The Struggle for Missouri Part 7

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 crus.h.i.+ng 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 circ.u.mstances 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.

{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 gra.s.sy 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 antic.i.p.ation-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 circ.u.mstances. He was born in Ma.s.sachusetts, and had graduated in 1841 in the same cla.s.s 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 cla.s.s 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 a.r.s.enal 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 a.s.sistant 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 Mana.s.sas, 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 pa.s.sed 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 cla.s.s of 1841, was Lyon's a.s.sistant Adjutant-General, and won a brevet for his conduct that day. He was a man of far more than ordinary abilities-many p.r.o.nounced 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 a.s.sistance 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 cla.s.smate 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 Emba.s.sador 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. Mitch.e.l.l, of Ohio, who rose to be Brigadier-General and did gallant service in the Army of the c.u.mberland; 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 superst.i.tion 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 ma.s.s of recruits a.s.sociated 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 "b.l.o.o.d.y 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 a.s.sembling 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 rus.h.i.+ng up a.s.sistance 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 pus.h.i.+ng 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 a.s.sistance with what men they could hastily a.s.semble, 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 pus.h.i.+ng 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 sh.e.l.l 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 sh.e.l.ls 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. Mitch.e.l.l. 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 a.s.sistance, 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 princ.i.p.al 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 sh.e.l.ls 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 a.s.sistance, 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 a.s.sistance 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 sh.e.l.ls 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:

The official reports give the casualties in the Confederate army as follows:

{177}

CHAPTER XI. THE AFTERMATH OF WILSON'S CREEK

An a.n.a.lytical 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}

{179} It is altogether unlikely that the 1st Mo., for example, took into battle within 100 or more of the 900 men a.s.signed 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 a.s.sume 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 crus.h.i.+ng 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 hors.e.m.e.n, armed with flintlock muskets, rifles and shotguns. He says: "There were, other hors.e.m.e.n with the army, but they were entirely unarmed, and instead of being a help they were continually in the way." He repeatedly p.r.o.nounces the collisions at the different periods of the battle as "terrific," and says: "The incessant roar of musketry was deafening, and the b.a.l.l.s 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 a.s.sistance 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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 hors.e.m.e.n 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 pa.s.ses comprehension that this horde of irregular hors.e.m.e.n 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 hors.e.m.e.n, and n.o.body 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: