On the 10th of August, at Wilson Creek, two hundred and forty miles southwest of St. Louis, occurred the hardest-fought battle of the year. General Lyon had pursued the Rebels to that corner of the State. He had called again and again for re-enforcements, but at Washington nothing could be seen except Virginia. Lyon's force was five thousand two hundred men. The enemy, under Ben McCulloch and Sterling Price, numbered over eleven thousand, according to McCulloch's official report. Lyon would not retreat. He thought that would injure the Cause more than to fight and be defeated. To one of his staff-officers, the night before the engagement, he said: "I believe in presentiments, and, ever since this attack was planned, I have felt that it would result disastrously. But I cannot leave the ` country without a battle." On his way to the field, he was silent and abstracted; but when the guns opened, he gave his orders with great promptness and clearness. He had probably resolved that he would not leave the field alive unless he left it as a victor. By a singular coincidence, the two armies marched out before daybreak on that morning each to attack the other. They met, and for many hours the tide of battle ebbed and flowed. Lyon's little army fought with conspicuous gallantry. 182 DARING EXPLOIT OF A KANSAS OFFICER. [1861. It contained the very best material. The following is a list from memory, and therefore quite incompleteof some officers, who, winning here their first renown, afterward achieved wide and honorable reputation : Brigadier-General. .Brigadier-General. Geo. W. Deitzler..... Colonel. T. W. Sweeney.......Captain.... Geo. L. Andrews.. .Lieutenant-Colonel... Brigadier-General. ..Brigadier-General. During the battle, Captain Powell Clayton's company of the First Kansas Volunteers, becoming separated from the rest of our forces, was approached by a regiment uniformed precisely like the First Iowa. Clayton had just aligned his men with this new regiment, when he detected small strips of red cloth on the shoulders of the privates, which marked them as Rebels. With perfect coolness, he gave the order: "Right oblique, march! You are crowding too much upon this regiment." By this maneuver his company soon placed a good fifty yards between itself and the Rebel regiment, when the Adjutant of the latter rode up in front, suspicious that all was not right. Turning to Clayton, he asked: "What troops are these?" 1861.] THE DEATH OF LYON. 183 "First Kansas," was the prompt reply. "What regi ment is that?" "Fifth Missouri, Col. Clarkson." "Southern or Union?" "Southern," said the Rebel, wheeling his horse; but Clayton seized him by the collar, and threatened to shoot him if he commanded his men to attack. The Adjutant, heedless of his own danger, ordered his regiment to open fire upon the Kansas company. He was shot dead on the spot by Clayton, who told his men to run for their lives. They escaped with the loss of only four. Toward evening Lyon's horse was killed under him. Immediately afterward, his officers begged that he would retire to a less exposed spot. Scarcely raising his eyes from the enemy, he said: "It is well enough that I stand here. I am satisfied." While the line was forming, he turned to Major Sturgis, who stood near him, and remarked: "I fear that the day is lost. I think I will lead this charge.' Early in the day he had received a flesh-wound in the leg, from which the blood flowed profusely. Sturgis now noticed fresh blood on the General's hat, and asked where it came from. "It is nothing, Major, nothing but a wound in the head," replied Lyon, mounting a fresh horse. Without taking the hat that was held out to him by Major Sturgis, he shouted to the soldiers : "Forward, men! I will lead you." Two minutes later he lay dead on the field, pierced by a rifle-ball through the breast, just above the heart. Our officers held a hurried consultation, and decided not only to retreat, but to abandon southwest Missouri. Strangely enough, the coincidence of the morning was 184 LYON'S COURAGE AND PATRIOTISM. [1861. here repeated. Almost simultaneously, the Rebels decided to fall back. They were in full retreat when they were arrested by the news of the departure of the Federal troops, and returned to take possession of the field which the last Union soldier had abandoned eight hours before. They claimed a great victory, and with justice, as they finally held the ground. Their journals were very jubilant. Said The New Orleans Picayune: "Lyon is killed, Sigel in flight; southwestern Missouri is clear of the National scum of invaders. The next word will be, 'On to St. Louis.' That taken, the whole power of Lincolnism is broken in the West, and instead of shouting 'Ho for Richmond!' and 'Ho for New Orleans!' there will be hurrying to and fro among the frightened magnates at Washington, and anxious inquiries of what they shall do to save themselves from the vengeance to come. Heaven smiles on the armies of the Confederate States." Lyon went into the battle in civilian's dress, excepting only a military coat. He had on a soft hat of ashen hue, with long fur and very broad brim, turned up on three sides. He had worn it for a month; it would have individualized the wearer among fifty thousand men. His peculiar dress and personal appearance were well known through the enemy's camp. He received a new and elegant uniform just before the battle, but it was never worn until his remains were clothed in it, after the brave spirit had fled, and while our forces were retreating from Springfield by night. Notwithstanding his personal bravery and military education, he always opposed dueling on principle. No provocation made him recognize the "code." Once he was struck in the face, but he had courage enough to refuse to challenge his adversary. For a time this subjected him to misapprehension and contempt among military 1861.] ARRIVAL OF GENERAL FREMONT. 185 men, but, long before his death, his fellow-officers understood and respected him. He seemed to care little for personal fame-to think only of the Cause. Knowing exactly what was before him, he went to death on that summer evening "as a man goes to his bridal." Losing a life, he gained an immortality. His memory is green in the nation's heart, his name high on her roll of honor. On the 25th of July, Major-General John C. Fremont reached St. Louis, in command of the Western Department. His advent was hailed with great enthusiasm. The newspapers, West, predicted for him achievements extravagant and impossible as those which the New York journals had foretold for McClellan. In those sanguine days, the whole country made "Young Napoleons" to order. With characteristic energy, Fremont plunged into the business of his new department, where chaos reigned, and he had no spell to evoke order, save the boundless patriotism and earnestness of the people. His head-quarters were established on Chouteau Avenue. He was overrun with visitors-every captain, or corporal, or civilian, seeking to prosecute his business with the General in person. He was therefore compelled to shut himself up, and, by the sweeping refusal to admit petitioners to him, a few were excluded whose business was important. Some dissatisfaction and some jesting resulted. I remember three Kansas officers, charged with affairs of moment, who used daily to be merry, describing how they had made a reconnoissance toward Fremont's head-quarters, fought a lively engagement, and driven in the pickets, only to find the main garrison so well guarded that they were quite unable to force it. |