the remainder were waiting to cross over, the Jayhawkers attacked the five hundred Missourians on the north bank or the river. The battle raged furiously for one hour on the river bottom, which was heavily timbered and in many places covered with water. The Missourians were armed with only shot-guns and rifles, and taken by surprise: no time was given them to call back any portion of their force on the south side of the river; but they were from the counties contiguous to Kansas, accustomed in the border wars since 1854 to almost monthly fights with the Kansas "Jayhawkers," under Lane, and were fired with the most intense hatred of him and of them. Gen. D. R. Atchison, former President of the United States Senate, and well known as one of the boldest leaders of the State Rights party in Missouri, had been sent from Lexington by Gen. Price to meet our troops under Col. Saunders, and hasten them on to his army. He was with the five hundred, on the north side of the river, when they were attacked, and by his presence and example cheered them in the conflict. Charging the "Jayhawkers," with shouts of almost savage ferocity, and fighting with reckless valor, the Missourians drove the enemy back a distance of ten miles, the conflict becoming a hand-to-hand fight, between detached parties on both sides. At length, unable to support the fearful fire of the Missourians at the short distance of forty yards, the enemy broke into open flight. The loss of the Jayhawkers was very considerable. Their official report admitted one hundred and fifty killed and some two hundred wounded. The entire loss of the Missourians was five killed and twenty wounded. The intelligence of this brilliant victory of "the five hundred," was received with shouts of exultation by Price's army at Lexington. On the second day after the battle of Blue Mills, Col. Saunders, with his command, joined the army at Lexington, and fought gallantly till the surrender of the Federal garrison. In the mean time, Sturgis with his cavalry appeared on the river bank opposite Lexington, expecting to cross over in the boats of Mulligan, and reinforce him to the extent of fourteen hundred men. It happened, however, that on the day before his arrival, Gen. Price's forces had captured all of the enemy's boats and Gen. Sturgis ascertaining this fact, retreated precipi tately in the direction from which he came. Gen. Price had sent across the river two thousand men under Gen. Parsons, to meet the forces under Gen. Sturgis, and they succeeded in capturing all the tents and camp equipage of that distinguished Yankee commander. The tents were most acceptable to the Missourians, as they were the first they had obtained in the war, except one hundred and fifty taken at Springfield. Gen. Sturgis did not stop in his flight for three days and three nights. The capture of Lexington had crowned Gen. Price's command with a brilliant victory, and so far, the Missouri campaign had proceeded, step by step, from one success to another. It was at this period, however, that Gen. Price found his position one of the greatest emergency. After the victory of Lexington, he received intelligence that the Confederate forces, under Generals Pillow and Hardee, had been withdrawn from the southeastern portion of the State. Gen. McCulloch had re tired to Arkansas. In these circumstances, Gen. Price was left with the only forces in Missouri, to confront an enemy seventy thousand strong, and being almost entirely without ammunition, he was reduced to the necessity of making a retrograde movement. Before leaving Springfield, Gen. Price had made arrangements for an ample supply of ammunition, then at Jacksonsport, Arkansas, to be sent to him in Missouri, Gen. McCulloch promising to send a safe escort for it. Gen. McCulloch subsequently declined to furnish the escort and stopped the train, assigning as the reason therefor that, under the circumstances then existing, it would be unsafe to send it, and that Gen. Price would be compelled to fall back from the Missouri river, before the overwhelming forces of the enemy moving against him under the direction of Gen. Fremont. Having no means of transportation, except for a limited number of men, and surrounded by circumstances of the most painful and unlooked-for misfortune, Gen. Price was compelled to disband a considerable portion of his forces. No occasion could be more fraught with mortifying reflections to the brave generous, and hopeful spirit of such a commander as Gen. Price He had marched from success to success; he had raised a force from hundreds to tens of thousands; his army had been swelled to twenty-three thousand during his stay at Lexington, not enumerating ten thousand volunteers who had collected on the north bank of the Missouri about the period when he com menced a retreat, compelled by emergencies which the most daring valor could no longer hope to surmount. Gen. Price advised all who could not accompany him to take care of such arms as they had, to cherish a determined spirit, and to hold themselves in readiness for another opportunity to join his standard. In southeastern Missouri, the operations of the partisan, Jeff. Thompson, in connection with Gen. Hardee's command, had attracted some public notice from its adventure, and some incidents of interest. But the campaign in the Ozark mountains was not productive of any important or serious results. Gen. Thompson and his "Swamp Fox Brigade" gave many rash illustrations of daring in the face of the enemy. At one time he burnt an important railroad bridge within fifty miles of the city of St. Louis, which was swarming with Federal troops. On a march towards Fredericktown, with a force of twelve hundred men, Gen. Thompson