Produced by David Widger from page images generously provided by The Internet Archive THE LOST ARMY By Thomas W. Knox Illustrated The Werner Company New York 1899 THE LOST ARMY. CHAPTER I. HARRY AND JACK--OUTBREAK OF THE WAR--TRYING TO ENLIST. |Let's go and enlist!â âPerhaps they won't take us,â was the reply. âWell, there 's nothing like trying,â responded the first speaker. âNothing ventured, nothing gained.â âThat's so,â said the other. âAnd if we can't go for soldiers, perhaps they 'll find us useful about the camp for something else.â This conversation took place between two boys of Dubuque, Iowa, one pleasant morning early in the year 1861. They were Jack Wilson and Harry Fulton, neither of whom had yet seen his sixteenth birthday. They were the sons of industrious and respectable parents, whose houses stood not far apart on one of the humbler streets of that ambitious city; they had known each other for ten years or more, had gone to school together, played together, and at the time of which we are writing they were working side by side in the same shop. The war for the destruction of the Union on the one hand and its preservation on the other had just begun. The election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency had alarmed the Southern states, who regarded it as a menace to their beloved system of negro slavery. In consequence of his election the Southern leaders endeavored to withdraw their states from the Union, and one after another had passed ordinances of secession. South Carolina was the first to secede, her action being taken on the twentieth of December, five weeks after the presidential election. Ten other states followed her example and united with South Carolina in forming the Confederate States of North America, choosing Jefferson Davis as their first president. Then followed the demand for the surrender of the forts and other property of the United States in the region in rebellion. Fort Sumter was taken after a bloodless fight, in which the first gun was fired by the South; other states seceded, and then came the uprising of the North in defense of the Union. As if by the wand of a magician the whole North was transformed into a vast military camp, where only a few days before nothing was to be seen save the arts and arms of peace and industry. Recruiting offices were opened in every city and almost in every village. Squads were formed into companies, companies into regiments and regiments into brigades, with a celerity that betokened ill for the cause of secession. The North had been taunted over and over again that it was more intent upon moneymaking than anything else, and nothing could provoke it into a fight. It had been patient and long-suffering, but the point of exasperation had been reached, and the men of the Northern states were now about to show of what stuff they were made. The president issued a call for seventy-five thousand men to serve for three months, and the call was responded to with alacrity. And it was in the recruiting that formed a part of this response that our story opens. Jack and Harry went to the recruiting office, which was on one of the principal streets of Dubuque and easy to find. Over the doorway an immense flag--the flag of the nation--was waving in the morning breeze, and in front of the door was an excited group of men discussing the prospects for the future, and particularly the chances of war. âIt 'll be over in a month,â said one, âand we 'll all be back here at home before our enlistment time's up.â âYes; the South'll be cleaned out in no time,â said another. âThose fellows are good on the brag, but when they look into the muzzles of Northern muskets they 'll turn tail and run.â âDon't be so sure of that,â said a third. âThe South may be wrong in all this business, but they 'll give us all the fighting we want.â âYou'd better go and fight for Jeff Davis,â was the retort which followed. âWe don't want any fellows like you around us.â âThat we don't, you bet,â said another, and the sentiment was echoed by fully half the listeners. âYou 're all wrong,â persisted the man who had just spoken. âDon't misunderstand me; I'm just as good a Union man as anybody, and I'm going to fight for the Union, but I don't want anybody to go off half-cocked, and think we're going to lick the South out of its boots in no time; because we can't do it. We 're going to win in this fight; we 're twenty millions and they 're eight, and we've got most of the manufacturing and the men who know how to work with their hands. But the Southerners are Americans like ourselves, and can fight just as well as we can. They think they 're right, and thinking so makes a heap of difference when you go in for war. They 'll do their level best, just as we shall.â âPerhaps they will,â was the reply, âbut we 'll make short work of 'em.â âAll right,â responded the other, âwe won't lose our tempers over it; but anybody who thinks the war will be over in three months doesn't appreciate American fighting ability, no matter on which side of the line it is found.