USA > Missouri > Greene County > Past and present of Greene County Missouri, early and recent history and genealogical records of many of the representative citizens, Volume I > Part 32
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I now determined to cross the creek and see if I could find Colonel Sigel, as a report reached us that he was entirely cut to pieces. I had not proceeded far on the eastern side of the creek, when I met the son of Hon. John S. Phelps, who had left town upon hearing the cannonading, with but a few troops, and, not discerning the exact positions of the two armies, had busied himself taking prisoners on the Fayetteville road and west of it. When I met him he had captured near a dozen, including a negro belonging to an officer in a Louisiana regiment. Placing them upon the trail of our guards and in charge of a Kansas officer, Phelps and myself proceeded, but found it unsafe to attempt to cross the Fayetteville road, and, seeing the army re- treating. we joined them and returned to the city.
Col. Marcus Boyd had in Springfield during the battle a force of Home
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Guards from Greene and adjoining counties, numbering twelve hundred men, all under arms, and all ready and willing to fight. But General Lyon looked upon them as an efficient fighting force about in the same manner as McCulloch regarded Price's Missouri State Guard. The former had no confidence that any other troops but regulars could fight well or be relied upon at a critical moment, and so he refused to permit them to go to the front, saying that they would break at the first fire and demoralize the rest of the troops, and perhaps cause him to lose the fight. But in this he was no doubt mistaken and had these troops been placed on the field would have fought as well as the volunteers in either army and might have been the cause of victory perching upon the banners of the Federals. General Lyon evi- dently made a grave mistake in not employing every man that could use a musket against the overwhelming forces of the Southerners. He has been criticised for not using the Home Guards and for permitting Sigel to take a position at such a remote distance from his column. Had he concentrated his own column and these additional divisions of over two thousand men, there might have been a different story following that fatal day. But his anxiety to not leave his rear and base wholly unprotected from a cavalry dash or sudden movement of some sort, led to his leaving this large force in Spring- field, which stood in arms all the forenoon, hearing impatiently their com- rades fighting assiduously only a few miles away, but were forbidden to join them in the fray.
FEDERALS EVACUATE SPRINGFIELD.
All the afternoon following the battle, the Union regiments and de- tachments, batteries and ambulances poured into Springfield, all however, in tolerable order, but presenting on the whole quite a different appearance to that observed when they marched out on the previous afternoon. Begrimed with dust, smoke and sweat, torn uniforms and an air of dejection, they portrayed the day's events in an unmistakable manner. After a brief rest and refreshing themselves they prepared for flight. The principal officers held a conference, and, somewhat strange as it may seem, after the pitiable showing of Colonel Sigel in the battle, the command of all the forces were turned over to him. Major Sturgis is said to have favored his selection because he was especially good in a retreat, although not altogether success- ful in an attack. The citizens were notified and hundreds of them began packing up and preparing to follow the army, that is, the Union sympathizers who dreaded the coming of the Southern troops. The Home Guards also got ready to move as a part of the army. The movement was not confined alone to the people of Springfield but many who resided in the country also prepared to move. It seemed that General Lyon had a premonition before he went out to give battle that the end would be disastrous to the govern-
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ment cause, and he ordered the large sum of money in the local bank pre- pared for shipment and guarded by a company of Home Guards. Merchan- disc of all kinds was loaded into wagons and certain officers "pressed" teams into service for the occasion, and commissary and quartermasters' stores were loaded into the wagons. According to Colonel Boyd one officer, high in Sigel's confidence, had no wagon or other accouterments for his regiment. lle pressed a pair of mules and a wagon and instead of loading it with flour and bacon, piled it with seven barrels of whisky and one box of "hard-tack" for his fragmentary regiment of five hundred men on a retreat of one hun- dred and fifty miles. But it seemed that this far-seeing officer knew what he was about, and on the long march fed not only his own men but hundreds. of refugees with the proceeds of trades and sundry traffickings for his much- sought after cargo, and when he reached Rolla, Phelps county, had two bar- rels of whisky left, besides seventeen wagons loaded with country hams, sugar, molasses, coffee and diverse other articles of food. Sigel's ordinance officer destroyed a considerable quantity of powder because there was no means of transporting it. The First Iowa regiment also burned a portion of its baggage for the same reason. The public square and streets leading thereto were literally jammed with army wagons, farm wagons, cannon car- riages, buggies, horses, mules, cattle, infantry, cavalry, artillery. All was confusion, disorder. Wild rumors of all kinds kept frightened men, women and children in a turmoil and tumult, which continued all the afternoon and far into the night. Dr. E. C. Franklin was given general charge of the Federal wounded and Major Sturgis left with him the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars in gold, with which to purchase supplies for the wounded left behind, to care for General Lyon's body, and for other necessary ex- penses. Doctor Franklin was surgeon of the Fifth Missouri Infantry.
