80

CHARGE OF FREMONT'S BODY-GUARD.

farmer told Zagonyi that the Confederate force in the town was full two thousand in number. He was not daunted by this information, but pushed forward. One of the foragers who escaped had heralded his coming, and when he approached the suburbs of the village, on the Mount Vernon road, at a little past four o'clock in the afternoon, he found twelve hundred infantry and four hundred cavalry well prepared, on the brow of a hill in front of sheltering woods, to receive him. Zagonyi was still undaunted. Notwithstanding White's Prairie Scouts had been separated from the Guard, Zagonyi was determined to fight. Turning to his officers, he said: "Follow me and do like me!" And to his little band of followers he spoke a few hurried words, saying: "Comrades! the hour of danger has come; your first battle is before you. The enemy is two thousand strong, and we are but one hundred and fifty. It is possible no man will come back. If any of you would turn back, you can do so now!" Not a man moved. Zagonyi was delighted. "I will lead you!" he exclaimed. "Let the watchword be, The Union and Fremont! Draw sabers! By the right flank -quick trot-march !" and away dashed the bold leader and his comrades with a shout down a narrow lane fringed with concealed sharp-shooters, with a miry brook and a stout rail fence ahead to oppose them. These were all passed in a few minutes, while the fire from the infantry in their front was terrible. On an eminence nearer stood the Confederate cavalry, ready to engage in the fray. Already the lane had been strewn with the fallen men and horses of the Guard, and yet Zagonyi's troops had not struck a blow. The moment for dealing that blow was now at hand. The word is given, and Lieutenant Majthenyi, with thirty men, dashed madly upon the center of the Confederate cavalry, breaking their line, and scattering the whole body in confusion over the adjoining corn-fields. Then Zagonyi shouts to the impatient soldiers he is holding in leashes, as it were, "In open order-charge !" and with the impetuosity of a whirlwind they sweep up the slope in the face of bullets that fly thick as hail. At the same moment fifty Irish dragoons of Major White's squadron, led by Captain McNaughton, fall upon the foe, and away scampers almost the entire body of Confederate infantry in wild search for safety. The remnant of the Guard, led by Zagonyi, follow the fugitive horsemen and smite them fearfully, chase them into the town, and fight them fiercely in detail in the streets and in the public square of Springfield, whilst Union women, undismayed by the dangers, come out, and, waving their handkerchiefs, cheer on the victors. When the conflict ended, the Confederates were utterly routed; and of the one hundred and fifty of Zagonyi's Guard, eighty-four were dead or wounded.' The action had lasted an hour and a half; and in the dim twilight of that bright October evening, the National flag was raised in triumph over the court-house.

At a little past midnight, Zagonyi, with a captured Confederate flag and only seventy of his Guard, and a few released prisoners, rode proudly but sadly out of Springfield, because it was unsafe for them to remain. They

1 Dispatch of Major Zagonyi to General Fremont, October 25, 1861. Report of Major Zagonyi to Colonel J. II. Eaton, Assistant Adjutant-General, October 28, 1861. Letter of Major Zagonyi to Mrs. Fremont, quoted in her Story of the Guard. Narrative of Major Dorsheimer, of Fremont's staff, in the Atlantic Monthly. The number of the Guard killed was 15; mortally wounded, 2; the remainder were wounded or made prisoners. Zagonyi said, "Of the wounded not one will lose a finger." The prisoners were released, and the actual loss to the Guard was only 17. So Zagonyi said in a letter to Mrs. Fremont, October 23, 1861.

OPERATIONS IN EASTERN MISSOURI.

81

fell back until they met Sigel's advance, between Springfield and Bolivar. The report of this brilliant charge and victory, which had preceded them, filled the whole army with delight and enthusiasm. "This was really a Balaklava charge," wrote Fremont. "The Guard numbered only one hundred and fifty. You notice that Zagonyi says he has seen charges, but never such a one. Their war-cry, he says, sounded like thunder. This action is a noble example to the army." There had been other noble examples for the army during its advance in Missouri.?

3

of

Fremont's army arrived at Springfield at the beginning of November, inspirited by news of recent successes in the Department, and the prospect speedily ridding Missouri of insurgents. While it had been moving forward, Lane and Montgomery, who, we have seen, had been driven back into Kansas by Price, had crossed into Missouri again, to cut off or embarrass the Confederates in their retreat from Lexington. Montgomery pushed on to the town of Osceola, the capital of St. Clair County, on the Osage, but was too late to intercept Price. The armed Confederates at that place, after a brief skirmish," were driven away, and the village was laid in ashes, with no other excuse for the cruel measure than the fact that it was a rendezvous for the foe, and its inhabitants were all disloyal.

