CHAPTER XIII. AFTER THE BATTLE--A FLAG OF TRUCE.
|On the whole battlefield there was no man more calm and collected thanGeneral Lyon, notwithstanding the great responsibility that rested uponhim and the fearful odds against which he fought. Now on horseback andnow on foot, he moved among his men, encouraging them by his manner andwith now and then a few brief words, making suggestions to his officers,listening to the reports of his aids, calling back those who sought toflee and steadying those who showed signs of giving way, rallying thelines where they began to break and closing up gaps between companiesand regiments, he seemed a tower of strength where it was greatlyneeded.
When it became apparent that Sigel had been routed, and not only couldno help be expected from him, but the regiments of the enemy which hadbeen engaged with him would now be turned in the direction of the maincolumn, General Lyon remarked to an officer that he feared the day waslost. “But we will make another effort to save it,” said he; and withthis remark he moved to give some directions to Captain Totten, who wasserving his battery on the brow of the hill.
He was close to the most advanced section of the battery when his horsewas killed by a cannon-shot, and the general was somewhat stunned by hisfall to the ground. The colonel of the Second Kansas had been wounded;the regiment was close in line with the First Iowa, and with theseregiments General Lyon undertook to lead an advance against the enemy,when he was struck down by a bullet. He fell into the arms of hisfaithful orderly, Lehman, who had kept close to his side, and breathedonly a few times after the latter had laid him gently on the ground.
Thus fell one of the truest soldiers, one of the purest patriots, oneof the most devoted men in his country’s cause that the world has everseen. He loved his country for his country’s sake, and hated slavery andall its concomitants with deadly hate. While it existed he tolerated it,because it was one of the institutions of the land; but when itraised its hand for the destruction of the Union, he was its mostuncompromising foe. He believed in no half-way measures, in nopatched-up peace; and when the governor of Missouri set up the theoryof the right of the state to refuse to send troops to the war or permittheir enlistment within her boundaries, General Lyon would neither offernor accept any compromise. He held that the national government wasparamount to the state or any other local authority, and considered thequestion one not to be argued.
In fighting the battle in which he lost his life he did so, not thathe was confident of victory, with the odds so greatly against him, butbecause he considered it better to fight and take the chances of defeat,rather than not fight at all. He justly believed that a well-foughtbattle, even if lost, would leave no room for the charge, which therebels were making daily and hourly, that the Northern men werecowards, who dared not fight. He knew that a retreat would enablethe Confederates to overrun all that part of the state as far asthe Missouri river; that it would give great encouragement to thesecessionists all through the state, and would equally discourage thefriends of the Union cause. There was a hope--just a hope--that he mightwin, and so he risked the battle and prepared to abide by its results.
After the death of General Lyon the command fell upon Major Sturgis,who immediately consulted the rest of the officers as to what should bedone. Ammunition was nearly exhausted, the rebels were pressing hard,and it was speedily decided that the only safety lay in retreat, as acontinuance of the battle would simply lead to greater slaughter withoutany prospect of victory. And so a retreat was ordered.
The withdrawal was made in good order, the enemy making no attemptto follow. It has been stated that the rebels were at that momentcontemplating a retreat from the field, and had not the Union troopswithdrawn they would soon have found themselves victorious. Thisstatement rests upon report rather than authority, and certainly theConfederate historians do not give any credence to it. Some ground forthe statement may be found in the fact that the last repulse of therebels before the order for retreat was given was a severe one, andresulted in a disorderly retirement of the attacking column. At one timethe rebels were within twenty feet of the muzzles of Totten’s guns,and it was only by the most determined resistance on the part of theinfantry supporting the battery that the assailants were driven back.
Most of the wounded were brought from the field in the wagons andambulances that followed the column, but so great was the number thatthere was not room for all. Many were left on the ground, and so was thebody of General Lyon, which was afterward recovered by a flag of trucethat went out in charge of one of the young doctors attached to theservice, partly to recover the body and partly to care for or bring inthe wounded. Our young friend Harry was detailed to drive one of thewagons that went to the field with the flag of truce. Greatly to theirdisappointment both the youths had received strict orders to stay withthe wagons on the day of battle, so that they did not see anything ofthe momentous events of the day. In the distance they heard the firing,and now and then could get a glimpse of a column of men in motion, butso far as the actual battle was concerned they practically saw nothing.
