, 1861-10-05
Why was net Lyon Ref1forceda
From the St. Louis Democlat.1

he cu1pab1p failed to kend r1lnforcements TO
Cfetk, Oh ihe eccu: renee Of that fight, Fre-
mont was thoroughly e1onefated from blame,
BY the very men who have since been loudest
in reiteratlpg this charge sgainst him Iae
main facts were then patent 70 ~, upon the
slightest irouiry-the truth being TINT Ere
mont did the best possible with the limited
mfsDs at his disposal, AID under the painful
embarrassing circumstances 1nto Hnicn ne
wss at cree throWn upon ms arr1EA mere.
siuce;ti IT portedSsuFe erst s=ion Of Fremont,
it is Just to him to restate accurately the im'
portanf facts hearing upon his slleged f1ilura
in refrect to General Lyons command
Tie battle Of Wilson'S Greek was fought on
this city and assumed the active commnd OF
his Department On the 20th Of July, two
weeks previously. It Is simply requisite to
s,att TIE amount Of Lis forces, their condition,
Ali TIC forces under Fremont on the ID Of
August, were as follows: mn
Iyon's Ct nmand a'g ag,1
At Birds Point. ............----........... 800
{: ): cofgs q Home Gua1d /, Il; ;;;n;;5:;
and st. 10. Railroad. 90o
| Ordered BY lie President to Cairo Birds
Point, &c, bt=.de1 s67 Home Guards IL . ,zo
Mi.eouli Volunteers 1T Jefferson city and
| other points not named above ve-....-.---.4u'
Total. s15
These figures are approximately accurate
! making the whole army OF the Western De
pa1tment on the "a Of August, 10, ,315 men
We next turn to the condition Of this force,
| and single glance snows that, formidable as
| tie above enumeration mag cause It to appear,
F1emont's effective command was pislfaly
! Email.
| TIE following we're the "three months
men" on1r, snd their tenn WIS Just expiring:
Second, Third. Fourth and Fifth Missouri uoo
| Volunteers 5og 5oyg
Iii Ii Il The Fl ferce tp lt Cairo, Eiz Illinois regiments
| more aid ont Iowa regiment. 4,20o
Tcte, ,s56
sabtractirS The number oi three months
| mtn iIom that tf tie e1tirc celn1ano, and |
/ Of these, The following were with General |
LTou;
First kansss; es9 o
First missouri so eo
Lesving 10 Fremont, in ali the rest Of the
Depal tmInt, ,only ,4S9 men whose term Of en-
| )isimeLt Tele noI upon the point Of expiring!
| These wsre the Six, Seventh and Eighth Mi.-
: son15, scarce1y organized, Col Lawler's com
msnd at Birds Point, and the Second Iowa
; Regiment
: At his time Cairo, Birds Point, Paducah,
? and the Ohio river we're Mena2ed by he1vy
: ard accumula,lrg rebel forces under Pillow,
Jef. Thomp5on, and Hardee, and the rebels
!, | Of Green river. The President had therefore
t ordered Fremont to collect all his available
l forces and proceed with them to the reinforce
|. meut Of Cairo ard Birds Pomt,- aud to dis
lodge the rebels from Green river. For this
serV.ce Lis tLtt t1ults could muster but !, l9sj
nsn, i1eludirg 9CT St Louis Home Guards.
Tie entire torce as made up as follows:
;. steond IoMs, Lieut. Col Tutt1e, taken from ~.
seventeenth te illinois, Col. Ross, ifom NTH
rihtee1h @tesaafl illinois, iion North Missouri
T. Hcme Guards --.-.--..'.-----'..'-.'.''. 9s4 s4
It sx sa1 eans Bueii's Battery 80
~ Two guns Chicago Light Battery. .........-.. 10
70 On the I'd Of August, the entire felce at
J. Csiro, consisting Of the Seventh, Eighth,
rs Ninth, Ttnth, Eleventh and Twelfth Illinois,
y three months men, under Colo1els Cook,
g OE1esby, P.:ne, Morgan, WallAce aad MeA:;
II comprised but from $50 to 800 men in each
Of regiment. Colonel Lawlers regiment Of soc
y for three years, was the only force at Birds
ID Point.
