The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 09, No. 51, January, 1862 eBook

Relieved from immediate danger, General Fremont found an opportunity to organize the expedition down the Mississippi.  Won by the magic of his name and the ceaseless energy of his action, the hardy youth of the Northwest, flocked into St. Louis, eager to share his labors and his glory.  There was little time for organization and discipline.  They were armed with such weapons as could be procured against the competition of the General Government, and at once forwarded to the exposed points.  History can furnish few parallels to the hasty levy and organization of the Army of the West.  When suddenly required to defend Washington, the Government was able to summon the equipped and disciplined militia of the East, and could call upon the inexhaustible resources of a wealthy and skilful people.  But in the West there was neither a disciplined militia nor trained mechanics.  Men, indeed, brave, earnest, patriotic men, were plenty,—­men who appreciated the magnitude and importance of the task before them, and who were confident of their ability to accomplish it.  But to introduce order into their tumultuous ranks, to place arms in their eager hands, to clothe and feed them, to provide them with transportation and equipage for the march, and inspire them with confidence for the siege and the battle,—­this labor the General, almost unaided, was called upon to perform.  Like all the rest of our generals, he was without experience in military affairs of such magnitude and urgency, and he was compelled to rely chiefly upon the assistance of men entirely without military training and knowledge.  The general staff and the division and brigade staffs were, from the necessity of the case, made up mainly of civilians.  A small number of foreign officers brought to his aid their learning and experience, and a still smaller number of West-Point officers gave him their invaluable assistance.  In spite of all difficulties the work proceeded.  In six weeks the strategic positions were placed in a state of defence, and an army of sixty thousand men, with a greater than common proportion of cavalry and artillery, stood ready to clear Missouri of the invader and to open the valley of the Mississippi.  At this time the sudden appearance of Price in the West, and the fall of Lexington, compelled the General to take the field.

We will now confine ourselves to the narrative of the incidents of the march to Springfield, as it is given in the journal which has been placed in our hands.

FROM ST. LOUIS TO WARSAW.

St. Louis, September 27th, 1861. For four days the head-quarters have been ready to take the field at an hour’s notice.  The baggage has been packed, the wagons loaded, horses have stood saddled all through the day, and the officers have been sitting at their desks, booted and spurred, awaiting the order for their departure.  It is not unlikely that the suspense in which they are held and the constant condition of readiness which is required of them are a sort of preliminary discipline to which the General is subjecting them.  Yesterday the body-guard left by the river, and the staff-horses went upon the same steamer, so that we cannot be detained much longer.