The army did not get ready to march until midnight. The train of wagons that set out for Rolla was three miles long and besides the army proper there was a column of refugees, men, women and children. young and old, including many negroes; the citizens were in wagons, carriages, on horseback and afoot. Although this was practically three nights the troops had spent without sleep, they made a good march and reached the adjoining county by daybreak. A strong rear guard momentarily expected to clash with the cavalry of the enemy which. however, did not pursue, making no attempt to capture the retreating army with its two million dollars in money and stores. Why, the Confederate officers themselves never explained. Sigel marched on undisturbed until near the crossing of the Gasconade river. Before attempting to cross this stream lie had received information that the ford was not one that could be well crossed by his train, also that a large force of the enemy was moving across the country from West Plains to Waynesville, to cut off the retreat. He was also told that it would take
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considerable time to cross the Robidoux and Big Piney and Little Piney creeks on the old road. In order to avoid these difficulties and to give the army an opportunity to rest, Sigel directed the troops from Lebanon, La- clede county to the northern road, passing Right Point, in the southeastern part of Camden county, and Humboldt, Pulaski county, and terminating opposite the mouth of Little Piney, where in case the ford could not be passed, the train could be sent by Vienna and Linn to the mouth of the Gasconade, while the troops could ford the river at the mouth of the Little Piney to reinforce Rolla. He ordered a ferry boat from Big Piney Cross- ing to be hauled down on the Gasconade to the mouth of Little Piney, where it arrived immediately after the army had crossed the ford, and was used to take the artillery across. However, before reaching the ford, Sigel had given up the command of the army to Major Sturgis. The army reached® Rolla on August 19th, where temporary camp was made which was named "Camp Carey Gratz," in honor of the captain of the First Missouri Infantry killed at Wilson's Creek. In a few days the First Iowa Infantry and the- Missouri and Kansas troops, whose terms of enlistment had expired some- tinie previously, were sent to St. Louis to be mustered out.
CONFEDERATE TROOPS ENTER SPRINGFIELD.
It was nearly twenty-four hours after the battle of Wilson's Creek ended before the armies of Generals Price and McCulloch marched into. Springfield, the advance guard reaching there about eleven o'clock Sunday morning, August 1Ith. It was composed of Texas and Missouri cavalry. By the afternoon the town was pretty well filled by the Southerners and Price and McCulloch themselves came in. The stores were visited and the proprietors interviewed and there was great activity in mercantile circles for awhile, thousands of dollars' worth of goods being purchased in a few hours. Everything was paid for, but in Confederate or Missouri script. Encamp- ments were laid out, troops were distributed in different sections of the town and preparations were made to permanently occupy it. Brigadier-general Rains confiscated the major portion of the medical supplies, leaving about enough for the Union sick and wounded to last a week and although Doctors Franklin, Melcher, Haussler, Ludwig and Davis of the regular army force of surgeons, assisted by several local physicians, labored heroically in saving the lives of many of the wounded, they were often in great straits on account of lack of proper medical supplies.
