The National tribune., 1903-05-21
WILSON'S cRHsk.
"reminiscences of the Battle and of the Eos
pital at Springfsh.

|
Since 1 removed to Frahce, my native
country, it comes regularly, and is n vel
come visitor in my far-awa8 home, where
have seldom the pleasure of meeting
with old comrades. Every week 1 scan
eagerly the columns of the paper, and
when, i'll your issue of Felsc 10, found a
communication from Comrade l.. d. I'M
neil about Lyon and Wilson's Creek,
was very much interested. :as l partici
pated i'll that hard-fought battle, where |
| had the misfortune to be badly wounded
and captured by the rebels.
L was one of the early birds, enlistinc
on the 2lst of April, 1851, in Co. q, 1st
Mo-, Capt. John $. Cavender.
Wen do remember Gen. Lyon-"Old
Kedtop, as lie was called, on account of
his fiery head-with his private's blouse
and his o.d white plush hat. He was a
brave, bold and fearless man, a strict dis
clpi;larlan. but always solicitous of the
comfort of his soldiers, and l fully in
dorsa Comrade Immell when he says
THE battle (Wilson's Creek would have
made him commander of the United
States Army had he not fallen" His
death was a great misfortune to the
Union cause, because, had he lived, the
biunder of the retreat before a beaten foe
would not have been committed Spring
field would have remained in Union hands,
| and the thousands of loyal men in Mis-
souri, would have been spared untold mis-
cry.
Wilson's Creek was Union victory.
There is 10 d!sputing the fact that LYONS
little army of $500 men put to flight
l5,ooO rebels, and that .'the enemy was on
the run at the close of battle" Gen. Cor
don Granger, then Captain, saw their
camps and trains burning, and, with
Sweeny, Cornyn and others strongly
urged on Maj. Sturgis, who took command
after the death of Lyon. to pursue the rcb-
els, who were completely dcmoraliZed, but
to 10 purpose.
As before stated. l was wounded ear;y
IN the fight and fell on ground, part of the
time being between the cOntending forces.
where the bullets flew thick and fast You
bet hugged the ground closely. -Four times
the Johnnies passed over me, charging on
our batteries; each time they were met
with a whitening fire of musketry and ar
tillery, and were driven back in confusion,
cursing the - Dutch. For six hours
the battle ragged with great fury. About
IL O'Clock firing ceased entirely, and for
three-quarters of an hour, save for the
grOans of the wounded, entire silence
reigned over the battlefield.
Unable to rise, had crawled to bush
beside Il large tree. for better protection
what this profound silence meant. Where
was our army? Where the rebels? Ex-
cept the wounded, no living men were in
sight. / could not know then that, at the
time, tie rebels were further from the
field than our own men. Finally, they
struggled back one by one, two by two,
then in squads, approaching very eau
tIously, peerng intently through the brush
with the finger on the trigger like hunters
stalking deer. One of thep in passing
stole my cap and haversack and prodded
me with his bayOnet but az officer ap-
pearing told him to desist and lie moved
away grumbling. I'm
Fortunately, the 1st Mo. had uniform
of dark blue flannel, like the Regulars,
and no doubt this fact sayed us from
many indisnities at the hands of our cap
tors. who were much ineensed at the
Dutch, as they called the volunteer regi-
ments. y-cf
l recall one man of thet1st Iowa, be-
lieve, VINO lay wounded rod or two on
my right when a squad of Prices Mis-
sourlans came up. This man was calling
for water, when one of. those rufians,
with fearf-:l oath. shot him through the
mead. Many outrages were committed by
individuals before a semb.ance of order
was restored by their officers. Finally l,
with seven others, was lifted into an am
bulance and driven to the banks of Will
sons Creek, where we passed the night,
stretched on the grass, under guard until
the next morning, when few dilapidated
tents were put up for our benefit. There
we remained, without medical aid and
hardly anything to eat, for 4S hours, and
many poor fellow gave up his life there
who would have recovered had he been
attended to. Those August days were in-
tensely hot and gangrene carried away
many of the Union wounded.
The second day after the battle the reb-
els managed to scrape up together q few
Springfield, 10 miles distant. Oh, that
fearful ride; those agonizng joIts over the
miserable road! Sherman said that war
is hell, and l believe suffered all the tor
ments of hell on that fearful ride.
At the hospital, where tender hands
lifted us from the wagon, out of 10 of us
there were three dead bodies.
The hospital at Springfield was estab-
lished in an unfinished four-stOry building
fronting on the Court House Square On
entering its portals the first man 1 saw
was our beloved Captain, John S. Caven-
der, with a bullet through the chest. Re
gardless of his sufferings he had given Or
ders that every one of his boys should, if
possible, be taken to him, and we had a
friendly shake-hands. l am glad to say
he recovered and after the war; in civil
many kindnesses on his part. He has
been finally mustered out for many years,
but l shall always remember him as
good friend of the soldiers.
In couple of months, thanks to the
medical skill of Surgeons E. C. Franklin
and S. III. Melcher, Of the 9th NO.. who
were left behind to take care of the Union
/ was put on my feet once more
We were still held as prisoners. 1t is
true, we were not confined inside of the
hospital building, but every road was pick
etcd and the rebe.s had strong Gordon
Of sentinels all around town. 1t was rl-
mored al the time that our exchange was
refused by the rebels on the ground that
Fremont having issued proclamation
freeing the slaves in Missouri and threat
ening to shoot every guerrilla captured,
we were held as hostages. and that two
of us would be executed for every guer-
rila put to death. Whether this was true
Or not l cannot say.
The town was garrisoned by these same
who were so bitter against
Us that several times complaints had to be |
lodged with those in authority. / remem- |
Der one day two intoxicated rebels pushed |
heir way inside the hospital, and without |
drew their 'corn knives and
threatened to kill Private John O'Brien.
They were expelled with difficulty. The |
rebel Provost Marshal Cob Taylor, be- |
ng appealed to, made usfa speech, saying |
hat we should be protected, and he put a |
guard over the hospitals; but in short |
time it was withdrawn. sAHOther time | |