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FREMONT STARTS WESTWARD-PRICE RETREATS. 589

the Home Guards left the outer de-
fenses and retired within the line of
inner intrenchments, saying they
would fight no longer, and raising
the white flag over the center of our
works. Col. Mulligan, who had been
twice wounded this day, called his
officers around him, and they decided
that nothing remained but to surren-
der. Of course, no terms could now
be made. Price agreed that the pri-
vates on our side should be paroled
he having none too much food for his
own; but the officers must be retained
as prisoners of war, with all arms and
equipments.

The losses during this fight were probably much the greater on the side of the Rebels; Price, indeed, makes them barely 25 killed and 75 wounded; but this probably includes only returns from such portion of his forces as were regularly organized and mustered; while nearly half his men were irregulars, of whom no account was taken. Our loss was 40 killed and 120 wounded.

or near the Missouri, where lay his chief strength.

But Price was too crafty for this. By good luck, as well as good generalship, he had struck us a damaging blow, and was determined to evade its return. On the very day that Fremont left St. Louis, he put his force in motion southward and southwestward. He, of course, made feints of resuming the offensive, threatening the forces closing upon him from three sides, as if about to precipitate his full strength upon this or that particular foe, which, with his immense superiority in cavalry, was not a difficult feat. Our troops, of course, fell back or advanced cautiously ; and, meantime, his infantry and artillery were making the best possible time southward. Pollard says he in two days crossed the Osage with 15,000 men in two common flatboats, and that Fremont was fifteen days in building pontoon bridges, and crossing after him. This is untrue; but a General who lived from hand Gen. Fremont, who had good rea- to mouth on the country he traversed, son to believe that Sturgis had al- moving but few and light guns, with ready reënforced Mulligan, and that very little ammunition, and who was Lane and Pope had done or would careful to destroy whatever means of do so that day, enabling him to hold transit he no longer wished to use, his position, directed Davis by tele-breaking down bridges and burning graph, on the 18th, to push forward boats, could easily outstrip his more 5,000 men to the crossing of Lamine | heavily laden pursuer. Creek by the Pacific Railroad, with a view to intercept Price's retreat at the Osage. Late on the 22d, he received from Pope the sad tidings of Mulligan's surrender; and, on the 27th, he left St. Louis for Jefferson City, expecting that Price would try to maintain himself at some point on

through the cheek and another through the arm, and with but fifty of the eighty he had led forth. The hospital was in their possession.

Price continued his flight to Neosho, in the south-west corner of the State, where he found McCulloch, with 5,000 Arkansas Confederates; and where Jackson assembled the fag-end of his old Legislature, and had an Ordinance of Secession formally passed by it-a most super

This charge was one of the most brilliant and reckless in all history, and to Capt. Gleason belongs the glory."

fluous ceremony, since Missouri had | Adjt. Gen. Thomas and suite, who

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 remnant13 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

came away discouraged and dissatisfied. 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 carriages 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 impression, 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 Representatives 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.”

ZAGONYI'S CHARGE AT SPRINGFIELD.

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.

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get his army across the Osage-cer- | 'Prairie Scouts,' led by Maj. Frank tainly not to Springfield; and that J. White, who had recently distinsouthern Missouri was virtually given guished himself by a forced march over to Rebel possession. 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. Zago

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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.

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 briga-nyi, of the 'Fremont Body-Guard,' diers, 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

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.

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Zagonyi holds his main body until Maythenyi disappears in the cloud of Rebel cavalry; then his voice rises through the air. 'In open order-charge!' The line opens out to give play to their sword-arm. Steeds respond to the ardor of their riders; and,

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 fairground; some hurry into the cornfields; but the greater part run along the edge of the wood, swarm over the fence into the road, and hasten to the village. The guardsmen follow. Zagonyi leads them. 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.

Over the

"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.

Maj. White, who had escaped from his captors, taking captive in turn their leader, arrived next morning, at the head of a score of improvised arch of all he surveyed.' He had 24 Home Guards, to find himself ‘monmen, of whom he stationed 22 as pickets on the outskirts, and held the balance in reserve. At noon, he re

14 Of the Guard, 100 were Kentuckians.

FREMONT SUPERSEDED BY HUNTER.

ceived a Rebel flag of truce, asking permission to bury their dead; which, he said, must be referred to Gen. Sigel, from whom he, the next hour, forwarded the permission required." White drew in a part of his pickets, stationed them between the village and the bloody field of yesterday's conflict, and the Rebels quietly buried their dead. He did not venture to remain through the night, but fell back upon Sigel, who reached Springfield by a forced march of thirty miles, on the evening of the 27th. Asboth came up with another division on the 30th; and Lane, with the Kansas brigade, was not long behind him. But Hunter, McKinstry, and Pope, with their respective divisions, were still struggling with the badness of the roads from thirty to forty miles back. Pope arrived November 1st, having marched seventy miles in two days; and McKinstry came in just behind him.

On the morning of Nov. 2d, a messenger brought to Springfield an order from Gen. Scott" removing Fremont from his command, and directing him to turn it over to Gen. Hunter, who had not yet arrived. This was sad news to the great bulk of the army, which had been collected and equipped with such effort; which had driven the Rebels almost out of Missouri without loss; and which confidently expected to meet and beat them within the State, and to chase the fragments of their army through Little Rock, and, ultimately, to New Orleans. Hunter not having yet arrived, and the enemy being reported in force at Wilson's Creek, it was determined in council to march out and give him battle next morn

15 Sigel was then forty miles distant.

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ing; but Hunter came up that night, and the command was turned over to him by Fremont.

It does not seem that their advices of the Rebels' proximity were wellfounded. Pollard asserts that they were then at Pineville, some fifty miles from Springfield; but adds that Gen. Price had made preparations to receive Fremont, determined not to abandon Missouri without a battle. It must therefore be regarded as a national misfortune that the order superseding Gen. Fremont arrived at this time; for it is not possible that his army-superior in numbers and in equipment to the Rebels, and inspired by enthusiastic devotion to its chief-could have been beaten.

Gen. Fremont departed for St. Louis early next morning, accompanied by his Body-Guard as a special escort. That Guard, it is sad to say, though enlisted for three years, and composed of the very best material, were mustered out of service, by order of Gen. McClellan, soon afterward.

That Gen. Fremont-placed in so important a command, and frantically entreated for reënforcements from so many sides at once—committed some errors of judgment, is very probable. It may be he should have divined earlier than he did that Price would not strike at Jefferson City or Booneville, which he seemed to threaten, but would take the safer course of swooping down on Lexington, so much further west. It may be that he should have foreseen that the ferry-boats at Lexington, instead of being kept out of the reach of the Rebels, would be allowed to fall into their hands; and that neither Davis,

16 Scott was himself retired the day before.

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