The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1861-10-09
From the south Bead Rigs or.
THE LEXINGTON DlSAsTER-A DE.
FEACE Of GeA. FREMONT,

! From the south Beed Rigs Or.
THE LEXIxGrOH DlsAsTER DE.
| FEACE OF GeA. Fremont.
After eight days Of - gallant Sighting a. doubt
less vas ever seen on American soiI, Mulhgan
aud bis brave so!di.rs. less than three thousand
IA number, were forced last Friday to surrender
to Price, who with en- army Of $4,000 to $1,000
had been seseging them in their Notifications
They had been OUT OF water Tor two days, and
| their ammunition Was nearly exhausted. Yet
| the heroic Aulligsn refused even then To surren-
| der; but being sounded in the leg, the Missouri
home Guards, Who had acted cowardly, compell-
I'd the surrender. Aulligsn, however, uucon-
quersble tothe last refused 70 give up his sword
till it wss taken from him by main force
| The Chicago Tribune, which for the last fort
night has been vincicating Gen. Fremont against
his ssssilants, now indignant at h,s reverse, IA
vors his removal We had not INTENDED to al.
lude publicly TO come facts that happen TO be in
| our possession, but think the public inter
est will not now be jeOpardized by referring to
them.
Fremont has had -four rebel armies in the
| held against him, besides smaller divisions.
Price threatened Lexington With Id, 600. Nc
Culloch th, ,eatening Rolla and jefferson City
With $500 Hardee with On unknown number,
threatening Ironton; Polk and Pillow with 90
forces at Psducsh aud Cairo, inferior in numbers
10 them. Drsdes these are Martin Green, JEFF.
Thompson, aud others with smaller armies. msin-
ly drawn from Home rebels Ia oil, not less
| tran 10000 have been IN the 6eld. large num-
Der OF them from ArkAnsas, Tennessee, Missis.
slpPi and Texss-nearly ss large . number as
have been threatening Washington, for the de.
fence Of which the whole country has been call
ed upon for reinforcements. Yet Mcclellan
has not been subjected 70 the cruel charge
OF "inetiiciency," aud We are glad be has not
been.
Besides clearing Northern Missouri of the
rebels. Fremont had the following points to de-
fend: Lexington, Rolls, the terminus Of the
southwest branch OF the Pacific RAilroad) Jeffer.
| sou City, (the cspitaD st. Louis. Ironlon, (the
terminus of the Iron Mountain Railroad Boon
| vile, Cape Girardeau, on the Mississippi River,
Birds Point, Norfolk, Cairo, Fort Holt ION the
| kentucky side OF the river, south of Cairo, and
guarding the approach to IT'D aud Paducab,
which Commands the mouth OF the Cumberland
and Tennessee Rivera. How large force he
| has at his command to hold these points and also
to fight these opposi 6 armies We do not feel
| at liberty to state.
Again; it is well known at ST. Louis that he
had all his plans laid some time eince, for sur
rounding and taking Martin Green, while in
North Missouri. The intoxication of U. 8.
Brigadier General frustrated them, and allowed
him to escape. Another movement WAS imme-
diately planned, which by q bold and successful
dash in the West, would have probably broken
| up the rebel army on the Potomac la their anx-
ety for their homes. The regiments from In.
daha and Wisconsin, on which he relied to swell
the number Of his attacking party, were just at
this time ordered east, which ended that move
ment Then Price moved towards Lexington,
and the orders we're already prepared for the
concentration of sufficient troops 20 reinforce
Muligan and capture the rebel army. Just then
came the order from Washington for s., 90 of
his best armed and equipped troops to be sent
thither Immediately, and they accordingly vent
East instead Of West. We know what his feel.
ings we're when he received the order. We
we're there at the time and he said: "Wasting.
ton, If in danger, must be saved, even If the
West 10 lost ard myself destroyed" But REIN
fo-cements were ordered 70 Mulgan. Why
those which left North Missouri by his orders,
five days before the surrender. did not arrive,
no one as yet knows. Those winch left Jefferson
City two days before the surrender, on steamers,
we're compelled, doubtless, to proceed slowly
and cautiously up the river, and the messenger
to Lane, lin kansas) may not have reached him.
We do not allude to these things - the apol.
Ogist tor Gen. Fremont or any one else. We
are no mans partisan in this contest, and the
officer, Who, having sufficient troops allows his
countrys cause 70 be defeated, We would have
displaced, II he we're our nearest and dearest
friend. To show, however. how the number Of
his troops have been exaggerated, even by those
Oh the epot, We would state that while we we're
in St. Louis. two of the highest provisional State
officers told us that there we're ~. 900 troops in
the city, and that half of them At least could be
spared, and should be sent. with orders from
other points, after Price. So We thought too
and % told the General he banded us the
. and around st. Louis on that day, nsm6syins
barely 5000, composed Of two full regimen,I
and . humber Of fragmentary ones. After thai
> he received the order for troops to be sent u
5 Washington.
. We would not allude to these figures even q
this time. nearly two weeks Afterwards, had ]
not been that St. Louis has since been reinf Hces
ov fresh troops from Illinois; but il may ansse
some of the questions of the Tribune. Eve,
the Iraeites could not make bricks withou
: straw.
!. From another letter. . day or two earlier
a from the came person, We extract the following
d which has bearing upon the charge Of exclu
h sivenees:
: 1--WE win give one day's experience that VI
!, happen to know of. One committee consume,
s so on through the day. That ni. ht he worke
t, till after midnight, examining the daily report
he requires from his subordinates. civil and mil
;. itary, ordering movements of troops, and Ill tb
d bumberless details required Of the head Of
military department. The next morning at 6v
is he was again at work, and when we breaksste
tn with him at ten he excused himself Tor the iat<
e nees Of the hour at which no had invited us b
alluding TO the pressure Of business and the ias
1t that in the carrier hours Of the day be frees
d from interruption. After these Eve hours of d
le Dor before breakfast he partook Of spare me,
is of corn bread. beeisteak and tea, ard ~ss Gale
70 back to his Office long before the rest Of US be
flushed. While General Mcclellan at Wsshinl
ton, even with the aid afforded by the Presider
q ard the War Department, 6nds ii necessary I
D. deny himself to nearly every civilian who cal
D. on him, some allowance should be made TO Gel
% Fremont when be gives over eighteen hours p,
= day to the country.
g. DISGUISED A. BELL WETHER-The Loui
9: vile Journal gives the following account of
"a noted character: Among the TennesseaDs no