（Mo.), siege of
After the drawn battle at
Wilson's Creek, in 1861,
General McCulloch found his assumption of authority so offensive to the Missourians that he left the
State.
General Price called upon the
Confederates to fill up his shattered ranks.
They responded with alacrity, and at the middle of August he moved northward, in the direction of
Lexington.
It occupied an important position, and was garrisoned with less than 3,000 troops, under
Col. James A. Mulligan.
His troops had only forty rounds of cartridges each, six small brass cannon, and two howitzers.
The latter were useless, because there were no shells.
On the morning of Sept. 11
Price appeared at a point 3 miles from
Lexington.
Hourly expecting reinforcements,
Mulligan resolved to defy the overwhelming force of the enemy with the means at his command.
Price moved forward, drove in the
National pickets, and opened a cannonade on
Mulligan's hastily constructed works.
Very soon some outworks were captured, after fierce struggles, but the defence was bravely maintained throughout the day.
Price was anxious, for he knew that there was a large Union force near under
Col. J. C. Davis, and
Gen. John Pope was coming down from the country northward of the
Missouri River.
Mulligan was hopeful, for he expected some of these troops every moment.
Day after day and night after night his men worked to strengthen the position, and
Price's 20,000 men were kept at bay. Finally, on the 17th, the
Confederates were reinforced, and their number was swelled to 25,000.
Then Price cut off the communication of the garrison with the town, their chief source of water supply.
The next day he took possession of the town, closed up the garrison, and began a vigorous siege.
For seventy-two hours
Mulligan and his little band sustained it, amid burning sun-heat by day and suffocating smoke at all times, until ammunition and provisions were exhausted, and on the morning of the 20th he was compelled to surrender.
The loss of this post was severely felt, and
Fremont, resolving to retrieve it, at once put in motion 20,000 men to drive
Price and his followers out of
Missouri.
The National loss in men was forty killed and 120 wounded; the
Confederates lost twenty-five killed and seventy-five wounded.
Mulligan and his officers were held prisoners of war; the men were paroled.
The spoils were six cannon, two mortars, 3,000 muskets, 750 horses, wagons, teams,
[
373]
etc., and $100,000 worth of commissary stores.
A week before the arrival of
Mulligan at
Lexington,
Governor Jackson and his legislature had held a session there, and had deposited $800,000 in
gold coin in the bank.
They quitted it so precipitately that they left this money and the seal behind, which fell into
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Battle of Lexington, Mo. |
Mulligan's hands.
These treasures
Price recovered.
