The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1897-08-21

killed at 1890, Just as Pearce'S fresh regiments
(under Walker and Dockery), and the Third
Louisiana were coming up. At 1880 Mai. Stur-
gis withdrew the Union army, which was then
O~utnumbered, two to one.
biographical.
= Nathaniel Lyon was born at Ashford, Conn,
July IA, 1919, killed at wilson's creek, Mo, Au-
gust 10. 1861. He graduated at West Point in
1871, and served in the Florida and Mexican
wars. From 1913 to 1853 he was on duty in Cal
ifOrnia and Oregon AMI from 1854 to 1851 in
Kansas and Missouri. AT the outbreak of the
civil war he was in command OF the Arsenal at
St. Louis, and broke up 4 camp OF confederates
established by the governor, c. F. Jackson.
Jackson then m 4 force at BOonville,
where he was routed, June IL, 1861, by Lyon,
now a brigadier-general Of the United States
volunteers. On August Lyon defeated a body
of confederates under McCulloch at Dry Spring,
near Springfield; but McCulloch, being soon af-
Der joined by Price, had 4 preponderance Of
force so great that it seemed likely that he
would be able to hold all OF southwest Missouri
Rather than abandon this region, Lyon re-
solved to risk a battle at Wilson's creek, where,
after having been twice wounded, he was lead
ing into action q regiment whose colonel had
fallen, when he was shot in the breast, and
killed on the spot. He bequeathsd $4,000, near
Iy all his property, to the government to aid in
the proSecutionO OF the war. In 1850, while on
duty in Kansas, he published in a local news
paper a series Of articles advocating election OF
Abraham Lincoln to the presidency. These
were collected in n volume entitled: The Last
Political Writings of Nathaniel Lyon"
The reunion of the Blue and the Gray
on the battlefield of Wilson Creek to
celebrate the thirty-sixth anniversary
of the battle was a success IN every
way. The weather was not disappoint-
ing. The reunion begun Tuesday, the
10th, and continued until the end of
the week.
Passageways for vehicles had beer
opened over the battlefield, and on each
side of these rustic was a
fringe of wagons, buggies, omnibuses,
horses and tents during the entire
week, and when the pedestrian left the
Dad it took him a long time to thread
what looked much like a great camp
meeting with everybody going as he
pleased.
Wilson Creek, now about 30 feet wide,
winds with quiet and pleasant scenic eff
feet through what was the main confed-
crate position. The road to the battle
field runs through a farming country
about IL miles. Very honest miles they
are, as to length.
A splendid exposition of cornfields,
hanging heavy with maturing ears, was
visible on either hand, reminding the
veterans of the great complexities
which in roasting-ear time they filled
with milky kernels and scraped the
cobs to give a creamy richness. The
battlefield, while rolling, presents to-
day no obstacle for maneuvering an
army anywhere except at the creek it.
sell. and that would not offer many
difficulties.
Standing on the lower ground where
the confederates were camped, a per-
son looks up a rocky slope were Lyon
posted his main line, and can but ad-
mire the choice of ground made by the
union general. A crowd was constant
" gathered about the spot where Lyon |
fell, which is visible from nearly every
distant view of the field. A pile of
stones marks the place, and on this a
beautiful flag was planted. Thou J
sands of people picked up small stones
in the vicinity as souvenirs. and the
supply is never likely to be exhausted,
for the soil there is too rocky for Gull
tlvation. The timber on the field is
not large, but in places the young oaks
are dense, and it was mostly in these
that the thousands fastened their
teams and raised their tents. Nearly
every visitor carried away some sort of
a souvenir, often a branchlet of a tree
or a specimen of the ieshy little cactus
that grows plentifully in the rock soil
around the stone-strewn crest where
Lyon gave his life and won an i'm
perishable place in American annals.
Sometimes the veterans got into a
friendly discussion about geographical
of the field. and perhaps a ref
cree would disagree with both of them, |
as he recalled it. 1t was the general
recollection of the confederates that
they were extremely well satisfied
when they heard that Lyons army was
in retreat. They had nothing to eat
that day, they had all the fighting
they wanted, and their ammunition
was nearly exhausted.
From some points the battlefield
makes a beautiful picture, and a COM
paratively small reservation would pre-
serve its main outlines for all times.
The interest manifested suggests that
the people of Missouri and adjacent
states are deeply interested id the
scene of a splendid display of courage
by two armies. and that they would be
glad if IL ennld be permanently pro