(Correspondence of
the Missouri Republican.)
SPRINGFIELD, MO., March
29, 1862.
In all portions of the country, throughout Southwest
Missouri, there is a great change taking place in the sentiments of the people.
– The friends of the Federal Union are strengthened in their hopes of its full
restoration to power and authority, and are enabled to avow their convictions
openly and boldly. Secession has become
a by-word and a reproach among the inhabitants, and a general confidence is
felt that the rebel army will never find a way into Missouri again. Many thoughtless persons who have been in
Price’s army are returning home, some of them quietly, hoping that no notice
will be taken of their [treason],others coming, and giving themselves up to the
military authorities, asking to be permitted to take the oath of allegiance and
return to the peaceful avocations to which they were formerly accustomed. All these returning rebels express their
disgust with the rebellion as a future, and are now convinced that the
Government of their fathers is a wise and beneficent one, and too powerful to
be easily overthrown.
The night before we reached Springfield we stayed with an
intelligent farmer, about eight miles from town, by the name of Piper. He came from Virginia, and settled in this
country twenty years ago. Two of his
sons are in the Union army, and one of them was wounded in the battle of Pea
Ridge. The latter is now home,
recovering from his wounds, and gave me a few interesting particulars of the
battle. He was in Colonel Phelps’
regiment , Twenty-fifth Missouri Infantry.
During the first two days this regiment was constantly in the fight, and
many of them were wounded, or met a soldier’s death. Every Captain in the regiment was either killed
or wounded. Young Piper spoke in terms
of great admiration of Capt. John W. Lisenby, of Company D, his own Captain,
with whom he stood side by side during the fight. The first man that fell, Captain L. put his
sword in its sheath, and picked up the man’s musket, using it till the
cartridges were all gone. Then waving
his cap over his head, he cheered on his men until a ball struck him in the
breast, and he fell to the earth. His
wound, however, was not fatal, and he will recover. He is now in this city, being nursed and
cared for by female friends.
Young Piper received a flesh wound in the thigh. He fought on for some time after he was shot,
feeling only a sting in his leg when he was struck, and only desisting when it
became painful. He says he exchanged
several shots with his antagonist, both of them having discovered the other’s
aim, and that, on his third shot, he saw him fall.
The parents of this young man are proud that their sons are
serving the cause of the Union. The old gentleman
is a prosperous farmer, and although he has been repeatedly robbed by the
secesh, his home is ever open to the weary soldier, who is never denied
refreshment and rest.
At another house where we passed the night we found the
mother of one of our wounded soldiers, a Mrs. Benton, rejoicing that her son
had been found worthy to suffer for his country, and saying that his scars
would be [an honorable] testimony to his loyalty hereafter.
Speaking of the regiment of Col. Phelps. I forgot to mention the noble conduct of his
wife before and during the late battle.
It is related of her that she went down to the headquarters of the army
just before the fight, taking with her various articles of comfort, and among
other things a lot of bandages, pieces of cotton, cloth, lint, &c., for
dressing wounds. She had not been there
more than a few hours when the battle commenced, and very soon her benevolent
exertions were called into requisition.
The soldier who related this states that for three days she
was untiring in her personal efforts in aid of the surgeons, in dressing wounds
and caring for the wounded. Such noble
and heroic conduct shows that we are not without our Florence Nightengales,
“The noblest types of good
Heroic womanhood.”
that can be found in any land.
It was Mrs. Phelps who had the body of Gen. Lyon decently
buried on her husband’s farm, after the battle of Wilson’s Creek, when the
rebels took possession of Springfield and in the hasty retreat of our little
army, the body of the deceased Gen. Lyon was, by a mistake left behind.
Meeting Mr. Plattenburg, the agent of the Western Sanitary
Commission, on his return from Cassville, I learned from him that he got safely
and promptly through with the forty boxes of hospital stores for the wounded,
and that the sheets, pillows, blankets, bandages, lint, jellies, wines,
brandies, and other hospital stores were the very things needed, and came like
the manna in the wilderness to our wounded men, no provision having been made
for such an emergency. Forty boxes more
are now on the way at this point, to be shipped immediately to Cassville, and
will all be needed. It is purposed also
to send some washing machines to the hospitals to facilitate the washing of the
soiled clothing, for which it is very difficult to procure the requisite labor. The labors of the Sanitary Commission have
proven of immense value in securing better care and in providing necessary
comforts for the wounded of our army, in which the rebel wounded have also
shared. Many lives have no doubt been
saved through their instrumentality, and their disinterest and humane exertions
will not be forgotten by a grateful people.
LEON.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye,
Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 5, 1862, p. 2
