Greene County, Missouri - Chapter 9, 1883

Chapter 9

The Southern Side of the Story - The part taken by McCuUoch's A.rmy - Preparations for a March on Springfield - A Light Rain Interferes - The Federal Attack - A Complete Surprise - McCuUoch Thinks it "Another of Rains' Scares!" - The Fight against Lyon - Order of Battle - McCulloch Comes to the Rescue - The Missourians in Battle - Detailed Account of the Fighting - The Beginning of the End - Victory! - No Pursuit of the Eetreating Federals - McCuUoch's Destruction of Sigel - After the Famous Victory - Comparative Strength and Losses of the Two Armies - The Federal Strength - The Confederate Strength - Price's Army by Divisions - The Federal Lo by Regiments and Battalions - The Confederate Loss bj- Divisions - Disposing of the Dead - Greene County men at Wilson's Creek - Campbell's Confederates - Col. John E. Phelps on his Own Hook - The Home Guards at Springfield - "The Cannings is a-firing! " - The Reti'eatfrom Springfield - Care of the Federal Wounded - The Army Sets Out - Hundreds of Citizens Follow it - The Confederates Enter Springfield - McCuUoch's Proclamation - Price's Proclamation - Joy and Congratulations - Disposition of the Body of Gen. Lj'on - Full and Interesting Particulars of How it was Cared for from the Time when it Lay Stretched on the Battle-Field Until its Final Interment in the Family Grave-yard, at Eastford, Connecticut.

The Southern Side Of The Story

As one side, the Northern, or Federal, or Union side, of the battle of Wilson's Creek has been told it is but proper that the other, the Southern or Confederate, or secession side, should be given. The statements herein made have been derived from the most authentic sources possible to.be consulted. Official reports of Gens. McCulloch, Price, Clark, Pearce and Rains, and numerous letters from distinguished Confederate officers who were in the fight, and statements of private soldiers who are men of truth and veracity, have been relied upon to furnish the information herein set down. The writer returns his sincere thanks to those Confederate officers, scattered from the Iowa line to the Rio Grande, who have responded to his request for information so promptly and so fully, and in such well written letters.

It will be remembered that Gen. McCulloch had at last yielded to Gen. Price's persistent and positive demands, and had agreed to march against Lyon at Springfield on the night of August 9th and attack him on the morning of the 10th. The march was to be made in four columns and to be begun at 9 o'clock at night.

Just after dark a light rain fell, and it was very dark and a heavyrain storm seemed to be coming up. McCulloch well knew that many of the Missouri troops were not supplied with cartridge boxes, or cartridges either, and that if they moved out from under shelter and it rained hard, as it promised to do, their ammunition would become wet and unserviceable, carried, as much of it would be, in powderflasks, cotton sacks and shot-pouches. There was also danger that in the Egyptian darkness that had settled down over the land the marching columns would get lost or bewildered, and not come up to the proper place at the proper time. Accordingly, just as some of the troops were preparing to start, McCulloch countermanded the order to march at that time, and the army lay down to sleep, holding itself in readiness to move, however, the men with their guns by their sides. Not much sleep was had, however, for lack of all proper accommodations, and because of the myriads of mosquitoes on the warpath that night up and down the valley of Wilson's creek.

Had Gen. Price been left to himself the day of the 9th, he would have taken " my Missouri boys " that night and marched toward Springfield over the very route that Lyon took from Springfield to the Confederate camp, via the Mt. Vernon road and over the prairie, and the two armies. Price's and Lyon's would have met, to each, other's surprise, about midnight, somewhere near the present site of Dorchester.

In his ofiicial report to the Confederate Secretary of War, Gen. McCulloch states that his efiective force at the battle of Wilson's Creek was 5,300 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 15 pieces of artillery. The majority of the cavalry were armed only with rifles, revolvers, shot-guns, and old flint-lock muskets. There were hundreds of other horsemen along with the armjs that were so imperfectly armed as to be of but little efficiency, and during the battle were only in the way.

The Federal Attack

Col. T. L. Snead states that on the night of the 9th he sat up all night at Gen. Price's headquarters, which were on the side of the creek, at the foot of the sloping, rocky, black-jack hills on whose summit the main battle was fought. About daybreak Gen. Price got up in great impatience and sent for McCulloch, who soon afterward arrived, accompaiued by Col. James Mcintosh (of the 2d Arkansas Mounted Riflemen), his assistant adjutant general. " Gen. Price

As the officers were eating, a messenger came running up from the front where Gen. Rains' division was posted, a mile or more away, and said that the Yankees were advancing, full 20,000 strong, and were on Rains' line already, peppering his camp with musketry. " O, pshaw ! " said McCuUoch, laughingly, " that's another of Rains' scares," alluding to the Dug Springs affiiir. "Tell Gen. Rains I will come to the front myself directly," he added. The three officers went on eating, and in a minute or two another messenger came up and reported that the Federals were not more than a mile away, and had come suddenly upon Rains' men as they lay on their arms and had driven them back. McCulloch again said, " O, nonsense ! That's not true," but just then Rains' men could be seen falling back in confusion. Gen. Price rose up and said to Col. Snead, "Have my horse saddled and order the troops under arms at once. " He had hardly spoken when Totten's battery unlimbered and sent its first shot and about the same instant Sigel's guns opened. Dispositions for battle were quickly made. Price was ordered to move at once towards Rains with the rest of the Missourians. Pearce was ordered to form on Price's left. Very soon Totten's battery was in plain sight on the top of the hills in front and poundino- away, while Sigel's guns in the rear plainly gave notice that the Federals were on all sides.

The surprise was perfect. Most of the Southern troops were asleep. The few pickets that were out had mostly been called in to prepare for the early march, and this enabled Lyon to get close to the line, - upon the skirmishers, in fact, - before being discovered. The troops hurried out as fast and as best they could. The majority of Price's Missourians had their horses with them. Nearly every secessionist upon enlisting wanted to ride and did ride. The idea of walking was distasteful in more ways than one - it was laborious to begin with, and it was considered somewhat plebeian and disgraceful. And the horsemen, so many of them, proved a serious disadvantage to the Southern cause. They stripped the country in many parts of this State and west of the Mississippi, not only of provisions but of forage and provender, cumbered the roads, and often in battle did more harm than good. At Wilson's Creek the horses became frightened and unmanageable, and at one time they and some of their riders came near stampeding the entire Southern army. Hun-

The Fight Against Lyon

The Missourians under Rains were first attacked by Lyon. Rains had his division under arms and in line with commendable promptness. A orreat many of his men scattered, it is true, but the majority were soon in ranks and fighting the enemy. Rains' division was a large one, including all the men from the populous secession counties of Saline, Lafayette, Jackson, Johnson, Jasper, and Pettis, and it held that part of the line in front of Totten's battery. Gen. Price instantly ordered the other division commanders. Slack, Mc- Bride, Clark and Parsons, to move their infantry and artillery rapidly forward to the support of Rains. Rains' second brigade was in the extreme advance and consisted of some 1,200 or 1,500 men, mounted and dismounted, temporarily under the command of Col. Cawthorn.

Slack's division of Northwest Missourians was the first to come up, and under the personal direction of Gen. Price himself, Avho had come to the front, took position on Rains' left, and became instantly engaged. In a few minutes afterwards came John B. Clark's division and formed to the left of Slack. Then came M. M. Parsons' division, with Col. Kelly's regiment or brigade at the head, and went into line to the left of Clark. Then came the division of Gen. J. H. McBride, who took position on the left of Col. Kelly and commanded a flank movement on the right of the enemy, which movement was unsuccessful. (It cannot be learned in what part of the field the forces of Gen. A. E. Steen, of the 5th division, Missouri State Guard, did duty. It is not believed that he had a division).

