THE GOVERNMENT AND SLAVERY.

a Sept. 11, 1861.

65

allow him to do it himself.' The President accordingly issued an order to that effect," and a most powerful war measure, which was adopted by the Government less than a year later, and which now promised, as such, the most efficient aid to the National cause, was made almost inoperative. Only those slaves who were actually employed in the military service of the Confederates were to be declared free by the President's order. So cautiously did the Government move at this time, in the matter of slaves, that special orders were issued to commanders in other Departments on the subject, all having a tendency to calm the apprehensions that a general emancipation of the bondsmen was contemplated.❜

1 "If I were to retract of my own accord," said Fremont, "it would imply that I myself thought it wrong, and that I acted without the reflection which the gravity of the point demanded. But I did not. I acted with full deliberation, and with the certain conviction that it was a measure right and necessary; and I think so still."

2 The conservative attitude of the Government in relation to slavery, at that time, however expedient it may have been as a soothing policy toward the border Slave-labor States, was a disappointment to its friends abroad, who well understood the object of the conspirators to be the formation of a great empire whose political and industrial system should be founded on human slavery. In Western Europe, the long controversy on that subject in our National Legislature had been watched with great interest; and the more enlightened observers, when the war broke out, believed and hoped that the prediction of a distinguished member of Congress (Joshua R. Giddings), made in that body in 1848, when members from Slave-labor States insolently threatened to dissolve the Union if their wishes were not gratified, would be fulfilled. He said that when that contest should come, "the lovers of our race will then stand forth and exert the legitimate powers of this Government for freedom. We shall then have constitutional power to act for the good of our country and to do justice to the slave. We will then strike off the shackles from his limbs. The Government will then have power to act between slavery and freedom, and it can then make peace by giving liberty to its slaves."—See Giddings's History of the Rebellion, page 431.

They were disappointed when, in Mr. Seward's carefully written dispatch to Minister Dayton, on the 22d of April, 1861, they were assured that the majority of the people of the Republic were willing to let the system of slavery alone, and that whatever might be the result of the war then kindling, it would receive no damage. "The condition of slavery in the several States," he said, “will remain just the same, whether it succeed or fail. There is not even a pretext for the complaint that the disaffected States are to be conquered by the United States if the revolution fail; for the rights of the States, and the condition of every human being in them, will remain subJect to exactly the same laws and forms of administration, whether the revolution shall succeed or whether it shall fail. In the one case the States would be federally connected with the new confederacy; in the other, they would, as now, be members of the United States; but their constitutions and laws, customs, habits, and institutions, in either case will remain the same. It is hardly necessary to add to this incontestable statement the further fact that the new President, as well as the citizens through whose suffrages he has come into the administration, has always repudiated all designs, whatever and wherever imputed to him and them, of disturbing the system of slavery as it is existing under the Constitution and the laws."

The prediction of Mr. Giddings was fulfilled, while those of his friend and co-worker in the anti-slavery movement, contained in his official assurances, were not. They only served to inflict moral injury upon the cause of the Government, and discourage the friends of humanity; and such also was the effect of the conservative action of the Government on the subject of slavery during the earlier period of the war. It was not until the President issued his Emancipation Proclamation, sixteen months later, that the warmest sympathies of the lovers of liberty and the rights of man, in the Old World, were manifested for the cause of the Government.

VOL. II.-5

66

MOVEMENTS OF INSURGENTS IN MISSOURI.

CHAPTER III

MILITARY OPERATIONS IN MISSOURI AND KENTUCKY,

a Aug. 12,
1861.

ONTRARY to general expectation, the Confederates did not pursue the shattered little army that was led by Sigel, from Springfield to Rolla.' McCulloch contented himself with issuing a proclamation to the people of Missouri," telling them that he had come, on the invitation of their Governor, "to assist in driving the National forces out of the State, and in restoring to the people their just rights." He assured them that he had driven the enemy from among them, and that the Union troops were then in full flight, after defeat. He called upon

the people to act promptly in co-operation with him, saying, "Missouri must be allowed to choose her own destiny-no oaths binding your consciences." This was all that the Texan did in the way of "driving the enemy out of the State," after the battle of Wilson's Creek. His assumptions and deportment were offensive to Price and his soldiers. Alienation ensued, and McCulloch soon abandoned the fortunes of the Missouri leader for the moment, and, with his army, left the State.

