transports without any
+particular trouble, though about 25 wounded were left in the hands of
+the enemy. The Union troops had brought off about 175 prisoners and two
+guns, besides spiking four other cannon.
+
+While the wounded were being gathered up and brought aboard, Gen. Grant
+rode out some distance to reconnoiter, and almost rode into a body of
+the enemy. He turned and made his way back to the transports, which
+were just starting; the Captain recognized him, and held his boat for
+a moment while Gen. Grant's horse slipped down the steep bank and then
+trotted on board over the single gangway. The expedition returned to
+Cairo immediately.
+
+
+268
+
+Gen. Grant officially reported his losses as 485 in killed, wounded
+and missing. Gen. Polk officially reported his losses as killed, 105;
+wounded, 419; missing, 117; total, 641. He estimated the Union losses
+at 1,500; "fourteen-fifteenths of that number must have been killed,
+wounded or drowned." He also said that he had a stand of colors,
+something over 1,000 stand of arms, with knapsacks, ammunition, and
+other military stores.
+
+Medical Director J. H. Brinton gives the following list of losses by
+regiments:
+
+     Command.                                  Killed.              Wounded
+
+     27th Ill. Vol..........................     11                     47
+
+     80th Ill. Vol.........................       9                     27
+
+     31st Ill. Vol..........................     10                     70
+
+     22d Ill. Vol...........................     23                     74
+
+     7th Iowa Vol...........................     26                     93
+
+     Cavalry and Artillery.................       1                     11
+
+     Total..................................     80                    322
+
+While Gen. Grant and the officers and men under him regarded the
+affair as a great victory, and deservedly plumed themselves upon their
+achievements that day, there was a decidedly different opinion taken
+in the North, and the matter has been the subject of more or less sharp
+criticism ever since. It was pronounced by the McClellan-Halleck school
+of military men as a useless waste of men in gaining no object, and
+probably the most charitable of Gen. Grant's critics could find no
+better excuse for him than that he was like the man in the Bible who had
+bought two yoke of oxen and wanted to go and try them. All this did not
+disturb the equanimity of Gen. Grant and his men in the least. He
+knew he had accomplished what he had set out to do, to give Gen. Polk
+something else to occupy his mind than capturing Oglesby or reinforcing
+Thompson and Price.
+
+
+269
+
+Col. Oglesby made his way unmolested back to Cairo. Polk was probably
+beginning to think that he would have quite enough to do to stay in
+Columbus, and his dreams as to St. Louis were dissipated.
+
+Gen. Grant's men knew that they had met their enemies on equal terms in
+the open field, and had driven them, whether they were in their front or
+rear, and so they were content.
+
+The Confederates of course proclaimed a great victory, and made the
+most of it. Albert Sidney Johnston enthusiastically congratulated Polk,
+Jefferson Davis did the same, and the Confederate Congress passed
+a resolution of thanks to Maj.-Gen. Polk and Brig.-Gens. Pillow and
+Cheatham and the officers and soldiers under their commands.
+
+The battle was the occasion of still further increasing the bitterness
+between Polk and his insubordinate subordinate, Gideon J. Pillow, who
+resigned his commission, and sent to the Confederate War Department a
+long and bitter complaint against Gen. Polk, a large part of which was
+taken up with charges against his superior for non-support when he,
+Pillow, was engaged in a terrible struggle on the west side of the
+river with a force "three times my own." Pillow asserted that he had
+repeatedly driven back the Unionists at the point of the bayonet, after
+his ammunition had been exhausted, and no more was furnished him by Gen.
+Polk. He said that Polk had thus needlessly sacrificed many brave men,
+and that a like, if not greater, calamity was possible if he were to
+continue in command. "His retention is the source of great peril to
+the country." Pillow said: "As a zealous patriot, I admire him; as
+an eminent minister of the Gospel, I respect him; but as a Commanding
+General I cannot agree with him."
+
+
+270
+
+Southeastern Missouri had, therefore, a season of rest for some time.
+
+
+271
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI. HUNTER, LANE, MISSOURI AND KANSAS.
+
+Maj.-Gen. David Hunter felt that fortune was not smiling on him
+according to his deserts. He had graduated from West Point in 1822,
+and had been in the Army 39 years, or longer than any but few of the
+officers then in active employment. He was a thorough soldier, devoted
+to his profession, highly capable, inflexibly upright, strongly
+loyal, an old-time friend of President Lincoln, and enjoyed his full
+confidence. He had done a very painful piece of necessary work for the
+Administration in investigating the conditions in Gen. John C. Fremont's
+command, faithfully reporting them, and in relieving that officer,
+thereby incurring the enmity of all his partisans. Then he had handed
+the command over to Maj.-Gen. H. W. Hal-leck, who had graduated 17 years
+later than he, and who had been seven years out of the Army.
+
+Gen. Hunter had been assigned to Kansas, which was created a Department
+for him, but it had few troops, and was remote from the scene of
+important operations. He was particularly hurt that Brig.-Gen. Don
+Carlos Buell, 19 years his junior, should be assigned to the command
+of a splendid army of 100,000 men in Kentucky; and Brig.-Gen. Thos. W.
+Sherman, 14 years his junior, should be selected to lead an important
+expedition to the coast of South Carolina and Georgia.
+
+
+272
+
+Like the faithful soldier he was, however, he made little plaint of his
+own grievances, but addressed himself earnestly to the work to which he
+was assigned. He soon had other troubles enough to make him forget his
+own. His hardest work was to keep the Kansans off the Missourians. In
+the strained and wavering conditions of public opinion, every effort had
+to be made to prevent any pretext or incentive to take the young men
+of Missouri into the ranks of Price's army. Gen. Halleck estimated that
+indignation at the border raids of Lane, Jennison and Montgomery had
+given Price fully 20,000 men. The years of strife along the borders
+had arrayed the people in both States against one another. Every Kansan
+considered every Missourian the enemy of himself and the State, and the
+feeling was reciprocated by the Missourians.
+
+For years Kansas had been inflicted with raids by the "Poor White
+Trash," "Border Ruffians," and "Bald Knobbers," who had, beside
+committing other outrages, carried off into Missouri horses, cattle,
+furniture, farm implements, and other portable property.
+
+The Kansans held all Missourians responsible for these crimes by
+the worser element, and the war seemed a chance to get even. When
+opportunity offered, Kansas parties invaded Missouri, bringing back with
+them everything which they could load on wagons or drive along the road.
+
+
+273
+
+The great mass of the Missourians still held aloof from both sides,
+remaining as neutral as they would be allowed. Douglas Democrats,
+Bell-and-Everett Old-Line Whigs, two-thirds of the entire population,
+were yet halting between their attachment for the Union and their
+political and social affiliations. It was all-important that they should
+be kept loyal, or at least out of the Confederate camps, hence the
+stringency of Halleck's orders against any spoliations or depredations
+by Union troops, and hence his orders that the negroes should be kept
+out of the camps, and their ownership settled by the civil courts. Every
+offense by Union soldiers was made the most of by Price's recruiting
+agents to bring into their ranks the young men for the "defense of the
+State."
+
+At the head of the vengeful Kansas element was the meteoric James H.
+Lane, who had for years ridden the whirlwind in the agitation following
+the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and the rush of settlers into
+those Territories. Volumes have been written about "Jim Lane," but the
+last definitive word as to his character is yet to be uttered. Arch
+demagogue he certainly was, but demagogues have their great uses in
+periods of storm and stress. We usually term "demagogues" those men
+active against us, while those who are rousing the people on our
+own side are "patriotic leaders." No man had more enemies nor more
+enthusiastic friends than "Jim Lane."
+
+As with all real leaders of men, the source of his power was a mystery.
+Tall, thin, bent, with red hair, a rugged countenance and rasping voice,
+he had little oratorical attractiveness, and what he said never read
+convincingly in print. No man, however, ever excelled him before an
+audience, and he swayed men as the winds do the sea.
+
+
+274
+
+Lane was born in Lawrenceburg, Ind., in 1814, and was therefore 47 years
+of age. His father was Amos Lane, a lawyer of great ability, a member of
+Congress, and conspicuous in Indiana. James H. Lane went into politics
+at an early age, and entered the Mexican War as Colonel of the 3d Ind.,
+distinguishing himself at Buena Vista, where he was wounded. Upon the
+expiration of the term of service of his regiment he raised the
+5th Ind., and became its Colonel. This gave him quite a prestige in
+politics, and he was elected Lieutenant-Governor, and Representative
+in Congress. The atmosphere of Indiana was, however, too quiet for his
+turbulent spirit. He broke with his party, joined in the rush to Kansas,
+and speedily became the leader of the out-and-out Free State men. On the
+strength of his Mexican War reputation these elected him Major-General
+of their troops, in the troubles they were having with the Pro-Slavery
+men and the United State troops sent to assist in making the Territory a
+Slave State. When the Free State men gained control of the Territory,
+he was made Major-General of the Territorial troops. His principal
+lieutenants were James Montgomery and Dr. Charles R. Jenni-son, brave,
+daring men, colleagues of "Old Osawatomie Brown," entertaining the same
+opinions as he with regard to slavery, and with even fewer scruples than
+he as to other forms of property.
+
+
+275
+
+When the United States troops were assisting the Pro-Slavery men,
+Montgomery and Jennison went into active rebellion at the head of some
+hundreds of bold, fighting men--"Jayhawkers"--who carried terror into
+the ranks of their adversaries. They insisted that they were acting
+according to the light of their own consciences and the laws of God.
+So terrible did they become that, Nov. 26, 1860, Geo. M. Beebe,
+Acting Governor of the Territory, reported to President Buchanan
+that Montgomery and Jennison, at the head of between 300 and 500
+"well-disciplined and desperate Jayhawkers," equipped with "arms of the
+latest and most deadly character," had hung two citizens of Linn
+County, and frightened 500 citizens of that County into flight from the
+Territory. One of their number having been captured, was about to be
+brought to trial before the United States District Court at Fort Scott,
+and what they alleged was a packed jury. They had proceeded to so
+frighten the court that the Judge and Marshals incontinently fled to
+Missouri, leaving a notice on the door that there would be no session
+of the court. Therefore Gov. Beebe humanely recommended to the President
+that Montgomery and Jennison be immediately killed, as there would be no
+peace in the Territory until they were.
+
+In spite of Lane's constant prominence, there was always a faction in
+Kansas as bitterly his enemies as his friends were enthusiastic for
+him, and it was ever a question which of the two were the stronger. It
+demanded his utmost activity and cunning to keep himself on top. Upon
+the admission of the State, Lane succeeded in having himself elected
+Senator, but the legality of the proceeding was questioned and this
+called for more activity to keep himself at the front.
+
+
+276
+
+When the Union army retreated after the battle of Wilson's Creek, Aug.
+10, there went back with it the 1st and 2d Kan.--all the organized
+troops the State had in the field. This left the border exposed to the
+vengeance of Price's on-sweeping hordes, who made loud threats of what
+they proposed to do. Lane sounded the trumpet. Wilson's Creek with Bull
+Run had awakened the people to the stern realities of the contest, and
+there speedily gathered into camp the men who formed the 3d, 4th, 5th,
+6th and 7th Kan., Montgomery becoming Colonel of the 3d Kan.; Jennison
+of the 7th (Jennison's Jayhawkers). Lane took command of the troops
+assembled at Fort Scott, moved out aggressively on Price's flank, gave
+Rains, who was in command there, a sharp skirmish at Dry Wood, and his
+manuvers were so menacing that Price called Rains back when within five
+miles of the Kansas line, relinquishing his cherished idea of "scourging
+the Abolitionist nest," and pushed on to Lexington. Lane then made
+a dash into Missouri in Price's rear, fought a lively skirmish at
+Papinsville, and followed up the retreating Confederates, capturing
+Osceola, as has been previously stated.
+
+After Gen. Hunter assumed command Lane reappeared with a commission
+as Brigadier-General of Volunteers, of which he had beguiled President
+Lincoln, and began playing a game which gave intense annoyance to the
+bluff, straightforward old soldier. To Hunter he represented that he was
+there merely as a Senator and a member of the Senate Military Committee,
+which latter he was not. To the President and War Department he
+represented that he and Hunter were in brotherly sympathy and
+confidence, and planning a movement of mighty importance. The "sympathy"
+and "confidence" part were believed so completely, that the War
+Department did not take the trouble to communicate with Hunter in regard
+to the details of the proposed movement.
+
+
+277
+
+To his friends and to the press he talked magniloquently about a grand
+"Southern expedition" to be made up of 8,000 or 10,000 Kansas troops,
+4,000 Indians, seven regiments of cavalry, three batteries of artillery,
+and four regiments of infantry from Minnesota and Wisconsin, which he
+would command. It would move from Kansas down into Texas, and there
+meet an expedition coming up from the Gulf of Mexico. The War Department
+seems to have been impressed with the feasibility of this, and began
+ordering troops, officers and supplies to Fort Leavenworth to report to
+"Brig.-Gen. James H. Lane."
+
+Lane's enemies as well as his friends in Kansas heartily approved of
+this, as it would take him away from Kansas, and the Kansas Legislature
+united in a request to have him appointed a Major-General, as that would
+vacate his seat in the Senate.
+
+General-in-Chief McClellan "invited" Gen. Hunter's attention to the
+proposed expedition, and suggested that he prepare for it and report
+what might be necessary. Gen. Hunter replied that he had had no official
+information as to the expedition, and gently complained that the War
+Department seemed entirely unmindful of the Commander of the Department,
+and had consistently ignored him. As to the expedition, he regarded it
+as impracticable. It was 440 miles from Leavenworth to the nearest point
+in Texas, and the road was over a wild, barren country, which would
+require an immense train of supplies for the troops. He had in the
+Department only about 3,000 men, entirely too few to successfully defend
+Fort Leavenworth and its valuable supplies against a raid such as Price
+and McCulloch were continually threatening. He said he knew no such
+person as "Brig.-Gen. J. H. Lane," to whom so many came with orders
+to report. He also said that Lane himself now saw that he had raised
+expectations which he could not fulfill, and that he was seeking to
+pick a quarrel with the Department Commander to give him an excuse for
+dropping the whole business, and was making himself very annoying in a
+thousand ways.