As intimated in the early portion of this chapter, those were days of frequent proclamations by the commanders of the various armies, and the dav after the Confederates took possession of Springfield, Gen. Ben Mc- Culloch issued the following :
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Headquarters Western Army, Camp near Springfield, Mo., August 12, 1861. To the People of Missouri :
Having been called by the governor of your state to assist in driving the National forces out of the state, and in restoring to the people their just rights, I have come among you simply with the view of making war upon our Northern foes, to drive them back and give the oppressed of your state an opportunity of again standing up as free men and uttering their true senti- inents. You have been overrun and trampled upon by the mercenary hordes of the North ; your beautiful state has been nearly subjugated, but those true sons of Missouri who have continued in arms, together with my forces, came back upon the enemy, and we have gained over them a great and signal vic- tory. Their general-in-chief is slain, and many of their other general officers are wounded. Their army is in full flight; and now if the true men of Mis- souri will rise up and rally around our standard the state will be redeemed. I do not come among you to make war upon any of your people, whether U'nion or otherwise; the Union people will all be protected in their rights and property. It is earnestly recommended to them to return to their homes. Prisoners of the Union army, who have been arrested by the army, will be released and allowed to return to their friends. Missouri must be allowed to choose her own destiny, no oath binding your .consciences. I have driven the enemy from among you ; the time has now arrived for the people of the state to act. You can no longer proscrastinate. Missouri must now take her position, be it North or South.
BEN MCCULLOCH, Brig. Gen. Commanding.
This proclamation was posted all over southwestern Missouri and it was well received by the people of Greene county, especially the Union sym- pathizers, who expected to be treated with great severity. All now looked forward to a season of security if not of peace. But the proclamation was not very carefully observed; Unionists were arrested and their property and often that of their secession neighbors seized and appropriated whenever the subordinate Confederate officer desired to do so. General McCulloch issued the following congratulatory order to the troops under his command as a result of the battle of Wilson's Creek, at the same time he issued the above proclamation :
The general commanding takes great pleasure in announcing to the army under his command, the signal victory it has just gained. Soldiers of Louisiana, of Arkansas, of Missouri, and of Texas, nobly have you sustained yourselves. Shoulder to shoulder you have met the enemy and driven him before you. Your first battle has been glorious and your general is proud of you. The opposing forces, composed mostly of the old regular army of the
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North, have thrown themselves upon you, confident of victory, but by great gallantry and determined courage, you have routed them with great slaughter. Several pieces of artillery and many prisoners are now in your hands. The commander-in-chief of the enemy is slain and many of the general officers wounded. The flag of the Confederacy now floats over Springfield, the stronghold of the enemy. The friends of our cause who have been in prison there are released. While announcing to the army the great victory, the general hopes that the laurels you have gained will not be tarnished by a single outrage. The private property of citizens of either party must be respected. Soldiers who fought as you did the day before yesterday cannot rob or plunder. By order of Ben McCulloch, General Commanding. James McIntosh, Captain C. S. A. and adjutant general.
A few days later General Price issued the following proclamation :
"To the People of Missouri: The army under my command has been organized under the laws of the state for the protection of your homes and firesides, and for the maintenance of the rights, dignity and honor of Mis- souri. It is kept in the field for these purposes alone and to aid in accomplish- ing them, our gallant Southern brethren have come into our state. We have just achieved a glorious victory over the foe, and scattered far and wide the well-appointed army which the usurper at Washington has been more than six months gathering for your subjugation and enslavement. This victory frees a large portion of the state from the power of the invaders and re- stores it to the protection of its army. It consequently becomes my duty to assure you that it is my firm determination to protect every peaceable citizen in the full enjoyment of all his rights, whatever may have been his sympathies in the present unhappy struggle, if he has not taken an active part in the cruel warfare, which has been waged against the good people of this state by the ruthless enemies whom we have just defeated. I therefore invite all good citizens to return to their homes and the practice of their ordinary vocations, with the full assurance that they, their families, their homes and their prop- erty shall be carefully protected. I, at the same time, warn all evil disposed persons, who may support the usurpations of anyone claiming to be pro- visional or temporary governor of Missouri, or who shall in any other way give aid or comfort to the enemy, that they will be held as enemie's and treated accordingly. STERLING PRICE,
August 20, 1861. Maj. Gen. Commanding Missouri State Guard.
