M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1861-12-05

opringlleId." 1t sets out.Witl: a state
ment that Springfield is tho strong
.strategieal point OF that wide eltvA,
tion which separated the waters OF the
Usage from those OF tue Arkansas,
the key to the whole southwestern
Missouri, commanding an area OF
nearly $4,000 miles. Why did not
this enter tlle'brain Of the Major Gen
eral before the fall Of Lyon, and he
strain every nerve TO hold that i'm
portant key in his pOssessionl
Gen. Hunter, in answer to the pa.
po., replied, why now march on
Springfield, where .here is no enemy
and nothing 70 takoi Let me rather
take the troops and proceed to Lcxirg,
ton, in whicn direction Price was
marching, and where he expected to
be joined by 10000 rebels Instead
Iol this he Was sent to Rplla without
instructions, and thence to Upton,
where he iound him.
No steps having been taken by Gen
Fremont to meet Price in the field.
he moved forward his line of march,
plainly indicating his Intention o.,
proceeding to Lexington. When
within some thirty.dvG miles Of thp
place, he remained ten OF more days,
evidently expecting that some move.
ment would DO made against him. --
None being made he advanced, and,
with ms much superior force, laid
5aigo to Lexington, which was defend
cd by MulIgan with 1900 men on
the l2lh Of September, and captured
it in nine days thereafter, on the 2Ist
Of September. .. ....., ....
Now ior the facts to show that this
catastrophe could have been prevent
cd, and Prices army destroyed before
or after tn disastrous affair Before
Price got to Lexington, the forces to
resist him were the iollpwiug: AT
| j, fltrson CITY 5000; at Rola 1000;
along the Hannibal and St. Joseph
Railroad, about 5000; on the western
! liue Vi Missouri, under Lane, down
near Fort Scott $500; Mulligan',
force at Lexington 300; a large lore,
in Illinois, a!on, the Missssippirivrr
and on the Iowa line. Outside of ST
Louis weTe.l7.000, in st. Louis itsel
$4,000. Say however, that there
were only 10000 there. Hunters
plan up to Sunday, September 22I,
was to concentrate from St. Louis,
Jefferson City, and Rolla, also IRON
the Hannibal and st. Joseph Rail.
road 20 900 men, aud rel.eve Null
gan. lie said that il Price was Il
soldier, Lexington was already fallen;
Jut with energy Frico could be cap
tured, with all his baggage and plum.
| der. The objection u this that may
be ursed-that there was no trans.
portatIons7- is an idle one. Ehe rail.
road aud the river were at command,
and the march from Sedalia was only
10 miles long. The force could, Gen.
Hunter supposed, be thrown into Lex
io-ton by thursday, and us itappears,
before it was taken. - .
Gen Fremont ordered Sturgis in
North Missouri to Lexington, and by
crossing the river to reinlorco Null.
gan. Slurgis had only 1,100 men
and on reaching the river opposite the
town, found it commanded by Price
and OF course, was compelled to fa)
back. Hunters plan Of moving thest
troops was to strike the river at I
point below Lexington in our control
to cross it, aud march up to the town
In the interview With Gen. Freront
the question was asked, whether any
orders had been given ITO reinforce
Mulllgan, aud tie reply being 5iu the
Inesatiye, Gen. llunter SUI sgestel or.
iders 10 Sturgis; and, had tie order
then been given by Telegraph, he
wound have 1redched the river before
Price had taken POSSESSION OF the
north bank and could have crossad.2
I.Ihe O,aer 'CaS not giCen uat1 three
dayS after this Interview. The loss
of time was fatal. ta1 h.y. f.'.Hi-.
'aMuligan WAS ordered from Jeff,r.
son City, then garrisuned with 5000
troops, with only one regiment, and
with that.to hold Lexington until he
could be relieved. When Lexington
fell. Price had under his command
10000 men and his force was receiv-
ing daily auglnentations from Tie dis
affected in the State. lie was per
mittql to gather much plumber, aad
to fall back towards Arkansas unlno-
Tested until was at Tiptou, on the
18th of October. whelr the accounts
were that he was crossing the Usage.
Fremont's Older to march was issued
to an army Of nearly 10000, many OF
the regiments badly equipped, with
inadequate supplies of ammunition,
clothing and transportation. With
whas prospects 1t must be inquired
can Gen. Fremont under such cir
cnmsiauces, expect to oyertake re
fr.,if,n o,,,,v ,o,.,o -. :