• Sept. 20, 1861.

Thompson,

A month later the National troops gained a signal victory over the guerrilla chief, Thompson (who was called the "Swamp Fox," and his command, the "Swamp Fox Brigade"), at Frederickton, the capital of Madison County, in Southeastern Missouri. General Grant was in command at Cape Girardeau at that time. General Thompson and Colonel Lowe had been roaming at will over the region between New Madrid and Pilot Knob, with six hundred men, had captured the guard at the Big River Bridge, near Potosi, and destroyed that structure on the 15th of October, and on the following day he and Lowe were at the head of a thousand men near Ironton, threatening that place, where they were defeated by Major Gavitt's Indiana cavalry, and a part of Colonel Alexander's Twenty-first Illinois cavalry, with a loss of thirty-six killed and wounded. Grant determined to put an end to the career of these marauders, if possible. Informed that they were near Frederickton, he sent out a considerable force under Colonel Plummer,* to strike them from the East, while Captain Hawkins, with Missouri cavalry, was ordered up from Pilot Knob on the Northeast, followed by Colonel Carlin with a body of infantry as a support," to engage and occupy Thomp

1 An accident occurred to Major White and prevented his being in this action. He had sickened on the way and been compelled to lag behind. When attempting to overtake his troops, he was made a prisoner, but escaped and reached Springfleld on the morning after the fight, with a few Home Guards. Stationing 22 of his 24 men as pickets, he deceived the Confederates in the town with the belief that he had a considerable force with him. After receiving a flag of truce, and permitting them to bury their dead, he prudently fell back to meet the advancing army.

• Other detachments of cavalry from Fremont's army, besides those of White and Zagonyi, had been operating against the Confederates during the march of the main body. One of them, under Major Clark Wright, routed and dispersed a body of Confederates near Lebanon, in Laclede County, on the 13th of October; and on the following day the same forces captured the village of Lynn Creek. In the former engagement, after a charge, and a running fight for a mile and a half, there were about 60 Confederates killed and wounded, while the Union loss was only one man killed.-Report of Major Wright, October 13, 1861.

3 See page 66.

They consisted of the Eleventh, Seventeenth, and Twentieth Illinois, and 400 cavalry.

These consisted of parts of the Twenty-first, Twenty-third, and Twenty-eighth Illinois, the Eighth Wisconsin, Colonel Baker's Indiana cavalry, and Major Schofield's Battery.

VOL. II.-6.

82

FREMONT SUCCEEDED BY HUNTER.

son until Plummer's arrival. They formed a junction at Frederickton, with Plummer in chief command, and, starting in pursuit of the Confederates, who they supposed were in full flight, found them about one thousand strong, well posted and ready for battle, partly in an open field and partly in the woods, only a mile from the village, with four iron 18-pounders in position. Schofield opened the battle with his heavy guns. A general engagement ensued, and, after two hours' hard fighting, the Confederates fled, hotly pursued by the Indiana cavalry for twenty miles. The Confederate Colonel Lowe was killed early in the action. Their loss was large-how large is not known. The loss of the Nationals was ten killed and twenty wounded. This defeat and dispersion completely broke up Thompson's guerrilla organization for a time, which was composed almost wholly of disloyal and deluded Missourians. They had fought bravely with inferior arms against superior numbers.'

• Oct., 1861.

We have observed that General Fremont had anticipated an interference with his plans when he heard that the Secretary of War and the AdjutantGeneral were in pursuit of him. They had overtaken him on the 13th, at Tipton, the then Western terminus of the Pacific Railway, about thirty miles south of Jefferson City. The interview of the officials was courteous and honorable. The Secretary frankly told him that their errand was to make personal observations of his army, and of affairs in his Department. Complaints concerning his administration of those affairs had filled the mind of the President with painful apprehensions, and the Secretary of War bore with him an order, relieving him of his command, with discretionary powers to use it or not. The Secretary carried it back to Washington, and the Adjutant-General made a report highly unfavorable to the commanding general in Missouri. This was published, and had the twofold effect of prejudicing the public mind against Fremont, and revealing to the enemy secrets which the highest interests of the country at that time required to be hidden.2