ri 1Ee district Of country to be protected, EN-
is l7ucipg the Iron Mountain, North Missouri
II puc.je and Saat4.T=st Branch railroads, tn:
ca care Of Wtica was Of tas very h1gaes: lmpoE 1,
TX tsnce, was bounded by lines txSending 25t
T. t. Qetac,, ths5cs lS5-m.lcs westward to Lea
if velTor1h, thence 110 miles southward TO For
g Scott, and from tas lstter point sos mile
swsra to cato FIc}s Kdis asd to fDfa 0s Sept
IL, | Gitsrdeau, Leavenworth and Fort Scott, BE
wn | eires St Louis and numerous other Poiats
4s Fl%m nHn re15s ne 19sl 1o5ee
he Disbandtrg force at Gaifo. .,.-:1,so9
~ =. Force for Cairo and Birds Point 1&
wv !" Hcme Guard, except Romsaur- 3,S9
~ Ard The Third Iowa st Chineothe. ee0-i4,5
lult Leaves. 4,s
der Ofwh;ch tie Seventh Missouri, Colonel st
and ytusou, a13 tie Thirteenth Illinois, Col W
lion man. we're at Rolls. There were then abol
5ay, 2.se0 LETT distributed over numerous 9th
aon must important points which it would ha
as4 ts4 been madness to haze 9eselle43 hoHa' =
uch the depot Of large and valuable quantity
hen arm7 stores aud munitions, could not
owe abandoned. It was first in charge Of Col
,ins, man on1y-CoI, Steyenaon's regiment bel
cou- Teceirtd ordars 10 move thence and ie
au- Lyons command, and reached Kolia appare
y u y 1yupo1 tho eve OF TIE engagement: NOW,
'aote take it that after this exposition, there can
main to any candid mind but single On
anot tiop, and that is: Why did not the Sever
nase Missouri Regiment advance to Lyon! !
,MaG 1,aG pneTer is, euch an advance WAS tmposslt
esla ~ and that through no fault OF Frspoat OF :
~ u veBEon. From Rola to Springfield Is
r 2sng niIee. Wisely anticipating the necessity
lhey IN expeditions retreat both to save his arr
taSk, the Southwest aud the rallroad-to St. L0l
I, py Lyon had taken with him eli the aVaila
'k!ag '.g means Of transportation. There remained
:k!ng extreme danger en- such march, that stey
+ the eon,s little band would be cut or BIZ the
menee bodies Of cavalry nth which the enc
from or5 onnorenilr threafeni1o tn onfAank +,
,onaE ~ ard march upon Rolla: Military men JUS
1eniy Stevenson in remaining st RolIa; but ever
aao they did not, 70 blame in the case could T
up fin}y attach to the Major General comma
!thAso ing.
taese The above numerical details are Of con
are st 1n1T onrrox;rn,eslv accurate hnt ARE suh,1
ready tsi'r ~ no7-eet ~ .cconnt a. the off1cial
etnos o1ds furnish or as the case requires.
e ~; ~ We have only to add that On the "a of
Mni gust Col. Ba5le's Ninth, Lieut. Col To-
.;n;t1 Tenth, Lent Col: FrederiGk,s g.! rTelIth,
~ eoae e airy, all Of Missouri, were recruiting in
Is are ,c,a IN ne aafe named nnne nf them '
!, anu | yet armed or one-third full.
- ~ Gen. Fremont reached It, Louis soon
TEL the Manassas disaster, which had
con' tf1ect Of leaving him almost utterly uu
ported By the Government, and this st
tins when almost his entire army was Z
5. the verge OF disbanding and had to be
gauized, and while Southeastern Missouri
New 10 be defended. At this juucture occu
the dilemma Of Lyon ut Springfield, Whe
either had to fight OF retreat, and nob1y c
le'e'I the former with ~ its hazards. 1mpa
mpor- history will assuredly relieve Fremont
ntton. aby shadow Of culpability with re'erens
n gold that ]amentahle, pet glorious affair.
ofthe ---
. that Hard Times for the Newspaper
OF the The New York correspondent Of the
Eeaase dolphin Inquirer, writing under date 0
mango LIST, has the following newspaper gossip:
again The Tribune, like many Others OF Its
gold. Temperatures, has been compelled to suck
ade be" to lie "pressure Of the times" and &C
ell de- ipgly it makes Its appearance to-day In !
ued bT riaIlF curtailed dimensions. One Of its Il
apoIta- the World, see, chronicles the fact, F
Slso,. chucklc-alhett, il 1t be trac that tae II
ported ts in a bad ;,sy, the HoYld may well feai
cot 1t 4il1 ccmc to an end. suppose ther
Iewelry be 20 doubt Of the prevailing impre
nets OF among journalists that no paper IL New
+ thus viii more than clear expenses this year
r $780, not al lew Of them, happen to know, n
1cts Of we'll content If they do that.
ce8sary The religions papeIs are not exempt
other the Losses incurred BY the War- Ore OF
from rc1uttd he most prosperous and ipdepeE
? large Y6uld probably be IN a bad way but #
articles crumbs that are thrown it from Washin
pc can sstor sweet charitys eake.n
u fact, If may be added here that the S'.is
41nnfrr | -.3d dof ourffnn tn.3aV f0r IN