In this position, by Gen. Price's orders, and led by him in person at the first, the entire line advanced in the direction of the enemy, under a continuous fire from L3'oii's infantry and Totten's battery, until it reached a position within range of its own guns when the Federal fire was returned, the double-barreled shotguns getting in their work now very efiectively. After a few minutes steady firing the Missourians were driven back.

chieftain speedily brought out of camp Col. Hebert's Louisiana regiment and Mcintosh's Arkansas mounted riflemen and hastened to the rescue of the Missourians. This force went to the east side of Wilson's creek and coming up to the fence enclosing Ray's cornfield, the Arkansas riflemen dismounted and they and the Louisianians leaped over the fence and charged through the corn upon the Federals (Plummer's battalion) and drove them back upon the main line with loss. This fight in the cornfield was one of the severest of the day, and when it was ended many a corn blade and stalk and tassel had been torn with bullets and many a dead man lay in the furrows. For no sooner had the Federal infantry been driven back than Dubois' batter}^ opened on the Confederates in the field whose surface had never been disturbed by anything ruder than Farmer Ray's plow. But now it was soon plowed by shot and shell, and death gathered a full harvest where only the husbandman had reaped before. The two reoiments were driven back with some loss and considerable confusion, but soon reformed and were taken charge of by McCuUoch in person, who led them to another part of the field.

McCuUoch had also ordered up Woodrufl*'s battery, which had ens:aofed Totten and was doins; excellent service. During the i)eriod of the fight in the cornfield, Price's Missourians were endeavoring to sustain themselves in the center and were hotly engaged on the sides of the height upon which the enemy was posted. Early in the fight, the 1st Regiment of Arkansas Mounted Rifles, which had been driven out of its camp by Sigel and had formed a few hundred yards to the north, was brought up by Price's order to the support of Gen. Slack, and formed on his left. Here it fought during the battle, led in person by its commander. Col. T. J. Churchill,^ who had two horses killed under him. The regiment's loss was 42 killed and 155 wounded. One .captain ( McAlexander) and three lieutenants were among the killed. The 2d Arkansas Mounted Rifles, Col. B. T. Embry, also fought with the Missourians against Lyon, losing 11 killed and 44 wounded.

Then came the "forward and back " period of fighting described in the Federal account, which lasted for hours. Sometimes the advantage was with one party, sometimes with the other. The firing, both of infantry and artillery, was incessant. Many deeds of gallantry and heroism were performed - enough to immortalize the memory of any one of the perpetrators.

One unfortunate thing, brought about by the battle, was the fact that it produced, or rather made conspciuous, a hirge crowd of liars who are yet wont to brag and bluster about the various deeds of valor they performed at Wilson Creek, while the chances are that instead of displaying any remarkable quality of bravery or feat of extraordinary value, they were skulking in the bushes or sitting securely under cover somewhere, not firing a gun or harming an enemy. This is true of both sides. Pity 'tis that any man who wore either the blue or the gray should be a liar, but pity 'tis 'tis true. Deeds worthy of Rome or Sparta - aye, worthy of America, were rendered that day of battle on Wilson's creek, but these shameless liars one often meets with did none of them.

From nearly every quarter of Missouri had come the Missourians who this day fought under the flag of the grizzly bears and against the stars and stripes. Slack had men from off the Iowa line; John B. Clark had men from the Northeast (properly belonging to Harris' division, not then south of the Missouri) whose homes were in sight of Hannibal and of the great Mississippi farther to the north. Men fouo-ht who, when at home, could stand in their door-3'ards and look westward over on the prairies of the then territory of Nebraska. Many of McBride's division were from Southeastern Missouri, from the swamps of Pemiscot, from the cypress forests of Dunklin. From the cities - from the warehouses, the counting-rooms and the law offices of St. Louis, St. Joseph and other Missouri towns, had come some men to fight against what they believed to be Federal tyranny and usurpation, and for the honor of old Missouri and the rights of the South. And men fought under Price that day whose feet were on "their native heath," whose homes were in this county, in sight of the battle-ground.

And they all fought well, those in line, whether advancing or retreating, firing or fiilling back. Not any better than the Federals, perhaps, but fully as well. There were some stragglers on both sides - not all of the cowards were in but one army.

When early in the engagement Gen. Clark sent a mile and a half to the rear for his regiment of cavalry, Col. James P. Major, commanding, that officer was attacked by Sigel at the moment of receivin<r the order and driven back into the woods with all his force. After reforming and starting toward the front where Lyon was, to join their own division. Major's men were all broken up by large bodies of other horsemen, who, seeking to escape from Totten's grape and Dubois' shells and the Kansas men's musket balls, rode through Major's ranks in all directions, dividing the forces and communicating their own terror to those about them, so that the colonel was left with only one company.

Assisted by Clark's adjutant general, Col. Casper W. Bell, of Brunswick, Chariton county, and Capt. Joseph Finks, the colonel (Major) succeeded in gathering up some 300 men with whom he returned to the rear and assisted in the defeat of Sigel. The remainder of those who could be formed into line (and many of them could when they found that the only road leading out of camp was held by Sigel), were taken charge of by Lieut. Col. Hyde and advanced to the front where Lyon was, l)ut while preparing to charge the Federal left they were driven back by Dubois' battery and some infantry.

At last, after Price's line had advanced half a dozen times and been driven back as often, and after the fight had been going on nearly six hours and victory was not yet certain for either side, McCuUoch came back from whipping Sigel and brought with him the Louisanians, Carroll's (Arkansas) and the greater portion of Greer's (Texas) cavalry, Col. Tom P. Dockery's 5th Arkansas infantry, Mcintosh's 2d Arkansas rifle regiment, under Lieut. Col. Embry, Gratiot's 3d Arkansas regiment, and McRae's regiment. Reid's battery was also brought up.

The Beginning Of The End

The terrible fire of musketry was now kept up along the whole side and top of the hill on which the enemy was posted. Masses of infantry fell back and again rushed forward. The summit of the hill was covered with the dead and wounded. Both sides were fighting with all desperation for the victor3\ Gens. Price and McCulloch were among their men animating them by their voice, their presence, and their example. Price was slightly wounded, but would not leave the field.

To relieve the infantry McCulloch resolved to make a diversion in their favor with the cavalry. Accordingly a portion of Carroll's and Greer's regiments, and a mass of Missourians were formed to go up the valley and fall upon the Federal left, but, as before stated, Dubois' battery and the Federal infantry scattered the horsemen before they could get fairly into line.

turnino" point, McCulloch ordered fonvard his reserves and threw them into the scale. Forward came the rest of Pearce's Arkansas division, Gratiot's and Dockery's regiments, on the run and cheering. Into the thickest of the fight and throwing away their " tooth-picks," as their huge knives were called, they relied solely on their muskets, and did most effective work in the center of the line. Reid's battery was also ordered forward, and Hebert's Louisianians were again called into action on the left of it. Guibor's battery, of Parsons' division, opened with canister on the Federals, and terrible was the din and the slaughter.

Now the battle became general and violent and bloody. Hot as a furnace was the hollow in which the Confederates fought, made so by the blazing August sun overhead. Hot as Tophet it became, made so by gunpowder, and lead and iron, and sweat and blood. Probably no two opposing forces ever fought with greater desperation, as the Confederate line was advanced on the last charge. But Lyon was killed, Totten's battery moved to the rear, and soon the entire Federal force left the field in possession of the Southerners.

The battle ended suddenly, " as quick as a clap of thunder ceases " one describes it, and for some time after the Federals had retreated it vras not certain to the Confederates how the battle had gone. Another attack by the blue-coats was expected and prepared for. Gradually the ground in front where Totten's battery had stood was occupied, and then a line of skirmishers, pushing cautiously to the front, discovered that the victory was theirs. No attempt at pursuit was made, although McCulloch had 6,000 cavalry, whose horses were fresh and rested, and had not sweat a hair that day. That the Federals were not pursued, and in their jaded and exhausted condition cut off from Springfield and captured on the high prairies west of town, seems inexcusable, even to this day, to those posted in the facts.

