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MCCLELLAN IN COMMAND.

103

and that we pledge to the country and the world the employment of every resource, national and individual, for the suppression, overthrow, and punishment of rebels in arms."

Sentiment was now laid aside, and preparation for the struggle began in dread earnest. General McClellan, who had won the confidence of all by his successes in Western Virginia, was called to Washington the day after Bull Run and put in command of the Army of the Potomac. The whole North went to work with a energy unknown before. Money was raised, armies set on foot, and navies built in the long months of military inactivity which followed Bull Run, for the South, reposing in fancied security upon its laurels, made no attempt to follow up its success, and the spring of 1862 found the Union fully prepared to grapple with its foe, whom it had learned no longer to despise.

Four years after the battle of Bull Run, when the war had ended, a monument was built on the field by some Massachusetts and Pennsylvania soldiers, in memory of their comrades who fell in the fight. It stands on a mound, not far from the site of Mrs. Henry's house, on the place where the struggle raged fiercest. The illustration gives a very good idea of it. The monument is of sandstone, with a 100-pounder shell on the top, and similar shells are placed at each corner of the base. It bears the inscription:

IN MEMORY OF THE PATRIOTS WHO FELL AT BULL RUN,
JULY 21, 1861.

! ! !

COMMON BAYONET.

TROWEL BAYONET.

SWORD BAYONET,

CHAPTER VIII.

BOONVILLE.-WILSON'S CREEK.

MILITARY IMPORTANCE OF CAIRO.-BIRD'S POINT.-LYON IN COMMAND IN MISSOURI.-GOVERNOR JACKSON CALLS FOR VOLUNTEERS AGAINST THE UNION.-BATTLE OF BOONVILLE.-FIGHT NEAR CARTHAGE,-FRANZ SIGEL'S RETREAT.-FREMONT IN COMMAND IN THE WEST.-BEN MCCULLOCH.-BATTLE AT DUG SPRING.-WILSON'S CREEK.-THE CONFEDERATES SURPRISED.-A FALSE FLAG.-WHERE IS SIGEL?-DEATH OF LYON.-RETREAT TO SPRINGFIELD.-STORY OF EDDY, THE DRUMMER-BOY.

E must now return to the West and see what has been

WE taking place there during these stirring events around.

Washington. A glance at the map will show how Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri come together nearly in a point at the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi River, while a part of Tennessee lies on the Mississippi opposite Missouri but a little way below the junction. It was considered very important by both parties in the beginning of the war to get possession of the great rivers, because troops and munitions of war could be transported much more easily by water than over land. The Confederates saw that if they could establish themselves at Cairo, in Illinois, on the point between the Ohio and the Mississippi, they could keep the Unionists from coming down the Ohio and going up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and could also shut them out from the lower Mississippi, which below that point ran wholly through slave States. But the Unionists, alive. to the importance of the place, were too quick for them, and in May, 1861, they established a camp there of several thousand men, who threw up strong earthworks, mounted with heavy cannon, commanding both rivers. After that, steamboats and other vessels were obliged to stop there and report to the commandant before being allowed to pass either up or down.

Cairo stands on ground so low that but for its levée, or earth embankment thrown up along both rivers, it would often be overflowed. Directly opposite, in Missouri, is Bird's Point, on a bluff higher than Cairo; and as cannon placed there would command the Union position, it was occupied by Missouri Union volunteers, who threw up earthworks and constructed a strong camp. The Confederates, thus foiled, began to form plans for the capture of Cairo.

1861.]

LYON AND SIGEL.

105

Meanwhile General Lyon, who by his energy had preserved the city of St. Louis from falling into the hands of the disunionists, had been appointed to the command of the Union forces in Missouri, in place of General Harney. Governor Jackson, who had assembled his legislature at Jefferson City, the capital of the State, issued a proclamation (June 12) calling for fifty thousand volunteers to drive the Union troops, whom he called invaders, out of Missouri. Major-General Sterling Price, who had been made commander of the State forces, and the several brigadier-generals under him were ordered to organize the militia as soon as possible, and gather them at Boonville and Lexington, two places

on the Missouri River, l l l l northwest of Jeffer- ?