â This mode of putting the argument silenced some of his opponents, particularly when he followed it up by showing how the Southern regiments in the Mexican war covered themselves with glory side by side with the Northern ones. But the loudest of the talkers refused to be silenced, and continued to taunt him with being a sympathizer with the rebellion. At the outbreak of the war a great deal of this kind of talk was to be heard on both sides; men in the North declaring that the South would be conquered and the war ended in three months, while people at the South boasted of the ability of one Southern man to whip three Northerners. When the armies fairly met in the field and steel clashed against steel all this boasting on both sides was silenced, and North and South learned to respect each other for their soldierly qualities. One of the greatest of military mistakes is to hold your enemy in contempt, and to this mistake is due some of the disasters of the early days of the war. And the lesson may be carried further. One of the greatest mistakes in the battle of life is to underrate those who oppose you or the hindrances that lie in your path. Always regard your opponent as fully your equal in everything, and then use your best endeavors to overcome him. Do your best at all times, and you have more than an even chance of success in the long run. Jack and Harry listened a few moments to the debate among the men in front of the recruiting office, and then made their way inside. A man in the uniform of a captain was sitting behind a desk taking the names of those that wanted to enlist, and telling them to wait their turn for examination. In a few moments a man came out from an inner room, and then a name was called and its owner went inside. âDon't think you 'll get in there, sonny,â said a man, who observed the puzzled look of Jack as he glanced toward the inner door. âWhat are they doing in there?â queried Jack encouraged by the friendly way in which he had been addressed. âThey 're putting the recruits through their paces,â was the reply; âexamining 'em to see whether they 'll do for service.â âHow do they do it?â âThey strip a man down to his bare skin,â was the reply, âand then they thump him and measure him, to see if his lungs are sound; weigh him and take his height, make him jump, try his eyes, look at his teeth; in fact, they put him through very much as you've seen a horse handled by a dealer who wanted to buy him. They've refused a lot of men here that quite likely they 'll be glad to take a few months from now.â And so it was. The first call for troops was responded to by far more men than were wanted to fill the quota, and the recruiting officers could afford to be very particular in their selections. Subsequent calls for troops were for three years' service, and, as the number under arms increased, recruiting became a matter of greater difficulty. Men that were refused at the first call were gladly accepted in later ones. Before the end of the first year of the war more than six hundred and sixty-one thousand men were under arms in the North. Jack and Harry walked up to the desk where the officer sat as soon as they saw he was unoccupied. âWell, my boys, what can I do for you?â said the captain cheerily. Jack waited a moment for Harry to speak, and finding he did not do so, broke the ice himself with-- âWe want to enlist, General.â The youth was unfamiliar with the insignia of rank, and thought he would be on the safe side by applying the highest title he knew of. The gilded buttons and shoulder-straps dazzled his eyes, and it is no wonder that he thought a man with so much ornamentation was deserving of the highest title. âCaptain, if you please,â said the officer, smiling; âbut I'm afraid you 're too young for us. How old are you?â âComing sixteen,â both answered in a breath. The captain shook his head as he answered that they were altogether too young. âCould n't we do something else?â queried Harry, eagerly. âWe can drive horses and work about the camp.â âIf you ever go for a soldier,â replied the captain, âyou 'll find that the men do their own camp work, and don't have servants. Perhaps we can give you a chance at the teams. Here, take this to the quartermaster,â and he scribbled a memorandum, suggesting that the boys might be handy to have about camp and around the horses. They could n't be enlisted, of course, but he liked their looks, and thought they could afford to feed the youths, anyhow. The boys eagerly hastened to the quartermaster, whom they had some difficulty in finding. He questioned them closely, and finally said they might go with the regiment when it moved. It was not then ready for the field, and he advised the boys to stay at home until the organization was complete and the regiment received orders to march to the seat of war. The parental permission was obtained with comparatively little difficulty, as the fathers of both the youths were firm believers in the theory of a short war, without any fighting of consequence; they thought the outing would be a pleasant affair of two or three months at farthest. Had they foreseen the result of the call to arms, and especially the perils and privations which were to befall Jack and Harry, it is probable that our heroes would have been obliged to run away in order to carry out their intention of going to the field. And possibly their ardor would have been dampened a little, and they might have thought twice before marching away as they did when the regiment was ordered to the front and the scene of active work in the field. CHAPTER II. ST. LOUIS AND CAMP JACKSON. |While Jack and Harry are waiting impatiently for the order that will give them a taste of military life, we will leave them for a while and go down the Mississippi river to the great city of St. Louis. The state of Missouri was one of those known as the âBorder States,â as it lay on the border between North and South. It was the most northerly of the slaveholding states west of the Mississippi river, and the system of slavery did not have a strong hold upon her people. Probably the majority of her native-born citizens were in favor of slavery, or only passively opposed to it, but it contained two hundred thousand residents of German birth, and these almost to a man were on the side of freedom. When the question of