538

TREASONABLE WORK IN MISSOURI.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE WAR IN MISSOURI.-DOINGS OF THE CONFEDERATE "CONGRESS."-AFFAIRS IN BALTIMORE.-PIRACIES.

ET us turn for a moment from the contemplation of the aspect of affairs in Virginia, and in the immediate vicinity of the National Capital, to that of the course of events in the great valley of the Mississippi, and especially in Missouri, where, as we have observed, the loyalists and disloyalists had begun a sharp conflict for the control of the State, early in May. The first substantial victory of the former had been won at St. Louis, in the loyal action of the State Convention,' and in the seizure of Camp Jackson; and its advantages, imperiled by the treaty for pacification between Generals Harney and Price, were secured by the refusal of the Government to sanction that arrangement, and of General Lyon to treat with the disloyal Governor Jackson. The latter plainly saw the force of this advantage, and proceeded immediately to array the State militia, under his control, in opposition to Lyon and his troops and the General Government, and, by the violence of immediate war, to sever Missouri from the Union.

• June 12, 1861.

As we have observed, Governor Jackson, by proclamation, called "into the service of the State "a fifty thousand of the militia, "for the purpose of repelling invasion," et cætera; in other words, he called into the service of the disloyal politicians of Missouri a host of men to repel the visible authority of the National Government, in the form of United States troops and regiments of loyal citizens of the Commonwealth. The Legislature worked in harmony with him, and various moneys of the State, such as the School Fund, the money provided for the payment of the July interest of the State debt, and other available means, to the amount of over three millions of dollars, were placed at the disposal of the conspirators, for military purposes. Jackson declared in his proclamation that his object was peace; that he had proposed the fairest terms for conciliation, but they were rejected, and that now nothing was left for him to do but to resist "invasion " by force of arms. At Jefferson City, the capital of the State, he raised the standard of revolt, with General Sterling Price as military commander.

General Lyon promptly took up the gauntlet cast down by the Governor. He had already taken measures for the security of the important post at

1 See page 461.

2 See page 468.

3 See page 469.

4 See page 471.

BIRD'S POINT AND THE CONFEDERATES.

539

Cairo, by sending a regiment of Missouri volunteers, under Colonel Shüttner, to occupy and fortify Bird's Point opposite.' That point is a few feet higher than Cairo, and a battery upon it perfectly commanded the entire ground

occupied by the National troops at the latter place. Captain Benham, of the Engineers, who constructed the works there, called attention early to the importance of occupying that point, for its possession by the insurgents would make Cairo untenable. Shüttner so strongly fortified his camp, that he was in no fear of any force the insurgents were likely to assail it with. But he was there none too early, and cast up his fortifications none too soon, for General Pillow, who was collecting a large force in Western Tennessee for the capture of Cairo, made Bird's Point the most important objective in his plan.

Pillow worked diligently for the accomplishment of his purpose, efficiently aided by B. F. Cheatham, a more accomplished soldier of Tennessee, who served with distinction under General Patterson in the war in Mexico. He was among the first of his class in Tennessee to join the insurgents, and was now holding the commission of a brigadier-general in the service of the conspirators. Pillow was superseded in command by Leonidas Polk, a graduate of the Military Academy at West Point, and Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Louisiana. Early in July, Polk accepted the commission of majorgeneral in the "Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America," and was appointed to the command of a department, which extended from the mouth of the Arkansas River, on each side of the Mississippi as far as the northern boundary of the "Confederacy." He made his head-quarters

BENJAMIN F. CHEATHAM.

at Memphis, in Tennessee; and, in his first general order, issued on the 13th of July, he showed great bitterness of feeling.

1 See map on page 472.

2 See page 497.

540

GENERAL LYON'S EXPEDITION.

sion of the South by the Federal armies comes bringing with it a contempt for constitutional liberty, and the withering influence of the infidelity of New England and Germany combined."

