In the summer of 1861
General Lyon sent
Col. Franz Sigel in pursuit of the
Confederates under
Governor Price in
southeastern Missouri.
His force consisted of nearly 1,000 loyal Missourians (of his own and
Salomon's regiments) with two batteries of artillery of four field-pieces each—in all about 1,500 men. Though the
Confederates were reported to be more than 4,000 in number,
Sigel diligently sought them.
On the morning of July 5, 1861, he encountered large numbers of mounted riflemen, who seemed to be scouting, and a few miles from
Carthage, the capital of
Jasper county, he came upon the main body,
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under
General Jackson, who was assisted by
General Rains and three other brigadiergenerals.
They were drawn up in battle order on the crown of a gentle hill.
A battle commenced at a little past ten o'clock, by Sigel's field-pieces, and lasted about three hours, when, seeing his baggage in danger and his troops in peril of being outflanked,
Sigel fell back and retreated, in perfect order, to the heights near
Carthage, having been engaged in a running fight nearly all the way. The Confederates pressed him sorely, and he continued the retreat (being outnumbered three to one) to
Springfield, where he was joined by
General Lyon (July 13), who took the chief command of the combined forces.
This junction was timely, for the combined forces of
Generals McCulloch,
Rains, and others had joined those of
Price, making the number of Confederates in that region about 20,000.