Price now called upon the secessionists to fill his shattered ranks. They responded with alacrity, and at the middle of August he moved northward toward the Missouri River, in the direction of Lexington, in a curve that bent far toward the eastern frontier of Kansas, from which Unionists were advancing under General James H. Lane. With these he had some skirmishing on the 7th of September, at Drywood Creek, about fifteen miles east of the border. He drove them across the line, and pursued them to Fort Scott, which he found abandoned. Leaving a small force there, he resumed his march, and reached Warrensburg, in Johnson County, on the ¿September. 11th. In the mean time, he had issued a proclamation to the Aug. 28. inhabitants of Missouri, dated at Jefferson City, the capital of the State, in which he spoke of a great victory at Wilson's Creek, and gave the peaceable citizens assurance of full protection in person and property.

b

Lexington, a town on the southern bank of the Missouri River, three hundred miles, by its course, above St. Louis, and occupying an important frontier position, was now brought into great prominence as the theatre of a desperate struggle. It commanded the approach to Fort Leavenworth by water; and when Fremont was apprised of Price's northward movement, and the increasing boldness of the secessionists in that region, he sent a

1 See page 54.

2 Capital of Lafayette County, Missouri, and then containing about five thousand inhabitants.

NATIONAL TROOPS AT LEXINGTON.

67

small force to Lexington to take charge of the money in the bank there, and to protect the loyal inhabitants. This little force was increased from time to time, until early in September, when Price was approaching Warrensburg, the number of Union troops at Lexington was nearly twenty-eight hundred,' commanded by Colonel James A. Mulligan, of the "Irish Brigade" of Chicago, Illinois. Mulligan, with his men, reached Lexington on the 9th of September, after a march of nine days from Jefferson City, and, being the senior officer, he assumed the chief command. Peabody's regiment had come in, on the following day, in full retreat from Warrensburg, having been driven away by the approach of the overwhelming forces of Price.'

Satisfied that Price would speedily attack the post, Colonel Mulligan took position on Masonic Hill, northeastward of the city, which comprised about fifteen acres, and on which was a substantial brick building erected for a college. He proceeded at once to cast up strong intrenchments on the eminence, in compass sufficient to accommodate within their area ten thousand

His first line of works was in front of the college building. Outside of his embankments was a broad ditch, and beyond this were skillfully arranged pits, into which assailants, foot or horse, might fall. The ground was also mined outside of the fortifications, with a good supply of gunpowder and suitable trains. But the troops, unfortunately, had only about forty rounds of ammunition each, and six small brass cannon and two howitzers. The latter were useless, because there were no shells. Hourly expecting re-enforcements, Mulligan resolved to defy his enemy with the means at

.hand.

On the morning of the 11th of September, after a violent storm that had raged for several hours, Price moved from Warrensburg toward Lexington, and that night encamped two or

SIEGE OF LEXINGTON.

lege building. Some outworks were captured, and the Nationals were driven within their intrenchments; not, however, until several fierce struggles had

1 These troops were composed of the Thirteenth Missouri, Colonel Peabody; First Illinois Regiment of Cavalry, Colonel Marshall; five hundred Missouri Home Guards, and the Twenty-third Illinois, of the Irish Brigade, Colonel Mulligan.

2 These troops had been sent from Lexington to Warrensburg, to secure about $100,000 in money. Price was informed of this movement, and had hurried forward, by forced marches, to seize the treasure before the National troops could reach there. He was too late, and to his disappointment was added great indignation, because of caricatures which some of the German officers, who were clever artists, had left behind, illustrative of the distress of the Confederates when they should find the treasure gone.

68

SIEGE OF LEXINGTON.

been endured. The defense was bravely kept up during the whole day, when Price, finding his ammunition and his famished men' nearly exhausted, withdrew, at sunset, to the Fair-grounds, to await the arrival of his wagontrain and re-enforcements. Mulligan's men immediately resorted to the trenches, to complete their preparations for a siege.

2

Mulligan now anxiously looked for expected re-enforcements, while his men worked night and day in strengthening the fortifications. He was disappointed. His courier, sent with supplications for aid to Jefferson City, was captured on the way. Hour after hour and day after day went by, and no relief appeared. Yet bravely and hopefully his little band worked on, until, on the morning of the 17th, General Price, who had been re-enforced, and now had in hand over twenty-five thousand troops, including a large number of recruits who had come with their rifles and shot-guns, cut off the

1861.

communication of the besieged with the city, upon which they Sept. 18, chiefly relied for water, and on the following day took possession of the town, closed in upon the garrison, and began a siege in The Confederates had already seized a steamboat well laden with stores for the National troops; and, under every disadvantage, the latter conducted a most gallant defense.

earnest.

General Rains's division occupied a strong position on the cast and northeast of the fortifications, from which an effective cannonade was opened at nine o'clock, and kept up by Bledsoe's Battery, commanded by Captain Emmit McDonald, and another directed by Captain C. Clark, of St. Louis. General Parsons took a position southwest of the works, from which his battery, under Captain Guibor, poured a steady fire upon the garrison. Near Rains, the division of Colonel Congreve Jackson was posted as a reserve; and near Parsons, a part of General Steen's division performed the same service, whilst sharpshooters were sent forward to harass and fatigue the beleaguered troops, who were not allowed a moment's repose.