General Lyon's first movement against Jackson and Price was to send " the Second Missouri Regiment of Volunteers, under Colonel ⚫ June 12, (afterward General) Franz Sigel, to occupy and protect from injury the Pacific Railway, from St. Louis to the Gasconade River, preparatory to an advance toward the southern portion of the State,

1861.

by way of Rolla, to oppose an invasion by Ben McCullough, the Texas Ranger,' who had crossed the border from Arkansas with about eight hundred men, and was marching, with rapidly increasing numbers, on Springfield. On June 13. the following day," Lyon left St. Louis in two river steamers (Iatan and J. C. Swan), with about two thousand men well supplied for a long march, their immediate. destination being the capital of the Commonwealth, on the Missouri River, and their first business to drive Jackson and Price, with their followers, out of it. These troops were composed of Missouri volunteers, under Colonels Blair and Boernstein; regulars, under Captain Lathrop; and artillery, under Captain James Totten. The expedition reached the capital on the afternoon of the 15th. Jackson and Price, with their armed followers, had fled westward by way of the railroad, destroying the bridges behind them, and, turning northward, took post a few miles below Booneville, on the Missouri, forty miles from Jefferson City. Lyon followed them the next day, leaving Colonel Boernstein, with three companies of his regiment, to hold the capital. Contrary to the expectation of the insurgents, Lyon went by water, in three steamers (A. McD mnell, Iatan, and City of Louisiana), and the destruction of bridges availed the insurgents nothing.

June 16.

d June 18.

LEONIDAS POLK.

d

At Rocheport, at dawn on the 17th, Lyon ascertained that the insurgents were encamped a few miles below Booneville. Pressing into his service a ferry-boat there, he pushed forward a short distance, when he discovered a battery on a bluff, and scouts hastening to report his approach. He at once disembarked on low ground, on the south side of the river, formed in column, sent forward his skirmishers, and soon found his foes. They were encamped on the high ground, and were under the command of Colonel J. S. Marmaduke, of the State forces, General Price having gone on in a boat to Lexington, on account of alleged illness. On the near approach of Lyon, the frightened Governor had ordered that no resistance should be made; but the braver Marmaduke, feeling strongly posted, had resolved to fight. A troop of his cavalry and a battalion of infantry occupied the road. Some of his troops had made a citadel of a strong brick house on

BATTLE NEAR BOONEVILLE.

541

his left; and in a lane in his rear, leading to the river, was the main body of his left wing. His main right wing was posted behind a fence, between a wheat and corn field, and in these fields were detached and unorganized squads of men.'

Lyon led his troops up a gently rolling slope for half a mile, and when within three hundred yards of his foe, he made dispositions for battle. He posted the regulars, with Colonel Blair's troops, on the left, and some German volunteers of Boernstein's regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Shaeffer, on the right. Totten's artillery occupied the center, and they opened the conflict by firing a shell from a 12-pounder in the midst of the insurgents in the road. Another shell immediately followed, and scattered the men in the wheat-field, when Lyon's column advanced, and the battle began. It continued for a short time with great spirit on both sides. The insurgents were forced back by the pressure of the Union infantry, and the round shot, and shell, and grape, and canister, from Totten's cannon. Two of his shells entered the brick house and drove out the inmates; and twenty minutes later, Lyon's men occupied it, and had full possession of the battle-field.

The insurgents made a stand at the edge of a wood near their camp, but were soon driven from their rallying-point. They now fled in confusion, for they found themselves attacked on their flank by a cannonade from the river. Captain Richards, with some infantry, and a small company of artillery, under Captain Voester, who had been left in charge of the transports, had moved up the river and captured a shore-battery of two guns, with which the insurgents intended to sink the vessels of their pursuers. They also took twenty prisoners, several horses, and a considerable amount of military stores. They then moved forward to co-operate with the land. force; and it was the shot from a howitzer on the City of Louisiana, and the missiles from Totten's guns, falling simultaneously among the insurgents, that produced a panic and a flight. Their camp, which Lyon took possession of immediately afterward, showed evidences of hasty departure."