secession was submitted to the popular vote, the state, by a majority of eighty-thousand votes, refused to secede; but the governor and nearly all the rest of the state authorities were on the side of secession, and determined to take Missouri out of the Union in spite of the will of the people. Governor Jackson was in full sympathy with the secession movement, and with the reins of power in his hands he made the most of his opportunities. General Sterling Price, who commanded the Missouri state militia, was equally on the side of slavery and its offspring, secession, though at first he opposed the movement for taking the state out of the Union, and was far more moderate in his councils than was the governor and others of the state officials. Earnestly opposed to these men were Francis P. Blair, junior, and other unconditional Union men, most of whom lived in St. Louis, and had for years been fighting the battle of freedom on behalf of the state. They believed and constantly argued that Missouri would be far better off as a free state than a slave one, while the opponents of slavery in the Eastern and extreme Northern states had based their arguments mainly on the ground of justice to the black man. The Free-State men of Missouri gave the rights of the negro a secondary place and sometimes no place at all, but confined themselves to showing that the state would be better off and more prosperous under freedom than under slavery. They had a good knowledge of human nature, similar to that displayed by the author of the old maxim that âHonesty is the best policy.â âBe honest,â he would say, âbecause it is the best policy to be so, and let the question of right or wrong take care of itself.â All through the month of April, 1861, the plotting to take Missouri out of the Union was carried on by the secession party, and at the same time there was counterplotting on the part of the Union men. The secessionists, having the aid and sympathy of the state authorities, had the advantages on their side, and were not slow to use them. They organized forces under the name of minute men, and had them constantly drilling and learning the duties of soldiers. Later, under an order issued by the Governor, they formed a camp of instruction, under command of General D. M. Frost, in the suburbs of St. Louis, with the openly-declared intention of capturing the United States arsenal, which stood on the bank of the river just below the city. At the same time the Union men were equally active, and, under the leadership of Blair, those who were ready to fight for the preservation of the nation were organized into a military force called the âHome Guards.â While the plotting was going on and matters were progressing toward actual warfare, Captain Nathaniel Lyon, who commanded at the arsenal, caused the garrison to be strengthened, sent away the superfluous arms and ammunition to a place of greater safety, armed the Home Guards, and on the tenth of May surprised the secessionists by marching out in force and capturing Camp Jackson, the camp of instruction already mentioned. In order to have good reason for making the capture, Captain Lyon visited Camp Jackson in disguise and went through it from one end to the other. What he found in the camp gave him sufficient reason for action. Here it is: When the state of Louisiana seceded from the Union the United States arsenal at Baton Rouge was seized by the state authorities, who took forcible possession of the arms and munitions of war that they found there. When he was planning to capture the arsenal at St. Louis, Governor Jackson found that he needed some artillery with which to open fire from the hills that command the arsenal, which is on low ground on the bank of the river. Governor Jackson sent two officers to the Confederate capital, which was then at Montgomery, Alabama, to make an appeal to Jefferson Davis for artillery from the lot taken at Baton Rouge, and explain for what it was wanted. President Davis granted the request, ordered the commandant at Baton Rouge to deliver the artillery and ammunition as desired, and he wrote at the same time to Governor Jackson as follows: * * * After learning as well as I could from the gentlemen accredited to me what was most needed for the attack on the arsenal, I have directed that Captains Greene and Duke should be furnished with two 12-pound howitzers and two 32-pound guns, with the proper ammunition for each. These, from the commanding hills, will be effective against the garrison and to break the inclosing walls of the place. I concur with you in the great importance of capturing the arsenal and securing its supplies. * * * We look anxiously and hopefully for the day when the star of Missouri shall be added to the constellation of the Confederate States of America. With the best wishes I am, very respectfully, yours, Jefferson Davis. The cannon and ammunition reached St. Louis on the eighth of May, and were immediately sent to Camp Jackson. The negotiations for them had been known to Blair and Lyon, and as soon as they learned of the arrival of the material which would be so useful in capturing the arsenal, they determined to act. Captain Lyon, as before stated, went in disguise through the camp on the ninth, saw with his own eyes the cannon and ammunition, learned that they had come from Baton Rouge, and was told for what purpose they were intended. Here was the stolen property of the United States in the hands of the enemies of the government, and intended to be used for further thefts by violence. There could be no doubt of his duty in the matter, except in the mind of a secessionist or his sympathizer. By the secessionists the capture of Camp Jackson was