+
+
+278
+
+Secretary Stanton was profoundly distrustful of Lane, and said that
+he would leave the Cabinet rather than put him in independent command.
+Finally the matter came to President Lincoln, who wrote the following
+characteristic letter:
+
+     Executive Mansion, Washington, Feb. 10. Maj.-Gen. Hunter and
+     Brig.-Gen. Lane, Leavenworth, Kan.:
+
+     My wish has been and is to avail the Government of the
+     services of both Gen. Hunter and Gen. Lane, and, so far as
+     possible, to personally oblige both. Gen. Hunter is the
+     senior officer, and must command when they serve together;
+     tho in so far as he can, consistently with the public
+     service and his own honor, oblige Gen. Lane, he will also
+     oblige me. If they cannot come to an amicable understanding,
+     Gen. Lane must report to Gen. Hunter for duty, according to
+     the rules, or decline the service.
+
+     A.   LINCOLN.
+
+
+Lane, who then thought his seat in the Senate safe, decided that he
+would rather serve his country in the forum than in the field, and his
+commission was cancelled. Five years later, dismayed to find he had lost
+his hold on the people of Kansas by his support of Andrew Johnson, he
+ended his strange, eventful history with a pistol-shot from his own
+hand.
+
+Gen. Hunter having reported that the division of Kansas from Missouri
+was unwise, the Department was merged into Gen. Halleck's command, and
+Gen. Hunter assigned to duty in South Carolina.
+
+
+279
+
+Gen. Halleck's laboriously elaborate system received a little shock so
+ludicrous as to be almost incredible were it not solemnly told in an
+official communication by himself to Gen. Sterling Price:
+
+     St Louis, Jan. 27, 1862. Maj.-Gen. Sterling Price,
+     Commanding, etc., Springfield, Mo. General: A man calling
+     himself L. V. Nichols came to my headquarters a day or two
+     since, with a duplicate of your letter of the 12th instant.
+     On being questioned, he admitted that he belonged to your
+     service; that he had come in citizen's dress from
+     Springfield, avoiding some of our military posts and passing
+     through others in disguise, and without reporting himself to
+     the Commander. He said that he had done this by your
+     direction. On being asked for his flag of truce, he pulled
+     from his pocket a dirty pocket-handkerchief, with a short
+     stick tied to one corner.
+
+Gen. Halleck then proceeded to read Gen. Price a lecture on the
+etiquette of flags of truce.
+
+A feature of peculiar pathos was the war storms' reaching and rending of
+the haven of refuge which the Government had provided for its wards in
+the Indian Territory. More than a century of bitter struggling between
+the Creeks, Seminoles, Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, and the
+Carolinians, Georgians, Floridians, Alabamians, and Mississippians,
+marked by murderous massacres and bloody retaliations, had culminated
+in the Indians being removed in a body from their tribal domains,
+and resettled hundreds of miles west of the Mississippi, where it was
+confidently hoped they would be out of the way of the advancing wave of
+settlement and out of the reach of the land-hungry whites. Their mills,
+churches, and school houses were reerected there, and the devoted
+missionaries, the Congregationalists, Methodists, Baptists, Moravians
+and Jesuits resumed with increased zeal the work of converting them to
+Christianity and civilization, which had been so far prosecuted with
+gratifying success.
+
+
+280
+
+In their new home they had prospered wonderfully. Their numbers
+increased until they were estimated from 100,000 to 120,000. Many of
+them lived in comfortable houses, wore white men's clothes, and tilled
+fields on which were raised in the aggregate great quantities of wheat,
+corn, cotton and potatoes. They had herds of horses, cattle, sheep and
+swine large beyond any precedent among the whites. It was common for
+an Indian to number his horses and cattle by the thousands, while the
+poorest of them owned scores which foraged in the plenty of limitless
+rich prairies and bottom land. Churches, school houses and mills
+abounded, and they had even a printing press, from which they issued a
+paper and many religious and educational works in an alphabet invented
+by a full-blood Cherokee. Each tribe constituted an individual Nation
+under a written Constitution, with a full set of elective officers.
+Slavery had been introduced by the half-breeds, and the census of
+1860 shows the following number of slaves and slave-owners in the five
+Nations:
+
+                                        Owners.               Slaves.
+
+     Choctaws..........................385                   2,297
+
+     Cherokees.........................384                   2,604
+
+     Creeks............................287                   1,661
+
+     Chickasaws........................118                     917
+
+     Semlnoles..................... ....--                  ------.
+
+One Choctaw owned 227 negroes.
+
+Into the Territory the Government also gathered other tribes and
+remnants of tribes, Quapaws, Kiowas, Senecas, Comanches, etc., mostly
+in the "blanket" stage of savagery.
+
+
+281
+
+The dominant sentiment in the civilized tribes was strongly averse to
+the war and in favor of peace. The memories and traditions as to the
+meaning of war were too fresh and grievous. The object lessons as to the
+advantage of peace were everywhere striking and overwhelming. They hoped
+to maintain a complete neutrality in the struggle, and pleaded to be
+allowed to do so. June 17, 1861, John Ross, Principal Chief of the
+Cherokees, wrote a long official letter to Gen. Ben. McCulloch, in which
+he said that his people had done nothing to bring about the war, were
+friends to both sides, and only desired to live in peace.
+
+As in the rest of the South, the Confederates were not listening to any
+talk of neutrality, and they proceeded as energetically to stifle it as
+they had the Union and peace advocates in the several Southern States.
+All the Indian Agents and officials were ardent Secessionists, and
+at the head of them was Superintendent Albert Pike, originally a
+Massachusetts Yankee, and the son of a poor shoemaker. He had gone South
+as one of the numerous "Yankee schoolmasters" who invaded that section
+in search of a livelihood, had become a States Rights Democrat, and,
+as usual with proselytes, was the most zealous of believers. He was a
+lawyer of some ability, a successful politician, an active worker in
+Masonry, and made much pretense as a poet. Nothing that he ever wrote
+survives today.
+
+[Illustration: 281-General Albert Pike]
+
+Each of the Indian Agents began enlisting men into the Confederate
+service and using them to impose Secession ideas upon their
+fellow-tribesmen who were either indifferent or actually hostile.
+
+
+282
+
+The missionaries, being mostly from the North, were strongly for the
+Union, and their influence had to be encountered and broken down.
+
+The Indian Agents were commissioned Colonels in the Confederate service,
+and were expected to raise regiments, with the Chiefs as subordinate
+officers. The leader among the Agents was Douglas H. Cooper, Agent for
+the Choctaws, a man of courage, decision and enterprise, who raised a
+regiment mainly of the half-breeds of the Choctaws and Chickasaws.
+
+The Cherokee regiment was almost wholly half-breeds, with Stand Waitie,
+a half-breed, courageous, implacable, merciless, as its Colonel. Albert
+Pike was rewarded for his great service in bringing the Indians into
+line with a commission of Brigadier-General, C. S. A., and placed in
+command of the whole force.
+
+Principal Chief John Ross temporarily bowed to superior force and gave
+his adhesion to the Southern Confederacy. A large portion of his people
+would not do this. They, with a similar element in the other Nations,
+gathered around the venerable Chief Hopoeithleyohola, nearly 100 years
+old, and whose span of life began before the Revolutionary War. He had
+been a dreaded young war leader against Gen. Jackson in the sanguinary
+scenes at Fort Mimms, Tallapoosa, and Red Sticks in 1813-14. When he was
+a boy his people were allied with the Spaniards in Florida to resist the
+British encroachments upon their tribal empire in Georgia. When he was
+a War Chief, the British at Pensacola and Mobile had put muskets and
+ammunition into his hands for his men to resist the North Carolinians,
+Georgians, Tennesseeans and Kentuckians. In every decade he had fought
+and treated with the grandfathers and fathers of the same men who were
+trying to coerce him.
+
+
+283
+
+Every battle and every treaty had ended in a further spoliation of the
+"hunting grounds" of his people. He was now to end his career as
+he began, and consistently pursued it, in stern resistance to his
+hereditary enemies. He calculated that he could put into the field about
+1,500 reliable, well-armed warriors, who would be more than a match for
+the Indians who had entered into the Confederate service. If the white
+Confederates came to their assistance, he could make an orderly retreat
+into Kansas, where he hoped to receive help from Union troops, if they
+should not have advanced before then.
+
+Col. Douglas H. Cooper was sent against him, and at first tried
+diplomacy, but the wily old Hopoeithleyohola had seen the results of
+too many conferences, and refused to be drawn into one. Cooper then
+assembled a force of 1,400 men, consisting of some companies of white
+Texas cavalry and the Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole regiments, under
+their War Chiefs, D. N. Mcintosh and John Jumper, and moved out to
+attack Hopoeithleyohola, who beat them back with considerable loss.
+
+The advance of Gen. Fremont called for the concentration of every
+available man to oppose him, so Hopoeithleyohola was given a few weeks'
+respite. As soon, however, as the Union army retreated to Rolla and
+Sedalia, Col. Cooper resumed his operations against Hopoeithleyohola,
+who at Chusto-Talasah, Dec. 9, inflicted such a severe defeat upon him
+that Cooper retreated in a crippled condition to Fort Gibson. There Col.
+James Mcintosh, commanding the Confederate forces at Van Buren, Ark.,
+went to his assistance with some 1,600 mounted Texans and Arkansans, and
+the combined force closed in upon the Union Indians at Shoal Greek.
+
+
+284
+
+Hopoeithleyohola and his Lieutenant, Haleck-Tustenugge, handled their
+men with the greatest skill and courage in an obstinate battle, but
+after four hours of resistance the overpowered Union Indians were
+driven, pursued by Stand Waitie's murderous half-breeds, who took no
+men and but few women and children prisoners. Back over the wide,
+shelterless prairie, bitten by the cruel cold and pelted by the storms
+of an unusually severe Midwinter, Hopoeithleyohola led his defeated
+band to a refuge in far-away Kansas. The weather was so severe that Col.
+Cooper reports some his men as frozen to death as they rode along, but
+the scent of blood was in the half-breed Stand Waitie's nostrils, and he
+pressed onward remorselessly.
+
+More than 1,000 men, women and children of Hopoeithleyohola's band
+left their homes to whiten and mark the dismal trail, and the aged Chief
+himself died shortly after reaching Fort Scott, where he was buried with
+all the honors of war.
+
+Upon the fertile Indian Territory descended the war storm which
+blighted the work of the missionaries, and completely ruined the
+fairest prospects in our history for civilizing and Christianizing
+the aborigines. When the storm ended, one-quarter of the people had
+perished, the fences, houses, mills, schoolhouses and churches were all
+burnt, and the hundreds of thousands of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs
+had disappeared so completely that the Government was compelled to
+furnish the Indians with animals to stock their farms anew.
+
+
+285
+
+Sterling Price had reached his zenith in the capture of Lexington, Sept
+20, 1861. In substantial results it was the biggest achievement of the
+war that far. Bull Run had been, indeed, a much larger battle, but at
+Lexington Price had captured 3,000 prisoners, including five Colonels
+and 120 other commissioned officers; 1,000 horses and mules; 100 wagons;
+seven pieces of artillery; 3,000 stands of arms; $900,000 in money, and
+a very large quantity of Commissary and Quartermaster's supplies.
+
+Though he was to fight nearly four years longer with the greatest
+enterprise and determination, though he was to command vastly stronger
+forces, and though he was to be followed by myriads of Missourians with
+unfaltering courage and enthusiasm, he was never to approach a parallel
+to this shining achievement.
+
+It was felt that Lexington was only the earnest of incomparably greater
+things he was going to do in delivering Missouri from the hated Yankees,
+and making hers the brightest star in the Southern Confederacy, paling
+with her military glory even historic Virginia. Then McCulloch would
+come up with his Texans, Louisianians and Arkansans, and Albert
+Pike with his horde of Indians. There would be such an overthrow and
+annihilation of their enemies as the world had never before seen,
+followed by a race to get to St. Louis before Polk, Pillow and M. Jeff
+Thompson could reach her from down the Mississippi.
+
+Sterling Price was eager to fight Fremont among the rough, high lands
+south of Springfield, and his ardent followers wanted a repetition
+of the triumph of Lexington; but McCulloch would not come up from his
+fastness at Cross Hollows. Without him Sterling Price, his strength
+depleted by defections on his long retreat, did not feel warranted in
+offering battle, even with the advantage of the defensive hills.
+
+
+286
+
+McCulloch was importuned to come forward without success. The best
+comfort he could give Sterling Price was to destroy that part of
+Missouri and make it worthless to the enemy. McCulloch wanted to advance
+into Kansas, however, and utterly destroy that Territory, to strike
+terror to the Abolitionists. It speaks very badly for their intelligence
+system that both Price and McCulloch maintained, that neither of them
+was aware for days that the Union army had left Springfield, Nov. 8, on
+its retreat to Rolla and Sedalia. Although their camps were only some 70
+miles from Springfield, they did not learn of the retreat until Nov. 16,
+when McCulloch, seized at last with a sudden desire to enter Missouri,
+rushed all his mounted men forward in hopes to capture trains and
+detachments. They were disgusted to find upon arriving at Springfield
+that the last Union soldier and wagon had left there more than a week
+previous.
+
+After some destruction of property, McCulloch sullenly returned to
+his old position in Arkansas, where, leaving his command to Col. James
+Mcintosh, lately Captain in the United States Army, he departed for
+Richmond to give the Confederate War Department his version of the
+occurrences in his territory.
+
+Sterling Price had learned the same day, Nov. 16, of the departure of
+the Union army, and set his columns in motion northward, announcing that
+he was going to winter on the Missouri River. Again he sent an appeal to
+McCulloch to cooperate, but Col. Mcintosh declined, on the ground that
+the troops were not properly clad for the rigorous weather so far north,
+and, besides, he did not think that the expedition would do any good.
+
+
+287
+
+Sterling Price simply let loose his army on the country evacuated by the
+Union troops, and a reign of indescribable misery ensued for the Union
+people and those who were vainly trying to keep the neutral middle of
+the road. The army was spread out as much as possible in order to gather
+in recruits and supplies and assert its influence most widely.