3

General Harris (who, as we have seen, came down from Northeastern Missouri and joined Price at Lexington) and General McBride, scorning all rules of Christian warfare, stormed a bluff on which was situated the house of Colonel Anderson, and then used as a hospital, capturing it with its inmates, while a yellow flag, the insignia of its character, was waving over it. It was retaken by the Montgomery Guards, Captain Gleason, of the "Irish Brigade," eighty strong, who charged, in the face of the hot fire of the foe, a distance of eight hundred yards up a slope, driving the Confederates from the building and far down the hill beyond. The fight was desperate, and some of the sick were killed in their beds. The Guards were finally repulsed. Captain Gleason came back with a bullet through his cheek and another through his arm, and with only fifty of his eighty men. "This charge," said Colonel Mulligan, in his official report, was one of the most brilliant and reckless in all history."

In consequence of a forced march to Lexington, a large number of Price's soldiers had neither eaten nor slept for thirty-six hours.-Price's Report to Governor Jackson, September 28, 1861.

2 On the 10th he sent Lieutenant Rains, of his Irish Brigade," with 12 men, on the steamer Sunshine, on this errand. The distance to Jefferson City from Lexington is 160 miles. Forty miles below Lexington the steamer was captured, and those on board were made prisoners.

* See page 55.

SURRENDER OF THE NATIONAL TROOPS.

69

a

September,

1861.

For seventy-two hours Mulligan's little band maintained the contest without cessation, fighting and laboring on the works alternately beneath a scorching sun by day and a scarcely less debilitating heat by night, under a cloudless moon, choked with the smoke of gunpowder, their tongues parched with thirst from which there was little relief, and at last with ammunition and provisions completely exhausted. During that time, Colonel Mulligan was seen at all points where danger was most imminent; and there were deeds of courage and skill performed on the part of the besieged that baffle the imagination of the romancer to conceive. At length, at two o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th," the Confederates, who had constructed movable breast works of bales of hemp, two deep, wetted so as to resist hot shot, pressed up to within ten rods of the works, along a line forty yards in length. Further resistance would have been madness. Retreat was impossible, for the ferry-boats had been seized, and these being in possession of the Confederates, re-enforcements could not reach the garrison. No water could be had excepting that which came from the clouds in little showers, and was caught in blankets and wrung into camp dishes. The stench of horses and mules killed within the intrenchments was intolerable.' The scant amount of artillery ammunition was of poor quality, and the firearms of the Illinois cavalry (who composed one-sixth of Mulligan's command) consisted of pistols only. Major Becker, of the Eighth Missouri Home Guards (whose colonel, White, had been killed), now, for the second time and without authority, raised a white flag from the center of the fortifications, and the SIEGE OF LEXINGTON ceased.'

Colonel Mulligan, who had been twice wounded, now called a council of officers, and it was decided that the garrison must surrender. That act was performed. The officers were held as prisoners of war, whilst the private soldiers, for whom Price had no food to spare, were paroled. The victor held all arms and equipments as lawful prize. The National loss in men had been forty killed, and one hundred and twenty wounded. Price reported his loss at twenty-five killed and seventy-five wounded. Colonel Mulligan was soon exchanged, and for his gallant services was rewarded with the

1 There were about 3,000 horses and mules within the intrenchments. These were a burden of much weight, under the circumstances. In the center of the encampment, wagons were knocked into pieces, stores were scattered and destroyed, and the ground was strewed with dead horses and mules.-Correspondence of the Chicago Tribune.

2 The Home Guards seem to have become discouraged early in the siege, and on the morning of the 20th, after Mulligan had replied to Price's summons to surrender, by saying, "If you want us, you must take us," Major Becker, their commander, raised a white flag. Mulligan sent the Jackson Guard, of Detroit, Captain McDermott, to take it down. After a severe contest that soon afterward ensued, the Home Guards retreated to the inner line of the intrenchments, and refused to fight any longer. Then Becker again raised the white flag, for he was satisfied that resistance was utterly vain, to which conclusion Mulligan and his officers speedily arrived.

3 These were Colonels Mulligan, Marshall, White, Peabody, and Grover, and Major Van Horn, and 118 other commissioned officers.

4 The spoils were 6 cannon, 2 mortars, over 3,000 stand of infantry arms, a large number of sabers, about 750 horses, many sets of cavalry equipments, wagons, teams, ammunition, and $100,000 worth of commissary stores. -See General Price's Report to Governor Jackson, September 24th, 1861. "In addition to all this," Price said, "I obtained the restoration of the great seal of the State, and the public records, which had been stolen from their proper custodian, and about $900,000 in money, of which the bank at this place had been robbed, and which I have caused to be returned to it."

The disloyal State Legislature, with Governor Jackson, had held a session in the court-house at Lexington only a week before the arrival of Colonel Mulligan. They fled so hastily that they left behind them the State seal and $800,000 in gold coin, deposited in the vault of the bank there. These treasures, with the magazine, were in the cellar of the college, which was the head-quarters of Mulligan.