[
315]
the city of
Springfield for the second time by the enemy, who were greatly in need of more comfortable winter quarters.
They must have been exceedingly glad of the sudden disappearance of an army which by its numerical superiority, excellent organization, and buoyant spirit had had a very good chance of at least driving them out of
Missouri.
As it was, the new-fledged “Confederates”
1 utilized all the gifts of good fortune, organized a great portion of their forces for the
Confederate service, and provided themselves with arms, ammunition, and equipments for the field, while the
Northern troops were largely reduced by the hardships of miserable winter quarters, and the
Union refugees who had left their homes were in great part huddled together in tents in the public places and streets of
Rolla and
St. Louis, and were dependent on the charity of their sympathizing friends or on municipal support.
The whole proceeding was not only a most deplorable military blunder, but also a political mistake.
To get rid of
Fremont, the good prospects and the honor of the army were sacrificed.
It would be too mild an expression to say that the
Union people of
Missouri, or rather of the whole
West, felt disappointed; there was deep and bitter indignation, even publicly manifesting itself by demonstrations and protests against the policy of the Administration, and especially against its political and military advisers and intriguers, who sacrificed the welfare of the
State to their jealousy of an energetic and successful rival.
To regain what was lost, another campaign — the third in the course of eight months--was resolved upon.
It was undertaken by the very same army, but under a different commander, and greatly reduced on account of the prevalence of diseases and the extraordinary mortality in the different camps during the months of inactivity; in truth, the campaign from September to November had “to be done over again” in January, February, and March, in the midst of a very severe winter, and with the relations of numerical strength reversed.
Toward the end of December, 1861, when not fully restored from a severe illness, I was directed by
General Halleck (who, on November 9th, had succeeded
General Hunter, the command now being called the Department of the Missouri) to proceed to
Rolla, to take command of the troops encamped there, including my own division (the Third, afterward the First)