looked upon as a great outrage, for which the Union men had no authority under the Constitution and laws either of the United States or of the state of Missouri. It was a peculiar circumstance of the opening months of the rebellion, and in fact all through it, that the rebels and their sympathizers were constantly invoking the Constitution of the United States wherever it could be brought to bear against the supporters of the government; so much was this the case that in time it came to be almost a certainty that any man who prated about the Constitution was on the side of the rebellion. The men who were ready to violate it were those who constantly sought to shield themselves behind it. As an illustration of this state of affairs, may be cited the letter of Governor Jackson in reply to the proclamation of President Lincoln calling for seventy-five thousand troops for three months, âto maintain the honor, the integrity and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; * * * and to repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union.â [Illustration: 025] Missouri was called upon for four regiments of militia as her quota of the seventy-five thousand. Governor Jackson replied to the president that he considered the requisition âillegal, unconstitutional and revolutionary in its objects, inhuman and diabolical, and cannot be complied with.â At the same time he was going on with preparations for carrying the state out of the Union, contrary to the desires of a majority of its inhabitants, as if they had no rights that he was bound to respect! As before stated, the arsenal at St. Louis is completely dominated by the range of hills beyond it, and a military force having possession of these hills would have the arsenal in its control. The secession leaders laid their plans to take possession of these hills in order to capture the arsenal. Learning of their intentions, Captain Lyon threw up a line of defensive works in the streets outside the walls of the arsenal, whereupon the secessionists invoked the local laws and endeavored to convince him that he had no right to do anything of the kind. The board of police commissioners ordered him to keep his men inside the walls of the arsenal, but he refused to do so, and for this he was loudly denounced as a violator of the law. There were about seven hundred men in Camp Jackson, under command of General Frost. Captain Lyon had issued arms to several regiments of the Home Guards of St. Louis, in spite of the protest of the police commissioners, who considered his action in doing so highly improper. These regiments, added to the regular soldiers composing the garrison at the arsenal, gave Captain Lyon a force of six or seven thousand men, with which he marched out on Friday, the tenth of May, surrounded Camp Jackson, and demanded its surrender. Under the circumstances General Frost could do nothing else than surrender, which he did at once. The militia stacked their arms and were marched out on their way to the arsenal. A short distance from the camp they were halted for some time, and during the halt a large crowd of people collected, nearly all of them being friends of the prisoners or sympathizers with secession. Most of the Home Guards were Germans, and during the halt they were reviled with all the epithets with which the tongues of the secession sympathizers were familiar. These epithets comprised all the profanity and vulgarity known to the English language in its vilest aspects, and added to them was the opprobrious name of âDutch blackguards,â which was applied in consequence of one of the companies calling itself _Die Schwartze Garde_. Without orders, some of the soldiers fired on the jeering mob; the fire passed along the line until several companies had emptied their rifles, and twenty-eight people fell, killed or mortally wounded, among them being three prisoners. Then the firing ceased as suddenly as it began, and the prisoners were marched to the arsenal. On the eleventh all the captured men were liberated on their parole not to bear arms against the United States. One officer, Captain Emmett McDonald, refused to accept release on this condition, and like a true secessionist sought his remedy through the Constitution and the laws of the country. It took a long time to secure it, but eventually he was liberated on a technicality, went South and joined the Southern cause, and was killed in battle not long afterward. âWhat has all this to do with Jack and Harry?â the impatient reader asks. We shall very soon find out. CHAPTER III. SECESSION IDEAS OF NEUTRALITY. |For some days it was rumored in Dubuque that the Iowa troops would soon be ordered to march into the neighboring state of Missouri. There was great excitement when, on the morning of the eleventh of May, the particulars of occurrences of the day before in St. Louis were published. Jack read about it in the morning paper and then hurried to Harry's house as fast as his young feet could carry him. âThis means business,â said Jack, as he quickly narrated to Harry what he had read. âSo it does,â was the response; âwe 'll surely be off before many days. Let's go to camp.â Away they went, and found, as they expected, that everybody expected to move to the front very shortly. âWe are pretty nearly ready for orders,â said the quartermaster, âand you'd better come here twice a day, if not oftener, to make sure that you don't get left. Watch the newspapers and see what happens in Missouri for the next few days, as it will have a good deal to do with our movements.