d to
return to their homes; provisions were getting scarce; and General
Fremont, who had lately assumed command of the Western Department, could
not send him any reinforcements from St. Louis. So the only thing the
Union commander could do to stop the Confederate advance and extricate
himself from the dangers with which he was surrounded, was to assume the
offensive.

The historian tells us that there was something sublime in that bold
march of Lyon on the night of the 9th of August, with a force of five
thousand men, to Wilson's Creek, to meet in the morning an army
numbering anywhere between fifteen and twenty thousand. His only hope of
success lay in a surprise; but there was where he was disappointed, for
it so happened that at the time he made his advance, the enemy was
making preparations to attack him on four sides at once; but while they
were thinking about it, they were assailed by two columns, one in front
and the other on the flank. This brought about the battle of Wilson's
Creek, which, next to Bull Run, was the severest engagement of the year.
General Lyon was killed while leading a bayonet charge at the head of an
Iowa regiment. Major Sturgis, on whom the command devolved, ordered a
retreat after six hours of useless fighting, and the Confederates were
too badly cut up to prevent his leisurely withdrawal. But, after all,
that battle was a Union victory, for it "interposed a check against the
combined armies of the Confederacy from which they could not readily
recover." This one fight taught the "dashing Texan Ranger" McCulloch
that there was a bit of difference between meeting a sterling Union
soldier like Lyon, and a traitor like Twiggs who would surrender on
demand, and a short time afterward he withdrew into Arkansas, leaving
Price to continue the campaign, or disband his State troops and go home,
just as he pleased. At least that is what history says about it; but
when Rodney and Dick asked their captain why it was that the two armies
separated after going to so much trouble to get together, the reason
given was:

"We're waiting for orders from the War Department at Richmond. It will
take a good while for them to get here, and in the meantime we don't
want to impoverish the country. Price will stay here to watch the enemy,
who have retreated toward Rolla, which is a hundred miles from here, and
McCulloch will go into Arkansas to recruit his army. When the orders
arrive we shall know what we are going