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 Schofield
On the
evening of the 8th of August, 1861, General Lyon called a council of war....
General Lyon said in the presence of the council: Gentlemen, there is no
prospect of our being re-enforced at this point; our supply of provisions
is running short; there is a superior force in front; and it is reported
that Hardee is marching with 9,000 men to cut our line of communication.
It is evident that we must retreat. The question arises, what is the best
method of doing it. Shall we endeavor to retreat without giving the enemy
battle beforehand, and run the risk of having to fight every inch along our
line of retreat, or shall we attack him in his position, and endeavor to
hurt him so that he cannot follow us. I am decidedly in favor of the latter
plan. I propose to march this evening with all our available force leaving
only a small guard to protect the property which will be left behind, and
marching by the Fayetteville road, throw our whole force upon him at once,
and endeavor to rout him before he can recover from his surprise.
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Brig
Gen Thomas W Sweeney
MO Volunteers
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courtesy Thomas
Sweeney
McGonigle
Genl.
Sweeney waved his one arm...And his face flushed livid red, as he shouted,
"Let us eat the last bite of mule flesh, and fire the last cartridge, before
we think of retreating".
Phelps
...I,
being very tired, had fallen asleep on the sofa. The general came in to talk
to my mother, and as he was taking his leave I waked up and heard him say,
"Mrs. Phelps, I have asked for reinforcements many times. None have reached
me. Price is now advancing on Springfield with a rebel army of about fifteen
thousand men. I have decided to go out and meet him - although I have only
seven thousand men. I do not believe we can win, and if we are defeated I
believe I will be killed. I beg you will take care of my body."
Schofield
There
was no objections offered to this plan of General Lyon, except that a large
part of the command had just returned from a fatiguing scout, and had taken
no food since morning; it was therefore decided to defer the execution of
this plan until the next night.
Halderman
He(Lyon)
had sent for me to ask if I wanted an independent command, ...I answered
affirmatively...I saw two or three men with him, manifestly natives of the
country because of their dress...They were his spies and had succeeded in
capturing the muster-rolls of Price and McCulloch, from which it appeared
they had 25,000 men. Our force did not exceed 5,000. I then said to General
Lyon.."You do not propose with this handful of men to go down there and attack
that united army,' and I began to think my independent command would not
be so pleasant after all. He pulled his chin whiskers, a habit he had when
engaged in thought and he was a nervous man in his way... Replying it was
absolutely necessary to make an attack upon the confederates to save our
commissary and quartermaster stores in retreat.
Topeka Tribune
We wish
the boys a good time, and hope that, when their term of enlistment expires,
they may return home laden with well deserved honors reaped from the field
of strife....Quite a number composing these companies, were in Kansas and
through the wars of '55-'56, and thoroughly understand the programme of border
warfare.
Arkansas True Democrat
(quoting Miss Juliet Langtree, upon the presentation
of a banner to the departing Pulaski Artillery)
Remember
also, that while you are gone, you will not be forgotten. Many a mother's
and many a sister's heart will yearn after you while you are toiling in the
arduous campaign. In the heat of the day or the darkness of night, those
you leave behind you will drop a tear for the soldier, and offer a prayer
for his safety. Take then this flag and let your determination be like that
of the Spartan mother's advice when she presented her son with his shield:
"Come home with it or come home on it.
Letters to Hattie
I cannot
tell when I shall come home. I have made up my mind to one thing however.
I shall not serve longer than October, and if the campaign is not then over,
I shall resign and come back to you, to home and to business. My health is
excellent but I suffer greatly from the heat. I am red and blistered from
head to foot....I sometimes lie awake thinking of you and you can conceive
always wish I was with you instead of out here soldiering and lying all on
the bare ground....Be a true woman darling, and in the hereafter I trust
we may live lives of happiness together, honorable to ourselves and more
dutiful to god than we have heretofore done.
 
Neill
(Independence
County Chronicle Vol 8 No 1)
Dear
mother - I have time to write but few lines...Time was when we felt a reverential
love for the stars and stripes but it has been perverted to a damnable purpose
and whilst we should remember with pride the days of glory I think it now
the most hateful flag in existence. The flag of England would not have excited
more bitter emotions in my bosom than the striped rag flaunting on the
cupola....I think there is a spirit pervading the very atmosphere of the
south which breathes death to tyranny and the demonation of a usurper. We
have the example of the Revolution in '76 and should prove worthy of our
ancestors in the great struggle going on. Regards to my friends.... Robert
Neill.