â The boys did as they were directed, and, what was more, they went to a tailor and bought suits resembling those worn by the soldiers. They were not entitled to receive uniforms from the quartermaster, as they had not been enlisted or regularly employed, and, therefore, their outfits were paid for out of their own pockets. But the clothes they wanted were not costly, and therefore their outfits did not cost them much. There was more news of importance the next day, and if the excitement was great in Dubuque, it was nothing to that in St. Louis. According to the histories of the time, it occurred in this wise: A regiment of the Home Guards was marching from the arsenal to its barracks, which lay at the other side of the city, and while on its way it encountered a dense multitude which blocked the street. The crowd being almost wholly composed of secessionists, many of whom were armed with pistols, a pistol-shot was fired at the soldiers, whereupon the latter opened fire, killing eight men and wounding several others. Then the regiment continued to its barracks and was not further molested. A rumor went around among the secessionists that the Germans had threatened to kill everybody who did not agree with them, and a general massacre was seriously feared. The police commissioners and the mayor asked to have the Home Guards sent away from the city, and though General Harney, the commander of the department, promised to comply with their request, he was soon convinced by Blair and Lyon that it could not be done without giving the city into the hands of the secessionists. Then came a rumor that the Home Guards had refused to obey the orders of General Harney, and were about to begin the destruction of the city and the murder of its inhabitants. A panic followed, and on the twelfth and thirteenth of May thousands of women and children were sent out of the city; the ferry-boats were crowded to their utmost capacity, and extra steamboats were pressed into service to convey the people to places of safety. Quiet was not restored until two companies of regular soldiers were brought into the city and General Harney had issued a proclamation in which he pledged his faith as a soldier to preserve order and protect all unoffending citizens. This brought back nearly all the fugitives, but there were some who never returned, as they feared the terrible âDutch blackguardsâ would revolt against their officers and deluge the streets of St. Louis with blood. Jack and Harry read with great interest the account of these happenings in the neighboring state, and wondered how they would all end. They also read the editorial comments of the newspapers, but could not understand all they found there. So they strolled down to camp and questioned one of the soldiers, an intelligent printer from one of the newspaper offices. âOne thing we want to know,â said Jack, âis what is meant by 'states-rights'?â âThat 's what the South is going to war about,â was the reply; âor at any rate that is the pretext of the leaders, though I've no doubt it is honestly believed by the great mass of the southern people.â âWhat is it, anyway?â âWell, it is the idea that the general government of the United States has no power to coerce or control a state against the latter's will.â âDoes that mean,â said Harry, âthat if a state wants to go out of the Union she has a perfect right to do so, and there's no power or right in the general government to stop her?â âYes, that's what it means,â was the reply. âThe states-rights argument is that the states that were dissatisfied with the election of President Lincoln had a perfect right to secede or step out of the Union, and the Union had no right to force them to stay in or come back.â âThank you,â said Harry; âI think I understand it now. And how is it with the border states, like Missouri, and the state sovereignty they 're talking about?â âThe states-rights men in Missouri claim that the national government has no right or authority to call for troops from Missouri to aid in putting down rebellion in the seceded states; that Governor Jackson did right in refusing such troops when the president called for them; that the national government has no right to enlist troops in Missouri to take part in the war, and that it must not be permitted to march its troops into or across or through any part of the state in order to reach the states in rebellion against the national authority.â âIn other words,â said one of the boys, âthey want the state of Missouri to be entirely neutral in the war--to take no part in it either way?â âThat 's what they say,â replied the printer, with a smile. âBut look here,â exclaimed Harry; âhave n't I read that the secessionists in Missouri seized the United States arsenal at Liberty, in the western part of the state, and took possession of all the cannon, small-arms and ammunition they found there?â âYes.â âAnd have n't I read about how they planned to capture the St. Louis arsenal, and Jeff Davis sent them some artillery and ammunition for that purpose, and wrote them a letter saying exactly what the cannon were to be used for, and how they were to be placed on the hills behind the arsenal in order to batter down the walls?â âYes, you read that, and it's all true.â âThat 's what they call neutrality, is it? Do they claim that they have a perfect right to do anything they please toward destroying the government, but the government does wrong when it lifts a finger for its own protection?â âThat's exactly what they claim and have said over and over again in their newspapers and through the voices of their speakers, and every secessionist you talk with says the same thing.â âWell,â exclaimed Harry, after a slight pause, âI don't think much of such neutrality as that. It's as one-sided as the handle of a jug--a sort of 'heads I win, tails you lose,' business. You could respect them and believe them sincere if they said 'hands off from us, and we will keep hands off from you,' and then lived up to what they said.