his commission as captain in the
Fourth Cavalry. His command was included in the surrender made by General
Twiggs, but the heart of the brave officer beat loyal to the flag of his
country, and he resolved upon a march northward to Kansas City, Mo.
Uniting his force with that at Fort Smith, the column moved through the
Indian country. A Confederate force sent against them was, on the eighth
of May, captured and paroled. On the fifteenth of June they occupied
Kansas City, and marched at once upon Independence, where Captain Stanley
was fired upon while carrying a flag of truce. He joined General Lyon in
his expedition against Springfield, which was occupied July twelfth. He
participated in the various engagements in Missouri in the summer of 1861,
displaying in an eminent degree the dash and conspicuous courage which so
distinguished him in his subsequent career, and in September he reported
with his regiment to General Fremont at St. Louis. He marched against
Price from Syracuse, and in November moved against Springfield. Captain
Stanley was appointed brigadier-general in November, 1861, and in March,
1862, was assigned to the command of the Second division of Pope's army in
the expedition against New Madrid and Island No. 10, the Fort Pillow
Expedition, and in the siege of Corinth. Here his acquaintance with
General Rosecrans began, ripening into sincere attachment under the fire
of Price's guns at Iuka, and the yet fiercer blaze of Van Dorn's
hard-fighting battalions at Corinth in October. His conspicuous gallantry
on this occasion added a second star to the insignia of his rank and
caused him to be selected by his old commander in arms to organize and
lead the cavalry of his new command. In person General Stanley was tall
and erect. A handsome face and long, flowing beard, slightly silvered,
engaging in manner and full of enthusiasm for the success of the cause in
which he held his own life as nothing in comparison, he soon impressed his
personality upon the cavalry of the Army of the Cumberland and made it a
reliable branch of the service.

December, 1862, was a busy month. The year was fast drawing to a close,
and both Union and Confederate generals had little to report save plots
and counter-plots. On the part of each there was little that was
encouraging. The early spring had found Middle and West Tennessee in the
possession of the former. Two large armies occupied all prominent points,
and the beaten Confederates