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 5 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: Agreeable 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 enthusiasin 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 determined 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 a Nov. 8 On the morning of the 4th, Fremont and his Staff left the army 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 citi zens 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;' 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 PATHFINDER, BY THE MEN OF THE WEST. 993 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 Germans. China-asters and dahlias, with late roses and regular bouquets of geraniums, 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 dieposed of. Official information had reached this city that members of that body had at Springfield expressed sentiments rendering their NATIONAL TROOPS IN KENTUCKY. 85 that region who had received Fremont as a liberator, dared not remain, for they expected, what really happened, that General Price would follow up the receding army, and they would be made to suffer for their loyalty. Price did follow, with more than fifteen thousand men, in three columns; and all South-western Missouri below the Osage was soon delivered into the power of the Confederates. When at the point of being deprived of his command, Fremont sent an order to General Grant at Cairo, directing him to make some co-operating movements. That officer, as we have observed, had taken possession of Paducah, in Kentucky," on hearing of the invasion of that State by General Polk. He had proceeded to strengthen the position by casting up fortifications there; and by order of General Fremont, an immense pontoon bridge was thrown across the Ohio, half a mile below the a Sept. 6, 1861. town. He also seized and occupied Smithland, not far from the mouth of the Cumberland River, and thus closed two important gateways of supply for the Confederates in the interior of Kentucky and Tennessee, from the Ohio. ¿ Nov. 2. When Fremont's order for co-operation reached Grant, and was followed the next day by a dispatch,' saying, "Jeff. Thompson is at Indian Ford of the St. François River, twenty-five miles below Greenville, with about three thousand men, and Colonel Carlin has started with a force from Pilot Knob; send a force from Cape Girardeau and Bird's Point, to assist Carlin in driving Thompson into Arkansas," he was ready to move quickly and effectively. Grant had already sent Colonel 1 A pontoon bridge is a portable structure made to float on boat-shaped buoys, and used by an army on its march for the purpose of crossing rivers where bridges may have been destroyed, or a fordable river made Impassable by rains. The more modern boats used for the purpose are made of vulcanized india-rubber, and consist of cylinders peaked at each end, so as to offer very little resistance to a current. The river at Paducah is 3,600 feet across. The bridge was constructed of coal-barges, strongly braced together, and otherwise connected by trestle-work planked over. It was capable of bearing the heaviest ordnance and thousands of men. continuance in the service of doubtful expediency. With every desire to gratify your wishes, I do not see exactly how I can violate every rule of military propriety. Please reply. GEO. B. MCCLELLAN, Com.-in-Chief. General Fremont tried to find out what were the offensive sentiments that had been expressed by members of his Guard, which had caused this harsh official action toward them; but to his application for a reconsideration of their case, in order that the truth might be discovered, General McClellan made no reply. The Guard was mustered out of service on the 28th of November, 1861. It is said that the offensive sentiments alluded to were those of Fremont's emancipation proclamation. It was well known that some of the Guard were outspoken against the slave system, whose supporters had commenced the war against the Government. 86 EXPEDITION DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI. Oglesby to Commerce and Sikeston, to pursue Thompson in conjunction with some troops from Ironton, and had been informed that Polk was sending re-enforcements to Price from Columbus. In this situation of affairs, he determined to threaten Columbus by attacking Belmont, a little village and landing-place on the Missouri shore opposite, and break up the connection between Polk and Price. Oglesby's force was deflected toward New Madrid, and Colonel W. H. L. Wallace, of Illinois, was sent from CAIRO OHIO • Nov. 6, 1861. E OCOLUMBUS QHICKMAN RIVER MAYEIELD www.UNION CITY BERLAND SMITHLAND TENNESSEE PADUCAH FIELD OF OPERATIONS AGAINST BELMONT. RIVER RIVER Cairo to re-enforce him. The movement on Belmont would keep Polk from interfering with Grant's troops in pursuit of Thompson. General Charles F. Smith, a soldier of rare qualities, was now in command at Paducah. Grant requested him to make a demonstration toward Columbus, to attract the attention of Polk, and