The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-06-05

Blackberrles," and everybody knew
General Shelby as "OId joe Yet
these same 'raw" men fought bravely,
and never knew when they were out
generated or when they were whipped.
After the battle began in earnest:
after the pickeis had been driven in:
| after the artillery had poured solid
shot into the works for two or thre
hours, the infantry began to expect an
order to s'charge!" But General Pris,
knew that such II reckless disregard OF
life was not necessary. lie knew that
he fedeSal force must soon surrender.
and it would be cruel TO sacrifice his
men by charging. General Mulligan,
who commanded the fort, also knew
that surrender was inevitable, and
neither side fought with any despera-
ton, though there were gallant deeds
on both sides. The federals had but
little water, which was soon exhauS'cd.
On the evening of the 18Th number
of them cut their way through the con-
tIrderate line, rode To The river, watcre.I
their horses and themselves and
returned. The Tillon Davis house,
which was the federal hospital, was
captured by the confederates, bnt the
federals rallied and re-capiured it.
On the lyth, General Sturgis, with
his command, 800 cavalry, united
with Jim Lane aud Montgomery. VIII,
had three or four thousand troops, aud
threatened To cross the river at Lex
ingtOn 10 reinforce MulIigan. Grn.
Price sent '.Old Davy Atchison' AMI
Col. Saunders 10 ''shew" them awil -
They went in Il hurry, scarcely IN IL ins
Il show of Il tight. The river was high.
and water was all over the IN IDLY
b HtOm lands.
1t was at the battle of Lexington
that the. value of movable breast works
was discovered. No matter who orig
mated the idea, 1t worked; that's The
one thing of Importance in war. The
confederates went into McGre VS. ware
hnrss and took out bales of hemp.
each bale weighing about four hundred
pounds. Three men behind a bale
could roll it anywhere. A minnie bail
had no effect on it, and the arlilleav
could not be depressed TO do any
service without exposure of the gunners.
which meant sure death. With their
guns in one hand they crawled, rolling
the hemp in front, till they actually
were beneat the federal brcastworks.
Clark's battery took Il position i'm
Inedlately in front of the residence now
occupied by the family of DIR. &. w.
Young, commanding clear view of
the front of the college. Lesueur's
battery ut one time had a position
between the Baptist church and the
Commercial hotel. IL was case of
'..ivc and take" Every man moved
his gun wherever be pleased, without
POrders, and the infantry wandered
around hunting places where they
could see and shoot into the fortilica-
tions. The hills north of the fort were
then covered by heavy timber, and il
was not uncommon to find men in tree
tops trying to get shot at the enemy
Sometimes the enemy discovered these
hiding places and made the tree tops
too s.hot" for Johnny.
| 10. ChriSty, now of Odessa, was
wounded near the residence of C. o.
Grimes. The family of Mr.. James
Clowdsley saw him bleeding and took
him in. Miss Lizzie Clowdsley, now
Mrs. j. X. Eckle, took off one of her
skirts to make bandages fo.' his wounds.
| twenty-five hundred pounds OF
powder was stored in the basement OF
the college. A hot shot from Clark's
battery Knocked hole in the front
steps and entered the basement,
striking within three feet of where this
powder was stored. All the batteries
were trying to fire the building, but
the federals had shovel men at work
throwing out the red hot balls.
On the evening of the third day,
September goth. the white flag was
observed, and in half an hour more the
surrender was complete. Gen. Mullgan
surrendered $3.50 men, a large number
of horses and good stock of military
supplies, including arms, ammunition,
and a little of everything needed by an
army. There was $500, 900 of money
in the fort, which had been taken from
the Farmers Bank, of Lexington. Thus
was delivered to the bank officers by
Gen. Price.
Looking back at this battle, after
more severe conf cts, we are apt tn
under estimate its Importance At that
time defeat would have dlsorganized
all the confederate forces in Missouri.
Half clad, poorly fed, badly armed,
the ragged Missourians made three
success full fights against drilled troops.
The battle of Lexington encouraged
them TO believe that our officers were
all NapoleOns, and the soldiers were
invincible.
Ah, me! How time flies. II has been
more than thirty-iive years since these
events were burned into my memory.
The sword has been beaten into the
| plow-share; the angel of peace has
settled over our land; the eX-fedrral
and the eX-cOnfederale are the best OF
friends. Our sons and daughters marry
and inter-marry, and scarcely know on
which side the parents of the other
party fought during the war
Recollections of those stirring event.
are growing dim, and the heroes are
being forgotten. Price and MuIlgan,
the opposing leaders, are both dead.
The bitterness of war has turned inio
strong personal friendships, and now
the "'Blue and the Gray" march
together and unite in decorating the
graves of fallen comrades. '.OId .Ju''
Shelby died few weeks ago, aud the
''Blue" We'd with the Gray" in doing
honor to his memory. We have almost
forgotten that we were enemies, amd
would forget the fact but for the poll.
tIcians who occasionally refresh our
memories. Today the ex-confedrratu
would volunteer to fight for ..Unclr
SAM as quickly as would any *.
federal, and the boast of both is:
''Thank God, 1 am an American.
Come with me, you old federal
soldier, and let us review the old battle
ground. Here stood the old boarding
house, used as n hospital after the
battle; here the kind hearted ladies of
the city, without regard to politics,
brought soups and delicacies to your
wounded. See the water-tOwer, stand
ing about the middle of your old fort.
See the beautiful residences on the
east, which show such signs of peace,
comfort, luxury. See the old building,
which after the war was given to the
state by the Masons, and by the stale
was given to the Methodist church.
See the magnificent front which lhc,