til further orders. There was a private letter to Col. Blair in the
handwriting of President Lincoln, in which he expressed his anxiety in
regard to St. Louis and Gen. Harney's course. He was, however, a little
in doubt as to the propriety of relieving him, but asked Col. Blair to
hold the order until such time as in his judgment the necessity for such
action became urgent. This for several reasons:

We had better have him for a friend than an enemy. It will
dissatisfy a good many who would otherwise remain quiet.
More than all, we first relieved him, then restored him; now
If we relieve him again the public will ask: "Why all this
vacillation?"

Col. Blair fully understood and sympathized with the President. He put
the letter and order in his pocket and talked confidentially to Lyon in
regard to it. They decided not to publish the order until it would be
wicked to delay it. They both liked and admired Harney, and if he could
be decisively separated from his Secession environment, he could be
of the greatest possible value. They would give him the opportunity of
thoroughly testing his policy.

101

Blair tried his best to arouse Gen. Harney to a sense of what was
going on, and particularly to demand suspension of the execution of the
Military Bill, but without effect. He sent to Gen. Harney telegrams
and correspondence, showing that the Brigadier-Generals were rapidly
organizing their forces, that emissaries were stirring up the Indians,
and that Chief Ross, of the Cherokee Nation, had promised 15,000
well-armed men to help the Secessionists. When Harney called Price's
attention to this, Price calmly pooh-poohed it all as of no consequence.

Therefore, on May 30, Blair decided that the emergency for the delivery
of the order had come, and sent it to Gen. Harney, and at the same time
wrote to the President in explanation of what he had done.

Gen. Harney wrote the Adjutant-General of the Army a pathetic letter, in
which he said:

My confidence in the honor and integrity of Gen. Price, in
the purity of his motives, and in his loyalty to the
Government, remains unimpaired. His course as President of
the State Convention that voted by a large majority against
submitting an Ordinance of Secession, and his efforts since
that time to calm the elements of discord, have served to
confirm the high opinion of him I have for many years
entertained.