The assertion was publicly made, after the return of the Government officials, that the campaign in Missouri was a failure; and the prediction was confidently uttered that Fremont's army could never cross the Osage, much less reach Springfield. The fallacy of this prophecy was proven in less than a fortnight, when that army lay on the Ozark hills and on the plain around Springfield; and the campaign failed only, it is believed, because its progress was suddenly checked when the most reasonable promises of abundant success were presented. That check was given on the morning of the 2d of November, when a courier arrived at head-quarters with an order from General Scott, directing General Fremont to turn over his command to General

1 More than half of their fire-arms were old flint-lock squirrel guns. "Of the dead," wrote an eye-witness, "not a single one that I saw was dressed in any kind of uniform, the cloth being generally home-made, and butter-nut colored."

2 This report was in the form of a journal, and contained a great amount of gossip and scandal, gathered from subalterns and Fremont's political enemies, which subsequent information showed to be unworthy of credit. It is due to the Adjutant-General to say that he disclaimed any intention to make that journal public. It is said that a copy of it was surreptitiously obtained and given to a newspaper reporter, and suspicion at the time pointed to the Postmaster-General (whose brother, an officer in the army, it was known had quarrelled with Fremont), as the one on whom the responsibility of the publication should rest. Fremont afterward published

a vindication of his administration in the Department of Missouri, which almost wholly removed from the pub¡ic mind the unfavorable impression made by that journal.

FREMONT AND HIS ARMY.

83

David Hunter; then some distance in the rear. This order came when the army was excited by the prospect of a battle almost immediately. Price had at first fled to Neosho,' when, finding Fremont still in pursuit, he pushed on to Pineville, in the extreme South

western part of Missouri. Further than that his "State Guard" were not disposed to go. He was unwilling to leave Missouri without measuring strength and powers with Fremont, so he changed front and prepared to receive him. This attitude gave rise to startling rumors in Fremont's camp, and, at the moment when he was relieved of command, it was reported that Price was marching on Springfield, and that his vanguard had reached Wilson's Creek, ten miles distant, prepared to give battle on the ground where Lyon

DAVID HUNTER

was killed three months before. McCulloch was reported to be at Dug Springs; and the number of the combined armies was estimated at forty thousand men.3

Hunter had not yet arrived, and Fremont, who had made his troops exceedingly sorrowful by the announcement in a formal address that he was about to leave them, was implored by one hundred and ten of his officers to lead his army against the foe. He promised compliance with their wishes, if his successor should not reach them by sunset. Hunter failed to do so, and at eight o'clock in the evening Fremont issued the order of battle, and the entire camp was alive with enthusiasm. Lyon's plan for surrounding and capturing the Confederates was substantially adopted. They were to be assailed simultaneously by Generals Pope and McKinstry in the front, by Generals Sigel and Lane in the rear, and by General Asboth on the east, from the Fayetteville road.

1 There Jackson and the disloyal Legislature of Missouri met, as we have observed (note 2, page 57), under Price's protection.

2 See page 45.

3 General Asboth's report to General Fremont, Nov. 3, 1866.

4 The following is a copy of his address: "SOLDIERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI ARMY: Agrecable to orders this day received, I take leave of you. Although our army has been of sudden growth, we have grown up together, and I have become familiar with the brave and generous spirit which you bring to the defense of your country, and which makes me anticipate for you a brilliant career. Continue as you have begun, and give to my successor the same cordial and enthusiastic support with which you have encouraged me. Emulate the splendid example which you have already before you, and let me remain, as I am, proud of the noble army which I had thus far labored to bring together. Soldiers! I regret to leave you. Most sincerely I thank you for the regard and confidence you have invariably shown to me. I deeply regret that I shall not have the honor to lead you to the victory which you are just about to win; but I shall claim to share with you in the joy of every triumph, and trust always to be fraternally remembered by my companions in arms."

5 "The intelligence of this determination of the commanding general," wrote an eye-witness, "was at once communicated from camp to camp, and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed. Every five minutes during the succeeding two and a half hours, the wildest cheering could be heard from some portion of the army as the information was carried to the various regiments. A dozen bands at once proceeded to the head-quarters and serenaded the General. Crowds of officers gathered in front of his quarters, and greeted him with loud and prolonged cheering; and, had the battle occurred according to arrangements, the troops would have fought in the most deteranined manner." ་་

84

FREMONT'S RECEPTION AT ST. LOUIS.