encountered a Federal force numbering ten thousand men, which he engaged with such skill and courage as to check the enemy's pursuit and move his little force out of danger. The feat showed extraordinary military skill, when we consider that the small force was extricated with only twenty killed, while the loss of the enemy was counted by hundreds; and that his pursuit was baffled only from the impression of a large force opposed to him, which was given by the skilful disposition of ambuscades. Gen. Price commenced his retreat about the 27th of September. He sent his cavalry forward, and directed them to make a demonstration in the neighborhood of Georgetown, fifty miles from Lexington, where Fremont was concentrating his forces with a view of surrounding him. With Sturgis on the north side of the river, Lane on the west, and himself on the east, each advancing upon Lexington, Fremont expected to cut oft and capture the entire force of the Missourians. Gen. Price supplied his mounted men with provisions for several days, and directed them to make demonstrations on each of the divisions of the Federals, so as to gain time for the safe retreat of his intantry and artillery. By this means, he succeeded in deceiv ing the enemy as to his real purpose; inducing Fremont. Lane, and Sturgis to believe that he was about to attack each of thein. Each of them fell back, and Fremont commenced ditching. In the mean time, Price's infantry and artillery were making the best time they could towards the south. They had to encounter a very serious obstacle in crossing streams swollen by the recent rains. The whole command, fifteen thousand strong, crossed the Osage river in two common flat-boats, constructed for the occasion by men who could boast of no previous experience either as graduates of military schools, or even as bridge builders. Subsequently, General Fremont was fifteen days engaged in crossing at the same place, upon his pontoon bridges. The superiority of the practical man of business, over the scientific engineer and "pathfinder," was demonstrated to the great satisfaction of the Missourians. Gen. Price continued his retreat to Neosho, at which place the Legislature had assembled, under a proclamation from Governor Jackson. At Neosho, Gen. Price again formed a junction with Gen. McCulloch, at the head of five thousand men. The Legislature had passed the Ordinance of Secession, and elected delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Southern Confederacy; and here Gen. Price had the satisfaction of firing one hundred guns in honor of the formal secession of Missouri from the United States, to which his services in the field had more than any thing else contributed. Gen. McCulloch remained a day or two in Neosho, and then fell back with his forces to Cassville. Price remained ten days in Neosho, and then retreated also to Cassville, and from Cassville to Pineville, in McDonald county. Meanwhile, General Fremont, with his grand army of sixty thousand men, equipped in the most splendid and costly manner, had concentrated his forces at Springfield, throwing forward an advance of ten thousand men under Gen. Sigel to Wilson's Creek. The Missouri forces at Springfield, under the command of Col. Taylor, were ordered by General Price to fall back upon the approach of the enemy; but in leaving the town they encountered. Fremont's body-guard, three times their own number, armed with Colt's rifles and commanded by Coi. Zagonyi. A conflict ensued, in which fifty of the enemy were killed, and twenty-five captured, including a major. The loss of the Missourians was one killed and three wounded. At Pineville, General Price made preparations to receive Fremont, determined not to abandon Missouri vithout a battle. His troops were enthusiastic and confident of success, notwithstanding the fearful superiority of numbers against them. They were in daily expectation of being led by their commander into the greatest battle of the war, when they received the unexpected intelligence that Fremont had been superseded as commander of the Federal forces. This event had the effect of demoralizing the Federal forces to such an extent, that thein numbers would have availed them nothing in a fight with their determined foe. The Dutch, who were greatly attached to Fremont, broke out into open mutiny, and the acting offi cers in command saw that a retreat from Springfield was not only a wise precaution, but an actual necessity. They accord ingly left that town in the direction of Rolla, and were pur sued by Gen. Price to Oceola. From Oceola, Gen. Price fell back to Springfield, to forage his army and obtain supplies and here, for the present, we must leave the history of his cam paign. We have now traced that history to a period about the first of December. From the 20th of June to the 1st of December, General Price's army marched over 800 miles, averaging ten thousand unen during the time. What they accomplished, the reader will decide for himself, upon the imperfect sketch here given. They fought five battles, and at least thirty skirmishes, in some of which from fifty to hundreds were killed on one side or the other. Not a week elapsed between engagements of some sort. They started without a dollar, without a wagon or team, without a cartridge, without a bayonet-gun. On the first of September, they had about eight thousand bayonet-guns, fifty pieces of cannon, four hundred tents, and many other articles needful in an army; for nearly all of which they were indebted to their own strong arms in battle and to the prodigality of the enemy in providing more than he could take care of in his campaign. Notwithstanding the great exposure to which the Missouri |