The Federal officers plainly assert that the reason they were not pursued was because the Confederates were so badly hurt themselves that they could not do so ; and further it is claimed that had Lyon lived a Federal victory would have been gained, and Price and McCulloch driven from the field. It is certain (on the authority of Col. Snead) that Price wished McCulloch to pursue, but the latter, for reasons of his own, would not. Then Price resumed command of the Missouri State Guard, and then he would not pursue, for reasons of his own.

When Sigel came upon the southern end of the Confederate camp the troops he encountered were Churchill's Arkansas regiment, Greer's Texas Eangers, and about 700 mounted Missourians under command of Col. James P. Major and Col. Benjamin Brown, of Ray county, the latter the President of the Missouri State Senate. These troops, taken unawares, were speedily pushed back up the valley across the Fayetteville road. It was at this part of the line, - the Confederate rio-ht as it faced toward the east, - where McCulloch's Confederates were stationed. When Lyon first opened and alarmed the camp, McCulloch hastened back from Price's headquarters, and took up tAvo of his best regiments (Hebert's and Mcintosh's), to the assistance of his comrade-commander. The absence of these troops weakened the position of McCulloch very materially, and Sigel had matters his own way for a time. Pearce's division of Arkansas State troops were put in position, somewhat in reserve.

When McCulloch became fully aware that the Federal attack on the south or right was so formidable and so fraught with danger to the entire army, he brought back the Louisiana and Arkansas regiments, and forming them with some of Pearce's division, and Major's and Brown's cavalry, advanced to attack Sigel. The Louisianians and Mcintosh's regiment had got the worst of it, in the end, in the fight in Ray's cornfield, but they came up to the work now in brave style. The attack was being made on Sigel's and Salomon's regiments, and the four guns of Schaeffer and Schuetzenbach. There was only scattering firing on the part of the Federals, who mistook the character of the advancing hosts. It was no fiuilt of McCulloch's men, however, that Sigel was deceived. The Louisianians were not to blame that they were mistaken for the Iowa regiment because of their dress. ^

On they came, regardless of the short-sightedness of their foes, and not knowing or caring anything about their enemies' mistakes until they were within almost grappling distance of Sigel's cannon, when they sprang forward, and with one well contrived and well managed charge swept everything before them. Then followed the events heretofore described - the vain attempts to rally - the disorderly panic-

' At the breaking out of the civil war, the color of the infantry uniform of the U. S. armywas gray. Upon its adoption by the Confederates this color was changed, and blue substituted.

stricken flight - the captures and the pursuit. It must not be forgotten that just before the charge was made, Reid's Arkansas battery opened on the unsuspicious Federal Germans, and they were already in confusion when the Confederate infantry and cavalry were precipitated upon them. Capt. Hiram Bledsoe's Missouri battery, from LafaA'ette county, with " Old Sacramento," a noted 12-pounder, and three other guns, also did ettective work against Sigel, under direction of Col. Rosser, of Weightman's brigade.

As soon as Sigel' s destruction had been fairly accomplished (which occupied but a few minutes) McCuUoch left the flying fragments to be looked after bv sundry detachments of the cavalry, and returned with his infantry and a great deal of the cavalry to the assistance of Gen. Price. In the last eflbrts ag'ainst Lyon's column, McCuUoch' s troops took a conspicuous part, as before detailed ; and of course but for the part taken by McCuUoch's and Pearce's men the victory could not have been won.

After The Famous Victory

Dies irm! O, the moaning and wailing that were all over the land west of the great Father of Waters when the full tidings of the Inittle of Wilson Creek were learned ! From Dubuque and Baton Rouge, from Iowa and Texas, from Louisiana and Kansas, and from every county in Missouri, there went up a sobbing prayer from many a household for strength to bear the bereavement of a father, a husband, a brother, or a son slain that 10th of August, 1861, down by the beautiful little stream in the Ozarks.

There they lay, strewn all about over the ground, with faces white and waxen, or clotted with l)lood, these men who had died to please the politicians. In cosy, shady nooks where fairies might delight to dwell; out in the glare of the blazing sun, festering and corrupting; in cornfield with blade and tassel wavino: above them, in dells and glens, and vales, and on the hillsides - dead men everywhere. With a tiny bullet hole a baby's finger might stop, marring no feature and mangling no limb ; with bowels torn out, with faces shattered, heads torn to pieces, handsome countenances distorted into ghastly, grinning objects - dead men everywhere.

Wounded men ever}^ where. Crawling about, delirious with pain and agony ; lying prone and almost motionless, staring up into the blue sky, dying slowly and making no sign ; shrieking, groaning, cursing, praying, imploring help, begging for a bandage, for water, lying quietly, laughing even, - wounded men cverj'where. In hos- pitals, under trees, in tents, in houses, in stables, with surgeons probing and cutting and carving and sawing and clumsily bandaging ; in ambulances jolting off towards Springfield ; limping along to hide and escape another hurt - wounded men everj^where.

Staining the velvet moss on the hillsides ; purpling in puddles in the pathways and by the roadsides ; reddening the lucid waters of. bonnie Wilson's creek ; flecking the wheels of the guns and daubing the stocks of the muskets ; clinging in loathsome gouts to the stems of wild flowers - blood everywhere - human blood - and the best blood of the Republic, too.

Comparative Strength And Losses Of The Two Armies

The strength of both of the contending armies at the battle of Wilson's Creek is here given as nearly as it has been possible to obtain it. It is believed that the Federal strength has been very definitely learned ; that of the combined Southern forces has been approximated in regard to two or three commands in McCulloch's division.

Federal Strength

According to the reports of the company commanders on the morning of the 9th of August, there were in the column that marched under Gen. Lyon exactly 3,721 men of all arms, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, not including the two companies of home guards under Capts. Wright and Switzler.

Sigel's column consisted of 17 companies of infantry, (8 of the 3d Missouri and 9 of the 5th Missouri) numbering 912 men; six pieces of artillery, 85 men ; and two companies of cavalry, 121 men ; - Total of Sigel's column, 1,118.

Confederate Strength

Without giving exact details. Gen. McCulloch says, in his official reports to Gen. Cooper, Adjutant General of the Confederate States: *' My own effective force was 5,300 infantry. Woodruff's and Reed's batteries, and 6,000 horsemen." Total, about 11,550.

July 30, at Cassville, Gen. McCuUoch reported his force and that of Gen. Pearce, as numbering in aggregate 5,700, "nearly all well armed." (Rebellion Records, vol. 3, series I, p. 622.) Gen. Pearce loaned the Missourians 600 stand of arms. Afterwards, McCuUoch received Greer's South Kansas-Texas cavalry of 1,100 men, and one or two independent companies from Arkansas, making his and Pearce' s forces combined, number about 7,000 men. In round numbers the Southern troops numbered about 12,000 at the battle of Wilson's Creek; the Federal or Union forces, 5,000.

The Federal Loss

Gen. Slack's Division. - Col. John T. Hughes' brigade, killed, 36; wounded 76 (many mortally); missing 30. Among the killed were C. H. Bennet, adjutant of Hughes' regiment; Capt. Chas. Blackwell, of Carroll county, and Lieut. Hughes. Col. Rives's brigade lost 4 killed and 8 wounded ; among the killed were Lieut. Col. Austin, of Livingston county, a member of the Legislature, and Capt. Enyart.

Gen. Clark's Division. - Infantry loss, 17 killed and 71 wounded ; cavalry loss, 6 killed and 5 wounded. Among the killed were Capts. Farris and Halleck and Lieut. Haskins. Among the wounded were Gen. Clark himself and Col. Burbridge, both severely, and Capt. D. H. Mclntyre, now attorney general of the State.

Gen. Parsons' Division. - Infantry loss, 9 killed and 38 wounded ; cavalry loss, 3 killed and 2 wounded; artillery, Guibor's battery, 3 killed and 7 wounded. Among the killed was Capt. Coleman, of Grundy county. Col. Kelly, commanding the infantry, was wounded in the hand.