at the same time he sent a force down the Kentucky shore to Ellicott's Mills, about twelve miles above Columbus. When these deceptive movements were put in operation, Grant went down the Mississippi from Cairo," with about three thousand troops, mostly Illinois Volunteers,' in four steam transports, convoyed by the wooden gunboats Tyler and Lexington, commanded respectively by Captains Walke and Stemble. They lay at Island No. 1, eleven miles above Columbus, that night. There Grant received information that Polk was sending troops across to Belmont, to cut off Colonel Oglesby. At dawn the next morning, he pressed forward and landed his forces at Hunter's Point, on the Missouri shore, three miles above Belmont, where a battalion was left to guard the transports from an attack by land, whilst the remainder pushed on and formed a line of battle two miles from the village. In the mean time, the gunboats had moved down and opened fire upon the Confederate batteries on the Iron Banks, a short distance above Columbus, on the Kentucky shore, and two hundred feet above the river, where twenty heavy guns were planted. Colonel Fouke took command of the center of the attacking column, Colonel Buford of the right, and Colonel Logan of the left. Polk was surprised. He was looking for an attack only in the rear, for General Smith was threatening him at Mayfield. He at once sent over three regiments, under General Pillow, to re-enforce the regiments of Russell and Tappen (the former acting as brigade commander), then holding Belmont. 1 These consisted of a part of General John A. McClernand's Brigade, composed of the Twenty-seventh, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Illinois, commanded respectively by Colonels N. B. Buford, Philip B. Fouke, and John A. Logan; and a company of cavalry led by Captain J J. Dollins. To these were added another company of cavalry under Lieutenant J. R. Catlin, and Captain Ezra Taylor's Chicago Light Artillery of six pieces and 114 men, all Illinois Volunteers. Also the Twenty-second Illinois, Colonel H. Dougherty, and the Seventh Iowa, Colonel Lauman. BATTLE OF BELMONT. 87 Grant moved forward, with Dollins' cavalry scouring the woods to the right, and, deploying his whole force as skirmishers, he fought from tree to tree, and drove back the foe to their intrenched camp, which was protected by a strong abatis of slashed trees. Behind these, opposing Grant's left, lay the Thirteenth Arkansas and Ninth Tennessee; and opposite his left was a battery of seven guns, commanded by Colonel Beltzhoover, and Colonel Wright's Tennessee regiment. Against these the Nationals charged over the fallen timber, captured the battery, and drove the Confederates back across the low level ground to the river, and some of them to their boats. In this movement Pillow's line was broken into a confused mass of men. The powder of the Confederates was nearly exhausted. The victory was complete; but the ground being commanded by the heavy guns on the bluffs at and near Columbus, it was un BATTLE OF BELMONT. tenable. The victors gave three cheers for the Union, set fire to the Confederate camp (having no wagons, in which to carry away property), and fell back with captured men, horses, and artillery, toward their landing-place in the morning. Polk determined not to allow Grant to escape with his victory and booty. He opened upon him with some of his heaviest guns, and sent General Cheatham with three regiments to cross the river above, and land between Grant and his flotilla. At the same time the chief crossed, at the head of two regiments, to aid Pillow in his chase of the Nationals. The Confederates now were not less than five thousand strong, and pressing hard. There was desperate fighting for a short time. Grant pushed on in good order toward his landing-place, under fire of the Confederate batteries on the Iron Banks, turning once to punish severely some of Cheatham's troops on his flank, and once again to send back in confusion some of Pillow's men, under Colonel Marks, who had endeavored to cut him off from his boats. He finally reached his landing-place, and embarked, after suffering severely. The fight had been gallant on both sides. The gun-boats had performed most efficient service in 1 Abatis is a French word for rows of felled trees, having their smaller branches cut off and the larger ones sharpened, and placed with their ends toward the approach of assailants, either in front of a fort or an intrenched camp. Sometimes the smaller branches are left, and so intertwined as to make it extremely difficult to penetrate the mass, excepting by cannon-balls. 2 In a general order, Nov. 8th, General Grant said: "It has been my fortune to have been in all the battles fought in Mexico by Generals Scott and Taylor, save Buena Vista, and I never saw one more hotly contested, or where troops behaved with more gallantry." In his report on the 12th, he spoke in highest terms of General McClernand, as being in the midst of danger throughout the engagement, displaying coolness and judgment, |