The Struggle for Missouri Part 4

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 Cla.s.s 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 pa.s.sionate 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:

{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 a.s.sured, 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 a.s.signed 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 ent.i.tled 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 a.s.serted 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 att.i.tude, 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 a.s.sertion 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 Was.h.i.+ngton was rapidly coming to this conclusion, and sent a special messenger to St. Louis from Was.h.i.+ngton 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 s.p.a.ce 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 d.a.m.n 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 a.s.signed 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 Was.h.i.+ngton, 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 Pa.s.s Christian, Miss.

Once more Gen. Lyon was in the saddle, this time for good, with Frank Blair and the Radicals ma.s.sed 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 circ.u.mstance 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 Ma.s.sachusetts 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 a.r.s.enal, there came to his a.s.sistance 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 a.s.sumes 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 cla.s.s of 1853.

At the head of that cla.s.s 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 cla.s.s was William P. Craighill, a fine engineer officer, who, however, rose no higher during the war than a brevet Colonel.

The third in the cla.s.s 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 cla.s.s 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 cla.s.s was Francis J. Shunk, of Pennsylvania, who went into the ordnance and became a brevet Major.

The sixth in the cla.s.s 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 cla.s.s 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 cla.s.s.

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 cla.s.s, 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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 professors.h.i.+p. 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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 indors.e.m.e.nt, pathetically eloquent as to his aged slowness of recognition that old things were pa.s.sing 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 a.s.signment 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 a.s.sertion 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 pa.s.sport: 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 a.r.s.enal. 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.semblies 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 accomplis.h.i.+ng 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 unconst.i.tutional 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.