Gen. McBride's Division. - Total loss, 22 killed, 124 wounded. Among the latter were Col. Foster (mortally) and Capts. Nichols, Dougherty, Armstrong, and Mings.

Gen. Rains' Division. - Weightman's brigade, 35 killed. 111 wounded. Cawthorn's brigade, 21 killed and 75 wounded. Among the killed were Col. Richard Hanson Weightman, commanding 1st brigade, and Major Chas. Rogers, of St. Louis.

Two other prominent officers were killed - Col. Ben Brown, of Ray county, commanding cavalry with McCulloch's army, and Col. Geo. W. Allen of Saline county, of Price's staff. The latter was shot down while bearing an order, and was buried on the field. Col. Horace H. Brand, of Price's staff', was taken prisoner, but released soon afterward.

McOuUoch's Army. - The losses of McCulloch's army in detail cannot now be learned ; his official report states that in the aggregate it was 109 killed, 300 wounded and 50 prisoners. Among the officers killed were Capt. Hinson, of the Louisiana regiment ; Capt. McAlexander, and Adjutant Harper, of Churchill's regiment; Capts. Bell and Brown, and Lieuts. AValton and Weaver, of Pearce's division. Some of the severely wounded were Col. Mcintosh (by a grapeshot), Lieut. Col. Neal, Major H. "VJ^ird, Captains King, Pearson, Gibbs, Ramsaur and Porter, and Lieutenants Dawson, Chambers, Johnson, King, Raney, Adams, Hardister, Mclvor, and Saddler.

The aggregate Southern loss was not far from 205 killed, 900 wounded, and 80 prisoners. A little heavier than that of the Federals, owing to the long ranoe muskets and rifles of the latter and their more efficiently served artillery. All agree that the Confederate and secession batteries as a rule were not well handled.

Disposition Of The Dead

The dead at Wilson's Creek were not well disposed of. All were given hasty and rude sepulture. Of course the Confederate slain fared the better, being buried by their own comrades. The Union dead were put under ground as soon as possible, and with but little ceremony. In an old well, near the battlefield, fourteen bodies were thrown. In a " sink-hole " thirty-four of their corpses w^ere tumbled. The others were buried in groups here and there, and the burial heaps marked. In many instances, a few Federal soldiers were present when the burials were made, and identified certain graves. Some of the bodies whose graves were so marked, were afterwards disinterred and removed to their former homes. A number of the Federal dead were never buried ; this was particularly true regarding Sigel's men. Dr. Melcher says he saw portions of the bodies of the German Federals along the line of Sigel's retreat, several days after the battle, strewn along near the road, having been torn by dogs and hogs and buzzards. Skulls, bones, etc., indicating that at least a dozen corpses had been left above ground, were gathered up. The doctor's statement is corroborated by citizens who lived in the neighborhood.

The weather was hot - oppressively so. Putrefaction soon set in ; there was a scarcity of coffins and coffin-makers, and coffin-maker's materials, and perhaps the Confederates did the best they could. Their own dead were, in many instances, given imperfect burial.

In 1867, six years afterwards, when the National Cemetery at Sprmgfield was established, the contractor for the removal of the dead bodies of the Union soldiers on the battle-ground, took up and removed, and received pay for, 183 bodies, as follows : Out of the '< sink-hole," 34; out of the old well, 14; from other portions of the field, 135.

Fighting with McBride's division of Missouri State Guards was Capt. Dick Campbell's company of Greene county men. This company was mounted, and early in the light was sent to the westward - to the right of Lyon's position, and to the extreme left and a little to the front of Gen. Price's division. Here it remained, watching the Federals, that they did not flank the secessionists' position. When the fight was about over, the company withdrew from its position and came on to the main field. The men were very thirsty. Running down to a spring and stooping to drink of the cool water, a squad of Campbell's men were fired upon by some lurking Federals, and the crystal fluid was tinged with crimson. One soldier, Martin McQuigg, Tvas shot through the body and mortally wounded. Another, Dr. A. V. Small, was wounded, but not seriously. McQuigg died in a day or two. C. T. Frazier was also wounded, having his arm broken. Louis Tatum had a horse killed under him.

On the Federal or Union side, there were but few men who took a part, although back at Springfield stood at least 1000 men ready and eager to rush to the assistance of Lyon and Sigel at any stage of the fight, from the crack of the first musket to the time when Dubois exploded his last shell. With Sigel were the Union guides, C. Baker Owen, L. A. D. Crenshaw, John Steele and Andy Adams, and with Lyon was Pleasant Hart, E. L. McElhany and others, but perhaps none of them fired a gun. The rumor goes that a few over-zealous Union men slipped out with the 1st Kansas and took a hand on their own hook, but if this be so, their names have not been learned.

Early on the morning of the battle, John E. Phelps (son of Col. JohnS., and afterwards a brevet brigadier general), armed with a Maynard rifle and a Colt's dragoon revolver, set out from his father's house, south of town, for the fight. Accompanying him was one of his father's slaves, a negro man named George, another negro, Amos, belonging to Maj. Dorn, of the Southern army, and Pleasant Hall and Robert Russell, two young men, citizens of the county.

The squad, now numbering six, hurried along, as the firing began, and pretty soon encountered a picket of two men. Leaving the others to attract their attention, Phelps contrived to make his way to the rear of these pickets, and coming upon them suddenly, leveled his " Maynard " and soon had them prisoners. The party then rode on. and soon encountered another picket. Employing the same tactics as those used at the former post, Phelps succeeded in capturing a mounted arsenal in the person of a State Guard lieutenant of McBride's division, named Kelly, who had three or four revolvers, a doublebarreled shot gun, and a heavy dragoon saber.

Buckling on the saber himself, Phelps rode up near the battlefield and encountering a party of Confederates induced a negro, belonging to an officer of the Louisiana regiment, to ride out to him, when forcing the negro to follow, and keeping him between the enemy and himself, Phelps retired in good order ! Nearer still to the battlefield, and at Ray's house, a good-sized squad, was encountered in the house and taken in. Here the correspondent of the New York Tribune^ one Barnes, who had been with Lyon, came up. To his paper, Barnes wrote : -

'* I now determined to cross the creek, and see if I could find Col. Sigel, as a report reached us that he was entirely cut to pieces. * * * I had not proceeded far on the eastern side of the creek, when I met the son of Hon. John S. Phelps, who had left town upon hearing the cannonading, with but a few trooj^s, and, not, discerning the exact positions of the two armies, had busied himself taking prisoners on the Fayetteville road and west of it. When I met him he had captured near a dozen, including a negro belonging to an officer in a Louisiana regiment. Placing them upon the trail for our guards and in charge of a Kansas officer, Phelps and myself proceeded, but found it unsafe to attempt to cross the Fayetteville road, and, seeing the army retreating, we joined them and returned to the oity.

The Home Guards At Springfield

Back in Springfield there was a large force of Home Guards, numbering about 1,200, under Col. Marcus Boyd, from Green and adjoining counties, all under arms, and all ready and willing to fight. But Gen. Lyon held their fighting qualities in such poor esteem - having no confidence that any other sort of troops but regulars would fight well - that he had refused to allow them to go to the field, sa3'ing

But in all probability - no reason appearing to contrary - if these 1,200 men had been taken out to Wilson's Creek they would have fought well - as well as the volunteers, who fought as eifectively as the regulars - and perhaps (who knows?) would have turned the scale in favor of the Federals. Gen. Lyon made a mistake, certainly, in not employing against the enemy in his front every man who could be induced to fire a musket ; but his anxiety to not leave his rear and base wholly unprotected from a cavalry dash or sudden movement of some sort, led to his leaving this large force in Springfield, which stood in arms all of the forenoon and heard their comrades fighting so hard away to the southwest, and, anxious as they were to go to their relief, were forbidden to do so.