General Hunter arrived at head-quarters at midnight, and Fremont, after informing him of the position of affairs, laid before him all his plans. The order for battle was countermanded,' and nine days afterward Major-General H. W. Halleck was appointed to the command of the Missouri Department.

FREMONT'S
SWORD.

army

a Nov. 8

1861.

On the morning of the 4th, Fremont and his Staff left the for St. Louis. The parting with his devoted soldiers was very touching, and his reception in St. Louis was an ovation like that given to a victor. Crowds of citizens greeted him at the railway station and escorted him to his head-quarters. An immense torch-light procession passed through the streets that night in honor of his arrival ;2 and at an assemblage of the citizens, resolutions of confidence and sympathy, and an address, were adopted. Afterward he was presented with an elegant sword in token of profound regard, which was inscribed with these words:-"TO THE PATIIFINDER, BY THE MEN OF THE WEST."3

Disappointed and disheartened, the National army commenced a retrograde march from Springfield toward St. Louis at the middle of November, followed by a long train of vehicles filled with Union refugees. The women of Springfield, who had welcomed Zagonyi, and the Union men everywhere throughout

1 Price seems not to have moved his army from Pineville, but his scouts penetrated to the front of the National troops, and thus caused the alarm.

2 "The General was to have been at home by nine in the morning; but the management of the train being in other hands, they were delayed until nearly that hour in the evening. But patient crowds had kept their watch through the long day, and by night it was a sea of heads in all the open spaces around our house. The doorposts were garlanded, and the very steps covered with flowers-touching and graceful offerings from the Ger

mans.

China-asters and dahlias, with late roses and regular bouquets of geraniumns, beautified the entrance and perfumed the air; and when the General did make his way at last through the magnificent assemblage, it was to be met by the wives and children of the German officers he had left at Springfield. Unknown to me, they had come to speak their hearts to him, but they had more tears than words. Touched to the heart already, the General was not prepared for the arrival of citizens-American as well as German-who came to thank him for past services, and ask to stand by him in the hour of disgrace. Meantime, the unceasing cheers and shouts of the vast crowd without sounded like the tide after a high wind. I could not stand it; I went far up to the top of the house, and in the cold night air tried to still the contending emotions, when I saw a sight that added to the throbbing of my heart. Far down the wide avenue the serried crowd was parting, its dark, restless masses glowing in the lurid, wavering torchlight, looking literally like waves; and passing through them came horsemen, stamped with the splendid signet of battle, their wounded horses and bullet-torn uniforms bringing cries of love and thanks from those for whom they had been battling. When they halted before the door, and the sudden ring and flash of their drawn sabers added new beauty to the picture, I think only the heart of a Haman could have failed to respond to the truth and beauty of the whole scene. Were not these men for the king to delight to honor? Who could have foreseen what was the official recognition already preparing for them?"*Mrs. Fremont, in her Story of the Guard, page 201.

3 Fremont had long before been called The Pathfinder, because of his wonderful explorations among the Rocky Mountains. The blade of the sword now presented to him was made at Solingen, on the Rhine. The scabbard was of silver, with a design near its upper part, four inches in length. In its center was a bust of Fremont sculptured out of gold, in high relief, with a rich border of diamonds, and on each side a sculptured figure of fame. In the rear of the hilt was a hollow, arched at the top so as to form a canopy for a figure of America, at the foot of which, in the midst of appropriate surroundings, was a medallion of blue enamel, bearing the initials J. C. F. in diamonds. The cost of the sword was $1.000.

"The official recognition" referred to by Mrs. Fremont is indicated in the following electrographs:

Maj. Gen. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, Commanding-in-Chief, Washington, D. C.:

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, November 11, 1861.

I would regard it as an act of personal courtesy and kindness to me, if you will order my Body-Guard to remain with me, subject to no orders in this department but my own. It is composed of educated and intelligent young men, to whom the country and I owe more than the usual consideration accorded to the rank and file of the army.

Maj.-Gen. J. C. FREMONT:

J. C. FREMONT, Maj.-Gen. U.S. A. HEAD QUARTERS OF THE ARMY, WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 1861.

Before receiving your dispatch, I had given instructions that the cavalry corps, known as your Body-Guard, should be otherwise disposed of. Official information had reached this city that members of that body had at Springfield expressed sentiments rendering their