+
+From Marshall, in Saline Co., Sterling Price issued a most remarkable
+proclamation to the people, calling for 50,000 volunteers. He reminded
+them that their harvests had been reaped, their preparation for Winter
+had been made, and now they had leisure to do something to relieve
+the people from the "inflictions of a foe marked with all the
+characteristics of barbarian warfare." He admitted that the great
+mass of the people were not in the war, and especially the
+substantial portion of the population, for, he said, "boys and small
+property-holders have in the main fought the battles." He begged,
+he implored that the herdsman should leave his folds, the lawyer his
+office, and come into camp to win the victory. He even dropped into
+poetry in his tearful earnestness, quoting the school boy's declamation
+from Marco Bozarris:
+
+     Strike, till the last armed foe expires; Strike, for your
+     altars and your fires! Strike for the green graves of your
+     sires, God, and your native land!
+
+An infinitely harmful part of the proclamation was the following:
+
+     Leave your property at home. What if it be taken--all taken?
+     We have $200,000,000 worth of Northern means in Missouri
+     which cannot be removed. When we are once free the State
+     will indemnify every citizen who may have lost a dollar by
+     adhesion to the cause of his country. We shall have our
+     property, or its value, with interest.
+
+
+288
+
+This was naturally interpreted as meaning that all those not distinctly
+favorable to Secession forfeited their property to those who were.
+
+This seemed ample warrant to the Poor White Trash banditti for seizure
+of the property of any man whose principles might not be of exactly the
+right shade.
+
+Experience teaches us that that class of people are pretty certain to
+find heterodox the opinions of any man who has something they may want.
+It certainly made a very dark outlook for anybody in Missouri to hold
+moveable property.
+
+The turbid thrasonics of the proclamation shows that it was not written
+by Price's Adjutant-General, Thomas L. Snead, who was a literary man. He
+was then absent at Richmond looking after the fences of his General. The
+proclamation sounds the more as if it came from the pen of our poetical
+acquaintance, M. Jeff Thompson, the "Swamp Fox" of the Mississippi. It
+concluded in this perfervid style:
+
+But, in the name of God and the attributes of manhood, let me appeal to
+you by considerations infinitely higher than money! Are we a generation
+of driveling, sniveling, degraded slaves? Or are we men who dare assert
+and maintain the rights which cannot be surrendered, and defend those
+principles of everlasting rectitude, pure and high and sacred, like God,
+their author? Be yours the office to choose between the glory of a free
+country and a just Government, and the bondage of your children! I will
+never see the chains fastened upon my country. I will ask for six and
+one-half feet of Missouri soil in which to repose, but will not live to
+see my people enslaved.
+
+Do I hear your shouts? Is that your war-cry which echoes through the
+land? Are you coming? Fifty thousand men! Missouri shall move to victory
+with the tread of a giant! Come on, my brave boys, 50,000 heroic,
+gallant, unconquerable Southern men! We await your coming.
+
+
+289
+
+Sterling Price established his headquarters again at Osceola, on the
+banks of the Osage, but sent forward Gens. Rains and Steen to Lexington,
+the best point on the Missouri to hold the river and afford a passage
+for recruits coming in from the northern part of the State.
+
+The results of the proclamation were not commensurate with the desperate
+urgency of the appeal. Large parties of recruits, it is true, tried to
+make their way toward Price's camp, but many of them were intercepted,
+and dispersed; strong blows were delivered against Price's outlying
+detachments, driving them in from all sides. Meanwhile those he had in
+camp were melting away faster than hew ones were coming in.
+
+Sterling Price had other troubles. He was not a favorite in Richmond.
+Jefferson Davis was a man never doubtful as to the correctness of his
+own ideas, and he was most certain of those relating to military men
+and affairs. He had had extraordinary opportunities for familiarizing
+himself with all the fighting men, and possible fighting men, in the
+country. He graduated from West Point in 1828, 23d in a class of 33;
+none of whom, besides himself, became prominent. He had served seven
+years as a Lieutenant in the Regular Army on frontier duty, and as
+Colonel of a regiment in the Mexican War, where he achieved flattering
+distinction. He had been four years Chairman of the Senate Committee on
+Military Affairs, and four years Secretary of War. It must be admitted
+that his judgment with regard to officers was very often correct; yet
+he was a man of strong likes and dislikes. His reputation was that of
+"having the most quarrels and the fewest fights of any man in the Army."
+
+
+290
+
+Undoubtedly his partialities drew several men into the Confederate army
+who would otherwise have remained loyal, and his antipathies retained
+some men in the Union army who would otherwise have gone South. His
+reasons for disliking Price are obscure, further than that Price was a
+civilian, who had had no Regular Army training or experience, and that
+he believed Price to be in conspiracy to set up a Trans-Mississippi
+Confederacy. But little evidence of such intention is to be found
+anywhere, yet that little was sufficient for a man of Davis's jealous,
+suspicious nature. Repeatedly, at the mere mention of Price's name, he
+flew into an undignified passion and denounced him unsparingly.
+
+Price's men were carrying havoc as far as they could reach. Nov. 19 they
+burned the important little town of Warsaw, the County seat of Benton
+County and a Union stronghold. In 1860 the people of Benton County had
+cast but 74 votes for Lincoln and but 100 for Breckinridge, while they
+gave Bell and Everett 306 votes and Douglas 574. Dec 16 Platte City,
+County seat of Piatt County, was nearly destroyed by them. This was
+another Union community, and a large majority of the people were
+Bell-and-Everett Unionists or Douglas Democrats. Dec. 20 a concerted
+foray of guerrillas and bushwhackers burnt the bridges and otherwise
+crippled nearly 100 miles of Northern Railroad. But Halleck's splendid
+systematizing had begun to tell.
+
+
+291
+
+The northern part of Missouri was made unbearably hot for bridge-burners
+and other depredators by the swift execution of a number of "peaceful
+citizens" caught red-handed, and the probability that others would be
+caught and served in the same way. Gen. John Pope, commanding in Central
+Missouri, began at last to show the stuff that was in him, and by a
+skillful movement got into the rear of Bains and Steen, compelling them
+to hurriedly abandon the line of the Missouri River, and striking them
+so sharply in their flight as to capture 300 prisoners, 70 wagons,
+with loads of supplies for Price's army, and much other valuable booty.
+Another of Pope's columns, under Col. Jeff C. Davis, surprised a camp
+at Mil-ford, Dec. 18, and forced its unconditional surrender, capturing
+three Colonels (one of whom was a brother of Gov. Magoffin, of
+Kentucky), 17 Captains, and over 1,000 prisoners, 1,000 stands of arms,
+1,000 horses and mules, and a great amount of supplies, tents, baggage,
+and ammunition. In a couple of weeks Gen. Pope, with a loss of about 100
+men, captured 2,500 prisoners.
+
+Jan. 2 Gen. Fred Steele, commanding at Sedalia, and a level-minded man,
+who kept himself well informed, telegraphed to Gen. Halleck:
+
+Price's whole force not over 16,000. In all 63 pieces of artillery, none
+rifled. Horses very poor. Price says he is going to Jefferson City
+as soon as they are organized. At present he has no discipline; no
+sentinels or picket to prevent passing in and out. Rains drinking all
+the time. Price also drinking too much.
+
+Clearly Price had in him none of the startling aggressiveness which
+distinguished Lyon and Stonewall Jackson. He made no effort to suddenly
+collect his forces and inflict an overwhelming blow upon one after
+another of the columns converging upon him and defeat them in detail.
+Instead, he lost heart, and, abandoning the strong lines of the Osage
+and the Pomme de Terre, fell back to Springfield, where comfortable
+quarters were built for his men, and he gathered in an abundance of
+supplies from the Union farmers of the surrounding country, expecting
+that he would be left undisturbed until Spring.
+
+
+292
+
+Thus the year 1861 ended with some 61 battles and considerable
+skirmishes having been fought on the soil of Missouri, with a loss
+to the Union side of between 500 and 600 killed, treble that number
+wounded, and about 3,600 prisoners.
+
+The Confederate loss was probably in excess in most of the engagements.
+Besides, they had lost fully four-fifths of the State, and were in
+imminent danger of being driven from the restricted foothold they still
+retained in the southwestern corner.
+
+The Union State Government, with the conservative, able Hamilton R.
+Gamble at the head, was running with tolerable smoothness. Courts were
+sitting in most of the Counties to administer justice. Under Halleck's
+orders Judges, Sheriffs, Clerks, jurors, parties and witnesses had to
+take the oath of allegiance. Gen. Schofield was rapidly organizing his
+13,000 Missouri Militia to maintain peace in the State, and incidentally
+to keep many of the men enrolled out of the rebel army.
+
+
+293
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII. PRICE DRIVEN OUT OF THE STATE.
+
+When he abandoned the strong line of the Osage and took up his position
+at Springfield, Gen. Sterling Price, like the Russians against Napoleon,
+relied upon his powerful allies, Gens. January, February and March. At
+that time the roads in Missouri were merely rough trails, running over
+hills and deep-soiled valleys of fertile loam, cut every few miles by
+rapid streams. The storms of Winter quickly converted the hills into
+icy precipices, the valleys into quagmires, and the streams into raging
+torrents. The Winters were never severe enough to give steady cold
+weather, and allow operations over a firmly-frozen footing. Rain, sleet
+and snow, hard frosts and warm thaws alternated with each other so
+frequently as to keep the roads in a condition of what the country
+people call a "breakup," when travel is very difficult for the
+individual and next to impossible for an army.
+
+When, therefore, at the last of December, Gen. Price returned to
+Springfield, in the heart of the rich farming district of southwest
+Missouri, and 125 miles or more distant from the Union bases--Rolla and
+Sedalia, at the ends of the railroads, he had much reason for believing
+he would be left undisturbed for at least two months, which rest he
+very much needed to prepare for the strenuous campaign that he knew the
+industrious Halleck was organizing against him. He wanted the rest for
+many reasons. Yielding to the strong pressure of Missourians, Jefferson
+Davis had agreed to appoint Price a Major-General, C. S. A., but upon
+the condition that he bring in the Confederate service a full division
+of Missouri troops.
+
+
+294
+
+With his towering influence in Misssouri this would not have been a
+difficult thing to do with the whole State to draw from. It was quite
+otherwise with three-fourths of Missouri held by the Union troops and
+Halleck's well-laid nets everywhere to catch parties of recruits trying
+to make their way to Price.
+
+Still, Price was justified in his confidence that the Union troops
+would be satisfied with holding northern and central Missouri during
+the Winter, and would not venture far from their base of supplies on the
+Missouri River and the termini of the railroads at Rolla and Sedalia.
+
+Whatever aggressive disposition they might have which the condition
+of the roads would not dampen would be quelled by the knowledge that
+McCulloch's army of Texans, Louisianians, Arkansans and Indians lay at
+Cross Hollow, within easy supporting distance of him.
+
+Therefore, Price settled down at Springfield, and his men built
+comfortable cabins in which to pass the time until Spring. The Union
+farmers in the country roundabout were stripped of their grain and
+cattle for supplies, and Price proceeded with the organization of his
+Confederate division.
+
+Jefferson Davis's feelings toward Price and Missouri are in a measure
+revealed in the following querulous letter, which also indicates Mr.
+Davis's tendencies to pose as a much-enduring, martyr-like man:
+
+
+295
+
+     Hon. W. P. Harris, Confederate States Congress.
+
+     My Dear Sir: Language was said by Talleyrand to be useful
+     for the concealment of one's thoughts; but in our day it
+     falls to communicate any thought. If it had been otherwise,
+     the complaint in relation to Gen. Price of which you speak
+     could not have been made. The Commissioners of Missouri were
+     informed that when that State offered troops they would be
+     organized according to our military laws, and Generals would
+     be appointed for brigades and divisions. Until then I have
+     no power to appoint Generals for those troops. The same
+     statements, substantially, were made to the members of
+     Congress from Missouri who called on me yesterday. They were
+     also informed that, from conversation with Informed persons
+     and from correspondence now on file in the War Department, I
+     was convinced that it was needful to the public interest
+     that a General should be sent to the Arkansas and Missouri
+     Division who had not been connected with any of the troops
+     on that line of operations; and to the statement that the
+     Missouri troops would not fully enlist under any one except
+     Gen. Price, I asked if they required their General to be put
+     in command of the troops of Arkansas, of Texas, and of the
+     other Southern States. To bring these different forces into
+     harmonious co-operation is a necessity. I have sought to
+     effect it by selecting Gen. Heth to command them in
+     combination. If it is designed, by calling Heth a West Point
+     Cadet, merely to object to his education in the science of
+     war, it may pass for what it is worth; but if it be Intended
+     to assert that he is without experience, his years of active
+     and distinguished service on the frontier of Missouri and
+     the territory west of it will, to those who examine before
+     they censure, be a sufficient answer. The Federal forces are
+     not hereafter as heretofore to be commanded by pathfinders
+     and holiday soldiers, but by men of military education and
+     experience in war. The contest is therefore to be on a scale
+     of very different proportions than that of the partisan
+     warfare witnessed during the past Summer and Fall. I have
+     long since learned to bear hasty censure, in hope that
+     justice, if tardy, is sure; and in any event to find
+     consolation in the assurance that all my ends have been my
+     country's.
+
+     With high respect,
+
+     JEFFERSON DAVIS.
+
+
+296
+
+Gen. Ben McCulloch thought best to go on to Richmond to explain his
+course since Wilson's Creek, and also to look after the very tender
+subject of his rank and powers. He left Gen. James S. Mcintosh in
+command of his troops. Mcintosh had grievances of his own. He was not
+being recognized by the Confederate authorities as he thought a man of
+his abilities and soldierly experience should have been, and he seems to
+have liked cooperation with Gen. Price very much less even than did Gen.
+McCulloch. In no very gentlemanly terms he repelled Price's proposition
+to combine their forces and push forward to the Missouri River. The best
+that Price could get out of him was the assurance that if the Federals
+advanced upon him at Springfield he, Mcintosh, would come forward to his
+assistance.