1 These were new recruits just sent in from Camp Vest, about four miles from Booneville. That camp had been established on the 14th, and Marmaduke had sent out urgent appeals to the inhabitants of the surrounding country to rally to his standard. Hurry on, day and night," he said. "Everybody, citizens and soldiers, must come, bringing their arms and ammunition. Time is every thing." As they came into the camp, they were sent to the front in squads.

2 An eye-witness wrote, that the breakfasts of the men were found in course of preparation. Half-baked bread was in the heat of fires, and hams had knives sticking in them. Pots of coffee were on the fires; and in various ways there was evidence that the flight of the occupants of the camp had been most precipitate. Lyon's loss was two killed, two wounded, and one missing. That of the insurgents is unknown. It was estimated at more than fifty killed and wounded, and a considerable number made prisoners. The latter were nearly all young men, who declared that they had been deceived and misled by the conspirators. They were very penitent, and Lyon released them. The whole number of insurgents was about three thousand, of whom nine hundred were half-disciplined cavalry, and the remainder raw militia, sixsevenths of them armed with the rifles, shot-guns, and knives which they had brought from their homes. The Union troops numbered less than two thousand; and not a third of either party was in the engagement at one time.

WEAPONS OF THE INSURGENTS

The accompanying illustration represents weapons found in the camp of the insurgents near Booneville. The knife was made, evidently, by a common blacksmith, in the form of the Bowie [see note 1, page 266], but very rudely. The sheath below it was made of cominon stiff leather. The dagger, also, was the work of a blacksmith The handle of each was made of hickory wood. Weapons of this kind were in common use among the insurgent troops from the Mississippi region during the earlier period of the war.

542

GOVERNOR JACKSON GATHERING TROOPS.

Leaving a company to hold the camp, Lyon pressed on to Booneville, where the loyal inhabitants received him with joy, and the town was formally surrendered to him. The insurgents had continued their flight. Some of them went directly southward, but a large portion of them, including most of the cavalry, fled westward toward Lexington, whither, as we have observed, General Price had gone. The Governor, who had kept at a safe distance from the battle, fled, with about five hundred men, to Warsaw, on the Osage River, eighty miles southwest of Booneville, pursued some distance by Totten. There he was joined, on the 20th," by about four hundred insurgents, under Colonel O'Kane, who, before dawn on the 19th, had surprised, dispersed, and' partially captured about the same number of Home Guards, under Captain Cook, who were asleep in two barns, fifteen miles north of Warsaw, at a place of rendezvous called Camp Cole.

a June, 1861.

Jackson and his followers continued their retreat fifty miles farther southwest, to Montevallo, in Vernon County, on the extreme western borders of Missouri, where he was joined by General Price,' with July 3. troops gathered at Lexington and on the way, making the whole force there about three thousand. At the same time, General G. J. Rains, a

graduate of the Military Academy at West Point, was hurrying forward to join Jackson with a considerable force of insurgents, closely pursued by Major Sturgis, of the regular Army, who was leading a body of Kansas volunteers, who were eager to be avenged on Jackson for sufferings which they alleged he had caused them a few years before, when they were struggling with invaders from Missouri, called "Border Ruffians," of whom the now fugitive Governor was a conspicuous leader. Satisfied that the northern part of the State was lost to the cause of Secession, for the time, Jackson now endeavored to concentrate all of the disloyal Missouri troops, with McCullough's men, in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth, preparatory to the speedy "deliverance of the State from Federal rule."

GABRIEL JAMES RAINE.

In the camp of the insurgents, near Booneville, Lyon found ample evidence of the hypocrisy of Jackson and Price, who had proclaimed to the world that they earnestly desired peace and reconciliation, but that it was denied them by the National Government and its servants, while, at the same time, they were preparing to wage a cruel and relentless war in favor of the rebellion. To counteract the effect of the false allegations of the Governor in his proclamation,' Lyon issued an address, at Boone July 18. ville, to the inhabitants of Missouri, plainly stating the intentions of the Government to be nothing more than the maintenance of its authority, and the preservation of the life of the Republic. On the day

See page 470.