Des Arc semi-weekly citizen., 1861-05-17
u,o War Commenced in Missouri.

Capture ot CdntP J@cnSo" T,, DJI 'S'
 dnd Children Murdered m Cold Blood
 bv ths Rsd-Repubttcans Under Frdnk
 Blair.
 We glean from the St. Louis RepubA-
 of inc l1th inst, the particulars ot a mos, brutal and disgusting attack, not on- l., oo the citizen soldiers of Missouri, but a, ,ndiscriminate slaughter of men women and children.
 The troops organized under the militia .r law of the State, as is their custom, were ordered some days since to into encamp-
 on, in their several districts, by Gov srnor Jackson. One of these encamp- .,or,s was in the suburbs of St. Louis, .,d had been named camp Jackson.- Multitudes of the population visited the en- campment to witness the revolutions of the solders for several days up to the 10th inst. Brigadier General D. M. Frost .,,os in command. On the 10th, General Frost addressed letter to Capt. N. Lyon, commanding the United States troops in ond about St. Louis Arsenal, informing h;o ina, he had learned that he (Lyon) con,emnlated an attack on his camp, and sxnlainipg to him that his forces were at Camp Jackson under the laws of the State of Missouri, &c. To this letter Capt. Ly- on made no reply, until with his command and that of the notorious Frank Blair they had surrounded Gen. Frost and his SOO men. with force 1000 strong and 2Ople- ces of artillery. Lyon demanded the per- emptory surrender of Gen. Frost and hIs command. After a hasty consultation with the officers of his staff, the conclu- sion was that they were Tn no condition to resist force so superior, and having bu! few pieces of artillery of small cali bre. and less than dozen rounds ot car tridges for his command, battle must necessarily be of but short duration and with but one result-the total rout and de- featof the State troops. Gen. Frost stated that he had no war to wage upon the. Unl- led States or its troops, that he had been only acting in compliance with the laws of the State; that he had anticipated no conflict, and would not jeopardize the lives of his men. Only one course could be pursued, and that was quickly agreed up- on. viZ:-a surrender.
 The demand of Capt. Lyon was accordingly agreed to- The State troops were, theretors' made prisoners of war but an offer s made to release them on condition that they would take an oath to support the Constitution or the United States, and would swear not to take up arms against the government. lhese terms were made known to the several commands, and the opportunity given to all Wno mlght feel disposed to accede to them to do so. some niqht or tnn men signifed their willingness, but the remainder. about eight hundred, preferred under the circumstances to become prisoners "A nnnher of the troops were absent from the camp in the city on eave.1 Those who de- clined to take the prescribed oath said that they had already sworn allegiance to the Unl- ted States and to defend the Government, and to repeat it now would be to admit that they had been in rebellion, which they Woulu not concede.
 The nreparation for the surrender and for marching, as prisoners, under the escort or M one Arsenal troops, occupied an hour or t"o' me brigade was then formed Tn ilne, headea oy Gen. Frost and his staff, on horseback ana itb coI6rs flying, and drums beating, march ed tbrouqh tha wood skirting the road up to an epeniog that had been made Tn the fence near the tnrnpike Here halt was ordered for some reason, and the opportunity was im- proved by a large crowd of excited cltlzens to draw near the officers of the staff and salute them with cheers The men appeared deJect- ed and rather sad, but evidently were not con scious of having done anything cowardly.- One of the officers achieved a volley of deaf ening huzzas by riding up to a fence and hack ing away at it with his sword, breaking ana bending it so as to render it entirely useless It was a very handsome sword, costing $loo and was recent present from some military friends. This example was roiloWeo oy oIn- CTS. amidst shouts of applause.
 About half past five, the prisoners of war Left tbe grove, and entered the road, the Uni Md states soldiers enclosing them by single file stretched along each side of the line. halt was ordered, and the troops remained standing in the position they had deployed on to thn road in. The head of the column atthe time rested opposite small hill on the iett as vou annroach the city, and the rear was on line with the entrance to the grove. Vast crowds of people covered the grounds and every fence and housetop in the vicinity Suddenly the sharp reports of several hrearms were heard from the front of the column, and the spectators that lined the adjacent hlll were