fluous ceremony, since Missouri had | already been admitted into the Confederacy, on his own application, and he had exactly as good a right to take her out of the Union as his Legislative remnant" had-that is, none at all. Price, though powder was none too abundant with him, wasted one hundred good cannon-charges in honor of this ridiculous performance. After stopping ten days at Neosho, Price, finding that Fremont was in pursuit, retreated to Pineville, in the extreme south-west corner of the State; and, dreading to be pressed further, because many of his Missourians had enlisted expressly for the defense of their own State, and would naturally object to following him into another, had decided (says Pollard) not to abandon Missouri without a battle.

Gen. Fremont pushed westward from Jefferson City, some thirty miles, to Tipton, then the western terminus of the Pacific Railroad, nearly due south of Booneville, where he spent some time in organizing and equipping his green army, preparatory to a pursuit of Jackson and Price, who, it was reasonably supposed, would not surrender their State without a battle; and we had, by this time, had quite enough of fighting without due concentration and preparation on our side. Here he was visited, Oct. 13th, by Gen. Cameron, Secretary of War, accompanied by

13 Mr. Isaac N. Shambaugh, a representative of De Kalb county in this Legislature, and a follower hitherto of Jackson, in an address to his constituents dated January 21, 1862, says:

"It is doubtless known to most of you that the House of Representatives of our State consists of 133 members, and the Senate of 33 members, and that, in order to constitute a quorum constitutionally competent to the transaction of any business, there must be present at least 67 members of the House and 17 members of the

Adjt. Gen. Thomas and suite, who came away discouraged and dissatis fied. The heavy Autumn rains had set in some days before, and turned the rich soil of the prairies into a deep, adhesive mire, wherein the wheels of artillery and other heavily laden car riages sunk to the hubs, rendering the movement of cannon, munitions, and provisions, exceedingly slow and difficult. Fremont's army-by this time swelled to 30,000 men, including 5,000 cavalry and 86 guns-was still very inadequately provided with transportation for half its numbers. Meantime, his order emancipating the slaves of Rebels had excited a furious and powerful opposition, resulting in a deafening clamor for his removal, which was urgently pressed on the President, it was understood, by the two members of his Cabinet best entitled to be heard with regard to affairs in Missouri. Gen. Cameron carried an order relieving him from command, which he was instructed to present or withhold, at his discretion. He did not present it, but brought away an unfavorable impres sion, which was embodied and emphasized in Adjt. Gen. Thomas's report. Those who accompanied Gens. Cameron and Thomas on this visit, and who were on terms of intimacy with them throughout, reported, on their return, that Fremont's campaign was a failure-that he could never Senate. Instead of this, there were present at the October session referred to [at Neosho] but 35 members of the House of Representatives and 10 members of the Senate. A few days afterward, when we had adjourned to Cassville, one additional Senator and five additional Represent. atives made their appearance; and, these being all that were at any time present, it need scarcely be added that all the pretended legislation at either place was a fraud, not only upon the people of the State, but upon the Government of the Confederate States, as well as the United States."

591

These gloomy apprehensions were destined to be signally dispelled. Gen. Fremont moved southward immediately thereafter, reaching Warsaw on the 17th. Thither Sigel had preceded him. Five days thereafter, the bridging of the Osage had been completed, and the army, as it crossed, pressed rapidly forward.

Meantime, on the 21st, a spirited fight had occurred at Fredericktown, in the south-east, which section had hitherto been overrun almost at will by Rebel bands directed by Jeff. Thompson, one of Jackson's brigadiers, termed the "Swamp Fox" by his admirers. Capt. Hawkins, of the Missouri (Union) cavalry, having been ordered thither on a reconnoissance from Pilot Knob, on the north-east, engaged and occupied Thompson while Gen. Grant, commanding at Cape Girardeau, on the Mississippi, sent a superior force, under Col. Plummer, to strike him from the east. Meantime, Col. Carlile, with a considerable body of infantry, moved up from Pilot Knob to support Hawkins. When all these advanced, the disparity in numbers was so great as to preclude a serious contest; so that Thompson, though strongly posted, was overpowered, and, after two hours' fighting, constrained to fly, leaving 60 dead behind him, including Col. Lowe, his second in command. Thompson was hotly pursued for twenty miles, and his banditti thoroughly demoralized and broken up.

The advance of Gen. Fremont's army was preceded by a squadron of

J. White, who had recently distinguished himself by a forced march of sixty miles on Lexington, which he captured without loss on the morning of the 16th, taking 60 or 70 prisoners, considerable property, and releasing a number of Unionists captured with Mulligan, including two colonels. Lexington and its vicinity being strongly Rebel, Maj. White abandoned it on the 17th, and moved southerly by Warrensburg and Warsaw to the front, which they struck at Pomme de Terre river, fifty-one miles north of Springfield. Still pushing ahead, Maj. White was joined, on the 24th, by Maj. Zagonyi, of the 'Fremont Body-Guard,' who assumed command, and, marching all night, resolved to surprise and capture Springfield next day. Maj. White, being very ill, was left at a farm-house to recover; but in a few hours started in a wagon, with a guard of six men, to overtake his command, and soon found himself in a Rebel camp a prisoner, and in imminent danger of assassination. He had moved on the direct road to Springfield, while Zagonyi had made a détour of twelve miles to the right, hoping thus to surprise the enemy in Springfield, who, he was advised, were fully 2,000 strong.