+
+Price had greatly underestimated Gen. Halleck's energy and
+aggressiveness. Gen. Halleck was the first of our commanders to really
+rise to the level of the occasion and take a comprehensive grasp upon
+affairs. Unlike some others, he wasted no time in sounding proclamations
+or in lengthy letters of advice to the Administration as to the
+political conduct of the war. He was a soldier, proud of his profession,
+true to his traditions, and possibly had ambition to be reckoned among
+the great commanders. He had been noted for high administrative ability,
+and this trait was well illustrated in his grasp of the situation in
+Missouri and on the borders of the State. His main communications to the
+people were orders, plain, practical, and to the point. Whatever he did
+was on the highest plane of the science of warfare as he understood it.
+
+Proper military discipline and subordination were introduced everywhere
+and a rigid system of accountability. He had troubles with his own men
+to add to his difficulties with the enemy. We find the most note of this
+with reference to the Germans.
+
+
+297
+
+The Missouri Germans were a splendid lot of men, taken as a whole,
+and had an unusual number of officers who were trained soldiers of
+considerable military experience. At the head of this class was Gen.
+Peter J. Osterhaus, who had been a private soldier under Lyon in
+securing the Arsenal, and had commanded a battalion with high credit to
+himself at Wilson's Creek. He was now a Colonel commanding a brigade.
+
+With this excellent material there was a large per cent that ranged
+from worthless to actually criminal. Many adventurers from the European
+armies had hastened to this country to sell their swords to the best
+advantage, and many black sheep, who had been forced out of their
+armies, sought in our troubles and our ignorance of military matters an
+opportunity for their own exaltation and profit. Halleck dealt with all
+with a firm, unsparing hand. He began to weed out the worthless officers
+and to court-martial the rascals. Company, battalion and regimental
+organizations which he found too mutinous and disorderly for hopeful
+management, he either disarmed and set to hard labor or discharged from
+the service.
+
+The raids of the vengeful Kansans across the Missouri borders gave
+him excessive annoyance, and he issued orders that all Kansas parties
+entering the State should be arrested and disarmed. That he might
+have more complete control of them, however, he recommended that the
+Department of Kansas be merged with his command, and as this was in
+had mony with Gen. Hunter's ideas, it was subsequently done. In the
+meanwhile he had to look out for the Mississippi River and the highly
+important point of, Cairo. He started to construct a fleet of gunboats
+to help control the river and assist the Army in its operations.
+
+
+298
+
+His next neighbor to the eastward was Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell,
+commanding the Department of the Ohio, which extended from the
+Cumberland River to the Allegheny Mountains. Gen. Buell's complete
+cooperation was necessary to the management of affairs in the
+Mississippi Valley, but this seems to have been difficult to secure.
+Buell had his own ideas, and they frequently did not harmonize with
+those of Gen. Halleck. Halleck recommended that Buell's Department be
+put under his own command, which was also done later.
+
+Bridge-burning and other outrages by straggling bands claiming to be
+Confederates seriously disturbed the peace, embarrassed operations, and
+worried the Commanding General. Halleck reported that within 10 days
+prior to Jan. 1, 1862, these bridge-burners had destroyed $150,000
+worth of railroad property and that they had concocted a plan to burn,
+simultaneously, every railroad bridge in the State, and set fire to
+the city of St. Louis in a number of places. In his comprehensive order
+advising summary and severe punishment against these marauders he took
+careful guards against such being made the pretext for any private
+vengeance or official malice, and instituted Military Commissions of not
+less than three responsible officers, acting under the solemnity of
+an oath, and making written reports of their proceedings. This
+order brought down a storm of abuse from the Secessionist and
+semi-Secessionist press, which Halleck calmly disregarded.
+
+Gen. Sterling Price on Jan. 12 wrote Gen. Halleck a strong letter
+protesting against the order and asking the question whether
+"individuals and parties of men specially appointed and instructed by me
+to destroy railroads, culverts, bridges, etc." were, if captured, to be
+regarded as deserving of death.
+
+
+299
+
+Gen. Halleck in reply said:
+
+     You also complain that "individuals and parties of men
+     specially appointed and instructed by you to destroy
+     railroads, culverts and bridges by tearing them up, burning,
+     etc., have been arrested and subjected to a general court-
+     martial for alleged crimes." This statement is in the main
+     correct. Where "individuals and parties of men" violate the
+     laws of war they will be tried, and if found guilty will
+     certainly be punished, whether acting by your "special
+     appointment and instruction" or not. You must be aware,
+     General, that no orders of yours can save from punishment
+     spies, marauders, robbers, incendiaries, guerrilla bands,
+     etc., who violate the laws of war. You cannot give immunity
+     to crime. But let us fully understand each other on this
+     point. If you send armed forces wearing the garb of soldiers
+     and duly organized and enrolled as legitimate belligerents
+     to destroy railroads, bridges, etc., as a military act, we
+     shall kill them, if possible, in open warfare, or, if we
+     capture them, we shall treat them as prisoners of war.
+
+     But it is well understood that you have sent numbers of your
+     adherents in the garb of peaceful citizens, and under false
+     pretenses, through our lines into northern Missouri, to rob
+     and destroy the property of Union men and to burn and
+     destroy railroad bridges, thus endangering the lives of
+     thousands, and this, too, without any military necessity or
+     possible military advantage. Moreover, peaceful citizens of
+     Missouri, quietly working on their farms, have been
+     instigated by your emissaries to take up arms as insurgents,
+     to rob and plunder and to commit arson and murder. They do
+     not even act under the garb of soldiers, but in false
+     pretenses and in the guise of peaceful citizens. You
+     certainly will not pretend that men guilty of such crimes,
+     although "specially appointed and instructed by you," are
+     entitled to the rights and immunities of ordinary prisoners
+     of war. If you do, will you refer me to a single authority
+     on the laws of war which recognizes such a claim?
+
+     You may rest assured, General, that all prisoners of war not
+     guilty of crime will be treated with all proper
+     consideration and kindness. With the exception of being
+     properly confined, they will be lodged and fed, and where
+     necessary clothed, the same as our own troops. I am sorry to
+     say that our prisoners who have come from your camps do not
+     report such treatment on your part. They say that you gave
+     them no rations, no clothing, no blankets, but left them to
+     perish with want and cold. Moreover, It is believed that you
+     subsist your troops by robbing and plundering the non-
+     combatant Union inhabitants of the southwestern Counties of
+     this State. Thousands of poor families have fled to us for
+     protection and support They say that your troops robbed them
+     of their provisions and clothing, carrying away their shoes
+     and bedding, and even cutting cloth from their looms, and
+     that you have driven women and children from their homes to
+     starve and perish in the cold. I have not retaliated such
+     conduct upon your adherents here, as I have no intention of
+     waging such a barbarous warfare; but I shall, whenever I
+     can, punish such crimes, by whomsoever they may be
+     committed.
+
+
+300
+
+An examination of the correspondence leads to the conclusion that
+Halleck possessed very superior talents as a letter writer.
+
+Contrasted with Fremont, McClellan, Buell and others, Halleck gave great
+satisfaction in Washington, and Secretary Stanton telegraphed him as
+follows:
+
+Your energy and ability receive the strongest commendation of this
+Department You have my perfect confidence, and may rely upon the utmost
+support in your undertakings. The pressure of my engagements have
+prevented me from writing, but I shall do so fully in a day or two.
+
+Though he made the most of every resource, Halleck was sorely pressed
+for money and supplies for his force. His letters and messages mention
+the shipment of pantaloons to this one, shoes to another, blankets to a
+third, as he could get hold of articles to supply present wants, and of
+counsels of patience as to delays in paying off, since the Paymasters
+were far behind in their work. Jan. 17 he telegraphed to Gen. Curtis:
+
+General: Yours of yesterday received. I regret to inform you that
+neither the Pay nor Quartermaster's Departments have any money. Troops
+are sent from here to Cairo without pay. I can do no better for you.
+The moment money is received the forces under your command shall be
+supplied. They were all paid to the 31st of October. Some here and
+in north Missouri are not paid for September and October. I have done
+everything in my power for the troops at Rolla, and they have no cause
+to complain of me.
+
+The truth is that Congress is so busy discussing the eternal nigger
+question that they fail to make any appropriations, and the financial
+departments are dead broke. No requisitions for money are filled.
+
+The extra-duty pay will be forthcoming as soon as we get any money.
+Assure these men that they will be paid, but they must have patience. I
+am doing everything in my power for them.
+
+We must all do the best we can to make the men comfortable and contented
+till we get more means. I rely upon you to use all your powers of
+conciliation, especially with the German troops. You told me you could
+manage them, and I rely upon you to do it At present we have more
+difficulties to conquer with our own men than with the enemy.
+
+
+301
+
+While engaged in these numberless activities Gen. Halleck came down with
+a severe attack of measles, and was confined to his room for two weeks,
+but there does not appear to have been any intermittence in his energy.
+
+Gen. Halleck's plans contemplated sending forward a column sufficient to
+crush Price, if he could be brought to battle, and drive him out of
+the State anyway. Another column was to advance from Ironton or
+Fredericktown and interpose between Polk at Columbus and Price, to
+prevent the former from assisting the latter. In the meanwhile Gen. Polk
+would have sufficient to occupy his attention in his "Gibraltar," as
+Gen. Grant would make a flank movement up the Tennessee and Cumberland
+Rivers. Halleck had come to the conclusion that Columbus would cost too
+much in life and blood to be taken by a direct assault, and it would be
+better therefore to turn it.
+
+This plan was an excellent one, as Halleck's plans usually were, at that
+time, and it was subsequently carried out substantially as conceived.
+
+There were the most conflicting reports as to the number of men Price
+had with him at Springfield at that time, but it was supposed all the
+way from 25,-000 to 50,000, with rather the stronger emphasis on the
+greater number. The Secessionists insisted upon the immensity of the
+army which had flocked to Price encouraged by the events untoward to the
+Union cause of the last half of 1861 and the indignation aroused by the
+invasion and depredations of the Kansas Jayhawkers and the "St. Louis
+Dutch."
+
+
+302
+
+It was reasonable to suppose, from the state of feeling in Missouri,
+that Price might have from 40,000 to 50,000 men, but Halleck, who was
+unusually well-informed for our Generals at that period of the war,
+decided that a column of about 10,000 men would be sufficient for the
+work. In this he was at a disagreement with Gen. Curtis and others
+in nearer contact with Price, who estimated the Secessionist force at
+Springfield in the neighborhood of 20,000 or 25,000. Yielding to their
+urgent representations, he increased his force to about 15,000, of which
+3,000 were required to guard the lengthening line of communications,
+leaving a movable column of 12,000 to move directly against Price. This
+force was officially designated the "Army of the Southwest," and there
+was assigned to its command our old acquaintance, Brig.-Gen. Samuel R.
+Curtis, West Point graduate, lawyer, Mexican veteran, railroad engineer,
+and Congressman. This made more or less heart-burning among Brig.-Gens.
+Franz Sigel, B. M. Prentiss, S. A. Hurlbut, S. D. Sturgis and others
+who had hopes in that direction. Sigel stood no chance for the place,
+however, for Halleck had conceived a strong distrust of him growing out
+of his action at Wilson's Creek, and also because he was a leader among
+the radical Germans who wanted to pull slavery up by the roots. Sturgis
+felt that more consideration should have been given to him as commander
+of the army at Wilson's Creek after Lyon fell. Curtis, in turn, gave
+strong dissatisfaction to some of the brigade commanders by selecting
+Jeff C. Davis, a Captain in the Regular Army and Colonel of the 22d
+Ind., and Eugene A. Carr, also a Captain in the Regular Army and Colonel
+of the 3d Ill. Cav., to command two of his four divisions.
+
+
+303
+
+In its forward movement the commanders had the benefit of the burning
+zeal of the young volunteers. These, who had enlisted to put down the
+rebellion, wanted to lose no time in doing their work. They were not
+minded to lie around camps, no matter how comfortable, during the long
+Winter months. In the Northern homes from which they came the Winter had
+always been a season of great activity. They could not understand why it
+should not be so in Missouri and they hungered for active employment to
+the great end of suppressing the rebellion. Their recent successes had
+inspired them with hopes that they might be able to finish up the work
+and get back home in time for their Spring duties.
+
+Though the Winter of 1861-'62 was an exceptionally hard, disagreeable
+one in Missouri, the volunteers left their camps with alacrity, pressing
+forward through the storms and mud with sanguine hopefulness that they
+were now about to accomplish their great purpose. Gen. Curtis selected
+his first base at Lebanon, 55 miles distant from Springfield, and sent
+forward Col. Carr with about 1,700 infantry and cavalry to occupy that
+point, gain information as to the condition of things in Price's camp,
+and to set on foot preparation for supplying the advancing army from the
+surrounding country.
+
+The Union commanders were to learn a lesson from Price, who did not
+encumber himself with long trains, but "compelled war to support war" by
+drawing his supplies from the country through which he operated. Under
+Halleck's orders Gen. Curtis directed that the cavalry should locate
+all the mills convenient to the line of march, set them to work grinding
+grain, and encourage the Union farmers to bring in their grain, hogs
+and cattle, for which the Quartermaster would pay them fair prices. This
+work was an admirable education for Halleck's Chief Quartermaster, a
+young Captain named Philip H. Sheridan, who was to turn the lessons then
+learned to magnificent account afterwards.
+
+
+304
+
+Lebanon was taken possession of without more resistance than a running
+fight in which a notorious Capt. Tom Craig, of the Confederate army, was
+killed. Gen. Curtis arrived at Lebanon Jan. 31, leaving Sigel and Asboth
+at Rolla to follow as fast as the roads would permit. The recent severe
+storms of sleet and snow had been quite trying to the men and animals,
+but the columns were pressed forward, and on Feb. 7 Sigel's and Asboth's
+men were all in Lebanon, where they were joined by Jeff C. Davis's
+Division marching from Otterville by the way of Linn Creek.
+
+Halleck's orders to Curtis were clear, comprehending and purposeful.
+Curtis seems to have been not a little apprehensive of the force he
+might have to encounter, but Halleck constantly urged him forward, at
+the same time enjoining him to keep his troops well in hand, and not
+allow Price to attack him in detail. He was to "throw out his cavalry
+carefully, like fingers to the hands." Most particularly he was not
+to allow Sigel to go off on any independent expedition and serve him as
+Sigel had served Lyon at Wilson's Creek. Halleck urged Hunter to advance
+his Kansas troops down through his department so as to threaten Price's
+left flank, and he told Curtis that if he, Curtis, would take care of
+Price, that he himself would look out for Johnson, Polk, Beauregard and
+Hardee.