It will be observed that the proclamations of Price and McCulloch differed somewhat regarding Union prisoners or sympathizers, the former declaring that all such should not be protected in his rights, while the latter declared that the prisoners should be released and allowed to return to their homes and their employments. Capt. Dick Campbell's company of Greene
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county secessionists, who had fought at Wilson's Creek, was assigned to permanent duty at Springfield and in their county over which they were well acquainted and were therefore able to give General Price specific information as to the Union families in that vicinity, which of them were entitled to special favors and which were not.
INFLUENCE OF THE BATTLE.
The battle of Wilson's Creek did much to strengthen the cause of the Confederates, the influence in Missouri being especially noticeable and had a very stimulating effect in recruiting for that army. Many who had been undecided as to what course to pursue took a stand for the cause of the South, and the news of the victory was received with great joy at the Con- federate capital. On November 4, 1861, when Gov. Claiborne Jackson's legislature. in session at Cassville, passed the Neosho secession ordinance, also the following resolution :
Resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring therein : That the thanks of the state of Missouri are hereby cordially given to Major General Price and Brigadier Generals Parsons, Rains, McBride, Slack, Clark and Steen, and the officers and troops of the Missouri State Guard under their command and to Brigadier General McCulloch and officers and troops of the Confederate states under their command, for their gallant and sig- nal services and the victory obtained by them in the battle of Springfield.
The following resolutions were introduced into the Confederate Con- gress on August 21, 1861 by Mr. Ochiltree, who subsequently became a prominent politician and a member of Congress of the United States from / Texas, and were passed unanimously :
Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe to the arms of the Confederate states another glorious and important victory, in a portion of the country where a reverse would have been disastrous by exposing the families of the good people of the state of Missouri, to the unbridled license of the brutal soldiery of an unscrupulous enemy; therefore
Be it Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States, That the thanks of Congress are cordially tendered to Brigadier-general McCulloch and the officers and soldiers of his brave command for their gallant conduct in defeating after a battle of six and a half hours a force of the enemy equal in numbers and greatly superior in all their appointments, thus proving that a right cause nerves the hearts and strengthens the arms of the Southern people, fighting as they are for their liberty, their homes and friends, against an unholy despotism.
Resolved. That in the opinion of Congress, General McCulloch and his troops are entitled to and will receive the grateful thanks of all our people.
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DISPOSITION OF THE BODY OF GENERAL LYON.
Scores of accounts of the tragic death of Gen. Nathaniel Lyon on the field of Wilson's Creek have been published, very few of them agreeing in details. It was even difficult to get the true facts regarding his burial. The stories have been varied partly because in the excitement of the battle those who really witnessed the general's death saw the matter a little different from each other, and partly because of a morbid tendency of many who did not see it to desire notoriety, of having their names published in connection with some notable event, hence are willing to risk lying about it. But the corroborated and now undisputed facts in the case are substantially as follows :
General Lyon was killed about eleven o'clock while placing the Second Kansas Infantry in position, by a rifle or navy revolver ball which passed through the region of the heart. He was seated on a horse and as he started to fall was caught by a private soldier, Edward Lehman, of Company B, First United States Cavalry, who assisted him to the ground. Mr. Lehman, two other soldiers and Lieutenant Schreyer, of Captain Tholen's company, Second Kansas, bore the body to the rear immediately. Death was almost instantaneous, but Lehman heard the general whisper as he laid him on the ground, "Lehman, I'm going." As the body was borne to the rear, Lieut. William Wherry, one of the general's aids, had the face covered and ordered I.ehman, who was crying like a child, to desist from any show of emotion, and tried every way he could to prevent the news of Lyon's death from spreading through the ranks, fearing its ill effects on the troops. The body was placed in the shade of a small black-jack, the face covered with half a soldier's blanket, the limbs composed and in a few minutes there