, 1861-10-07
The siege OF LEXINGTON,
4 COMPLETE AND oIRrUNSTANTIAL MAR
: RATNE.
Diary Of Lfeut.: l1ee1use, Company D, Irish
Bfigade.

UldFy Oh IIeuL.: GlttJlffs V1MPdHy u, ~4flsl
Bfigade.
By the politeness of the wife Of Lieutenant
Thomas D. Mcclure, Of Company D, 23d Reg
iment Illinois Volunteers, cf Esrlyine, La
Sale county, We. are enabled to print fall
and circnmstantia1 narrative Of the siege and
surrender Of Lexington, from q well written
dfar5 kept by Lieut.. Mcclure. The narrative
begins on the 1st. Of septembsz, the day On
which Col MuI1igan commenced bis march to
Lexington Although the attack on the en-
trenchmsnts. did not begin till the 18th, the
plac6 was invested by Gen. Price On thu 12sh,
ard tie skirmishfrg Of pickets began then.
1atiEe On that day:
PIRsT DAY
SEPT 12-6 O'cLocg-A n.
Great excitement all night, 1umors con-
s1ant,y coming in and going out; harx, now
Quirk, went ont about 4 4, IL, and now we
hear their cheers and rally cries also the dis
charges Of their guns. TIE shots are becom
iIg mo1esfTeq queIt; there goes discharge Of
ct lesst fifty gune, and still another. I think
thst they viii check the advance guard Of the
though they have i've men to our one-mo5t
fearful odds. Our entrenchmenta are only
begun. II ne could have one day more We
could complete the work.
EIGHT o'c1ock
The firing has CEASED; our picket has re-
turned and reports that they met the rebal
picket, but it old net etand their fire, bnt fed
INTO the corhfeld. We killed 2G and brought
In two prisoners. Two companies have now
gone c9t. Co. D is placed as guard to the
post. Three other com panles are In the ditch,
working with all their energy.
FoUR O'CLOCK r. II.
Here come the scouts with the report that
the rebels are within one mile, Our men are
ali in rank waiting their frat appearance,
SEVEN O'CLOCK P. n,
Tie rebels have ceased firing for the night.
Our little embankment has dcne Us great
good. But two more killed and seven severe
y. perhaps fatally, wounded. The fight was
principally with the artillery, for their forces
we're III the woods and some distance ffon Us,
Onr men fought well It is not very pleasant
to have cannon balls flying all round and over
me. Ore poor fsuoW had his head taken of,
-WitE bnil, another one both legs. a bali
passed o7er Us, went through three mules
which stood in raDge.a1d tEeY did not5impede
the momentum Of The ball apparently in the
last, but 1t went tearing, crashing along, like
some in1nrlated thing. Our men discharged
bad three Iieces at work ; they had the same
number. We did them great damage, 30
much that they are now retiring. Tney do
net aim well, for mGst OF the balls pas5 too
high. Our last shot disabled one OF their
plecee.
SECOND DAT.
SEPT. 13-6 O'CLOCK A. N.
The rebels have not yet appeared this morn
ing, although We have orders to remain on
cur posts round the embapkments. / have
b tenlup al night. Our msniwoEked on the dyke
ubt1 two this morning, then they hid down
il the ditch to sleep while stood gentry and
"lcok-out" for them. 1t row begins to
1aln
THREE O'CLOCK r. N.
Tie rain has just CEASED, but from appear
ances Til1 sooE begin again. We have stood
IL this ditch sill tie time and are cold, wet and
TCG1y. TIE rebels move round like wild
geese We cant tell Whsre to look fur them
We are Row better prepared, having good
Dyke and embankmcnr. We alco cut doHn
SINE corr fields, and had to burn doWn seven
dwellings which sff .zied them eae1ter and hid
them tom our WV. They hare sent In two
flags Of truce, b IL. I've thi1k) mere strategy,
which they seem t. practice very much. One
vas for the Exchange Of prisoners. The other
fer permission to bury their dead, which they
1nmcrs in our camp. 1t would take me day
to write a}1 hear in al hour. A prominent
oEe this morning WAS that McGnllocA and
Rs;bs are here with PIice.and that they are re-
t.eatipg from Sigtl, who is low closing il on
!hei7 rear. have no faith in it, jet We can
net tell far Ee hava had no news since we left
jefferson.