It is related of a certain doughty captain of the Home Guards, then and now a resident of Springfield, that, on his reporting to Col. Boyd for orders the morning of the battle, the colonel sent him out on the Mount Vernon road, directing him to observe closely the country to the westward and to report promptly every half hour should anything extraordinary occur. In a few minutes after the opening of Totten's battery, back came the captain ambling along on a little brood mare, which he was industriously larruping with a lath, and reining up his steed in front of Col. Boyd, he made a military salute and announced : -

"Colonel Boyd, Sir! The cannings is a-firing ! " As the roar of ever}'^ gun had been plainly audible to everybody, this was not a very new piece of information, but Boyd replied, *' All right, captain ; go back to your post."

Flourishing his lath as before, the captain rode away, and promptly in half an hour - still in his hand the lath, which was doing double service, as a sword and a riding-whip - he returned : -

" Colonel Boyd, Sir! The cannings is still a-firing! " And so every half hour, until the " cannings " had ceased to thunder, when he returned, and making the same military salute, the faithful lath still in his grasp, he announced : - held, and the command of all the forces given to Col. Sigel, of whom it is reported Maj. Sturgis said he was not altogether successful in attack, but was " h - 1 on retreat." The citizens were notified, and hundreds of them began packing up and preparing to follow the army. These were Union people who dreaded the approach of the Southern troops. The Home Guards also got ready to move as a part of the army. Many citizens of the county living outside of Springfield got their effects together and were ready to go.

A vast amount of money belonging to the bank had been made ready for shipment, by Lyon's order, and was being guarded by a Home Guard company. Merchandise of all kinds was loaded into wagons and certain of the officers " pressed " teams for the occasion to load commissary and quartermasters' stores into. Col. Boyd says that one Federal colonel, high in Sigel' s confidence, had no wagons or other accouterments for his regiment. He pressed a pair of mules and a wagon, and instead of loading it with flour and bacon, piled it with seven barrels of whisky and one box of "hard tack" - for his fragmentary regiment of 500 men on a retreat of 150 miles ! But lo ! This far-seeing officer on that long march fed not only his own men but hundreds of refugees, with the proceeds of trades and sundry traffickings for his inspirating cargo, and - this history does not state this upon its own responsibility, but upon that of Col. Boyd - had, when the command reached Rolla, two barrels of whisky left, besides seventeen wagons loaded vntJi hard tacTc, sugarcured hams, sugar, coffee, and molasses! !

Sigel' s ordnance officer destroyed a considerable quantity of powder because there were no means of transporting it. The 1st Iowa also burned a portion of its baggage for the same reason. The town was full of frightened men, women, and children, wagons, teams, horses, mules, milch cows, soldiers, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and there was the greatest confusion all of the evening and till long after dark, even up to the time when the hegira commenced. The public square was a perfect jam of cannon carriages, army wagons, farm Avagons, buggies, etc.

Care Of The Union Wounded

By 10 o'clock in the forenoon the wounded Federals had begun to arrive from the front, where the battle was raging, with the news that Lyon was driving the enemy at all points. The Union people cheered, and bestirred themselves to take care of the stricken. The new court-house (the present) and the sheriff" 's residence were taken for hospital purposes, and by midnight contained 100 men ; the Bailey House was filled ; the Methodist church building was similarly occupied. Ambulances, carriages, butchers' Avagons, express wagons, every sort of vehicle with wheels and springs, plied between the battlefield and the town all day and until after dark, bringing ofi" the wounded.

Many of the ladies of the town volunteered their services and became hospital nurses. Maj. Sturgis left with Dr. E. C. Franklin, of the 5th Missouri, at least $2,500 in gold, wnth which to purchase supplies for the wounded left behind, to care for Gen. Lyon's body, and for other necessary expenses. This statement is upon the authority of Dr. Franklin himself. The doctor was given general charge of the Federal wounded.

The Army Sets Out

At last all was ready and the army set out for RoUa, with a train of wagons three miles long and a huge column of refugees, men, women, and children, black and white, old and young, in carriages, wagons, carts, on horseback, on foot, " anyway to get away," as it has been expressed. The march was begun at midnight, and by daybreak the head of the column was outside of the county. No attempt was made on the part of the Southern troops to pursue and capture the column with its $2,000,000 in money and stores, and it was not molested in anyway - as, it would seem, it should have been. Sigel was not disturbed until near the crossing of the Gasconade.

Before crossino- this river Col. Sio:el received information that the ford could not be passed well, and that a strong force of the enemy was moving from West Plains toward Waynesville, to cut off the retreat. He was also aware that it would take considerable time to cross the Robidoux and the two Pineys on the old road. To avoid these difficulties, and to give the army an opportunity to rest, Sigel directed the troops from Lebanon to the northern road, passing Right Point, in the southeastern part of Camden county, and Humboldt, Pulaski county, and terminating opposite the mouth of Little Piney, where in case the ford could not be passed, the train could be sent by Vienna and Linn to the mouth of the Gasconade, while the troops could ford the river at the mouth of the Little Piney to reinforce Roll a. To cross over the artillery he ordered a fjsrryboat from Big Piney Crossing to be hauled down on the Gasconade to the mouth of Little Pine}^, where it arrived immediately after the army had crossed the ford. Before reaching the ford, however, Sigel had given up the command of the army to Major Sturgis, who marched it into Rolhi August 19th, where it went into temporary camp, the first encampment being named " Camp Gary Gratz," in honor of the captain of the 1st Missouri killed at Wilson's Creek. In a few days the Missouri and Kansas troops and the 1st Iowa, whose term of service had long before expired, were sent to St. Louis to be mustered out.

The Union wounded in Springfield, as has been stated, had been left in charge of Dr. E. C. Franklin, of the 5th Missouri, Salomon's regiment, and assisting him were the surgeons and assistant surgeons of other regiments and battalions - Melcher, Davis, Haussler, and Ludwig, and also one or two of the local physicians and surgeons. There was plenty of work for all of them. Dr. Franklin labored almost incessantly for some days, and performed a prodigious amount of valuable service for the wounded soldiers under his charge, as is testified to by men whose lives he saved. Dr. Franklin, now (1883) professor of surgery in the Homoeopathic College of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, writes : " Upon the entrance of the Confederates, Brig. Gen. Rains confiscated the most of the medical supplies, leaving me scarcely enough to last our sick and wounded for one week, after which time we were often in great straits." ^

The Confederates Enter Springfield

The battle of Wilson's Creek ended at about noon of August 10 ; but not until about 11 o'clock of the next day, or nearly 24 hours after the close of the battle, did the first Confederate troops (save a few prisoners), set foot within the town of Springfield. Sturgis, with the remains of Lyon's corps, was not pursued at all. Sigel's " flying Dutchmen " were chased but a few miles, while no attempt at formidable pursuit or to follow up the victory was made by either McCulloch or Price. Whether this was because, as the Federals claimed, that the Southerners themselves were so badly damaged as to be unable to follow the Federals, but had to wait and allow them to go out of the county before moving camp, or whether Gen. McCulloch himself expected to be attacked, or had other good reasons for sitting quietly by, cannot here be stated.

1 An interesting medical and surgical history of the Union wounded at the battle of Wilson's Creek was kindly furnished for publication in this history by Dr. Franklin, but unfortunately arrived too late for insertion in full.

many a man, but no movement was made until late Sunday morning. At about 11- o'clock some Missouri and Texas cavalry rode into town and halted. No pursuit worthy of the name was attempted after the vast crowd of citizens and soldiers and citizen-soldiery making its exodus from Greene county, in some respects like unto that crowd of fugitives led by the Jewish Lawgiver and guided by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Soon the town was pretty well filled with troops, and Price and McCulloch came in. The stores were visited and the proprietors interviewed, and there was great activity in mercantile circles for a time ; thousands of dollars worth of goods changed hands in a few hours. Everything was paid for on the spot, - ill Confederate, or Missouri scrip.

