gadier-General G. M. Dodge and Staff 110
Commanders of the Army of the Tennessee 128
Major-General G. M. Dodge and Staff 136
Fort Cottonwood 140
Where General McPherson Fell 144
Major-General George G. Meade 150
Pontoon Bridge Across the Tennessee River 158
To the Memory of Samuel Davis 164
Company L, Fifty-First Iowa Infantry 172
Scotts Bluffs 176

[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL SAMUEL R. CURTIS

Commander of the Army of the Southwest, in the Spring of 1861.]

THE SOUTHWESTERN CAMPAIGN

The Southwest became prominent before the nation early in the war from the
doubt existing as to the position of Missouri, which was saved by the
energy and determination of Frank P. Blair and Colonel Nathaniel Lyon; the
latter first capturing Camp Jackson, on May 10th, 1861. He then, picking
up what force he could without waiting for them to be disciplined or
drilled, marched rapidly against the Missouri State troops under Price,
who were driven to the southwest through Springfield, where, being joined
by the troops from Arkansas, under Colonel McCullough, they stood and
fought the battle of Wilson's Creek. This would have been a great victory
for the Union forces if Lyon had not divided his forces at the request of
General Siegel and trusted the latter to carry out his plan of attack in
the rear while Lyon attacked in the front. This General Siegel failed to
do, leaving the field when the battle was half over, and allowing Lyon to
fight it out alone. Even then, if Lyon had not been killed at the head of
his Army while fighting the whole force of the enemy, it would have turned
out to be a great victory for the Union forces, and would have held that
country. The death of Lyon caused a return of his troops to Rolla and
Sedalia, and opened up again the whole of Missouri to the Missouri State
troops under General Price.

One of the notable facts of this battle of Wilson's Creek was that it was
fought by young officers who ranked only as Captains and Lieutenants, all
of whom afterwards became distinguished officers in the war--Schofield,
Sturgis, Totten, DuBois, and Sweeny--and from the fact that in the first
great battle of the Southwest one of the two commanders of Armies falling
at the head of their forces in battle was