SIX O'CLOCK.
The rebels send wcrd they are bound to
take this place and dance on the ground to-
IorroW evening. Our answer was, come and
TAX takei. It, @ Thsy a5e now planting their batter:
THIRD DAY,
SEPT. 14th-6 O'CLOCK A. N.
We expected to zee the sun rise upon a
scens Of blood, carnage, and the furious din
ard noise Of battle, but strange, not 5 rebel is
in sight this morning. What does it mean
They probably want to induce us to come ont
side, which We will not do yst They are
waiting for more cannon Or men. which seems
lu6ricrore, or they are making retreat; either
Of these motives looks ridiculous TO US, re.
one Of them must be their plan, for they must
be afraid of ue,, Judging from their present ac-
ticns and the bold assuming manner they first
advanced upon us. a Colonel, whom we hold
as prisoner, Gays that they thought there
YES or1y the Home Guard here 4 !ooQ). They
had arrived, and all they had to do was to
march up, fra .. few rounds and then ents1
the grounds. Thrir faith proved false this
time. We we're formed in line three times to
meet them last night, but they did not come
They want that gold and State seal we have
test Jet. We mortally wounded Gen. Prices
cen (1ho Is an ofhcer) in the early part Of tas
engagement Col. Mulligan shows all the
coolnefs and ability Of a veteran.
"Here is aig9 fos those who love me,
And emile for those who hate;
And whatever eky e above me,
Here is heat for every fate"
If We had reinforcements ROW this rebel az
ny would be In our power. We could both
! rOut AID destroy them. It is great pity
| that Gen. Fremont has not sent forward mort
men. If re are finally beaten it will rest up
could be speedily closed if they .wonld pitch
/ in, but it Eeems that our policg is to.mase G
! long, lingering thing of it.
| There has been constant firing far away tt
| the southwest Of US since yesterday afteruoo5
| Weare full Of conjeetures, but have no tactz
FOURTH DAT.
/ SEPT Is, SUNDAY, 9 L M
We expected an attack last night, but u
| Was ktill We destroyed some more buildings
one Of which exploded, and from tie nos.
there must have been q vs7y large amount a
poseder concealed in; Oh! how we wish +;
Two or three more regiments! We couli
then clean them out but we dare not try il
| TOW. Look at our condition, and we are nj
| To1ee than many others. OF our brigade taer;
are fit for dufy $50 men; Home Guards. 67o
a1ti!erymen, 70; Illinois Cavalry, 800; HON.
Guard Cavalry, S00-making about {, 400 men
all ted, to hold one Oh the most Important
posts in Missouri, which is now surrounded
by q force that numbers not less thnn II 900
ard some rumors ssy 1900. It is wearing u!
cut In working and watching. We now ar'
doing work that ought to require torc'
three times as strong to do. It is . sad wrong
and disheartens me when I think It all over
TheIcity js in smoke-more buildings on fire
am sleepy, tired and sud.
| SEVEN O'CLOCK. r. NJ.
Pickets just came in and inform us tha
Price was reinforced this morning By Genera
Harris with 5000 men, and several large piece
mc1ning. It certainly looks Ike ID death, al = ba Ea
mark me now, this will be as hard battle q
will occur during the war.
FIFTH DAT.
4 "- 80. SErr. 49, 1. u.
No attack yet! We we're not disturbe,
during the night; hope they will soon ret
"good ready" They sent in a nhite nag las
evening with two propoeitions-oue was
re would promise to fight no more In thi
State they would take the same oath. n
ether WAS, if We would evacuate, they woul
PERMIT us to leave with the honars Of Wal
Our reply was: +" Tie Irish Brigade makes n
compromise and neaer su77erdkTs, but If yol
give ns few more days We viii drive you on
Of The State" Will it be believed that II, 90
men hesitate fa to meet Us, 400; their fore
: ashamed ct the fist fight, for We Killed 50
and wounded COO; our loss swas four ao1
J. Gend and four wounded. We look for theu
all the time; ne are impatient; but wins
more can re do. # We had the WaEhingto
news We would be more content; but heie /
cur world, We hear nothing that occurs tiy
miles from our pest; 1t is hard, but we ca
. stand It,