+
+
+305
+
+The splendid young Missouri, Iowa and Illinois volunteers, welded into
+superb regiments by months of service, with the worthless of their
+officers removed by Halleck's rigid pruning, pressed forward with
+an enthusiasm that no storms could diminish or wretchedness of roads
+discourage. They forded swollen, icy streams, pulled their wagons up
+steep hills, or pried them out of quagmires, and bore the fury of
+the storm with sanguine cheerfulness, believing they were now moving
+directly forward to the great end of crushing the enemies of the
+Government and closing the war.
+
+Price's outlying detachments were come up with and struck with a
+suddenness and vigor that sent them flying in utter rout. It speaks very
+ill for Price, with all his means for accurate information, that he
+knew nothing of this rapid advance of the Union army until the heads of
+Curtis's columns were at his very pickets. He was entirely unready for
+battle, and could only hastily gather his men together and make a quick
+retreat to the rough hills south of Springfield, leaving all his stores
+and his laboriously-constructed cantonments for the Union army. Feb. 13
+Curtis had the satisfaction of reporting to Hal-leck as follows:
+
+The Flag of the Union floats over the Court House of Springfield, Mo.
+The enemy attacked us with small parties at 10:30 o'clock 12 miles out,
+and my front guards had a running Are with them most of the afternoon.
+At dusk a regiment of the Confederate cavalry attacked the outer picket,
+but did not move it. A few shots from a howitzer killed two and wounded
+several. The regiment retreated to this place, and the enemy immediately
+commenced the evacuation of the city. I entered the city at 10 a. m.
+My cavalry is in full pursuit. They say the enemy is making a stand
+at Wilson's Creek. Forage, flour and other stores in large quantities
+taken. Shall pursue as fast as the strength of the men will allow.
+
+
+306
+
+In Gen. Sheridan's "Memoirs" he gives this sidelight on the advance upon
+Springfield:
+
+     By hard work we soon accumulated a sufficient quantity of
+     flour and corn meal to justify the resumption of our march
+     on Springfield, at or near which point the enemy was
+     believed to be awaiting us, and the order was given to move
+     forward, the Commanding General cautioning me, in the event
+     of disaster, to let no salt fall into Gen. Price's hands.
+     Gen. Curtis made a hobby of this matter of salt, believing
+     the enemy sadly in need of that article, and he impressed me
+     deeply with his conviction that our cause would be seriously
+     injured by a loss which would inure so greatly and
+     peculiarly to the enemy's benefit; but we discovered
+     afterward, when Price abandoned his position, that about all
+     he left behind was salt.
+
+     When we were within about eight miles of Springfield Gen.
+     Curtis decided to put his troops in line of battle for the
+     advance on the town, and directed me to stretch out my
+     supply train in a long line of battle, so that in falling
+     back, in case the troops were repulsed, he could rally the
+     men on the wagons. I did not like the tactics, but, of
+     course, obeyed the order.
+
+The line moved on to Springfield, and took the town without resistance,
+the enemy having fled southward, in the direction of Pea Ridge, the
+preceding day. Of course, our success relieved my anxiety about the
+wagons; but fancy has often pictured since the stampede of six-mule
+teams that, had we met with any reverse, would have taken place over the
+prairies of southwest Missouri.
+
+It was felt almost certain that Price had only abandoned Springfield in
+order to offer battle more advantageously in the rough hills south of
+the town where Wilson's Creek had been fought. The spirit of the army
+was up, and it moved promptly forward to engage him in his chosen
+fastness. The Secessionist historians and the admirers of Price,
+Marmaduke, Shelby and others give thrillingly sanguinary stories of
+the fierce resistance offered in the defiles and passes through the
+foothills of the Ozarks, but these statements are not supported by
+either the official reports or the regimental histories of the Union
+army. These all concur in the statement that while there was a great
+deal of noisy cannonading, Price's troops yielded ground quite easily,
+and all were surprised that no more effective resistance was made at
+places that offered such wonderful opportunities for defense.
+
+
+307
+
+In his report to Gov. Jackson Gen. Price gives this succinct statement
+of his share in the movement:
+
+     About the latter part of January my scouts reported that the
+     enemy were concentrating in force at Rolla, and shortly
+     thereafter they occupied Lebanon. Believing that this
+     movement could be for no other purpose than to attack me,
+     and knowing that my command was inadequate for such
+     resistance as the Interest of my army and the cause
+     demanded, I appealed to the commanders of the Confederate
+     troops In Arkansas to come to my assistance. This from
+     correspondence I was confidently led to expect, and, relying
+     upon it, I held my position to the very last moment, and, as
+     the sequel proved, almost too long, for on Wednesday, Feb.
+     12, my pickets were driven in, and reported the enemy
+     advancing upon me in force. No resource was now left me
+     except retreat, without hazarding all with greatly unequal
+     numbers upon the result of one engagement. This I deemed it
+     unwise to do. I commenced retreating at once. I reached
+     Cassville with loss unworthy of mention in any respect. Here
+     the enemy in my rear commenced a series of attacks running
+     through four days. Retreating and fighting all the way to
+     Cross Hollows, in this State, I am rejoiced to say my
+     command, under the most exhausting fatigue all that time,
+     with but little rest for either man or beast and no sleep,
+     sustained themselves and came through, repulsing the enemy
+     upon every occasion with great determination and gallantry.
+     My loss does not exceed four to six killed and some 15 to 18
+     wounded. That of the enemy we know to be ten times as great.
+
+Gen. Price's estimate of the losses he inflicted is widely divergent
+from that of Gen. Curtis, who does not admit any losses in killed in
+the noisy engagements while pushing Price back through the rough gorges,
+until he arrived at the Sugar Creek Crossing, six miles into Arkansas,
+where he lost 13 killed and 15 or 20 wounded in a very spirited little
+fight with the combined troops of Price and McCulloch, and camped that
+night upon the battlefield from which the enemy had retreated. Here Col.
+Cyrus Bussey joined him with five companies of the 3d Iowa Cav., having
+made a forward march from Rolla, Mo., in four days.
+
+
+308
+
+Curtis was so encouraged by his success that he kept on pushing Price
+back upon McCulloch, even upon the boasted "Gibraltar" at Cross Hollows,
+and then, to the astonishment and delight of himself and the whole army,
+forced the evacuation of this stronghold by a flank movement The rebels'
+abandonment of it was so complete that they burned all their stores and
+the great array of cabins built for quarters, leaving only the chimneys
+to mark the long rows.
+
+Thus any expectation of a sanguinary battle fell in disappointment.
+So much had been said about Cross Hollows that the Union troops were
+certain that they would have to fight a desperate battle at or near it.
+It was known that at least 4,000 regularly-organized troops had been
+quartered there for months, subjected to thorough drill and discipline.
+Gen. McCulloch had boasted that he had prepared a trap in which to catch
+and ruin the Federal General if he ventured that far south. McCulloch's
+only fear was of being unable to draw the Federal General into the trap.
+
+The Confederates left their sick and wounded behind them in the
+hospitals, and the untiring Gen. Asboth, commanding the cavalry, pushed
+the rear guard rapidly through to Bentonville. Returning to Curtis's
+camp a day or two later, Gen. Asboth was sent with a force of cavalry to
+Fayetteville, a most important town in northwestern Arkansas, where he
+learned that his enemies had hid themselves in the Boston Mountains.
+
+
+309
+
+Gen. Curtis had completed his work of driving Price from Missouri and
+some distance beyond her borders. He then drew his forces together and
+established himself at Cross Hollows, with the ultimate intention of
+retiring to the better position of Sugar Creek Crossing, in the event of
+the enemy concentrating any force against him. In the meanwhile he would
+hope that the turning movements which Halleck had planned would occupy
+Price's and McCulloch's attention, and draw them away from him.
+
+
+310
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. GEN. EARL VAN DORN TAKES COMMAND.
+
+Jefferson Davis carried out his determination to appoint an officer
+superior in rank to both Gens. McCulloch and Price. After first
+appointing Gen. Harry Heth, and then offering the appointment to Gen.
+Braxton Bragg, he selected another of his favorites, Gen. Earl Van Dorn,
+who had been a fiery partisan among the officers of the Regular Army
+for States Rights and Secession, was a native of Mississippi, and had
+graduated from West Point in 1842, 52d in a class of 56. Whatever his
+intellectual qualities may have been, he was a man of great force and
+energy, and had won two brevets for distinguished gallantry in the
+Mexican War. He gained still more distinction by his successful
+expeditions against the fierce Comanches, a tribe then in the hight of
+its power. In one of these his small command killed 56 Indians. In his
+engagements with the Comanches he had received four wounds, two of
+which were quite serious. He had been very active in bringing about Gen.
+Twiggs's disgraceful surrender of his command in Texas.
+
+When Jefferson Davis, as Secretary of War, organized the additional
+regiments for the Regular Army he took particular pains to promote
+into them men of his way of thinking on States Rights, and who would be
+useful in the coming contest which he foresaw.
+
+
+311
+
+One of these new regiments,--then called the 2d U. S. Cav., later
+changed to the 5th U. S. Cav., was quite remarkable for this selection,
+as it showed Mr. Davis's thorough acquaintance with the character of
+the Regular officers, and what they could be relied upon to do when
+Secession should be brought about. He made Colonel of the regiment
+Albert Sidney Johnston, later General, C. S. A.; Lieutenant-Colonels,
+Robert E. Lee, afterward General, C. S. A.; W. J. Hardee,
+Lieutenant-General, C. S. A., and E. Kirby Smith, General, C. S. A., and
+the Majors were George H. Thomas, W. H. Emory, Major-Generals, U. S. A.,
+and Earl Van Dorn, Major-General, C. S. A.
+
+Mississippi seceded Jan. 9,1861. Earl Van Dorn promptly tendered his
+resignation and became active, if he had not been before, in bringing
+about the surrender by Gen. Twiggs of the United States troops, stores
+and munitions of war in Texas, by which we lost nearly half of the
+entire strength of the Regular Army, besides some $2,000,000 of
+supplies, the control of the Mexican frontier, and a large portion
+of Indian frontier. Van Dorn had been commissioned Colonel in the
+Confederate army, and hoped to add the surrendered troops to the
+military establishment of the Southern Confederacy. He put a great deal
+of pressure upon the officers and men to induce them to change their
+allegiance, but was remarkably unsuccessful in the latter, not a single
+enlisted man accepting his offers of promotion and increased pay. Only
+those officers went over whose course had been predetermined. None of
+previous loyalty wavered for an instant.
+
+
+312
+
+Gen. Twiggs had made a capitulation with Gen. McCulloch, of Texas, as if
+treating with another Nation. The terms were that the troops should be
+conveyed to the nearest seaport, and thence sent home. The steamer "Star
+of the West," which had come into notoriety as being the object at which
+the first gun of the rebellion was aimed, had been sent to Indianola,
+Tex., to receive Twiggs's troops. Van Dorn, enraged by his failure
+to accomplish his purpose, violated the terms of the capitulation. He
+marched his forces upon the unarmed troops gathered near Indianola,
+compelled them to surrender, and captured the "Star of the West." The
+officers and men were kept prisoners in Texas for months afterwards, and
+subjected to much hardship.
+
+Halleck wrote to Curtis: "Beware of Van Dorn. He is an energetic
+officer."
+
+Van Dorn was not to justify the high expectations entertained of him,
+and after several failures to improve great opportunities he finally
+fell, in 1863, at the age of 42, before the pistol of an injured
+husband.
+
+Van Dorn promptly repaired to his command, and seems to have been
+welcomed with entirely loyal subordination by both Price and McCulloch,
+though both were much older than he, and had held higher commands, Gen.
+Price having been a Brigadier-General at a time when Van Dorn was only a
+First Lieutenant.
+
+
+313
+
+At first Van Dorn meditated moving into Missouri by the Pocahontas
+route, intermediate between the Mississippi route and that by the way
+of Springfield. He began assembling troops at Jacksonport, Ark., to move
+directly up through the Ozark Mountains. Then the isolated situation
+of Gen. Curtis's little army, with scattered detachments thrown out in
+every direction, tempted him to concentrate suddenly his forces and make
+the effort to cut off the outlying Union detachments and finally crush
+the main body. Therefore, he hastened to the Boston Mountains, sending
+messages to the scattered Confederates to meet him there, and was
+welcomed on a chilly, snowy March 3 with the Major-General's salute of
+40 guns, which were heard by Gen. Curtis at Cross Hollow.
+
+After driving Gen. Price off into the Boston Mountains and successfully
+flanking Gen. McCulloch out of his "Gibraltar" at Cross Hollow, Gen.
+Curtis prudently halted his army there to consider his next move. The
+line of Sugar Creek offered fine opportunities for defense, and from
+there he could hope to maintain his communications along the great road
+leading to Springfield and Holla. Not having been able to force either
+McCulloch or Price to a decisive battle in which he might destroy or at
+least cripple them, it did not seem discreet to venture further forward
+where every step made them stronger and him weaker.
+
+Halleck had relied upon Gen. Hunter sending down a flanking column from
+Leavenworth by the way of Fort Scott, but this had not materialized,
+owing to the disputes between Gens. Hunter and Jas. H. Lane. Thus 5,000
+men who should have been effectively employed, either in menacing
+Van Dorn's flank or increasing Curtis's strength, were held idly, at
+Leavenworth.
+
+     [Transcriber's Note: The print copy has a
+     two page error in numbering.]
+
+
+316
+
+Halleck had also relied upon the effect of Gen. Grant's startling
+victory at Fort Donelson, which shattered the first Confederate line,
+to withdraw a large portion of the forces west of the Mississippi, and
+relieve pressure upon Curtis. Nor had this at that time resulted. Though
+the general Confederate the roads leading northward crossed Sugar Greek,
+and several of them came together some two or three miles north of
+a country hostelry known as Elkhorn Tavern on the main road to
+Springfield, at the northeastern end of Pea Ridge.