Father to Son Topeka Tribune
"In the
first place, then, my son, when a soldier shoulders his rifle under the flag
of his country, he must surrender to that country his will, his whims, tastes,
fancies and prejudices; and the first, highest and most solemn duty he owes
to that country is the most implicit and prompt obedience. Disobedience,
even in matters of minor gravity, frequently forfeits life. If an order is
issued, that must be the end of the inequity. The success of the battle or
campaign may depend upon the concealment of the purposes of the
command....Obedience is not servility-it is duty. It is, therefore, not cowardly,
but honorable.
Letters to Hattie
I apprise
you of all this, as I did once before when we were about to go into action,
because I wish you to have any last words and thoughts - my life now belongs
to my country, but my love belongs to you, and dearest you have it all, all
the legacy, unfortunately, I can leave to you in case I should fall. I do
not anticipate any fatal result, still it may come.
Boone
Beloved
wife: on tomorrow I start for the the war camp of General Ben McCulloch near
Springfield, MO. Should I arrive in time for the battle at Springfield, and
it is deemed necessary I may engage in the fight, and should I fall, remember
it will be for your and our children's liberty and the freedom of our country-and
it is a holy and just cause, humbly relying upon the god that protects the
right. I commit myself now to his keeping, trusting that he will do all things
well....Should I never return, my will and pleasure is that a portion of
the property over which god has placed me as steward should be sold, sufficient
to pay my indebtness-the remainder to be carefully husbanded for the mutual
benefit of yourself and the children-Dewitt Tureene, Leroy, Bemoulli, Mary
Inez, and Edwin Greenwood. That the children should all receive a good English
education and be reared in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Fare thee
well, and should we meet no more on earth, then fare thee well till we meet
to part no more in the world of endless light. most affectionately,
B.F.Boone
(BF Boone
did not make it in time to take part in the battle of Wilson's Creek. He
did make it to the battle of Prairie Grove, AR on Dec 7, 1862 and received
a wound in that battle that would prove fatal)
Letters to Hattie
I shall
not sleep to night being ordered to special guard duty - I shall look at
the clear heavens and the brightest stars which spangle the firmament as
with ornaments of gold and silver, and shall think how beneficiently all
this glory is wrapped over our own far off house, where you lie in sweet
sleep, maybe dreaming of your absent husband. As I write, I breathe a prayer
to God, whom I believe in, whom I once served, but whom I have terribly provoked
of late years, that he will grant your prayers and mine, and bring us once
more together, to live for each other and for him and his glory. Goodbye
dearest, L.L.J. (written by levant L Jones of Olathe
1st Lt of Company F 1st KS)
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Major
John Schofield
Chief
of Staff to Gen Lyon |
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Under Both
Flags
Schofield,
the Chief of Staff, conspicuous by his long beard, came up to a group of
officers, and, being asked for information, "Gentlemen," he said, "it's all
settled; we are to advance within an hour, and if we don't have to fight
in the morning McCulloch will be to blame." Then they shook hands all
around,...Lyon and Plummer soon came out, whispering and dragging after them
rusty sabres that would force an inspecting officer to suicide.
Branson
Great
stir in camp this evening. General Lyon had issued an order that this night
shall decide the fate of southern Missouri. The enemy are encamped twelve
miles from here on Wilson's Creek. We are going to march on them
tonight.
Schofield
In the
mean time Sigel procured an interview with General Lyon, and persuaded the
General to allow him a separate command.
One Who Was There
We had
been "spoiling for a fight," and the prospect was that our desire would soon
be gratified.
Ware
"Men,
we are going to have a fight. We will march out in a short time. Don't shoot
until you get orders. Fire low and aim higher than their knees; wait until
they get close and don't get scared; it's no part of a soldier's duty to
get scared."...The absurdity of the last expression struck every one of us...It
had no sense to it. As Bill Huestis said."How is a man to help being skeered
when he is skeered?"... Shortly after Lyon had made his speech, ammunition
was distributed....The boys filled not only their cartridge boxes but also
their pockets. Our woolen shirts had pockets in the bosom, and most of the
boys, besides filling their breeches pockets, had some in their shirt pockets;
in short, we were "fixed."