The 11th was Sunday, but, as Gen. McCulloch remarked, *' it was just as good as any other day in war time," and so the troopS were distributed around, encampments laid out, and preparations made to permanently occupy the land. On the next day, Monday, the 12th, Gen. McCulloch issued the following proclamation, which was distributed not only through this county but throughout the greater portion of the southern part of the State : -

Headquarters Western Army, ) Camp near Springfield, Mo., August 12, 1861. \ To the People of Missouri : - Having been called by the Governor of your State to assist in driving the National forces out of the State, and in restoring the people to their just rights, I have come among you simply with the view of making war upon our Northern foes, to drive them back and give the oppressed of your State an opportunity of again standing up as free men and uttering their true sentiments. You have been overrun and trampled upon by the mercenary hordes of the North ; your beautiful State has been nearly subjugated, but those true sons of Missouri v/ho have continued in arms, together with m}^ forces, came back upf)n the enemy, and we have gained over them a great and signal victory. Their General-in-Chief is slain, and many of their other general officers wounded. Their army is in full flight ; and now, if the true men of Missouri will rise up and rally around our standard the State will be redeemed. I do not come among you to make war upon any of your people, whether Union or otherwise ; the Union people will all be protected in their rights and property. It is earnestly recommended to them to return to their homes. Prisoners of the Union army, who have been arrested by the army, will be released and allowed to return to their 'friends. Missouri must be allowed to choose her own destiny, no oath binding your consciences.

I have driven the enemy from among you ; the time has now arrived for the people of the State to act. You can no longer procrastinate. Missouri must now take her position, be it North or South.

This proclamation was well received by the people of the county, especially the Union portion, who expected nothing else and nothing less than that they were to be treated with great severity. All looked forward to a season of security, if not absolute peace. It is painful to be compelled t'o state, however, that Gen. McCuUoch's proclamation was not long observed. Despite its declarations Union men were arrested and their property and that of their secession neighbors siezed and appropriated whenever it pleased the subordinate Confederate officers to do so.

In connection with his proclamation and on the same day McCulloch issued the following congratulatory order to the troops under his command over the result of the battle of Wilson's Creek : -

The General commanding takes great pleasure in announcing to the army under his command, the signal victory it has just gained. Soldiers of Louisiana, of Arkansas, of Missouri, and of Texas, nobly have you sustained yourselves. Shoulder to shoulder you have met the enemy and driven him before you . Your first battle has been glorious and your general is proud of you. The opposing forces, composed mostly of the old regular army of the North, have thrown themselves upon you, confident of victory ; but, by great gallantry and determined courage, you have routed them with great slaughter. Several pieces of artillery and many prisoners are now in your hands. The commander-in-chief of the enemy is slain, and many of the general officers wounded. The flag of the Confederacy now floats near Springfield, the stronghold of the enemy. The friends of our cause Avho have been in prison there are released. While announcing to the army the great victory, the general hopes that the laurels you have gained will not be tarnished by a single outrage. The private property of citizens of either party must respected. Soldiers who fought as you did the day before yesterday cannot rob or plunder. By order of Ben McCulloch,

To THE People of Missouri: - Fellow-citizens: The army under my command has been organized under the laws of the State for the protection of your homes and firesides, and for the maintenance of the rights, dignity and honor of Missouri. It is kept in the field for these purposes alone, and to aid in accomplishing them, our gallant Southern brethren have come into our State. We have just achieved a glorious victory over the foe, and scattered far and wide the wellappointed army which the usurper at Washington has been more than six months gathering for your subjugation and enslavement. This victory frees a large portion of the State from the power of the invaders, and restores it to the protection of its army. It consequently becomes my duty to assure you that it is my firm determination to protect every peaceable citizen in the full enjoyment of all his rights, whatever may have been his sympathies in the present unhappy struggle, if he has not taken an active part in the cruel warfare, which has been waged against the good j^eople of this State, by the ruthless enemies whom we have just defeated. I therefore invite all good citizens to return to their homes and the practice of their ordinary avocations, Avith the full assurance that they, their families, their homes and their property shall be carefully protected. I, at the same time, warn all evil disposed j^ersons, who may support the usurpations of any one claiming to be provisional or temporary Governor of Missouri, or who shall in any other way give aid or comfort to the enemy, that they will be held as enemies, and treated accordingly.

It will be observed that the terms of Gen. Price's proclamation dift'ered somewhat from McCulloch's. The latter declared that prisoners of the Union army would be released and allowed to return to their friends, while Gen. Price declared that no man who had taken an active part in the " cruel warfare which had been waged against the good people (/. e., the secession good people) of the State, "should be protected in his rights. And yet Gen. Price was as much a friend of the Union people and Union troops as Gen. McCulloch, and showed them as many favors.

Capt. Dick Campbell's company of Greene county men had their homes in the neighborhood, and knew the Union men of the county almost to a man, and were able to inform Gen. Price with reasonable accuracy which of them were entitled to special favors and which were not. This company, Jis before narrated, had fought at Wilson's Creek, and now was assigned to permanent duty at Springfield and in Greene count}'.

Joy And Congratulations

The news' of the battle of Wilson's Creek was received with grreat joy throughout the Southern Confederacy and everywhere that the Confederate cause had synipathizcrs, and the event did much for that cause in Missouri, by stimulating recruiting and causing many an undecided individual to come down oft' the fence and stand on the Southern side. Some time afterward, November 4, 1861, when the " Claib. Jackson Legislature " (as the Legislature that passed the Neosho ordinance of secession was called), was in session at Cassville, it passed the following resolution, introduced by Mr. Goodlett, under a suspension of the rules : -

Resolved hij the Senate, lite House of Representatives concurring therein: That the thanks of the State of Missouri are hereby cordially given to Major General Price and Brigadier Generals Parsons, Rains, Slack, Clark, McBride and Steen, and the officers and trooi)s of the Missouri State Guard under their command, and to Brigadier General McCuUoch and officers and the troops of the Confederate States under their command, for their gallant and signal services and the victory obtained by them in the battle of Springfield.

The following resolutions were introduced into the Confederate Congress, on the 2l8t of August, by Mr. Ochiltree, of Texas, ^ and were passed unanimously : -

Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe to the arms of the Confederate States another glorious and important victory, in a portion of the country where a reverse would have been disastrous, by exposing the families of the good people of the State of Missouri, to the unbridled license of the brutal soldiery of an unscrupulous enemy ; therefore

Be it Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States, That the thanks of Congress are cordially tendered to Brig. Gen. McCullocli and the officers and soldiers of his brave command for their gallant conduct in defeating after a battle of six and a half hours a force of the enemy equal in numbers and greatly superior in all their appointments, thus proving that a right cause nerves the hearts and strengthens the arms of the Southern people, fighting as they are for their liberty, their homes and friends, against an unholy despotism.

Resolved, That in the opinion of Congress, Gen. McCulloch and his troops are entitled to and will receive the greatful thanks of all our people.

Disposition Of The Body Of Gen. Lyon

Ah, Sir Launcelot! Thou there liest that never wert matched of earthly hands. Thou the fairest person and the goodliest of any that rode in the press of knights. Thou wert the truest to thy sworn brother of any that buckled on the spur; * * * and thou wert the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever laid spear in rest.

For the purpose of ascertaining the truth concerning the death and burial of the body of Gen. Lyon, the writer hereof caused certain newspaper publications to be made in the St. Louis Republican and other journals, making inquiries pertinent to the case. Many and varied were the replies, some of which, perhaps, ought to be given, as illustrating the different lights in which men see the same object, and the morbid desire for notoriety on the part of others, which leads them to lie like book-agents, in order that their names may be published in connection with some notable event. No less than ten newspaper articles were published and thirty-two written communications Avere received by the compiler relating to the death and burial of Gen. Lyon. The result was 42 different versions thereof.

