miles further up the river, which had been
selected by Gen. Price as one of his principal strategic points.
Boonville is situated on the highlands at a natural crossing of the
Missouri, and by holding it communication could be maintained between
the parts of the State lying north and south of the river, and thus
allow the concentration of the Militia, which Gov. Jackson had called
out. The hights on the river bank would enable the river to be blockaded
against expeditions ascending it, and the entire length of the stream to
Kansas City, about 100 miles in a direct line, could be thus controlled.

The Missouri River divides the State unequally, leaving about one-third
on the north and two-thirds on the south. Of the 99 Counties in the
State, 44 are north of the Missouri River, but these are smaller than
those south.

122

Gov. Jackson had telegraphed orders for the Brigade-Generals commanding
the districts into which the State had been divided to concentrate their
men with all haste at Boonville and at Lexington, still further up the
river, nearly midway between Boonville and Kansas City. The beginnings
of an arsenal were made at Boonville, to furnish arms and ammunition.

Gen. Lyon saw the strategic importance of the place, and did not propose
to allow any concentration to be made there. He did not, as most Regular
officers were prone, wait deliberately for wagons and rations and other
supplies, but with a truer instinct of soldiership comprehended that
his men could live wherever an enemy could, and leaving a small squad
at Jefferson City, immediately started his column for Boonville, sending
orders to other columns in Iowa and Kansas to converge toward that
place.

Progress up the Missouri River was tedious, as the water was low, and
the troops had to frequently disembark in order to allow the boats to
go over the shoals. It was reported to Gen. Lyon that about 4,000
Confederates had already concentrated at Boonville.

While Gen. Price was the Commander-in-Chief, several prominent
Secessionists were commanders upon the field of the whole or parts
of the force. The man, however, who was the most in evidence in the
fighting was John Sappington Marmaduke, a native Missourian, born in
Saline County in 1833, and therefore 28 years old. He was the son of a
farmer, had been at Yale and Harvard, and then graduated from West Point
in 1857, standing 30 in a class of 38. He had been on frontier duty with
the 7th U. S. u