Ware
...Dear
old Irish general Sweeney...Made a speech to his cavalry....He said (so his
boys told)..."Stay together, boys, and we'll saber hell out of them." This
had enthusiasm to it. Just then a large covered army wagon drove up with
a sergeant, who asked us how many "present for duty," and on being answered
by Sergeant Utter, threw rapidly onto the ground an equal number of the large
turtle-shelled loaves which I have described. They bounced around in the
dirt and bushes and we each got one. My action regarding my loaf was perhaps
descriptive of what others did. I plugged it like a watermelon and ate my
supper out of the inside. When I had finished eating I fried up a lot of
beef and pork (my two days' rations) and crammed it into the loaf and poured
in all the fat and gravy. My haversack had been worn out and abandoned. I
took off my gun-sling and ran it through the hard lip of the loaf, hung them
over my shoulder, filled my canteen, and was ready for the march.
O'Connor
We followed
the Mount Vernon or Little York Road some four miles, then turned off on
the prairie, following a guide.
Ware
The day
had been hot, and as the night began to grow cool, life became more endurable,
and the marching was anything but a funeral procession. The boys gave each
other elaborate instructions as to the material out of which they wanted
their coffins made, and how they wanted them decorated. Bill Heustis said
he wanted his coffin made out of sycamore boards, with his last words put
on with brass tacks, which were, "I am a-going to be a great big he-angel."....I
had made up my mind that if we were going to have a battle I certainly would
not get killed, but might need all my strength and ability in getting away
from the enemy's cavalry.
New York
Tribune
On the
march out many of those who now lie in their graves were joyously singing
and feeling as gay as larks.
Ware
After
going several miles in the night...we were ordered to keep still and to make
no noise....a cavalryman passed us from the front, and we noticed that he
was going slowly, and that his horse's feet had cloths tied around them,
banded at the fedlock....Some one said that blankets had been tied around
the artillery wheels...There were some little light clouds, but it was light
enough to see a short distance around us, by starlight; it was in the dark
of the moon. Finally word was passed along the line that we were inside the
enemy's pickets, but were two or three miles from their camps....We could
see the sheen in the sky of vast campfires beyond the hills, but could not
see the lights. We also heard at times choruses of braying mules.
Under Both
Flags
We were
allowed fence-rails for pillows, however, which, with the blankets, secured
us comfortable beds. "This is hard on rich men's sons," said one, as he lay
in the rain. "We'll look like this when McCulloch gets through with us,"
said another.
Ware
...Early
in the morning, just as there was a slight flush of dawn in the east, somebody
came along and woke us all up, and told us to keep still and fall into
line.
Sigel
in the South
Lademann
...We
left Springfield on the evening of Friday, August 9th, 1861, marching due
south, the regiment formed left in front. We marched all night, leaving the
road and marching through woods and farms.
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Col
Franz Sigel
Commander
2nd Brigade |
Sigel
The troops
assigned to me consisted of the Second Brigade Missouri Volunteers (900 men,
infantry, of the third and fifth regiments, under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Albert and Colonel Salomon, and six pieces of artillery,
under Lieutenants Schaefer and Schuetzenbach), besides two companies of regular
cavalry, belonging to the command of Major Sturgis....The Third regiment,
of which 400 three-month's men had been dismissed, was composed for the greatest
part of recruits, who had not seen the enemy before and were only insufficiently
drilled.....The time of service of the Fifth Regiment Missouri Volunteers
had expired before the battle. I had induced them, company by company, not
to leave us in the most critical and dangerous moment,and had engaged them
for the time of eight days, this term ending on Friday, the 9th...
Lademann
On we
marched in dead silence, smoking was prohibited, no commands were given aloud,
a subdued, undefinable clanking of our arms and rumbling of our artillery
carriages being the only sounds emanating from our column.....after following
the Forsyth road for several miles we struck off to the right, marching through
field and forest, on lanes and byroads, always in a westerly direction....At
about midnight the column was halted and word passed along the line that
we would have a couple of hours' rest. We went to sleep where we stood, my
bad luck depositing me in a bed of spanish needles-no bed of roses by any
means. At 2 a.M. We resumed our march....The night was dark and cloudy,
occasionally we had light showers of rain, some thunder and lightning
intermixed.
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Capt
Eugene A Carr
1st US
Cavalry
attached
to Sigel |
Carr
Upon
nearing the camp, after daylight, different stragglers were met going from
the camp to the surrounding country, and all captured, so that no intimation
was given to the enemy of our presence...
August
9
Sunset 7:09
pm
Moonrise 10:27
pm
August
10
Moonset 2:40
am
Sunrise 5:02
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August
10
High thin
clouds
near 100
degrees
and
humid
slight wind
from the
West -
Northwest |
August 10,
1821- Missouri becomes 24th state - enters
Union as a slave state while Maine enters as free state
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AR
TX