The work of ascertaining the truth was thereby complicated instead of being fjicilitated . A dozen or more claimants for the distinction of having first discovered the bod}' on the battlefield appeared. Haifa score bore the corse to Gen. Price's tent. Twenty saw the body, noted its appearance carefully, etc. Knowing from incontrovertible proof how the general was dressed when he was killed, the writer inserted a test question asking that his garb be described. Two ex_ officers, one Union, the other Confederate, answered that he was *' in f\dl general's uniform." A minister of the gospel, who was also the first to discover the body," promptly replied that he was " dressed in a complete suit of black broadcloth, white shirt, fine boots and kid gloves." The majority of the answers, however, were to the same effect, that he was dressed in his old fatigue uniform of his former rank, that of captain in the regular army - without epaulets or shoulder straps. After much labored investigation the writer has ascertained the following facts, which he can easily substantiate : -

He was borne to the rear by Lieut. Schrejer, of Capt. Tholen's company, 2d Kansas, two other members of the same regiment, and Ed. Lehman, of Co. B, 1st U. S. Cavalry, the latter the soldier who caught the general's body as it fell from the horse. As the body was borne to the rear, Lieut. Wm. Wherry, one of the general's aids, had the face covered, and ordered Lehman, who was crying like a child, to " stop his noise," and tried in other ways to suppress the news that the general had been killed. The body was placed in the shade of a small black-jack, the face covered with half of a soldier's blanket, the limbs composed, and in a few minutes there were present Surgeon F. M. Cornyn, Maj. Sturgis, Maj. Schofield, Gen. Sweeney, and Gordon Granger, and perhaps other officers. Cornyn examined the body, and from the side of the face wiped the blood made by the wound in the head.

Maj. Sturgis ordered the body to be carried back to a place selected as a sort of field hospital and there to be placed in an ambulance and taken to Springfield. While the body was here lying a few Federal officers examined it and one of them reports that the face had again become bloody, from the wound in the head, and that the shirt front was gory from the death wound. About twenty minutes after the body had been brought back, Lieut. David Murphy, of the 1st Missouri, who was alread}^ badly wounded in the leg, and Lehman placed the body in an army wagon, being used as an ambulance, and belonging to Co. B, 1st U. S. Cavalry. This wagon was about to start to Springfield, and contained already some wounded men. A few minutes later, a sergeant of the regular arni}^ came up and ordered the body taken out, saying, " There will be an ambulance here in a minute for it." The corpse was then carried beneath the shade tree where it had before reposed.

The Federal arni}^ now retreated, and the ambulance ordered never came up. Before the Confederates came on to the ground where the body lay, which location was 200 yards northeast of " Bloody Hill," half a dozen slightly wounded Federal soldiers had gathered about the dead hero, and an hour after the Federal retreat a party of Arkansas skirmishers came upon them and discovering the occasion of the crowd instantly spread the news that Gen. Lyon had been killed. Immediately there was a great tumult and the report was borne to Price and McCuUoch by half a dozen. Many were incredulous and did not believe that a body so plainly dressed, - in an old faded captain's uniform, with but three U. S. buttons on the coat and a blue (or red)

The body had been placed in a small covered wagon, used as an ambulance, to be conveyed to Gen. McCulloch's headquarters (not Gen. Price's) when an order arrived that it should be taken to Price's and delivered to Dr. S. H. Melcher, of the 5th Missouri, who ns, before stated, had come upon the field in company with Dr. Smith, Gen. Rains' division surgeon. Dr. Melcher had been informed by Col. Emmet McDonald that Lyon had been killed and at once asked for his body. When the little covered wagon containing the corpse had driven up and Gen. Price and Gen. Rains and other officers had viewed the body, it was turned over to Dr. Melcher. A number of" Southern soldiers standing by drew knives and made attempts to cut otf some buttons or pieces of the uniform as relics, and one or two expressed a wish to " cut his d - d heart out ; " but Gen. Rains drew his sword (or revolver) and swore he would kill the first man that touched the corpse, and Emmett McDonald denounced the ruffianly would-be violators in the harshest terms - and McDonald could be harsh when he wanted to be !

Beside the body of Gen. Lyon was a wounded man, who was now taken out, and then Gen. Rains himself and some of his cavalry escorted the wagon to the house of Mr. Ray, on or near the battlefield. It is proper now to give the testimony of Dr. Melcher himself, as given to the writer and furnished the press for publication. Speaking of the courtesy of Gen. Rains in escorting the body to Ray's house. Dr. Melcher goes on to say :

Arriving there the body was carried into the house and placed on a bed ; then I carefully washed his face and hands, which were much discolored by dust and blood, and examined for wounds. There was a wound on the right side of the head, another in the right leg below the knee, and another, which caused his death, was by a small rifle ball, which entered about the fourth rib on the left side, passing entirely through the body, making its exit from the right side, evidently passing through l)oth lungs and heart. From the character of this wound it is my opinion that Gen. Lyon was holding the bridle rein in his left hand, and had turned in the saddle to give a command, or words of encouragement, thus exposing his left side to the fire of the enemy.

At this time he had on a dark blue, single breasted captain's coat, with the buttons used by the regular army of the United States. It was the same uniform coat I had frequently seen him wear in the Arsenal at St. Louis, and was considerably worn and faded. He had no shoulder-straps ; his pants were dark blue ; the wide-brim felt hat he had worn during the campaign was not with him. After arranging the body as well as circumstances permitted, it was carried to the wagon and covered with a spread or sheet furnished me by Mrs. Ray.

When I was ready to start Gen. Rains said : " I will not order any to go with you, but volunteers may go ;" and Jive Confederate soldiers offered their service of escort. One drove the team ; the others, being mounted, rode with me in rear of wagon. The only name I can give is that of Orderly Sergt. Bracket of a company in Churchill's Arkansas regiment. Another of the escort was a German who in 1863 was clerking in Springfield, and during the defence of Springfield against the attack of Marmaduke, January 8, 1863, did service in the citizens' company of 42 men Avhich was attached to my " Quinine Brigade " from the hospitals.

G-en. James S. Rains, commanding Missouri State Guards, having learned that Gen. Lyon, commanding United States forces during action near Springfield, Mo., Aug. 10, 1861, had fallen, kindly offered military escort and transportation subject to my order. I have also his assurance that all of the wounded shall be well taken care of and may be removed under the hospitable flag, and that the dead shall be buried as rapidly as possible. [Signed] S. H. Melcher,

About half way to Springfield I saw a party under flag of truce going toward the battlefield. Arriving at Springfield, the first officer I reported to was the ever faithful Col. Nelson Cole, then captain of company E, 1st Missouri Volunteer Infantry, who, with what remained of his gallant company, was guarding the outposts. I passed on to the camps of Gen. James Totten and T. W. Sweeney. Here Gen. Totten relieved ray escort and sent them back to their command, a new driver was furnished, and I delivered the body of Gen. Lyon to Maj. J. M. Schofieldjlst Missouri volunteer infantry - now Maj.-Gen. Schofield, U. S. A. - at the house that had been used previous to the battle by Gen. Lyon for his headquarters.

It is proper to state that Dr. Melcher's testimony is corroborated in part by two survivors of the 1st Arkansas, and by Mrs. Livonia Green, now of Lane county, Oregon, and also by Mrs. Jerome Yarbrough, of this county, both of the latter being daughters of the Mr. and Mrs. Ray mentioned. (Mr. and Mrs. Ray are now dead).

' The writer has seen and carefully examined the original of this paper. It is written in pencil, but is quite legible. The hand writing of Gen. Rains was identified beyond question. The paper was kindly furnished by Dr. Melcher for the purposes of this history.

After Sturgis' army had gotten well on the road to Springfield, it was discovered that Gen. Lyon's body had been left behind. Sturgis immediately started back a flag of truce party under Lieut. Canfield, of the regular army, with orders to go to Gens. Price and McCulloch, and, if possible, procure the remains and bring them on to Springfield. Lieut. Canfield and party went to the battlefield, saw Gen. McCulloch, obtained his order for the body (the general remarking that he wished he had a thousand other dead Yankee bodies to send ofi") and there ascertained that the body had already started for the Federal lines.

