78

THE SITUATION IN KENTUCKY AND MISSOURI.

vous on Muldraugh's Hill, not far from Elizabethtown, and there laid the foundation of that notable organization afterward known as the Army of the Cumberland. On account of Anderson's feeble health, General Sherman was placed in chief command of the Department of the Cumberland (which included the States of Kentucky and Tennessee) early in October, when, with a forecast not then appreciated, he declared that an army of two hundred thousand men would be necessary to expel the Confederates from Kentucky and Tennessee, and carry the National banner victoriously to the Gulf. Because of that assertion, whose wisdom was speedily vindicated, he was called insane, and for a time he was overshadowed by a cloud of neglect. Let us now return to a consideration of affairs in Missouri.

We left General Fremont, with a strong force, moving toward the interior of Missouri. He had strengthened the forces in Eastern Missouri and at Cairo, that they might keep the Confederates so well employed in that region, that they could not give aid to Price, nor seriously menace St. Louis. In this service, as we have seen, they were successful. Hardee dared not advance much from Greenville; Pillow was kept in the neighborhood of New Madrid, without courage to move far toward Bird's Point and Cape Girardeau; and Jeff. Thompson, the guerrilla, contented himself with eccentric raids and "scaring the Federals to death," as he foolishly supposed and declared.

Fremont went forward, and on the 28th of September he was at Jefferson City, the State capital, where he adopted vigorous measures for driving Price from the State. The latter had cause for serious alarm. McCulloch, as we have seen, had left him and gone to Arkansas, and Pillow and Hardee had abandoned Southeastern Missouri, and taken position in Kentucky and Tennessee. McCulloch, who had promised an escort for an ammunition train to be sent from Arkansas to Price, not only withheld that promised aid, but arrested the progress of the train, with the pretext that it would be unsafe in Missouri.

a 1861.

6 October 16.

b

These adverse circumstances compelled Price to retreat toward Arkansas. He abandoned Lexington on the 30th of September,“ leaving a guard of five hundred men there in defense of National prisoners. A squadron of cavalry, called the "Prairie Scouts," one hundred and eighty strong, under Major Frank J. White, surprised this party by a bold dash, dispersed them, made nearly seventy of them prisoners, released the Union captives, and, bearing away with them the Secession State flag, joined Fremont's forces, which were then on the Osage River, at Warsaw, in pursuit of Price. Fremont, with his splendid body-guard of cavalry, under Major Charles Zagonyi, a Hungarian,' had arrived there on the 16th, after encountering a severe rain storm. Gen

e October.

which is composed entirely of Kentuckians," whom he had seduced by false representations from their homes and their national allegiance; and that the Legislature of Kentucky was "faithless to the will of the people." He assured the people that his forces at Bowling Green would be used in aiding Kentucky in maintaining its strict neutrality, and "to enforce it against the two belligerents alike."

General Anderson issued a counter-proclamation, in which he said that he, a native of Kentucky, had “come to enforce, not to make laws," and to protect the lives and property of the people of the Commonwealth. He called upon the citizens to arm in their might and drive the invader from their soil. "The leader of the hostile force," he said, "who now approaches, is, I regret to say, a Kentuckian, making war on Kentucky and Kentuckians." He called them to "rally around the flag our fathers loved," and bade them trust in God and do their duty.

1 Zagonyi had been a soldier in his native land, under General Bem. He came to America as an exile. Offering his services to Fremont at St. Louis, he was charged with the duty of recruiting a body of cavalry as

FREMONT'S MOVEMENTS IN MISSOURI.

79

eral Sigel, who led the advance, had already crossed his force over the rapidly swelling stream by means of a single flatboat and the swimming of his horses; but its banks

were now filled to the

brim with the recent rains, and could not be forded, nor were boats or lumber for their construction to be had there. The ax was soon heard in the surrounding forest, and in the course of five days a rude strong bridge was constructed, under the direction of Captain Pike, of the engineers, over which the whole

army, now thirty thousand strong, with eighty-six heavy guns, safely passed, and moved on in the direction of Springfield, by the way of Bolivar. The commander was full of confidence in the success of his plans, yet fearful of official interference with them by the Secretary of War (Cameron) and the Adjutant-General (Thomas), then in pursuit of him, as he had been informed.1 That plan was to capture or disperse the forces of Price, and seizing Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, so completely turn the position of the Confederate forces under Polk, Pillow, Thompson, and Hardee, as to cut off their supplies from that region, and compel them to retreat, when a flotilla of gunboats then in preparation near St. Louis, in command of Captain Foote, could easily descend the river and assist in military operations against Memphis, which, if successful, would allow the Army and Navy to push on and take possession of New Orleans. "My plan is New Orleans straight," he wrote on the 11th of October, from his camp near Tipton. "It would precipitate the war forward, and end it soon and victoriously."

a Oct. 28, 1861.

When Fremont's army was at the Pomme de Terre River, fifty-one miles north of Springfield," he sent the combined cavalry forces of Zagonyi and Major White (led by the former), to reconnoiter the position of the Confederates at the latter place, with instructions to attempt its capture if circumstances should promise success. whole force did not exceed three hundred men. When within a few miles of Springfield,' on the highest point of the Ozark Mountains, they fell in with some foragers and captured them; and there a Union

The

b Oct. 24.

a body-guard for the General. He selected for this purpose young men, and formed them into three companies, one of which were nearly all Kentuckians. There were very few foreigners in the guard, and all the officers were Americans excepting three, one Hollander and two Hungarians, the latter being Major Zagonyi and Lieutenant Majthenyi. The Guard was mounted on well-equipped blooded bay horses. Each man was armed with two of Colt's six-barrel navy revolvers, one five-barrel rifle, and a saber.

1 See letters to his wife in Mrs. Fremont's Story of the Guard.

* Letter of General Fremont to his wife, October 11th, 1861. Mrs. Fremont, daughter of the late Senator Benton of Missouri, was then at Jefferson City. Her husband had long been in the habit of referring all manner of work and duties to her as acting principal in his absence, and in that capacity she was now at Jefferson City and gave him efficient aid. See note on page 88 of The Story of the Guard: a Chronicle of the War. By Jessie Benton Fremont.

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. H. 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 26, 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.?

Fremont's army arrived at Springfield at the beginning of November, inspirited by news of recent successes in the Department, and the prospect of 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.

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, Thompson, 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 Springfield 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.

2 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.

* See page 66.

4 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.-44

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.'

a 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."

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 public mind the unfavorable impression made by that journal.