The Struggle for Missouri Part 6

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 pus.h.i.+ng 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 leaders.h.i.+p 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 a.s.sistance. 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 a.s.signment, 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 a.s.signed 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 a.s.sumed 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 Was.h.i.+ngton, 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 inc.u.mbents 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, Sarc.o.xie and other towns in the southwestern corner. Col. Franz Sigel, who had shown much activity and enterprise, learned at Sarc.o.xie 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. Ha.s.sendeubel; 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 c.o.o.n 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 gra.s.s, 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 sh.e.l.l 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 Sarc.o.xie, 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.

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 ma.s.s.

{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 a.s.sistance of the revolutionists in Hesse-Darmstadt, but a disagreement arose, another was appointed to the command, and Sigel a.s.sumed 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 Sarc.o.xie, 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 pus.h.i.+ng 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.

{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 a.s.sistance.

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 a.s.sembled 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 embarra.s.sing 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 Was.h.i.+ngton. 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 Was.h.i.+ngton 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 embarra.s.sments, 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 Was.h.i.+ngton, 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 Was.h.i.+ngton, 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 diminis.h.i.+ng 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 Sat.u.r.day, 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 Ca.s.sville.

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 a.s.sumed the att.i.tude 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 diminis.h.i.+ng force and perplexities.

Brilliant as McCulloch may have been in command of 100 or so men, he was clearly unequal to the leaders.h.i.+p 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 a.s.sistance.

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 Ca.s.sville 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 Ca.s.sville 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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 s.h.i.+ne 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 princ.i.p.al 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 embarra.s.sing, 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.

{158} 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."