ing
Springfield the cavalry made a gallant charge upon the Rebel camp,
which was situated in a large field, bordered by a wood, within sight
of the court-house.

In this assault the loss of our forces, in proportion to the number
engaged, was quite severe, but the enemy was put to flight, and the
town occupied for a few hours. We gained nothing of a material nature,
as the Rebels would have quietly evacuated Springfield at the approach
of our main army. The courage of the Body-Guard, which no sensible
man had doubted, was fully evinced by this gallant but useless charge.
When the fight was over, the colonel in command ordered a retreat of
twenty miles, to meet the advance of the army.

A corporal with a dozen men became separated from the command while
in Springfield, and remained there until the following morning. He
received a flag of truce from the Rebels, asking permission to send
a party to bury the dead. He told the bearer to wait until he could
consult his "general," who was supposed to be lying down in the
back office. The "general" replied that his "division" was too much
exasperated to render it prudent for a delegation from the enemy to
enter town, and therefore declined to grant the request. At the same
time he promised to send out strong details to attend to the sad duty.
At sunrise he thought it best to follow the movements of his superior
officer, lest the Rebels might discover his ruse and effect his
capture.

Two days after the charge of the Body-Guard, the advance of the
infantry entered Springfield without the slightest opposition. The
army gradually came up, and the occupation of the key of Southwest
Missouri was completed. The Rebel army fell back toward the Arkansas
line, to meet a force supposed to be marching northward from
Fayetteville. There was little expectation that the Rebels would
seek to engage us. The only possible prospect of their assuming the
offensive was in the event of a junction between Price and McCulloch,
rendering them numerically superior to ourselves.

During our occupation of Springfield I paid a visit to the Wilson
Creek battle-ground. It was eleven weeks from the day I had left it.
Approaching the field, I was impressed by its stillness, so different
from the tumult on the 10th of the previous August. It was difficult
to realize that the spot, now so quiet, had been the scene of a
sanguinary contest. The rippling of the creek, and the occasional
chirp of a bird, were