484 



MISSOURI. 



of the United States, because I would not assume on 

 its behalf to relinquish its duties, and abdicate its 

 rights of protecting loyal citizens from the oppression 

 and cruelty of the secessionists in this State, I pub- 

 lished an address to the people, in which I declared 

 my intention to use the force under my command for 

 no other purpose than the maintenance of the .au- 

 thority of the General Government, and the pro- 

 tection of the rights and property of all law-abiding 

 citizens. 



The State authorities, in violation of an agreement 

 with Gen. Harney on the 2d of May last, had drawn 

 together and organized upon a large scale the means 

 of warfare, and, having made a declaration of war, 

 they abandoned the capital, issued Borders for the de- 

 struction of the railroad and telegraph lines, and pro- 

 ceeded to this point to put into execution their hostile 

 purposes towards the General Government. This de- 

 volved upon me the necessity of meeting this issue to 

 the best of my ability, and accordingly I moved to this 

 point with a portion of the force under my command, 

 attacked and dispersed the hostile forces gathered here 

 by the Governor, and took possession of the camp- 

 equipage left, and a considerable number of prisoners, 

 most of them young and of immature age, and who 

 represent that they have been misled by frauds, inge- 

 niously devised and industriously inculcated by design- 

 ing leaders, who seek to devolve upon unreflecting 

 and deluded followers the task of securing the object 

 of their own false ambition. 



Out of compassion for these misguided youths, and 

 to correct the impressions created by unscrupulous 

 calumniators, I liberated them upon the condition that 

 they will not serve in the impending hostilities against 

 the United States Government. 



I have done this in spite of the well-known facts 

 that the leaders in the present rebellion, having long 

 experienced the mildness of the General Government, 

 still feel confident that this mildness cannot be over- 

 taxed even by factious hostilities, having in view its 

 overthrow ; but lest, as in the case of the late Camp 

 Jackson aflair, this clemency shall still be misconstru- 

 ed, it is proper to give warning that the Government 

 cannot always be expected to indulge in it to the com- 

 promise of its evident welfare. 



Hearing that those plotting against the Government 

 have falsely represented that the Government troops 

 intended a forcible and violent invasion of Missouri 

 for purposes of military despotism and tyranny, I here- 

 by give notice to the people of this State that I shall 

 scrupulously avoid all interference with the business, 

 right, and property of every description recognized by 

 the laws of the State, and belonging to law-abiding 

 citizens. But it is equally my duty to maintain the 

 paramount authority of the United States with such 

 force as I have at my command, which will be retained 

 only so long as opposition makes it necessary, and that 

 it is my wish, and shall be my purpose, to visit any 

 unavoidable rigor arising in this issue upon those only 

 who provoke it. 



All persons, who, under the misapprehensions above 

 mentioned have taken up arms, or who are preparing 

 to do so, are invited to return to their homes and re- 

 linquish their hostilities towards the Federal Govern- 

 ment, and are assured that they may do so without 

 being molested for past occurrences. 



N. LYON, 

 Brigadier U. S. Army, Commanding. 



On the 18th Governor Jackson was at Syra- 

 cuse, about twenty-five miles south of Boone- 

 ville, with about five hundred men. Property 

 was taken from Union citizens, also the rolling 

 stock of the railroad by the force, when they 

 further retired to Warsaw, destroying the La- 

 moine bridge, a costly structure, six miles west 

 of Syracuse. On the same day a skirmish took 

 place near the town of Cole, between a force 



of Union Home Guards and State troops from 

 "Warsaw and that region, in which the former 

 were put to flight. 



Military affairs now progressed so rapidly 

 that the force concentrated in the State reached 

 10,000 men, 2,500 of whom were stationed at 

 Herman and Jefferson City, 3,200 at Holla, the 

 terminus of the southwest branch of the Pacific 

 Railroad, 1,000 on the North Missouri Railroad, 

 and 1,000 at Bird's Point, opposite Cairo. In 

 addition to this there was a force of 2,500 re- 

 maining at St. Louis, which could be increased 

 to 10,000 in a few hours by accessions from the 

 neighboring camps in Illinois. These troops 

 held the entire portion of the State north of 

 the river, the southeast quarter lying between 

 the Mississippi and a line drawn southward 

 from Jefferson City to the Arkansas border, 

 thus giving to the Federal Government the im- 

 portant points of St. Louis, Hannibal, St. Jo- 

 seph, and Bird's Point as a base of operations, 

 with the rivers and railroads as a means of 

 transportation. 



On the 24th the State Treasurer, the Auditor, 

 and Land Register, who had retired with the Gov- 

 ernor, returned to Jefferson City and took the 

 oath of allegiance, and entered upon their duties. 



The Home Guard of the capital were fur- 

 nishe.d with arms, and drilled under the direc- 

 tion of Col. Boernstein, and intrenchments for 

 the defence of the place against attacks were 

 erected. Several expeditions were sent by Gen. 

 Lyon to various parts of the State where collec- 

 tions of secessionists were reported, but the lat- 

 ter succeeded in getting away before the arrival 

 of the Federal troops. 



In the latter part of June Gen. Fremont was 

 ordered to take command of the Department 

 of the West. Since Gen. Harney had been 

 ordered to another post, Capt. Lyon, who had 

 been promoted to a brigadier-generalship, had 

 been in command. (See LYOX.) 



On the 5th of July a sharp engagement took 

 place between some of Gen. Lyon's troops, un- 

 der Col. Si.egel, assisted Ly Col. Salomon, and 

 a body of State troops under Gen. Rains and 

 Col. Parsons, at a place called Carthage, in Jas- 

 per County, in Southwestern Missouri. (See 

 CARTHAGE.) This movement of Gen. Lyoii up 

 the Missouri River, and through the central 

 part of the State, had the effect to restrain the 

 secessionists, and prevent them from organizing 

 a formidable" force. 



On the 3d of July Gen. Lyon with his forces 

 left Booneville for the southwestern counties 

 of the State, intending to proceed as far as 

 Springfield. Gen. Sweeny was in the mean- 

 while at Springfield with a small Union force, 

 and on the 4th of July he issued the following 

 proclamation, which explains in a few words 

 the state of affairs in that quarter of the State : 



HEAD-QUARTERS SOUTHWEST EXPEDITION, I 

 SPRINGFIELD, Mo., July 4, 1861. ) 

 To the Citizens of Southwest Missouri : 



Your Governor has striven to cause the State to 

 withdraw from the Union. Failing to accomplish this 



