The National tribune., 1904-09-22

west or the MISSISSIPPI never had credl
for the amount of work, hardships- and ex
posureS they endured. The fact of there
having been fought there but two great
battles, Wilson's Greek and Pea Ridge
and two minor ones, what they did was
swallowed up in the great events that oc
CURED east of the Mississippi. Even
POpes campaign opening up a portion oil
the Mississippi is hardly ever spoken of.
The battle of Wilson Greek, the first
signal contest west OF the Mississippi, was
fought before my command reached st
Louis The history ui that battle, and
the credit that is due 10 the commander oil
that army, Gen. Lyon. and his men, are
battle many officers who were afterwart
greatly distinguished; among them Soho
field. Sturgis, Hunter and others. 1t was
the first battle that called attention to the
West and TO the troops west OF he Mis-
sissippi. That battle was lost because
a portion of the command did not com
prehend and fulfill Gen. Lyons orders
This mistake would have been overcome
if it had not been for the loss in the bat
tie of its commander, Gen. Lyon. But
the fighting of the troops and the boldness
of the movement Immediately attracted the
attention of the country. and held it unit!
after the battle of Pea Ridge.
BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE.
The Army of the Southwest, which Gen.
miles from it's base without water or rail
cOmmunica ton, and lived Off a barren
country, and which fought that decisive
battle of Pea Ridge and cleared the coun-
try until nearly the end OF the war OF any
organized force of the enemy. had more
marching and endured more suffering than
the great armies l was connected with east
of the Mississippi, and its three days fight
ing at Pea Ridge compared favorably with
any of our battles, when the numbers ell
gagged are considered.
Then, again, at the end of the war, the
sufferings of the troops that l took onto
the plains in the Indian campaigns in the
Winters of 1864, 1SG5-tai, were far beyond
any of the sufferings Of any of our armies
during the civil war. Their exposures
through the cold weather. and the brutal
ties and butcheries of the Indians, which
it was impossible for them TO avenge o.
retaliate, were beyond any description.
Our early campaign IN Missouri was
without previous experience. 1t was sim
ply one soldier standing up against an
other in battle, and We had TO learn all
the tricks of camp life. and from expert
ence how to take care of our soldiers.
YOUNG oUARrERMAsTER.
There were a great many funny Incl
dents in tine Pea Ridge campaign. The
Southwestern Army was organized at
Kolla, No., of which post | was in COM
mand. My Quartermaster was Capt.
Philip Ii. Sheridan, ami my Commissary
Capt. Nj. L. Small. No who knew
or saw Sheridan then thought of the great
position lie was to occupy in our army
but when he took hold OF that army and
stripped it and fed it. 800 miles away from
rail or water communication, we all knew
that he was a master mind. When he
came 10 HE at Rolla, the first order he
gave was TO take away about three-quar-
tiers of our transportation. l think we
had about two wagons 10 the company,
and he brought us down 10 about four to
a regiment. You can all appreciate the
rebellion | had OH my hands when l I'M
dertook TO enforce his order. L know he
stood by and watched 20 see what | was
going TO do. Every regiment and COM
mand entered protest. and said some
very unkind things Of him. denouncing
him as a Regular officer who had no mercy
upon volunteer, bat / had then had ex-
perience enough to appreciate our neces-
stiles. and started in ty stripping my own
regiment, and then enforcing the orders
upon the others. We We're not long on
that march before they appreciated the
foresight of Sheridan. He had great en-
ergy and great resources. tie had to run
all the mills along our line of march !;
he had to forage in every direction, and
the punishment that he gave TO some OF
the people TO make them tell where their
horses, forage and sweet potatoes were hid
den would astonsh those of our people
who have been so Mortified at the mild
persuasions used for similar purposes in
the Philippines.
To chow you how little we knew of war
on our first march in January. 1862, from
Eolla to Springfield Mo. all the reports
we had obtained were that Price and his
army were in Springfield The troops of
our army divided into two commands,
those under Sigel, composed of two divi-
sions, commanded BIZ Osterhaus and AS
both. mostly Germans, and two divisions
of Americans commanded by Col. jeff G..
Davis and Col. f. a. Carr. ! commanded
brigade on the extreme left. in Cars
Division, and, in accordance with instruc-
tiOns. put out a company in front of me
as skirmishers. 1t was dark, and impos-
sIble for us to see much, and the first
thing | knew / had lost my skirmishers,
and was in great distress until about day
light in the morning. when Sigel's guns
and our own were booming away at
Springfield. My company came back
mounted on Confederate horses and mules
old hacks that the enemy had left be-
hind them-and brought us news that there
was no enemy in Springfield. and had
not been for two or three days.
THEY GREW WISE.
As we marched along toward Pea Ridge
through the country, Prices army faced
Us with a rear-guard only, his main body
AcepiHs d iouS aBtdG OF Us. AT
every stream they would halt our advance
and move out couple OF Ileces of their
artillery, and put cot strong skrmsh
line, which would force oUr army into line
thinking we We're going 10 have battle
My brigade led the advance most of the
time on that march, and a. soon as they
would line up the officers would have the
boys strip. They would throw down their
chickens. sweet potatoes and everything
they had gathered, and by the time they
had gone forward, and the enemy had run
the 36th H., or some other regiment
would come up and gobhle what they had
left. About the third time we lined ur
l discovered that every boy was hanging
on 10 his chickens. swee! potatoes am
provender, and when gave orders to the
Colonies to have them throw them aside
the boys made answer No YOU don't
Colonel. You can't fool us any more
we have fed those :;6:b III. fellows as Ions
as We propose to"
VAN DORS'S TACTICS
At Pea Ridge we were surrounded b,
Van Dorm, whe placed Prices two division.
in our rear, and he himself on our righ
flank with McCulloueh's and Mcintosh.