CHAPTER XIII.
Fremont in Missouri - Siege and Fall of Lexington - Kentucky Neutrality Violated by the Confederates - Events in Eastern KentuckyBuckner's Raid-Fremont Superseded - Battle at Belmont - Military Movements in Northwestern Virginia - Lee, Floyd and WiseCivil War Ended in West Virginia - Capture of Hatteras Forts - Events near Fort Pickens and Southwest Pass - Operations on the Coast of South Carolina - McClellan in Command-" On to Richmond! " - Boldness of the Confederates - They are Pushed BackBattle at Ball's Bluff.
John C. Fremont, the eminent explorer and meritorious  soldier, who was in Europe when the war began, after purchasing arms for the Government there, hastened home and was commissioned majorgeneral of volunteers. On the 6th of July, he was appointed to the command of the Department of Missouri, with his headquarters at St. Louis, where, in consequence of General Lyon having taken the field in person, he found everything in confusion. He entered upon his duties with vigor. He caused St. Louis to be fortified; and Bird's Point, opposite Cairo, on the Mississippi, was made secure from the operations of the Confederates.
When, on the death of General Lyon and the retreat of the National troops from Springfield toward St. Louis, Fremont perceived the secession element in Missouri to be strong and defiant, he took the civil as well as the military power in his department into his own hands, and soon caused his opponents to act with circumspection. He proclaimed martial law, and assured the disaffected that it would be vigorously enforced. His energy created many jealousies; and such misrepresentations were laid before his Government that his actions, which, at the outset, promised the best results, were restrained, and the wholesome rigors of martial law were entirely removed.
Fremont had already formed a plan for ridding not only Missouri, but the whole Mississippi Valley, of armed insurgents, and for opening the navigation of the great river which was then obstructed by Confederate batteries at Memphis and elsewhere. His plan contemplated the capture or dispersion of troops under General Price, in Missouri, and the seizure of Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas. By so doing Fremont expected to turn the position of the forces under Pillow and others, in the vicinity of New Madrid, cut off their supplies from the southwest and compel them to retreat, at which time a flotilla of gunboats then a building near St. Louis might descend the Mississippi and assist in military operations against the batteries at Memphis. In the event of this movement being successful, he proposed to push on toward the Gulf of Mexico, with his army, and take possession of New Orleans.
After the battle of Wilson's Creek, General McCulloch, the Texan leader, abandoned General Price, because they could not agree, when the latter, in sole command, called upon the Secessionists to fill up his ranks. They responded with alacrity; and at the middle of August, Price moved northward in the direction of Lexington, which was situated in a curve of the Missouri River. It occupied an important position, and was garrisoned by less than three thousand troops under Colonel James A. Mulligan. Early in September, when Price had reached its vicinity, Mulligan resolved to defend the place, with his small army, and cast up intrenchments around his camp. At that time a larger Union force was at the State capital, under Colonel Jefferson C. Davis, and General John Pope was coming down from the country northward of the Missouri River, with five thousand more. Price perceived his danger, and pressing vigorously forward, besieged Lexington on the 11th of September, with twenty thousand men, which number soon increased to twenty-five thousand, by reinforcements. Mulligan was inadequately supplied with heavy guns and ammunition to sustain a siege; and after a gallant defence of the post against overwhelming numbers, until the morning of the 20th, he was compelled to surrender. This disaster was
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