ust have been approximately as
strong as those of the Union, and they had many more of them.

The moral effect of the battle was prodigious on both sides. The Union
troops were conscious of having met overwhelming forces and fought them
to a stand-still, if not actual defeat. Every man felt himself a victor
as he left the field, and only retreated because the exigencies of the
situation rendered that the most politic move.

It was consequently a great encouragement to the Union sentiment
everywhere, and did much to retrieve the humiliation of Bull Run. The
Confederates naturally made the very most of the fact that they had been
left masters of the field, and they dilated extensively upon the killing
of Gen. Lyon and the crushing defeat they had administered upon Sigel,
with capture of prisoners, guns and flags. They used this to so good
purpose as to greatly stimulate the Secession spirit thruout the State.

181

Gen. McCulloch's dispatches to the Confederate War Department are, to
say the least, disingenuous. His first dispatch that evening stated
that the enemy was 12,000 strong, but had "fled" after eight hours' hard
fighting. His second official report, dated two days after the battle,
gave his "effective" forces at 5,300 infantry, 15 pieces of artillery
and 6,000 horsemen, armed with flintlock muskets, rifles and shotguns.
He says: "There were, other horsemen with the army, but they were
entirely unarmed, and instead of being a help they were continually
in the way." He repeatedly pronounces the collisions at the different
periods of the battle as "terrific," and says: "The incessant roar of
musketry was deafening, and the balls fell as thick as hailstones." His
next sentences are at surprising variance with the concurrent testimony
on the Union side; for he says: "Nothing could withstand the impetuosity
of our final charge. The enemy fell back and could not again be rallied,
and they were seen at 12 m. fast retreating among the hills in the
distance. This ended the battle. It lasted six hours and a half."

By this time Gen. McCulloch had reduced the Union force to between 9,000
and 10,000, and he claims the Union loss to have been 800 killed, 1,000
wounded and 300 prisoners. He gave his own loss at 265 killed, 800
wounded and 30 missing. His colleague, Gen. Price, he curtly dismisses
with this brief laudation: "To Gen. Price I am under many obligations
for assistance on the battlefield. He was at the head of