â Jack agreed with Harry, and both of them wondered till they were tired and even then could not make it out how honest and fair-minded men as many of the southern sympathizers undoubtedly were, could call such action as that by the name of neutrality. Doubtless some of the young people who read this story will wonder too, and possibly they may doubt that such was the case. Their doubts will be dispelled when they consult any of their friends who are familiar with the history of the war of the rebellion. The events of the tenth and eleventh of May greatly aided Governor Jackson in his efforts to carry the state of Missouri into the war on the side of the South. The legislature met on the second of May, and the governor recommended that the state should be placed in a condition of defense, so that she could resist invasion by the national forces. While it was discussing the subject and making slow progress the tenth of May came, and with it the Camp Jackson affair. In less than fifteen minutes after the news was received both houses of the legislature had passed the so-called military bill providing for arming the state, and it was ready to be signed by the governor and become a law. Five days later the legislature adjourned, after passing other acts throwing the state on the side of secession, appropriating two million dollars for military purposes, in addition to the school fund and all other money belonging to the state. The greatest alarm prevailed, as the wildest stories were circulated about the bloodthirstiness of the Germans, who composed the greater part of the Home Guards organized for the defense of St. Louis. On a rumor that two regiments of them were approaching the capital a railway bridge over the Gasconade River was partially destroyed, and many people fled from the city. The president of the United States removed General Harney from the command of the department, and appointed Lyon, who had been promoted to brigadier-general of volunteers in his stead. Troops in Kansas, Iowa and Illinois were ordered to be ready to move into Missouri, and everything indicated that the government was determined to put a stop to the so-called neutrality of the state. The neutrality was well illustrated by the circumstances that in all parts of the state the Union men were the victims of outrages at the hands of their secessionist neighbors. For no other offense than being in favor of the Union and opposed to Secession men were dragged from their beds at night and ordered to leave the neighborhood within twenty-four hours, their houses and barns were burned, their cattle and horses stolen, work in the fields was suspended, and everything was the reverse of peaceful. By an agreement between General Harney on the Union side and General Price on behalf of the state authorities, the operations of the military bill had been suspended, and the volunteers which it called together were to be sent to their homes. But instead of going there they were gathered into companies and battalions in convenient places, where they were drilled and instructed in the duties of soldiers. Evidently the neutrality that the Missouri rebels wanted was as one-sided as we have already described it. CHAPTER IV. ON THE ROAD TO GLORY. |The regiment to which our young friends were attached--the First Iowa--received orders to move southward. Everything was bustle and activity in the camp, and the boys made themselves useful in a variety of ways. As before stated, they were to accompany the wagon-train, and at once proceeded to make friends with everybody connected with that branch of the regiment's service; and they were not only friendly with the men, but with the horses. Some of the animals showed a tendency to be unruly, but by gentle ways and words Jack and Harry secured their confidence, and it was often remarked that the brutes would do more for the boys than for anybody else. One of the teamsters asked Jack how it was, and said he would give a good deal to know their secret of horse-training. âThere's no secret about it,â replied Jack; âat least, none that I know of. My father is very fond of horses, and has often told me that he always treats them kindly, but at the same time firmly. If he sets out to have a horse do anything he makes him do it; if the creature is stubborn he coaxes him and pets him, and keeps on urging him to do what he wants, and after a while the horse does it. When he has once begun he never lets up, and the animal soon knows that the man is master, and at the same time learns that he isn't to be cruelly punished, very often for not understanding what is wanted.â To show what he could do in the way of equestrian training, Jack took charge of a âbalkyâ horse that frequently stopped short in his tracks and refused to move on in spite of a sound thrashing. All efforts to get him to go ahead were of no use, and altogether the beast (whose name was Billy) was the cause of a great deal of bad language on the part of the teamsters, which even the presence of the chaplain could not restrain. Jack harnessed Billy into a cart, and after asking those about him to make no interference, and not even to come near him, he started to mount a small hill at the edge of the camp. Before he had ascended ten feet of the sloping road Billy halted, and showed by his position and the roll of his eye that he intended to stay where he was. Jack dismounted and took the animal by the head; he tugged gently at the bridle three or four times, speaking gently and kindly all the while, but to no purpose. Billy was âsetâ in his determination, and did not propose to oblige anybody. âAll right,â said Jack; âif you want to stop here I 'll stay too.