+
+[Illustration: 316-Battle of Pea Ridge]
+
+At 2 p. m., March 4, Gen. Curtis was at Gross Hollow with Col. Carr's
+Fourth Division. The extreme left of his army was Col. Wm. Vandever,
+of the 9th Iowa, at War Eagle Mills, near White River, 42 miles to the
+southeast. The extreme right--the First and Second Divisions, under Gen.
+Franz Sigel--was at Cooper's Farm, four miles in front of Bentonville
+and 14 miles to the southwest of Sugar Creek. The Third Division, under
+Col. Jefferson C. Davis, had moved back to the line selected in rear of
+Sugar Creek, where Col. Bussey with his regiment was in camp.
+
+By 2 o'clock scouts and fugitives had convinced Gen. Curtis that Van
+Dorn had concentrated his forces, and was in rapid march upon him, only
+a few miles away. He sent orders by swift riders to all his outlying
+parties to march at once to the designated rendezvous at Sugar Creek,
+and started back himself with Carr's Division, arriving on the crest
+about 2 a. m. of March 5, and immediately setting his men to work
+preparing for the battle. Col. Dodge worked until midnight blockading
+with fallen trees the road from Bentonville to Springfield west of
+Leetown.
+
+
+317
+
+In spite of their wide dispersion, Gen. Van Dorn brought McCulloch's,
+Pike's and Price's forces together with great rapidity. How many
+fighting men he was able to assemble is a question. Gen. Curtis gravely
+estimated it at 30,000. Gen. Van Dorn in his reports after the battle,
+when he was putting the best face upon matters, stated his force at one
+time at 16,000 men, and again at "less than 14,000."
+
+Probably if we follow an old arithmetical device, adding Curtis's
+overstatement and Van Dom's understatement together and dividing the sum
+by two--the number of statements--we may get somewhat near the truth.
+This would give Van Dorn 22,000 men. Students since the war have arrived
+at the conclusion that he actually had 26,000 men.
+
+Analysis of the various reports points to this being nearly correct.
+
+Feb. 24--nine days before the battle--Van Dorn reported to Albert Sidney
+Johnston that with the combined forces of McCulloch, Pike and Price, he
+would "be able to take about 26,000 men into battle."
+
+The best organized and drilled troops west of the Mississippi were
+McCulloch's. March 2 he reported his "effective total" to be 8,384 men,
+with 18 cannon. He received some accessions after that, raising his
+whole force to nearly 10,000 men.
+
+His division was organized as follows:
+
+FIRST BRIGADE.
+
+Col. James Mcintosh commanding:--1st Ark. M. R., Col. T. J. Churchill;
+2d Ark. M. R., Col. James Mcintosh; 4th (9th) Tex. Cav., Col. W. B.
+Sims; 6th Tex. Cav., Col. B. W. Stone; South Kansas-Texas Regiment, Col.
+E. Greer; Lamar Cav., Capt. H. S. Bennett.
+
+SECOND BRIGADE.
+
+Col. Louis Hebert commanding--4th Ark., Col. E. McNair; 14th Ark., Col.
+M. C. Mitchell; 16th Ark., Col. Hill, 17th Ark., Col. Frank Rector; 21st
+Ark., Col. D. McRae; 1st Ark. Battery, Maj. W. H. Brooks; 3d La.,
+Col. Louis Hebert; Tex. Cav., Col. W. C. Young; Tex. M. R., Maj. J. W.
+Whitfield; Art. Bat. (four companies), Capt. W. R. Bradfute.
+
+
+318
+
+Nothing definite can be ascertained as to Albert Pike's force. A short
+time before the battle he wrote confidently about having 10,000 men. The
+force he actually brought up is generally stated at 6,000, two of the
+regiments being white.
+
+The following extract from Gen. Sterling Price's report of March
+22--eight days after the battle--gives us the best obtainable idea of
+the strength and organization of his force:
+
+My forces consisted of the First Brigade, Missouri Volunteers,
+Col. Henry Little commanding; the Second Brigade, Brg.-Gen. Slack
+commanding; a battalion of cavalry, under command of Lieut.-Col.
+Cearnal, and the State troops, under the command of Brig.-Gens. Rains,
+Green, and Frost, Cols. John B. Clark, Jr., and James P. Saunders, and
+Maj. Lindsay; numbering in all 6,818 men, with eight batteries of light
+artillery.
+
+Price, most probably, did not differ from other beaten commanders in
+minimizing his force to the utmost, so that it is entirely reasonable to
+assume that he had 2,000 or 3,000 more than he reported. Probably he and
+Van Dorn excluded from their fighting strength thousands, like Pike's
+In-lians, who proved themselves worthless in the actual shock of battle.
+
+Therefore we have the following aggregate of minimum strength:
+
+     McCulloch......................................   10,000
+
+     Pike...........................................    6,000
+
+     Price..........................................    9,000
+
+                                                       26,000
+
+It seems, therefore, entirely fair to say that Van Dorn had at least
+double Curtis's 10,000 when he left Cove Greek on the morning of March
+4, with three days' cooked rations in his men's haversacks, and the
+intention of destroying the invaders and recovering the State of
+Missouri.
+
+
+319
+
+Both sides were keenly eager for battle. The Confederates had been
+harangued with stories of great victories in the East, which they
+were to emulate; the Indians were fierce for scalps and plunder; the
+Missourians burning to march back to their homes m triumph.
+
+On the other hand, Curtis's men, weary of interminable marching and
+skirmishing, longed to deliver a decisive blow which would end all.
+
+Van Dorn's plan of battle was well-conceived, and if his immense
+preponderance of force had been adequately handled it would have won a
+crushing victory.
+
+McCulloch, during his long stay at Cross Hollow, had familiarized
+himself with the ground, and Price was also well acquainted with it. In
+the conference held in Gen. Van Dorn's tent it was decided not to attack
+in front, where Gen. Curtis had prepared, and where he had in addition
+to his obstructions the advantage of the steep side of the ridge.
+Instead, a movement would be made on Bentonville, to the southwest of
+Curtis, where it was hoped to catch Sigel and destroy him before he
+could receive assistance, then destroy Curtis before Vandever's
+Brigade could reach him from Huntsville. Pike's Indians were to follow
+McCulloch's Division, and when Curtis was beaten the wild Indian riders
+would be let loose to exterminate the fugitives.
+
+
+320
+
+Sigel, with his usual indifference to orders, did not immediately obey
+Curtis's command to abandon his camp four miles west of Bentonville and
+move back to Sugar Creek. Instead he deferred starting his troops from
+Cooper's Farm until 2 o'clock of the morning of the 6th, and stopped
+himself with a small force at Bentonville while his troops and train
+were passing through the town, and he was attacked about 11 o'clock. Van
+Dorn reports that it was 11 o'clock before he could get the head of his
+column to Ben-tonville, and "we had the mortification of seeing Sigel's
+Division, 7,000 strong, leaving it as we entered. Had we been an hour
+sooner we should have cut him right off with his whole force, and
+certainly have beaten the enemy the next day."
+
+Sigel had kept back about 600 men. His troops were part of the 12th
+Mo. and seven companies of cavalry, besides five field guns. They were
+resting with stacked arms when the rebel cavalry swarmed in upon the
+town from various directions. Sigel was able, however, to get his
+men together and march out of town to cover of some woods, where his
+artillery drove back the Confederates, who charged them, and the retreat
+was resumed.
+
+This performance was repeated several times along the road, which ran
+around the ridges through a growth of scrubby blackjacks, which broke up
+Sigel's men and also the eager Confederates who were trying to cut them
+off.
+
+Col. Elijah Gates, 1st Mo. Cav., Price's Division, led the pursuers with
+great activity and skill. There were incessant assaults with constant
+volleys of artillery, until Col. Osterhaus, who had reached Curtis's
+line, was ordered back to his relief, preceded by Col. Bussey with the
+3d Iowa Cav. When they met Gen. Sigel he had just broken through the
+Confederate cavalry, which was still making efforts to surround him, but
+the arrival of the reinforcements caused the Confederates to withdraw,
+and the Union troops marched back to the camp which had been formed at
+Sugar Creek. The Union loss in this affair was reported as 35 killed and
+wounded.
+
+
+321
+
+After a forced march of 42 miles from Huntsville, Col. Vandever's
+Brigade reached Pea Ridge at dusk, and Curtis had his whole army
+together. A night attack from the south was confidently expected, and
+every preparation was made for it.
+
+When night came on Van Dorn built fires, pretending to go into camp,
+but moved forward until he came upon the blocked road, which halted
+him until after midnight, when he moved forward much embarrassed by the
+obstructions Dodge had placed in the wretched roads. Dodge on his return
+from blockading the roads notified Gen. Curtis of Price's movement to
+the rear, but Gen. Curtis did not believe it, as other reports were to
+the effect that Van Dorn's attack would be on the Sugar Creek front.
+
+Price having been delayed until after midnight, did not reach the
+telegraph road, a mile or so north of Elkhorn Tavern, until 7 o'clock on
+the morning of the 7th.
+
+McCulloch, in the meanwhile, was forming his men in the fields and woods
+near Leetown, west of Pea Ridge, with Albert Pike's Indians behind him.
+
+While, therefore, Curtis's men were straining their eyes southward from
+his strongly fortified position on Sugar Creek for the advance of the
+enemy, the whole Confederate army had gained their flank and rear,
+with Price's Division directly across their line of communication and
+retreat.
+
+
+322
+
+Seeing no enemy in front, Curtis's men had a good, leisurely breakfast,
+but about 7 o'clock their commander was startled to learn of McCulloch's
+position on his right and Van Dorn and Price in his rear. With great
+promptness he faced his men about and swung his line back so that his
+new right--formerly his left--rested on Elkhorn Tavern, while his left
+rested where his old right had been, on the slope above Sugar Creek.
+This reversed the order of the divisions--Col. Carr's being the right at
+Elkhorn Tavern and Gen. Asboth's the extreme left, with Col. Osterhaus's
+and Col. Davis's in the center.
+
+It was now about 8:80 o'clock, and Gen. Curtis directed Col. Osterhaus
+to advance a force of cavalry, artillery and infantry and bring on the
+battle.
+
+There was soon after a swelling up of the firing about Elkhorn Tavern,
+where Carr was, which disturbed Curtis. He wanted the battle where he
+was preparing for it, and hoped that his opening it would stop any flank
+movements to his right. While Osterhaus was getting ready to advance,
+Curtis rode over to Elkhorn Tavern to see what the trouble was with
+Carr.
+
+During the early morning Price's troops getting into position on the
+main road had run afoul of the Union pickets about a mile northeast of
+Elkhorn Tavern. A little after 7 o'clock two companies of cavalry and
+one of infantry were sent out in that direction to investigate. They
+found a force of cavalry, which they drove back until they saw the woods
+full of Confederates, when they took cover behind trees and rocks and
+began a noisy skirmish, with the enemy slowly pressing forward and
+extending out on both flanks, as Van Dorn and Price brought their troops
+up and put them into line.
+
+
+323
+
+The affair showed such seriousness that Col. Dodge came up about 9
+o'clock with his brigade, and formed in line of battle to the right
+of Elkhorn Tavern, with the 85th Ill. on the left, the 4th Iowa in the
+center, the 3d Ill. Cav. on the right, and the pieces of the 1st Iowa
+Battery distributed along the line, and immediately moved forward and
+engaged the enemy.
+
+In the meanwhile Van Dorn and Price were placing their strong force
+of eight batteries in advantageous positions to crush out the Union
+artillery and pave the way for the advance of the infantry. When the
+storm burst the Confederate artillery quickly overwhelmed the Union
+guns, but Col. Dodge was able, after a sharp struggle, to beat back
+across the open fields the advance of the very much superior forces of
+the Missouri divisions, commanded by Gens. Steen, Clark, Frost,
+Rains and Green. He was so hard pressed, however, that Col. Carr,
+who accompanied Col. Dodge, sent back for his other brigade--Col.
+Vandever's--a mile and a half away, which arrived and went into position
+near Elkhorn Tavern in time to aid in repelling a fresh assault.
+
+More artillery had been brought up, but not enough to successfully
+contend with Van Dorn's massed guns.
+
+The Union infantry lay behind the cover of fences, logs and stumps, and
+when the Confederate infantry was pushed forward waited until it was
+within 100 paces, and then poured a deadly fire into it which shattered
+the ranks and drove it in retreat. Gen. Slack, one of Price's ablest
+brigade commanders, was killed and Lieut.-Col. Cearnal severely wounded.
+
+
+324
+
+There was a lull in the battle about 2 o'clock while Van Dorn and Price
+were reforming their men for a fresh and more determined assault. The
+brunt of it fell upon Col. Vandever on the crest of a hill about 300
+yards north of Elkhorn Tavern. Vandever succeeded in driving back the
+enemy, though at a great cost, since the 9th Iowa lost upward of 100 men
+and Col. Phelps's 26th Mo. about 75.
+
+Though the enemy was repulsed, Col. Vandever deemed it better to fall
+back to Elkhorn Tavern, leaving the battleground in the possession of
+the enemy.
+
+Col. Carr sent to Gen. Curtis for reinforcements, but Curtis, still
+believing that the main fighting was in front of Leetown, could only
+spare him his headquarters guard, with two howitzers. He also sent
+urgent counsel to Carr to "persevere" and hold his ground with the
+utmost obstinacy.
+
+Another lull in the battle occurred while Van Dorn and Price were
+bringing up and forming fresh troops. This time it was Gen. Clark's
+Missouri Division, reinforced by other troops. The Union soldiers
+received it, as they had the others, lying behind fences and logs and
+waiting until the enemy was where every shot would tell.
+
+It was about 3 o'clock when this charge was repulsed.
+
+Again Col. Carr sent to Gen. Curtis for reinforcements, and this time
+the General sent him five companies of the 8th Ind., under Lieut.-Col.
+Shunk, and three rifled cannon.
