Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-12-06
CHAPTER Xv.-CoNr1NuEn
ECOPTRIGHT, 1904 ]

CHAPTER XV.-CONTINCEn
An official report of Gen. Waterson,
the officer commanding the st. Mary's
expedition, has been preserved.
Whether it was forwarded before his
return to Laran or was written subse-
quently is not known. But it gives a
very clear explanation of the novel
method adopted in this military cam
paign.
1t reads as follows:
The whole plan has worked, with Few
slight discrepancies, as projected The FEAST
bility of getting the whole regiment into st.
Marys and the nei ghborhocd without attract
ing attention was easily proven Ny men be-
gan to come in four days before they assembled.
They were in fairly good shape and passed for
workmen out Of employment .and idlers drawn
in by the excitement 1t was impossible 10 go
anywhere without seeing them minglinG with
the wor6men and standing about on the corners
with he unemployed In three days seven hun
dred were in St. Mary's and three hundred in and
about Paducah, with orders to come in strag
glingly to the former place on the fourth day.
At any other time thousand men suddenly
added to the population of SO small q town
would have excited suspicion, but the excite
ment of the strike was supposed to be drawing
the men from all quarters and great credit
must be given to our forces who, as rule, kept
themselves close and avoided attracting 2tten-
ton On the night of the third day three hun
dred were already in the old house on the bar
rens in the immediate vicinity undergoing
the most extraordinary discomfort on account
Of the want of accommodations, and an hour
before sunrise on the fourth day, I had the
whole command within reach and most Of them
uniformed and armed. We formed column al
five o'clock in the barreLs just three miles
southeast of the town and marched in on the
railroad track; took possession of the bank at
nine o'clock, distributed money among regi-
ments as planned without opposition, each man
carrying hundred and fifty eagles. The buck
skin belts worked admirably. 1 deployed two
hundred men, Companies A and F, and kept
crowd enc thousand feet from bank withdraw
ing them in squads and replacing them with
other men who were loaded up with specie:
successfully avoided collision with sheriff
who completely bewildered by events;
took camp at six o clock p. m. the terrace
as planned and the regiment began a once to
melt away. -Four hundred men got ont of their
uniforms in the center Of the camp (where
they were securely shiclded) before nine
O'Clock. The suits in the knapsacks turned
out better than l expected and CoEmssary
Fenning should be credited with great skill
and ingenuity in the provision of these suits.
The uniforms were put into the kna psacks and
at twelve midnight started the men in Indian
file to the old house. and, as by that time had
four hundred more men ready, there were eight
hundred knapsacks and eight hundred guns to
be disposed of: by making each carry two
guns and two knapsacds, easily got the whole
eight hundred into the house. The intense
darkness of the night was great advantage
and the hardness of the ground and the special
guards stationed along the lines to prevent
struggling the littering OF the rout, aided us
much.
AT three o'clock in the morning the regi-
ment, as a uniformed organization, had disap-
peared
THE disposition Of the men was as follows:
One hundred went scatteringly from the camp
back to town in their former clothes at ten
~spI1a .hnr bun 1-a1 nff ole
O'Clock. and third at twelve o'clock. drew
them up by companies in circle in the center
of the camp and started them out in radiating
lines. 1 calculated that in fifteen minutes, If
the men walked brisKly, that there would be a
distance Of five hundred feet between each
man. and, of course, those going south and east
would have to make a large detour to reach
the town. At 1890 was reduced five
hundred men, at least two hundred having
gone toward Paducah in the same struggling
manner The remaining five companies were
started from the old house between 2: 80
and four o'clock, going in widening lines
south, southeast ana southwest through the
barrens and about one hundred under orders
to strike the railroad track at long intervals
and return to town. 1 held a detail OF twelve
trusty men with to complete the work
clearing up the fragments and arranging the
material in the house. The guns were flung
into the cellar and the knapsacks heaped upon
the first floor and saturated by the two barrels
Of kerosene that were knocked in the head on
the floor above. At five O'Clock Capt. Einstein,
of Company D, who was left behind to complete
the destruction. touched match to the build
ing and then retreated to the railroad track,
coming back later with the few Inhabitants
who were attracted at that hour by the flames
HE met me the next night at Snowdcn's hut
on the Mississippi, where 1 waiting for
him. and reported that the destruction was COM
plete and that the guns had been efectually COW
cred by the ashes and debris and would not be
discovered until attempt was made re-
move the rubbish
My calculations with regard to the direction
the search would take for the regiment were
right as you will see by the papers, and the
plan of bring the scows over from the other
side OF the Ohio and cutting them loose above
Paducah was good one The general belief
at once seized the authorities that the men
had crossed the river from Indiana
Il am now convinced by actual demonst-a-
ton that can, with a thousand men, carry out
the eastern scheme of which you spoke The
chances of success are increased by the audac-
fly of the attempt Whatever appears to be
incredible will succeed before the community
can bring itself to acknowledge it,