â And with that he pulled out a dime novel and sat down by the roadside close to Billy's head. Jack opened his book and began to read, while Billy looked on and meditated. Half an hour passed and then an hour. At the end of that time Jack made another effort to start the horse up the hill, but with the same result as before. Then he read another hour and then another, stopping once in a while to try and coax the animal to move on. By this time it was noon, and Jack called to Harry to bring him something to eat. Harry came with a slice of cold meat and a piece of bread, and immediately went away, leaving Jack to devour his lunch in silence, which he did. When the meal was concluded he read another chapter or two, and then he took Billy once more by the bridle and in the same gentle tones urged him to proceed. Evidently the horse had thought the matter over, as he showed a perfect willingness to do as his young master desired. Without the least hesitation he went straight up the hill, and when they were at the top Jack petted and praised him, and after a while took him back to camp. The lesson was repeated again in the afternoon and on the following day, and from that time on Billy was a model of obedience as long as he was kindly treated. âI believe a horse has to think things over just as we do,â said Jack; âand if you watch him you 'll find out that he can't think fast. What I wanted was to have him understand that he had got to stay there all day and all night if necessary, until he did what I wanted him to do. When he saw me reading that book and sitting so quiet by the roadside, and particularly when he saw me eat my dinner and sit down to wait just as I had waited before, he made up his mind that't was n't any use to hold out. Horses have good memories. Hereafter when he 's inclined to be balky he 'll think of that long wait and give in without any fuss.â The regiment went by steamboat down the Mississippi river to the frontier of Missouri, and there waited orders to advance into the interior of the would-be neutral state, and while it waited there was a rapid progress of events in St. Louis, to which we will now turn. General Lyon had positive information that the rebels were preparing to bring troops from Arkansas and the Indian Territory to assist the Missouri state guard in keeping out the âDutch and Yankees.â Of course this was quite in keeping with the neutrality about which they had so much to say, and if allowed to go on it was very evident that the whole of the interior of the state might soon be in their control. Accordingly he asked for further authority to enlist troops in the state, and requested that the governors of the neighboring states should be directed to furnish him with several regiments that were in readiness. His request was granted, and within less than a month from the capture of Camp Jackson General Lyon had a military force aggregating ten thousand men in St. Louis, and as many more in Kansas, Iowa and Illinois waiting orders to move wherever he wanted them to go. Besides these troops there were several thousands of Home Guards in different parts of the state; many of these men were Germans, who had seen military service in the old country, and were excellent material for an army. Opposed to them the governor had a few thousand state troops, many of them poorly armed, but they greatly made up in activity what they lacked in numbers or equipment, so far as keeping the country in a perpetual turmoil was concerned. It was very evident that the state troops could not hold out against General Lyon's disciplined army, and consequently the governor made ready to abandon Jefferson City, the capital, whenever General Lyon moved against it. All the state property that could be moved was sent away, and the governor and other officials prepared to follow whenever hostilities began. Through the efforts of several gentlemen who still hoped for a peaceful solution of the troubles of Missouri, a conference was held at St. Louis on the eleventh of June between Governor Jackson and General Price on behalf of the state authorities, and General Lyon and Colonel Blair on the other. General Lyon had guaranteed that if Jackson and Price would come to St. Louis for the purposes of the conference they should have âsafe conductâ both ways and not be molested while in the city. The meeting was a historic one. General Lyon, on being notified of the arrival of Jackson and Price in the city, asked them to meet him at the United States arsenal. The wily governor did not consider himself altogether safe in venturing there, in spite of the safe-conduct that he held, and suggested that the conference must be held at the Planters' House, a well-known hotel of St. Louis, and at that time the principal one. Accordingly the general went there with Colonel Blair, and after a few polite phrases the negotiations began. Present, but not taking part in the debate, were Major Conant, of General Lyon's staff, and Colonel Snead, the private secretary of Governor Jackson. Four or five hours were consumed in the discussion, which was an animated one throughout. The governor demanded that the United States troops should be withdrawn from the state, and that no recruiting for the union cause should be permitted anywhere in Missouri. 