+
+
+325
+
+Van Dorn and Price now brought up everything, and concentrated their
+energies for a supreme effort to drive the stubborn Yankees from the
+field and achieve a victory before darkness should intervene. Their
+artillery speedily overpowered and drove off the Union guns, but when
+the infantry advanced it met the same terrific fire. This time the
+rebels did not give way, but pressed on around the left flank so that
+the Second (Vandever's) Brigade had to fall back. The First Brigade
+(Dodge's) held its position until night. The log barricades it had built
+enabled it to defeat charge after charge of the enemy, and when they
+swung around this flank a part of the 8th Ind. and 3d Ill., in a
+countercharge, drove the enemy back, protecting and holding that flank
+until dusk. In this bloody melee Lieut.-Col. Herron and Lieut.-Col.
+Chandler were wounded and captured, and nearly all the field officers
+were more or less severely wounded. Col. Dodge had three horses shot
+under him, and was himself wounded, and Col. Carr received the fourth
+wound of that day. Three of the Union guns were taken.
+
+The Second Brigade when it fell back took up a new and strong position
+a quarter of a mile to the rear, facing open ground, and resumed the
+battle.
+
+As evening was coming on, Curtis became at last convinced that the
+fighting in his front was over, and started the First and Second
+Divisions over to the right to the assistance of the Fourth. Gen. Asboth
+hurried forward in person with four companies of the 2d Mo. and four
+guns of the 2d Ohio Battery, and assisted in checking and driving back
+the last assault.
+
+Gen. Curtis came up, formed a new line along the edge of the timber,
+with the fields in front, and the men lay down on their arms for the
+night.
+
+Let us return to the left, in front of Leetown, where the main battle
+had been expected by both sides.
+
+
+326
+
+Col. Osterhaus does not seem to have formed any very dear plan when
+he went out from the center at 9 o'clock to open the battle with
+McCulloch's and Pike's forces. Gen. Curtis sent Col. Bussey out in
+advance with five companies of the 3d Iowa Cav., four of the 5th Mo.
+Cav., four companies of the 1st Mo. Cav., and two companies of the 4th
+Mo. Cav., with three pieces of Capt. Elbert's Battery. Col. Greuset's
+Brigade of infantry followed the cavalry at a short distance.
+
+Col. Bussey went out to Leetown and thence to the open fields about half
+a mile north. The infantry took position in the fields north of Leetown.
+Col. Osterhaus came up to the head of the cavalry column where Col.
+Bussey was, and they saw the Confederates in plain view about a quarter
+of a mile away. It was Van Dorn's trains and cavalry guards which
+they saw moving towards the telegraph road. They did not see, however,
+McCulloch's troops, Mcintosh's Brigade of cavalry and Pike's Indians
+formed in heavy masses to the right and close to them.
+
+Col. Osterhaus ordered Capt. Welfley to open on the men in front, and
+the shells caused a very visible stampede. Osterhaus then ordered Col.
+Bussey to send two companies down the road to investigate the position.
+Col. Bussey ordered Lieut-Col. Trimble, who commanded the 3d Iowa Cav.,
+to execute this order, while he gave his attention to the Fremont and
+Benton Hussars, then coming forward and forming line in rear of the
+guns.
+
+Lieut-Col. Trimble started with five companies of the 3d Iowa Cav., only
+to run into a heavy line of battle at close musket range, receiving a
+deadly fire which killed several of his men and was himself severely
+wounded in the face.
+
+
+327
+
+A minute later Mcintosh, at the head of five regiments of cavalry,
+and Pike leading three Indian and two Texas regiments, burst upon the
+cavalry and over the guns with appalling yells and a tempest of bullets.
+The Union cavalry was simply ridden down by overwhelming numbers and
+mixed up in a hand-to-hand conflict, but fought their way out and
+retreated through the open field to Osterhaus's infantry, where Col.
+Bussey rallied them and formed in line.
+
+The yelling Confederates rushed on until they came upon Greusel's line,
+where their yells were hushed by a storm of canister and bullets which
+stopped their advance. The Union line moved into the timber, where
+McCulloch was found working his way towards Curtis's camp. A terrible
+battle was fought with varying success until at 11 o'clock Col. Jeff
+Davis came to Osterhaus's assistance with the Third Division. The
+fighting was obstinate and bloody, generally duels between opposing
+regiments which crept slowly toward one another until they got within 60
+or 70 yards, when they would open fire, maintaining it until one or the
+other gave way. The irregular lines thus surged back and forward for
+perhaps an hour, with the Union troops generally gaining ground.
+
+During this fighting Gens. McCulloch and Mcintosh were both shot
+through the heart by Union sharpshooters. Gen. McCulloch, who was easily
+distinguished by his peculiarly-colored clothes, was killed by Peter
+Pelican, of Co. B, 36th Ill. How Gen. Mcintosh was killed does not
+appear, further than he was shot through the heart. The shooting that
+day was remarkably accurate. The men who held the rifles were perfectly
+accustomed to their use.
+
+
+328
+
+After four hours of constant and desperate fighting there was a
+noticeable fading in the vim of the Confederate assaults and diminishing
+stubbornness of resistance to the Union blows. When the Union soldiers
+pushed on through the woods after their enemies they found them falling
+back across the fields beyond in great disorder. A few shells from the
+Union guns frustrated all attempts to rally them. Osterhaus and Davis
+pushed their skirmishers through the woods for a mile, and the cavalry
+went still further, finding the three guns of the flying battery with
+the carriages burned off, and reporting back that everything seemed to
+be in full retreat for Bentonville.
+
+One squad of cavalry came back with Col. Hebert, the next in command to
+Gen. Mcintosh; Col. Mitchell and Maj. W. F. Tunnard, of the 3d La., of
+the same division; a Major, two Captains and 33 privates, all having
+been separated from their commands in the rush through the woods, and
+unable to regain them.
+
+After the fall of Gens. McCulloch and Mcintosh the command in that part
+of the field devolved upon Gen. Albert Pike, and it is rare that so
+great a responsibility falls upon one so unfit. Something of a poet Pike
+certainly was; much more of a successful politician and place-hunter,
+but nothing of a leader of men upon the battlefield. His soldiership
+became sicklied o'er when he went beyond the parade ground. Apparently
+he did not know what to do, nor, if he did, how to do it.
+
+Regimental commanders reported that they were unable to find him.
+
+
+329
+
+His own verbose report, made six days after the battle, is quite full of
+unintentional humor. He says that after the first charge the field was
+"a mass of the utmost confusion, all talking, riding this way and that,
+and listening to no orders from any one." He could get no one to pay any
+attention to what he said. His Indians, who had stopped in the charge to
+scalp the dead and wounded, would at once stampede whenever a shell was
+thrown in their direction. He devoted himself for a couple of hours to
+what has been described as "heavy standing around."
+
+Then he fell back with some of the troops a short distance and did some
+more standing around, until a Union artillerist noticed him and threw a
+shell in his direction, when he fell back out of range, and again stood
+around until some one informed him that a body of 7,000 Federals was
+moving around the left flank. He quickly decided that the "position was
+not tenable," and fell back still more, "when the officers assured me
+that the men were in such condition that it would be worse than useless
+to bring them into acton again that day." Such is the demoralization of
+"standing around."
+
+Finally, it occurred to him to take what troops he could gather and join
+Gen. Van Dorn, whose cannon had been thundering two or three miles
+away all this time. First, however, he decided to march them back some
+distance to a creek, "where they could all get a drink, and join Gen.
+Van Dorn in the morning."
+
+Col. E. Greer, 3d Tex. Cav., who became the senior officer of
+McCulloch's Division, reported that he gathered up fragments of
+regiments to the number of 3,000 after the casualties to his superiors,
+and being informed that Gen. Pike had left the field with the remainder
+of the command, retired some distance, sending word to Gen. Van Dorn
+that, unless he ordered otherwise, he would march to join him at 1:30 in
+the morning. Van Dorn approved of this.
+
+
+330
+
+The night of March 7 closed down with a tumult of widely-varying
+emotions in the 33,000 men who joined battle in the morning. All of
+Gen. Pike's Indians, except a portion of Col. Standwaitie's regiment
+of Cherokee half-breeds, and several thousand whites were rushing off
+toward the Arkansas River at full speed. The remnant of McCulloch's
+Division, which Col. Greer had rallied, and which had some fight left
+in it, unutterably weary, hungry and depressed, bivouacked near the
+battlefield, awaiting Van Dora's orders. Price's Missourians, who were
+no less weary and hungry than their comrades, from a night of severest
+marching and a day of sharp fighting, camped on the ground which they
+had wrung from Carr's Division by seven hours of bitter struggling and
+the cost of a number of prominent officers and several hundred men.
+Their success, though dearly bought, was sufficient to encourage them.
+They had captured several hundred prisoners and two pieces of artillery.
+They had driven Carr's Division back a quarter of a mile, were across
+the Union line of retreat, and Van Dorn had his headquarters at Elkhorn
+Tavern.
+
+
+331
+
+Price had greatly endeared himself to his troops by his conduct during
+the day. He was everywhere at the front, leading and encouraging his
+men, and though wounded in the arm had refused to quit the field. His
+generalship was not so conspicuous as his soldiership. With him and Van
+Dorn it was the story of Wilson's Creek over again. Instead of lining up
+their superior force and sending all forward with a crushing solidarity,
+they had personally led detachments, and when these had been fought out,
+gone back and brought up fresh forces, Van Dorn had shown generalship
+only in the concentration of his artillery. He had been so engrossed
+in this, and in pushing forward detachments he had better left to the
+Missouri leadership that he neglected his powerful right wing, which had
+gone to pieces, as there was no one left to take the place of McCulloch
+and Mcintosh. He hoped, though, with the aid of 3,000 men whom Greer was
+bringing to him, to complete his victory in the morning.
+
+There was much to depress Curtis's men in their tireless bivouac south
+of Elkhorn Tavern. Dodge's and Vandever's Brigades had been very roughly
+handled in the long struggle. Rebel bullets had made sad havoc in their
+ranks. They had lost two guns and over a quarter of their force in
+killed and wounded. Osterhaus's and Davis's Divisions, in the center,
+had had costly encounters with the enemy, and had lost five pieces
+of artillery. They did not then know that in reality the victory was
+theirs, but believed that most of the enemy had merely left their front
+to augment the mass which was formed across their line of retreat They
+therefore looked forward to the morrow with well-grounded apprehension.
+They had no rations in their haversacks, and their animals had been
+without forage for two or three days. Unless the enemy could be driven
+from their "cracker line" the very next day, starvation for man and
+beast stared them in the face.
+
+
+332
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX. THE VICTORY IS WON.
+
+Gen. Curtis's army was far from realizing as the night closed down on
+that exciting March 7 how completely it had whipped the overwhelming
+numbers of Van Dorn, Price, McCulloch, Mcintosh and Pike. Those of Jeff
+C. Davis's and Osterhaus's Divisions, who had done the heavy fighting on
+the Leetown front, knew that they had driven away the mass of the enemy
+in their front until there was no longer any show of opposition. They
+of Carr's Division, on the extreme right, the brigades of Dodge and
+Vandever, realized that they had had a terrible fight, in which they had
+generally defeated the enemy, inflicting great slaughter, though they
+had suffered heavily themselves. Still, the enemy had gained a little
+ground. The men of Carr's Division felt that now, since the rest of the
+army was coming to their help, they would undoubtedly win a victory
+in the morning, and clear the rebels from the road leading back to
+Springfield. This confidence was shared by the men of Jeff C. Davis's
+and Osterhaus's Divisions, who had come to their assistance, and they
+all felt more hopeful than did Sigel and Asboth's Division, which had
+taken little or no part in the fighting. The following remarkable letter
+from Gen. Asboth to Gen. Curtis, written at 2 o'clock in the morning of
+March 8, reveals the general belief of that portion of the army that the
+condition was desperate and it would require extraordinary efforts to
+release the army from a very hazardous situation:
+
+
+333
+
+     Headquarters Second Division, Camp Near Sugar Creek, Ark.,
+
+     March 8, 1862; 2 a. m. General: As Oen. Sigel, under whose
+     command you have placed me, with my division, has not yet
+     returned to our camp, I beg to address you, General,
+     directly, reporting that all the troops of the Second
+     Division were yesterday, as well as now, in the night,
+     entirely without forage; and as we are cut off from all
+     supplies by the enemy, outnumbering our forces several
+     times, and as one more day without forage will make our
+     horses unserviceable, consequently the cavalry and artillery
+     as well as the teams, of no use at all, I would respectfully
+     solicit a decided concentrated movement, with the view of
+     cutting our way through the enemy where you may deem it more
+     advisable, and save by this, if not the whole, at least the
+     larger part of our surrounded army.
+
+Gen. Curtis seems to have realized quite early in the afternoon the
+condition of affairs on his left in front of Leetown, and that the fight
+there was over. He therefore directed the cavalry under Col. Bussey to
+take up the best positions, holding the ground. All the infantry and
+artillery were ordered over toward the Springfield road to form a new
+line of battle, substantially a prolongation of that established at
+the close of the fighting by the stubborn resistance of Dodge's and
+Vandever's Brigades, which had so decisively repulsed the last attacks
+upon them the previous evening.
+
+
+384
+
+Sigel, who had a remarkable faculty for incurring criticism in every
+battle, had not made use of Gen. Asboth's Division at any time to
+relieve the pressure upon Davis and Osterhaus, so that it had hardly
+fired a shot. He now had trouble about getting his troops into line, and
+it was 8 o'clock in the morning before he finally took his place on the
+left, notwithstanding the fact that he was ordered to have his divisions
+in line before daylight. Curtis had now all his artillery up, and though
+it was not so numerous as that opposed to him, it was better equipped
+and drilled, and promptly opened the battle with a fire to which the
+Confederate guns could make no adequate reply. The whole line then
+moved forward with blazing rifles, sweeping unchecked up the hillsides,
+straight for the enemy's front. In a few minutes the Confederate line
+parted in the center and disappeared. Most of the Missourians fell back
+toward Keetsville, directly north. Greer and his remnants ran around our
+left toward Bentonville, pursued by Col. Bussey's cavalry. Van Dorn
+and Price with another remnant broke around our right, going through
+an obscure hollow and taking the road to Huntsville. Like most men of
+impetuous initiative, Van Dorn when he was whipped was badly whipped. He
+sent riders post haste to order his trains burned, but Gen. Green,
+who commanded the train guard, was of cooler mettle, and succeeded in
+getting the trains away safely.