The two commands combined numbered hardly 300 sabers, when, on reaching the outskirts of Springfield, they found 1,200 infantry and 400 cavalry well posted on the crown of a hill, prepared for and awaiting them. Zagonyi did not quail. To his officers he said: "Follow me, and do like me!" to his soldiers—

"Comrades, the hour of danger has come: your first battle is before you. The enemy

is 2,000 strong, and you are 300. If any of you would turn back, you can do so now.",

Not a man stepped from the ranks. He then added:

"I will lead you. Let the watchword be, 'The Union and Fremont Draw sabers! By the right flank—quick trot—march !”

With a ringing shout, the thin battalion dashed eagerly forward.

A miry brook, a stout rail-fence, a narrow lane, with sharpshooters judiciously posted behind fences and trees -such were the obstacles to be overcome before getting at the enemy. A fence must be taken down, the lane traversed, the sharpshooters defied, before a blow could be struck. All was the work of a moment; but when that moment had passed, seventy of their number were stretched dead or writhing on the ground. Maj. Dorsheimer, an Aid to Fremont, who came up soon after, thus describes the close of the fight:

"The remnant of the Guard are now in the field under the hill; and, from the shape of the ground, the Rebel fire sweeps with the roar of a whirlwind over their heads. A line of fire upon the summit marks the position of the Rebel infantry; while nearer, and on the top of a lower eminence to the right, stand their horse. Up to this time, no guardsman has struck a blow, but blue coats and bay horses lie thick along the bloody lane. Their time has come. Lieut. May thenyi, with 30 men, is ordered to attack

the cavalry. With sabers flashing over their heads, the little band of heroes spring toward their tremendous foe. Right upon the center they charge. The dense mass opens, the blue-coats force their way in, and the whole Rebel squadron scatter in disgraceful flight through the cornfields in the rear. The boys follow them, sabering the fugitives. Days afterward, the enemy's horse lay thick among the uncut corn.

quick as thought, with thrilling cheers, the noble hearts rush into the leaden torrent

which pours down the incline. With unabated fire, the gallant fellows press through.

The fierce onset is not even checked. The foe do not wait for them-they waver, break, and fly. The guardsmen spur into the midst of the rout, and their fast-falling swords work a terrible revenge. Some of the boldest of the Southrons retreat into the woods, and continue a murderous fire from behind trees and thickets. Seven guard horses fall upon a space not more than twenty feet square. As his steed sinks under him, one of the officers is caught around the shoulders by a grape-vine, and hangs dangling in the air until he is cut down by his friends. The Rebel foot are flying in furious haste from the field. Some take refuge in the fair

ground; some hurry into the cornfields; but wood, swarm over the fence into the road, the greater part run along the edge of the and hasten to the village. The guardsmen follow. Zagonyi leads them. Over the loudest roar of battle rings his clarion voice -Come on, Old Kentuck!" I'm with you!' and the flash of his sword-blade tells his men where to go. As he approaches a barn, a man steps from behind the door and lowers his rifle; but, before it has reached a level, Zagonyi's saber-point descends upon his head, and his life-blood leaps to the very top of the huge barn-door.

"The conflict now rages through the village-in the public square, and along the streets. Up and down, the Guards ride in squads of three or four, and, wherever they see a group of the enemy, charge upon and scatter them. It is hand to hand. No one but has a share in the fray."

Zagonyi wisely evacuated the town at night-fall, knowing that by night he was at the mercy of the Rebels, if they should muster courage to return and attack him. Of his 300 men, 84 were dead or wounded.

men, of whom he stationed 22 as pickets on the outskirts, and held the balance in reserve. At

noon,

he re

nor Pope, nor Sigel, nor Smith, nor Lane, would be enabled to reach that point in season to save Mulligan; though the series of blunders and fatalities by which all succor was precluded, could not happen twice in a century. Had he known that the Rebels would not attack Louisville, nor Cairo, nor make a demonstration, by way of Cape Girardeau, on St. Louis, backed by an insurrection in that city, he might have stripped that vital point of troops, and rushed everything to the relief of Mulligan. He certainly had reason to believe that Pope's promise to push 4,000 men to Lexington by the 18th or 19th would be fulfilled; and that these, with the forces of Sturgis and Smith, and those that Davis might have sent at any time after he had learned that the Rebels were concentrating on Lexington, would be sufficient. Had even the imperative call for five regiments to be dispatched to Washington been forborne," it is probable that Mulligan would have been saved.

But none of his errors, if errors they were, can compare in magnitude with that which dictated a second abandonment of Springfield and retreat to Rolla by our army, five days after Hunter had assumed command. No doubt, this was ordered from Washington; but that order was most mistaken and disastrous. We had already once abandoned southwestern Missouri; and, even then, Lyon had wisely and nobly decided that it were better to risk a probable defeat than to give up a Unionloving people to the mercy of their enemies, without making a determined effort to save them. But now

there was no such exigency. We were too strong to be beaten; and might have routed Price near Pineville, chasing the wreck of his army into Arkansas, thus insuring a dispersion of large numbers of the defeated Missourians to their homes; and then 5,000 men, well intrenched, could have held Springfield against all gainsayers, until the next Spring. But our second retreat, so clearly wanton and unnecessary, disheartened the Unionists and elated the Secessionists of all southern Missouri. It made our predominance in any part of that State appear exotic and casual, not natural and permanent. It revived all the elements of turbulence, anarchy, and rapine, which the uncontested ascendency of our cause, under Fremont, had temporarily stilled. The Secession strongholds along and even above the Missouri river were galvanized into fresh activity in guerrilla outrages and murders, by the unexpected tidings that we had abandoned southern Missouri without a blow, and were sneaking back to our fastnesses along the lines of completed railroads, and within striking distance of St. Louis.