When the corpse was deposited in the former headquarters of the general, on the north side of College street, west of Main, in Springfield, word was sent to Sturgis. He and Schofield and other ofllcers held a consultation, and decided that the body should be taken with the army to RoUa, if possible. There not being a metallic coflln in the place, it was determined to embalm it, or preserve it by some artificial process. Accordingly, the chief surgeon, Dr. E. C. Franklin, was sent for. Responding to the inquiries of the writer. Dr. Franklin says ;

About ten o'clock p. m., on the night when it arrived at headquarters, I was summoned there and then first saw the body of Gen. Lyon lying upon a table, covered with a white spread, in a room adjoining the one where two or three of the Union officers were seated. Gens. Schofield, Sturgis, and others consulted me as to the possibility of injecting the body with such materials that would prevent decay during its transit to St. Louis. I prepared the fluid for injection into the body, but discovered that instead of being retained within the vessels it passed out into the cavity of the chest. This led me to suspect a laceration either of one of the large arteries near the heart, or, possibly, a wound of the heart itself. This hypothesis, coupled with the fact that there was an external wound in the region of the heart, confirmed my opinion of the utter uselessness of attempting the preservation of the body during its passage to St. Louis. These facts I reported to the commanding officer, who then gave me verbal orders to attend to the disposal of the body in the best possible manner. At this time preparations were being made and the orders given for the troops to retreat and fall back upon Rolla, some fifty or more miles nearer St. Louis. Returning to the general hospital, of which I was in charge, I detailed a squad of nurses to watch by the body of Gen. Lyon till morning, which order was faithfully carried out. I then disposed of my time for the best interests of the wounded and sick under my charge.

general's remains well cared for, and he ordered an undertaker, Mr, Presley Beal, to make a good, substantial coffin at once. Early the following morning, in some way, word was sent to Mrs. Mary Phelps, wife of Hon. John S. Phelps, that the body of the great Union leader was lying stiff and bloody and neglected in the temporary charuel house on Colle<re street. Soon she and the wife of Mr. Beal were bv his side, and watching him. Not long thereafter came the wife of Col. Marcus Boyd and her two daughters (one of whom, now Mrs. Lula Kennedy, still resides in Springfield), and kept them company. And so it was that women, " last at the cross and first at the tomi)," were those who kept vigil over the corse of the dead warrior, who, although he died the earliest, was one of the greatest Union generals the war produced.

The body had now lain about twenty-four hours in very hot weather. Il was changing fast, and its condition made it necessary that it should be buried as soon as possible. Mrs. Phelps left Mrs. Kennedy and her daughters and went to see about the coffin. Dr. Franklin came in and sprinkled the corpse with bay rum and alcohol. Mr. Beal brought the coffin, and soon a wagon - a butcher's wagon - was on its way to Col. Phelps' farm with all that was mortal of the dead hero, and with no escort save the driver, Mrs. Phelps, Mr. Beal and one or two soldiers.

Col. Emmett McDonald, than whom the war produced no more knightly a soldier, had been made a prisoner by Gen. Lyon, at the capture of Camp Jackson. When Lyon was killed. Col. McDonald not only assisted Dr. Melcher in recovering the body, but Dr. Franklin says of him :

Here let me do justice to Col. Emmett McDonald, who called upon me at the general hospital and after some conversation in regard to the circumstances attending the death of Gen. Lyon, tendered to me an escort of Confederate troops as a " guard of honor " to accompany Gen. Lyon's remains to the place of burial, which I refused from a too sensitive regard for the painful occasion, and an ignorance of military regulations touching the subject.

Mrs. Phelps was practically alone at the time. Her husband was in his seat in the Federal Congress, her son, Johia E. Plielps, had followed off the Federal army, and even her faithful servant, George, had accom[)anied his young master. But Mrs. Phelps was a lady not easily daunted, or one that would shrink from what she considered a duty, no matter how unpleasant it might be. The body was taken to

Mrs. Phelps' residence, and not buried at once, it being the understanding that it would be sent for soon. Mr. James Vaughan, who owned a tin-shop in Springfield, was ordered to make a zinc case for the coffin, to assist in the preservation of its contents.

The coffin was temporarily deposited in an out-door cellar or cave, which in summer had been used as an ice-house, and in the winter as an " apple-hole," and was Avell covered with straw. It was here placed about two o'clock on the 11th. A day or two later, the slave, George, returned. While the body of Gen. Lyon lay in Mrs. Phelps' cellar, the place was visited by some citizens and many Southern soldiers. It is much to be regretted that some brutes there were among the soldiers that treated the remains of the dead man with all disrespect, cursing them and him openly and in the vilest terms. One young officer is reported to have said to Mrs. Phelps: "There is quite a contrast betwixt the resting place of old L3'^on's body and his soul, isn't there, Madame? The one is in an ice-house ; the other in hell ! " he added with a heartless chuckle.

At last some drunken ruffians, by threatening to open the coffin and " cut out the d - d heart " of the body for a relic, so frightened Mrs. Phelps, causing her to fear that the remains would be mutilated in some horrible manner, that she asked Gen. Price to send a detail and bur}'^ the body. This was done by volunteers from Guibor's and Kelly's infantry, of Gen. Parsons' division, at that time encamped on Col. Phelps' farm. It is believed the body was not buried until the 14th. The slave, George, dug the grave, which was in Mrs. Phelps' garden. Some of the soldiers stamped on the grave in great delight. An Irishman told Capt. Guibor, *'Be jabers, we shtomped him good. "

On the 22d of August there came to Springfield a party in a fourmule ambulance, bearing with them a 300-pound metallic coffin. This party was composed of Danford Knowlton, of New York City, a cousin of Gen. Lyon; John B. Hasler, of Webster, Mass., the general's brother-in-law, and Mr. Geo. N. Lynch, the well-known undertaker, still of St. Louis. From Rolla in, the party was accompanied by the gallant Emmett McDonald, who had been up to arrange for an exchange of prisoners, and from whom, Mr. Hasler says, they received many attentions and favors.

Arriving at Springfield, Mr. Hasler says, they visited Gen. Price and handed him a letter from Gen. Fremont explaining their mission, which was to bear away the body of Gen. Lyon. As the letter was directed " To whom it may concern," Gen. Price, after glancing at the address, threw it contemptuously aside, saying he could read no document thus directed. At the same time he offered to grant them every facility for procuring the body of their dead relative.

Repairing to Phelps' farm the party disinterred the body and placed it in the metallic coffin, after removing the zinc case made by Mr. Vaughn. Gen. Parsons, whose division was encamped on the farm, came up, introduced himself, and Mr. Hasler says, " showed us numerous civilities. Among other attentions he tendered a guard for the body and team over night, which was accepted."

The next day the party left Springfield and were in Rolla on the 25th, and in St. Louis the 26th. Here a military escort joined. From thence the party proceeded to Eastford, Connecticut, the birthplace of the general, which place was reached September 4th, there being great receptions and honors paid the body in the cities and towns enroule. Sept. 5th the body was buried in the famil}'^ burying ground at Eastford. *' Upon the coffin as it lay in the Congregational church when the funeral ceremonies were being rendered," says Mr. Woodward, who was present, " were placed the hat, a light felt, which the general had waved aloft when rallying his ranks at Wilson's Creek, and also the sword, scarred and weather-beaten from sharing in the long hard service of its owner." The hat was brought from the battlefield by the wounded men in the wagon in which the general's body was first placed, and was given to Mr. Hasler by the driver, who had preserved it. Both hat and sword were o-iven to and since have been in the possession of the Connecticut Historical Society.

General Lyon was born in Eastford, Connecticut, July 14th, 1818. He entered West Point in 1837 ; graduated in 1841, standing eleventh in a class of fifty. He served in Florida in 1841-2 ; was in the Mexican war under Taylor and Scott ; in California and on the frontier from 1850 to 1861. He was never married. The statement that he bequeathed his private fortune to the Federal government is erroneous.