+
+Gen. Sigel pursued the central portion through Keetsville, seven miles
+to the north, capturing nearly 200 prisoners and a great quantity of
+arms and stores. He believed Curtis would retreat, and was well on his
+way to Springfield when ordered back by Curtis to make his camp on the
+battlefield with the rest. Gen. Curtis officially reported his loss as
+follows:
+
+
+335
+
+UNION LOSSES.
+
+Command.
+
+Killed.
+
+Wounded
+
+It will be noticed by the above figures that Davis's Division lost
+four officers and 42 men killed, 18 officers and 256 men wounded, while
+Sigel's two divisions lost only three officers and 28 men killed, seven
+officers and 149 men wounded.
+
+The heaviest loss fell upon the 9th Iowa, which had 39 killed, 176
+wounded and four missing. The next heaviest was upon the 4th Iowa, which
+had 18 killed, 139 wounded and three missing.
+
+Gen. Van Dorn estimated his loss at 1,000 killed and wounded and 300
+missing. This is known to be inaccurate, because more Confederate than
+Union dead were buried on the battlefield, and Gen. Curtis sent 500
+prisoners to the rear.
+
+The question naturally occurs: Why did Van Dorn relinquish such a
+supreme effort with such a small loss?
+
+
+336
+
+Our amusing acquaintance, Gen. Pike, does not conceal the fact that he
+and those around him were very badly whipped. After joining Van Dorn
+he resumed his old habit of standing around "observing the enemy." He
+reports that he did this for two hours at a stretch when Curtis was
+delivering the final crushing blows upon Van Dorn. He then moved
+with much promptness toward the rear, for an officer came up with the
+stunning intelligence, "You are not safe here, for the enemy's
+cavalry are within 150 yards of you." This seemed to have escaped his
+"observation" up to that time. He rode on, and his pace was accelerated
+by hearing another officer cry out "Close up; close up; or you will all
+be cut to pieces."
+
+He halted presently, but had to start again, for a shell was sent by the
+enemy up the road from the point of the hill around which he had just
+passed. The cry of "The cavalry are coming was raised, and everything
+became confusion." He escaped the "enemy's cavalry by rapid riding,"
+but was unable to get ahead of his fastgoing troops and stop them,
+until they reached Elm Spring, many miles away. He came to this sage
+conclusion:
+
+     The enemy, I learn, had been encamped at Pea Vine Ridge for
+     three weeks, and Sigel's advance was but a ruse to induce
+     our forces to march northward and give them battle in
+     positions selected by themselves.
+
+There were others who shared his feelings; for he says:
+
+     Just before night, Saturday afternoon, I had met Col. Rector
+     in the hills, who told me he had about 500 men with him;
+     that they were in such condition that they could not go more
+     than six or eight miles a day, and that he thought he would
+     take them into the mountains, hide their arms in a secure
+     place, and, as he could not keep them together and feed
+     them, let them disperse. He asked my opinion as to this, and
+     I told him that no one knew where the rest of the army was;
+     that Gens. Van Dorn and Price were supposed to be captured
+     and the train taken; that if his men dispersed with their
+     arms they would throw them away, and that I thought the
+     course he proposed was the wisest one under the
+     circumstances. The enemy were pursuing on all the roads, and
+     as it was almost impossible for even a dozen men in a body
+     to procure food, I still do not see what better he could
+     have done.
+
+
+337
+
+Curtis's cavalry found these guns and brought them into camp; also, all
+the artillery that was captured the day before from Davis's and Carr's
+Divisions.
+
+Gen. Van Dorn made several reports which are strangely inconsistent
+with one another, and seem the natural efforts of a man to find the best
+excuses that will present themselves from day to day for his failure
+in a great effort. His first report, which was to Gen. Albert Sidney
+Johnston and the Confederate War Department, and sent two days after the
+battle, reads as follows:
+
+     Headquarters Trans-Mississippi District, March 9, via Hog
+     Eye; March 10, 1862.
+
+     Fought the enemy, about 20,000 strong, 7th and 8th, at
+     Elkhorn, Ark. Battle first day from 10 a. m. until after
+     dark; loss heavy on both sides. Gens. McCulloch and Mcintosh
+     and Col. Hebert were killed; Gens. Price and Slack were
+     wounded (Gen. Price flesh wound in the arm); the others
+     badly wounded, if not mortally; many officers killed and
+     wounded; but as there are some doubts in regard to several I
+     cannot yet report their names. Slept on the battlefield
+     first night, having driven the enemy from their position.
+     The death of Gens. McCulloch and Mcintosh and Col. Hebert
+     early in the action threw the troops on the right under
+     their commands in confusion. The enemy took a second and
+     strong position. Being without provisions and the right wing
+     somewhat disorganized, determined to give battle on the
+     right on their front for the purpose only of getting off the
+     field without the danger of a panic, which I did with
+     success, but with some losses.
+
+     I am now encamped with my whole army 14 miles west of
+     Fayetteville, having gone entirely around the enemy. I am
+     separated from my train, but think it safe on the Elm
+     Springs road to Boston Mountains. The reason why I
+     determined to give battle at once upon my arrival to assume
+     command of the army I will give in report at an early day.
+
+
+338
+
+In this it will be seen that he disclaimed any intention on the second
+day of making more than a fight to cover his retreat. This is clearly an
+afterthought to excuse the poor battle that he put up. There is no
+doubt that he had still hoped to whip Curtis's army, and that he had men
+enough to do it, if they had been handled properly and had fought with
+the same determination and aggressiveness that the Union troops did. For
+some weeks he continued to send in reports, explanatory and partially
+contradictory of his first.
+
+Gen. Sterling Price's report, made March 22, gives no idea that the
+retreat was determined on after the events of the first day, but says
+with relation to the close of the struggle on the evening of March 7:
+
+     The fiercest struggle of the day now ensued; but the
+     impetuosity of my troops was Irresistible, and the enemy was
+     driven back and completely routed. My right had engaged the
+     enemy's center at the same time with equal daring and equal
+     success, and had already driven them from their position at
+     Elkhorn Tavern. Night alone prevented us from achieving a
+     complete victory of which we had already gathered some of
+     the fruits, having taken two pieces of artillery and a
+     quantity of stores.
+
+     My troops bivouacked upon the ground which they had so nobly
+     won, almost exhausted and without food, but fearlessly and
+     anxiously awaiting the renewal of the battle in the morning.
+
+     The morning disclosed the enemy strengthened in position and
+     numbers and encouraged by the reverses which had unhappily
+     befallen the other wing of the army when the brave Texan
+     chieftain, Ben McCulloch, and his gallant comrade, Gen.
+     Mcintosh, had fallen, fearlessly and triumphantly lead-. ing
+     their devoted soldiers against the Invaders of their native
+     land. They knew, too, that Hebert--the accomplished leader
+     of that veteran regiment, the Louisiana Third, which won so
+     many laurels on the bloody field of the Oak Hills, and which
+     then as well as now sustained the proud reputation of
+     Louisiana--was a prisoner in their hands. They were not slow
+     to renew the attack; they opened upon us vigorously, but my
+     trusty men faltered not. They held their position unmoved
+     until (after several of the batteries not under my command
+     had left the field) they were ordered to retire. My troops
+     obeyed it unwillingly, with faces turned defiantly against
+     the foe.
+
+
+339
+
+It will be noticed that Price is not as frank as usual in giving reasons
+for his rapid retirement at the moment when, he claims, he was in the
+full flush of victory. "The retirement of several batteries not under my
+command" is a conspicuously inadequate excuse.
+
+In the course of a month or so Van Dorn managed to gather himself
+together again so as to begin voluminous communications with Richmond,
+explaining that "I was not defeated, but only foiled in my intentions."
+
+He proposed to return to his old Pocahontas plan, "relieve Gen.
+Beauregard by marching my army upon the Federals at New Madrid or Cape
+Girardeau, and thence on to St. Louis." He would turn his cavalry loose
+on Gen. Curtis's long line of communications, and send Gen. Pike with
+his Indians to harry southwestern Missouri and Kansas.
+
+The Confederate War Department did not think highly of this, but shortly
+transferred him and his troops east of the Mississippi.
+
+Gen. Price was also transferred east of the Mississippi, with the
+Missouri troops he had taken into the Confederate army, and his farewell
+to the Missouri State troops is worth reproducing as a specimen of the
+heated rhetoric customary in those days:
+
+     Headquarters Missouri State Guard,
+
+     Des Arc, Ark., April 8, 1862. (General Orders No. 79.)
+
+     Soldiers of the State Guard: I command you no longer. I have
+     this day resigned the commission which your patient
+     endurance, your devoted patriotism and your dauntless
+     bravery have made so honorable. I have done this that I may
+     the better serve you, our State and our country--that I may
+     the sooner lead you back to the fertile prairies, the rich
+     woodlands and majestic streams of our beloved Missouri--that
+     I may the more certainly restore you to your once happy
+     homes and to the loved ones there.
+
+     Five thousand of those who have fought side by side with us
+     under the Grizzly Bears of Missouri have followed me into
+     the Confederate camp. They appeal to you, as I do, by all
+     the tender memories of the past, not to leave us now, but to
+     go with us wherever the path of duty may lead, till we shall
+     have conquered a peace and won our independence by brilliant
+     deeds upon new fields of battle.
+
+
+340
+
+     Soldiers of the State Guards!    Veterans of six pitched
+     battles and nearly 20 skirmishes! Conquerors in them all!
+     Tour country, with Its "ruined hearths and shrines," calls
+     upon you to rally once more In her defense, and rescue her
+     forever from the terrible thraldom which threatens her. I
+     know that she will not call In vain. The Insolent and
+     barbarous hordes which have dared to Invade our soil and to
+     desecrate our homes have Just met with a signal overthrow
+     beyond the Mississippi Now Is the time to end this unhappy
+     war. If every man will but do his duty, his own roof will
+     shelter him In peace from the storms of the coming; Winter.
+
+     Let not history record that the men who bore with patience
+     the privations of Cowskln Prairie, who endured
+     uncomplainingly the burning heat of a Missouri Summer and
+     the frosts and snows of a Missouri Winter; that the men who
+     met the enemy at Carthage, at Oak Hills, at Fort Scott, at
+     Lexington and on numberless lesser battlefields In Missouri,
+     and met them but to conquer them; that the men who fought so
+     bravely and so well at Blkhorn; that the unpaid soldiery of
+     Missouri were, after so many victories and after so much
+     suffering, unequal to the great task of achieving the
+     Independence of their magnificent State.
+
+     Soldiers, I go but to mark a pathway to our homes. Follow
+     me!
+
+
+Very few but those who had already been cajoled into the Confederate
+service followed.
+
+A great deal of bitterness was developed from the discovery upon the
+battlefield of a number of Union dead who had been scalped by
+Pike's Indians. Many of these belonged to the 3d Iowa Cav., and the
+investigation of the matter was conducted by order of Col. Bussey, by
+his Adjutant, John W. Noble, afterwards Secretary of the Interior. Col.
+Bussey became Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
+
+
+341
+
+The bodies of at least eight of the 3d Iowa Cav. were exhumed and found
+to have been scalped and the bodies otherwise maltreated after their
+deaths by the scalping knives and tomahawks of merciless Indians. The
+matter was made subject of a strong communication from Gen. Curtis
+to Gen. Van Dorn, and the latter's Adjutant-General, Dabney H. Maury,
+replied, cordially condemning any such deeds, but claiming that, on
+the other hand, many prisoners of war had been killed in cold blood by
+Curtis's men, who were alleged to be Germans. The letter said:
+
+The General commanding feels sure that you will do your part as he will
+in preventing such atrocities in the future, and that the perpetrators
+of them will be brought to justice, whether Germans or Choctaws.
+
+Gen. Curtis was promoted to Major-General for his victory, and well
+deserved that honor, in spite of some bitter critics. Sigd was also
+made a Major-General, with much less reason. Asboth had his withheld
+Brigadier-Generalcy confirmed to him. Cols. Carr, Davis and Dodge were
+made Brigadier-Generals, but Cols. Osterhaus, White and Bussey, who had
+done conspicuous fighting, had to wait some months for their promotion,
+and Cols. Greusel and Pattison never received it.
+
+Among those who received praise for their gallantry that day was
+Maj. John Charles Black, of the 37th Ill., later a Colonel and
+Brigadier-General, Commissioner of Pensions under President Cleveland,
+Representative-at-large from Illinois, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand
+Army of the Republic, and now President of the United States Civil
+Service Commission. Maj. Black was severely wounded in the sword arm in
+the fight, but refused to leave the field until Gen. White ordered him
+to do so.
+
+Another was Maj. Phillip Sidney Post, of the 59th Ill. He later became
+Colonel and Brigadier-General; was left for dead on the field at
+Nashville, but recovered, to be Consul-General at Vienna and represent
+Illinois for many years in Congress. He was also wounded in the sword
+arm, and also refused to leave the field until he was peremptorily
+ordered to do so.
+
+
+342
+
+The moral effect of the victory was prodigious and far-reaching. High
+expectations had been raised by Van Dora, McCulloch, Mcintosh, Price
+and Albert Pike, which were abjectly prostrated. The mass of fugitives,
+white and red, who scattered over Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian
+Territory, each with his tale of awful slaughter and disheartened
+defeat, had a blighting effect upon the Secessionists, and greatly
+strengthened the Union sentiment.
+
+It was a desperate two-days' wrestle between the very best that the
+Southern Confederacy could produce west of the Mississippi River--the
+ablest commanders and the finest troops--and a small Union army. It was
+breaking, test, under the fairest conditions, of the fighting qualities
+of the two combatants.
+
+Though bitter, merciless, sanguinary fighting was to perturb the State
+for three years longer, it was no longer war, but guerilla raiding and
+bandittism, robbery and murder under a pretext of war. Price, indeed,
+made an invasion of the State two years later, but it was a hurried
+raid, without hope of permanent results.
+
+At the conclusion of the battle Missouri was as firmly anchored to the
+Union as her neighbors, Illinois, Iowa and Kansas.
+
+The battle for Missouri had been fought and won.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Struggle for Missouri, by John McElroy
+
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