The flag of truce was gone several hours, and did not return untilevening. It was successful in its mission, and those in charge of itwere courteously received by the Confederate officers, though they metwith many scowls on the part of the rebel soldiers. Until the flag oftruce appeared the rebels were not aware of General Lyon’s death, and ofcourse when they heard of it they considered it an additional laurel fortheir side. General Price sent Colonel Snead, his adjutant-general, toidentify the body of the fallen hero and deliver it to the men who camefor it, and he did so. Here is his account of the incident, togetherwith his estimate of the general’s character:
“General Price thereupon directed me to identify Lyon’s body, and todeliver it to the bearer of the flag of truce. It had been borne to therear of the Federal line of battle, and there, under the shade of anoak, it lay, still clad in the captain’s uniform which he had worn justtwo months before when, relying upon the strength of his manhood, on themight of his government, and on the justice of his cause, he had boldlydefied the governor of the state and the major-general of her forces,and in their presence had declared war against Missouri and against allwho should dare to take up arms in her defense. Since that fateful dayhe had done many memorable deeds, and had well deserved the gratitudeof all those who think that the union of these states is the chiefest ofpolitical blessings, and that they who gave their lives to perpetuate itought to be forever held in honor by those who live under its flag. Thebody was delivered to the men who had come for it--delivered to themwith all the respect and courtesy which were due to a brave soldier andthe commander of an army, and they bore it away towards Springfield,whither the army which he had led out to battle was slowly and sullenlyretreating.”
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Colonel Snead adds:
“The Confederates remained upon the field which they had won, andministered to the wounded and buried the dead of both armies. Before theunpitying sun had sunk behind the western hills, all those who had diedfor the Union and all those who had died for the South had been laid torest, uncoffined, in the ground which their manhood had made memorableand which their blood had made sacred forever.”
Jack was waiting for Harry when the latter returned, and as soon as theteam had been unharnessed and the animals fed, the two youths had ananimated talk.
“The doctor told me to drive as fast as I could,” said Harry, “and youcan be sure I did. He had the flag of truce--a big napkin or towel tiedto a stick--and this he kept waving in front of the wagons as we wentalong. We did n’t see anybody until we got pretty near the battlefield,and then we came upon a picket of fellows in butternut clothes andarmed with shotguns and squirrel rifles. Yes, we did see somebody, as wepassed several of our wounded soldiers who had tried to follow thearmy on its retreat, but were too weak to do so and had sat down bythe roadside or were still hobbling on as fast as they could. One poorfellow of the First Iowa, who had been shot in the leg, was using hisgun for a crutch. He asked
for a drink of water and we gave it to him,and we gave water to some of the others, who seemed to need it badly.The doctor says a wounded man always suffers terribly from thirst, andone of the first things he always asks for is water.
“When we got to the rebel picket they stopped us and at first would n’tlet us go on or send inside to the commanding officer or anybody elsein authority. But the doctor good-naturedly said they could see forthemselves that he was the bearer of a flag of truce--that he had amessage to deliver, and the best way to find out whether he was rightor wrong was to send to the nearest commissioned officer and ask him tocome there.
“This appealed to the common sense of the sergeant, who did n’t seem tobe a bad fellow, but simply ignorant. He sent for his captain, and ina little while the captain came. It was hard to distinguish the captainfrom the soldiers, as they were all dressed alike; some of them hadpieces of red cloth sewed on their sleeves, and the captain had stripeson his shoulders that looked just a little like shoulder-straps.
“The doctor delivered his message, and the captain told him to waitawhile till he could report to General Price. Then the fellows of thepicket began to talk to us, and we got on pretty well, though we thoughtthey boasted a little too much under the circumstances about having justlicked our army and made us go back to Springfield.
“They asked us for tobacco, but we had n’t any, and then they hintedthat a little coffee would taste very well. We told them we had beenshort of coffee for the last two weeks. They would hardly believe us,but declared that while we had n’t had as much as we wanted, they hadbeen forced to go without it altogether. Fact is, they did n’t look asthough they had been well fed. One of’em took an ear of corn from hispocket and said it was to be his supper, his breakfast having been justlike it.
“The captain came back with another officer, and then we went on towhere the general’s body was lying. The soldiers crowded around us,the same sort of butternut fellows as we met at the picket. One of ‘emstarted to say something insulting to us, but the captain shut him upwith a word, and after that the only affronts we had were scowls andoccasional mutterings about the Yankees and Dutch. The captain came withus to the place where the picket was, and then let us go. The doctorthanked him for his politeness, and offered him a cigar, which heaccepted with the remark that it was the first he had seen for twomonths.”