'When the troops were withdrawn he would disband the state militia, and thus the state would be kept entirely neutral. General Lyon insisted that the government had the right to send its troops where it pleased within the boundaries of the United States, and he would listen to nothing else. No progress was made by either side, as neither would yield a point. Finally General Lyon brought the conference to an end by telling Governor Jackson it was useless to talk longer, and that in one hour an officer would call to escort them out of the city. Lyon and Blair went at once to the arsenal to give orders for the movement of troops, and within an hour from the end of the conference Jackson and Price were on their way to Jefferson City as fast as the railway train could carry them. On the way they ordered the bridges over the Osage and Gasconade rivers to be burned, in order to prevent pursuit. Early the next morning the governor issued a proclamation calling the people of the state to arms, for the purpose, as he said, of repelling invasion and protecting the lives and property of the citizens of the state. He also asked the Confederate government to send a co-operating force into Missouri as soon as possible, and gave orders for General Price to take the field at once with all the troops he could muster. General Lyon ordered three regiments with two batteries of artillery, under General Sweeney, to occupy the southwestern part of the state, and by the thirteenth they were on their way to Springfield by way of Rolla, which was then the terminus of the railroad in that direction. The object of this movement was to stop the advance of any Confederate force coming from Arkansas to help the Missourians, and also to head off Jackson and Price in case they marched in that direction. At the same time General Lyon, with two regiments of infantry and a battery of artillery, together with about five hundred regular infantry, went up the Missouri river to Jefferson City, which they captured on the fifteenth without opposition, the rebels having left on the day that General Lyon started from St. Louis. At the same time that he gave orders for the movements from St. Louis, General Lyon telegraphed to the commander of the Iowa regiment to which Jack and Harry were attached, to advance into Missouri in the direction of Booneville, a flourishing town on the south bank of the Missouri, and the spot selected by General Price as the rallying point of the state troops. There was a considerable amount of war material stored there belonging to the state, and by orders of the governor an arsenal had been started at Booneville for the manufacture of cannon and small-arms. Most of the inhabitants sympathized with the secession movement, which was not the case with the population of Jefferson City, largely composed of Germans. Jack and Harry fairly danced with delight when they found they were to march into the enemy's country. They regretted that their duties kept them with the wagon-train, which is not usually supposed to take part in battle, and wondered if there was not some way by which they could change places with two of the soldiers and have a share in the fighting. During their first night on the soil of Missouri they lost a fair amount of blood; it was drawn not by the bullets or the sabers of the enemy, but by the mosquitos with which that region is abundantly supplied. Jack thought he had spilled at least a pint of gore in feeding the Missouri mosquitos, and wondered if he could be fairly charged with treason or giving âaid and comfort to the enemy.â CHAPTER V. ON THE MARCH--CAPTURING A REBEL FLAG. |It was a new life for Jack and Harry, and they greatly enjoyed it. Both declared that they slept more comfortably on the ground than they had formerly slept in bed, and as for the distance accomplished in a day's march it was nothing to them. They cheerfully gave up their places in the wagons to some of the footsore soldiers, and trudged along behind the vehicles as merry as larks. There was very little danger to be apprehended on the march, although they were technically in the enemy's country. In the part of Missouri north of the river of the same name, there were a few straggling bands of state troops under the command of General John B. Clark, but nothing like a disciplined force that could offer resistance to a well-equipped regiment like the First Iowa. Whenever the regiment approached a town or village, most of the secessionists fled in dismay, after spreading terrible stories of the atrocities that the invaders would be sure to commit as soon as they arrived. Those that remained were no doubt greatly surprised at the good order that prevailed and the perfect respect shown to private property. Everything required for the use of the soldiers was fully paid for, and instead of bewailing the visit of the invaders, many of the citizens, even those whose sympathies were not with the Union, hoped they would come again. Later in the war things changed a good deal in this respect, as we shall see further on in our story. One town through which the regiment passed, and where it halted for one day and a part of another to wait orders for further movements, was reputed to be one of the worst nests of secession in that part of the state. There was a hotel in the town, and its owner had recently, so Jack learned from a boy of about his age with whom he established friendly relations, given it the name of the Davis House, in honor of the President of the Southern Confederacy. Jack informed the soldiers of this discovery, and an examination of the front of the building showed that the former name of the hotel had been painted out to make a place for the new one. Immediately a pot of white paint and one of black were procured, a rough staging was erected, the word âDavisâ was painted out, and âUnionâ took its place.
{'title': 'The Lost Army by Thomas Wallace Knox', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}