CHAPTER VIII. THE CAPTURED CAMP--A CHAPLAIN’S EXPLOIT.
|There were no horses in camp, but there were many saddles, anindication that the camp was evacuated so hastily that there was nottime to put the accouterments on the steeds, where they belonged. Thesaddles came handy to the civilian attachés of the expedition, and sodid the blankets and a good many other things that had been left behind.A company of infantry was left in charge of the camp, and then the restof the column pressed on in pursuit.
Outside the town there was another brief halt, caused by the presence ofa small company of mounted men, who evidently acted as a rear-guard,and with whom a few shots were exchanged. Some of the dignitariesof Boone-ville came out to surrender the place and beg that privateproperty should be respected, and while they were parleying with GeneralLyon and Colonel Blair two steamboats left the landing in front ofBooneville and steamed up the river. They carried the greater part ofthe fleeing rebels, the remainder making their escape by land along theriver road.
And so ended the battle of Booneville. The losses on the Union side werethree killed and ten wounded; on the rebel side the number of casualtieswas never positively known, owing to the fact that many of the statetroops fled directly to their homes and stayed there, or at all eventswere not heard from again. Eight or ten were known to have been killed,and about twenty wounded.
A year or two later an affair of this sort would have been regardedmerely as a roadside skirmish, but at that time it was an occurrence ofgreat moment. From one end of the country to the other the account ofit was published, and it has become known to history as an importantbattle. Politically it was of great consequence, as it was the firstbattle fought in Missouri, if we leave out of consideration theincidents of Camp Jackson and the day after, which cannot be regardedas battles in any sense. It was the first trial of strength betweenthe state authorities of Missouri and the national government, and asa trial of strength it showed the power of the United States and theresources and abilities of the government better than could have beendone by a whole volume of proclamations.
Disciplined troops were brought face to face with raw recruits who hadnot received even the rudiments of military instruction. Many of themwere not even organized into companies, but had come together hastilyat the call of the governor, and on the day of the battle were tryingto fight “on their own hook.” And they learned the lesson which isgenerally taught under such circumstances--that such a hook is a verypoor one to fight on.
The greenness of the men is shown by some of the incidents of the day.Reverend William A. Pile, the chaplain of the First Missouri, was amuscular Christian, who showed such a fondness for fighting that heafterward went into the service and gained the rank of brigadier-generalbefore the war was over. At Booneville he was assigned to look after thewounded, and for this purpose was given command of four soldiers, two ofthem from the mounted escort of General Lyon, and two infantrymen fromthe First Missouri.
While looking about the field after the rebels had been put to flight,the chaplain came suddenly upon a group of men who seemed uncertain whatto do. Most of them had rifles and shotguns, and might have made it veryuncomfortable for the man of religion.
He hesitated not a moment, but drew his revolver. He was mounted on agood horse, one of the steeds taken in the early part of the battle, andhad all the dignity of a captain of cavalry.
Ordering his two cavalrymen to accompany him, and telling the infantrycolumn--of two men--to follow as fast as they could, he dashed up to thegroup and presented his pistol as though about to fire.
“Throw down your arms and surrender!” the chaplain commanded, in a voicelike the roaring of a young bull.
The men dropped their arms to the ground, and stood in that dazedattitude with which a cow looks at a railway train.
“About face, march!” shouted the chaplain, anxious to get the fellowsaway from their weapons before they had time to collect their senses andmake it uncomfortable for their would-be captors.
Mechanically the men obeyed, and when they were at a good distance fromthe guns that had been left on the ground he halted them to give hisinfantry a chance to come up and help surround the prisoners.
The infantry came up, and the prisoners, twenty-four in all, were duly“surrounded” and marched into camp, where they were placed among othersof their late comrades-in-arms. Twenty-four armed men surrounded andcaptured by four soldiers and a chaplain is an occurrence not oftenknown in war. The prisoners were mostly beardless youths, who had littleappreciation of what war was or is. Only the rawest of soldiers could becaptured in this way and brought safely into the lines, and it requiredall the audacity of which the chaplain was capable to carry out hisenterprise.
Booneville was entered in triumph, and there was great excitement amongthe inhabitants, many of whom expected to be murdered in cold bloodafter witnessing the pillaging of their houses and the destruction ofeverything that the “Yankee thieves” did not desire to carry away. Thepoorer part of the population was generally loyal, while the wealthierinhabitants were nearly all in favor of secession. There were some richpeople who were stanch supporters of the Union, but they had a hard timeof it among their more numerous secession neighbors.
A considerable quantity of rebel stores and arms were taken atBooneville and in the neighborhood, and altogether the forces that werearrayed under the secession banner suffered a heavy loss in things thatwere valuable to them. The hiding-places of these valuables were pointedout by union men, who in some instances desired their identity concealedfor fear of the vengeance that would be visited upon them after thenational troops should go away. They complained that they had been verybadly treated, and several of them had been given a certain number ofdays in which to close up their affairs and leave town. Their time ofprobation had not ended when the battle and its result rendered theirdeparture a matter which the rebels were not exactly able to control.
General Lyon issued a proclamation, in which he briefly recited theevents of the past week and warned the people not to take up armsagainst the government. He advised all who had been in arms to go totheir homes, and promised that all who would do so and remain quietlyattending to their own business, should not be disturbed for pastoffenses. The proclamation had a good effect, and the number recentlyunder arms who went home and stayed there was by no means small.Unhappily it was more than offset by those who responded to the summonsof the governor and went to follow the fortunes of the army that he wasorganizing.
Preparations were now made for an advance into the southwest part ofthe state, as it was understood that the rebels would attempt to makea stand there, where they would be assisted by the troops that theConfederate government was sending to help in getting Missouri out ofthe Union.
General Sweeney was ordered to march from Rolla to Springfield, and atthe same time General Lyon would move from Booneville toward the samepoint. Simultaneously a column under Major Sturgis was to advance fromLeavenworth, Kansas, through the western part of Missouri, and thethree columns were to unite near Springfield and endeavor to cut off anddisperse the rebels that were concentrating with a view to taking theoffensive. This was the plan, but owing to the absence of railways itcould not be carried out in a hurry.
The First Iowa reached Booneville shortly after the battle, and most ofits officers and soldiers were greatly disappointed to think they couldnot have had a hand in the fight.
Jack and Harry had their first view of the Missouri river from the bankopposite Booneville, and were greatly interested in studying the mightystream as the ferryboat carried them across.
As he looked at the yellow flood pouring along with the rapidity whichis one of its characteristics, Jack remarked:
“I understand now why they call it ‘The Big Muddy,’ as it is certainlythe muddiest river I ever saw.”
“Yes,” replied Harry; “but I don’t believe it is as bad as SenatorBenton said of it, ‘too thick to swim in, but not thick enough to walkon.’ Anyhow, we ‘ll settle that
question by having a swim the firstchance we get.”
They had their swim, but though they verified the incorrectness of thedistinguished senator’s assertion, they decided that one must be verydirty indeed to be benefited by a bath in the Missouri; and they readilybelieved what they were told by a resident of Booneville, that in thetime of flood you can get an ounce of solid matter out of every eightounces of water from the river.
“Look on the map of the United States,” said their informant, “and seehow the Mississippi river has pushed the delta through which its mouthsempty into the Gulf of Mexico. The land that is formed there has beenbrought down by the water that fills the channel of the river; some ofit comes from the lower Mississippi, but probably the greater part isfrom the valley of the Missouri.”