BIRDS POINT!

brisk fight, dispersed the force there with but small loss to either side; but many prisoners were taken, most of them youths under age, who were released next day on promising not to take up arms again against the United States. The Confederates retreated southward toward Arkansas, where they expected General Ben McCulloch to come to their aid, and being joined by the troops at Lexington and by others, soon formed a well-organized body of nearly four thousand men.

Meanwhile another Union army, about fifteen hundred strong, under Colonel Franz Sigel, had gone by railroad from

St. Louis to Rolla, the end of the road, and marched thence to Springfield. Hearing of Jackson's flight, he pushed on after him, and met the Confederates near Carthage on the morning of July 5. Sigel's force was much inferior to that of the enemy, but he had the most artillery. He took a strong position on a hill, where he defended himself successfully for three or four hours, but finally the Confederates, who were mostly mounted men, sent their cavalry to his right and left, and he was obliged to fall back to keep his baggage-train, which was three miles in his rear, from falling into their hands. Hard pressed by the Confederates, and sometimes nearly surrounded, he retreated to Carthage, and finally to Springfield, where he was joined

(July 10) by General Lyon, who,

being the higher in rank, took command of the whole force. Sigel's masterly retreat in the face of numbers so greatly superior to his own won him much praise, and to "fight mit Sigel" became a by-word among the Union men of Missouri.

The next day after the battle, General Sterling Price, who had been too ill to take part in it, arrived at Carthage with General Ben McCulloch and a reinforcement of Arkansas troops. The Confederates now overran all southwestern Missouri, General Lyon with his small force still remaining at Springfield waiting for reinforcements. The greater part of his troops were three-months men, whose time was nearly up, and, the Unionists of the West having been greatly discouraged by the result at Bull Run, it was very hard to raise more volunteers. General John C. Fremont had meanwhile been appointed (July 9) to the command of the West, but he did not arrive at St. Louis until near the end of the month (July 25). He took no proper measures to reinforce General Lyon, nor did he order him to retreat from Springfield; so Lyon was left to do the best he could under the circumstances. Many of his officers thought he ought to fall back from Springfield, but others objected that such a movement would

1861.]

MCCULLOCH AND PRICE.

107

leave all that part of Missouri open to the Confederates; so it was determined to attack the enemy, though they were known to be greatly superior in number.

But the Confederates, who had received reinforcements of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas troops, had also made up their minds to fight. All their forces, consisting of about twelve thousand effective men, half of whom were horsemen, with fifteen guns, were collected at Cassville and marched from there toward Springfield in three divisions, part on the 1st and part on the 2d of August. The command was held by General McCulloch, who was a Confederate brigadier-general, while Price was only a State officer. Early in the morning of Friday, August 2, the first division.

was met by General Lyon, with a force of about six thousand men and eighteen. guns, at a place called Dug Spring, and after a sharp fight defeated and driven. back. The Confederates, the rest of whose troops soon came up and joined the defeated division, pressed on in hope of again fighting Lyon near the scene of the battle, but they found that he had retreated toward Springfield. The weather was hot and the roads very dusty, but the Confederates followed him about seventeen miles, when they were compelled to halt for rest, the men being nearly exhausted. The next morning they moved forward and took a position on Wilson's Creek, about ten miles southwest of Springfield, where they made ready for an attack. General McCulloch gave orders to march on Springfield at nine o'clock on Friday night (August 9), but a threatened storm caused them to be countermanded, and the troops were ordered to hold themselves in readiness for an advance. They therefore kept under arms all night, every moment expecting to march.

BEN MCCULLOCH.

In the mean time General Lyon, who had news of McCulloch's coming, determined to surprise him if possible. So, on