gathered round General Sweeney, Major Sturgis, Major Schofield, Surgeon F. M. Cornyn and Gordon Granger. The surgeon examined the body hastily and wiped the blood from the side of the face made by a wound in the head, re- ceived previously, the fatal wound having been the third he had received within a half hour. Major Sturgis ordered the body to be carried back to a place selected as a sort of field hospital and there to be placed in an ambul- ance and taken to Springfield. While the body was lying there'the body in- cluding the face became covered with blood from the wounds. About twenty minutes after the body had been brought back, Lieut. David Murphy of the First Missouri Infantry, who was already badly wounded in the leg, and Lehman placed the body in an army wagon being used as an ambulance and belonging to Company B, First United States Cavalry. This wagon was about to start to Springfield and contained in addition a number of wounded men. A few minutes later a sergeant of the regular army came up and
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ordered the body taken ont, saying that an ambulance would soon be there for it. The corpse was then replaced under the tree where it had before reposed. But a few minutes more and the Federal army was retreating and the ambulance never came up. The body lay about two hundred yards north- cast of "Bloody Hill" and before the Confederates reached the spot a num- ber of wounded Union soldiers gathered around their dead hero, and an hour after the army left the field. a detachment of skirmishers from an Arkansas regiment, came upon the group and discovering the occasion of the crowd immediately spread the news that General Lyon was killed. In- stantly there was a great tumult and a half dozen privates bore the news to Generals McCulloch and Price. Many did not believe the story upon seeing the plainly dressed body, in an old faded captain's uniform with but three United States buttons on the coat and a simple cord down the leg of the trousers to indicate that he was in the military service, they could not think that this was the famous General Lyon. The body was placed in a small covered wagon, used as an ambulance, to be conveyed to General McCul- loch's headquarters, when an order arrived that it should be taken to General Price's headquarters, and delivered to Dr. S. H. Melcher, a surgeon with the Fifth Missouri Infantry. Doctor Melcher had been informed by Col. Emmet McDonald that Lyon had been killed and at once asked for his body. After the wagon reached headquarters and the body had been viewed by General Price, General Rains and other officers, it was turned over to Doctor Melcher. Lying beside General Lyon was a wounded soldier, who was now taken out of the wagon and then General Rains himself and some of his cavalry escorted the wagon to the house of Mr. Ray, on or near the battlefield. We continue the narrative in Doctor Melcher's own language which follows :
Arriving there the body was carried into the house and placed on a bed ; then I carefully washed his face and hands, which were much discolored by clust and blood and examined for wounds. There was a wound on the right side of the head, another in the right leg below the knee and another which caused his death, was by a small rifle ball, which entered about the fourth rib on the left side, passing entirely through the body, making its exit from the right side, evidently passing through both lungs and heart. From the character of this wound it is my opinion that General Lyon was holding the bridle rein in the left hand and had turned in the saddle to give a command, or words of encouragement, thus exposing his left side to the fire of the enemy. At this time he had on a dark blue. single breasted captain's coat, with the buttons used by the regular army of the United States. It was the same uniform coat I had frequently seen him wear in the arsenal at St. Louis, and was considerably worn and faded. He had no shoulder-straps; his pants were dark blue; the wide-brim felt hat he had worn during the cam- paign was not with him. After arranging the body as well as circumstances
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permitted, it was carried to the wagon and covered with a spread or sheet furnished me by Mrs. Ray. When I was ready to start, General Rains said : "I will not order any to go with you, but volunteers may go" and five Con- federate soldiers offered their services as escort. One drove the team; the others being mounted, rode with me behind the wagon. The only name I can give is that of Orderly Sergeant Bracket of a company of Churchill's Arkan- sas regiment. Another of the escort was a German who, in 1863, was clerk- ing in Springfield and during the defense of that place against the attack of Marmaduke, January 8, 1863, did service in the citizens' company of forty- two men which was attached to my "Quinine Brigade" from the hospitals.
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