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THE SUNNY SOUTH
FIFTH PA
The Famous Savannah Yacht Club
IT IS ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT SOCIAL
ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES *
the amusement of Its members. For all
these pleasures and advantages the
thanks of the club are largely due to the
ability and untiring devotion of the Im
provement committee. These gentlemen
have expended a vast amount of time
and thought to produce such successful
results. While commending them to your
For Sunny South
O more popular social or-
N ganlzation than the Sa
vannah Yacht Club is to
be found In the south.
It is doubtful, too. If
there Is any club whose
affairs are in a more
prosperous condition or
whose members are
more thoroughly con
genial and capacitated
to derive pleasure and
amusements from the
various means that are
iresented at the commo-
i 1 o u s clubhouse and
magnificent surround
ings at Tunderbolt, four
miles from Savannah.
The membership of the club Includes
nearly all of the most prominent men,
in a business and social way, in Savan
nah. Nor is the list made up only of
Savannah members, for there are many
non-residents. There are members in
Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, Philadelphia,
Baltimore and other cities, and the yacht
club furnishes a pleasant feature of the
visits of such members to Savannah.
Three means of communication between
the yacht club and Savannah are open.
To those who have the time, the in
clination and the craft, there is the water
route, which affords great pleasure to
parties on pleasant days. With the yacht
club as a destination, many such parties
use the route for a day’s trip, returning
to the city as they went or by the elec
tric cars, that also furnish communica
tion with the club. There remains the
wagon road, which offers a hard driveway
ell the way to the club. Many handsome
equipages speed to the club, bearing the
more affluent of the members, every af
ternoon.
Popular nliko in winter and summer,
the club is seldom without visitors. In
the summer it is never without them,
save during the early morning hours,
when it is closed. On summer afternoons
the. clubhouse and grounds are gay, in
deed, being the scene of life and festiv
ities. It is often the case that there are
Superintendent s cottage and swimming pool
fully 200 visitors on the grounds, all find
ing some means of diversion. It would
be strange, if they did not, so many are
those that are provided by the club. There
are a magnificent bowling alley, tennis
courts, croquet grounds, traps for shoot
ing clay pigeons, a swimming pool, shuf
fle board and the broad Wilmington riv
er for yachting.
From the clubhouse to the sea it is but
ten miles, and spins down to the widen
ing sounds, in sailing, steam and naphtha
craft, furnish attractions for members
that draw numbers of them. Some esti
mate of the advantages of the club may
be derived from the accompanying illus
trations, and the following extracts from
the annual report of the retiring com
modore, W. W. Starr, which was read at
the recent meeting of the club:
"During the year we have admitted
eighty-one new members, lost by death
six by resignation sixteen, dropped for
non-payment of dues two, which leaves
present membership 493, of which six are
honorary and fifteen non-resident.
"The club can congratulate itself up
on acquiring the land adjacent to its orig
inal property, thereby obviating the pos
sibility of objectionable neighbors, to say
nothing of the great addition to the
beauty of the surroundings. Nearly $1,500
has been expended during the past year
in placing these grounds in their present
condition. The underbrush has been
cleared, a winding shell driveway made,
a plank walk to a neat little station
house erected, and various plants and
shrubs set out that will in a year or two
present a scene pleasing to the eye. In
-addition to the above, a lawn tennis
court, croquet grounds, and a clay pigeon
shooting box have been provided for
thanks for their very generous efforts in
the. interest of the club, I must call atten
tion to the ’lake’ now under construc
tion, under their supervision, through the
generous voluntary subscription of a large
number of members. When this enter
prise is completed an attraction will be
presented second to none. A magnificent
bowling alley has also been constructed
during the past year, which ha3 not only
added greatly to an increased attendance,
but has supplied exercise and pleasure to
The clubhouse, lake and Wilmington river
many.
“You will note from the treasurer’s re
port the sources of ‘receipts’ and the
items of ‘expenditures.’ In spite of the
fact that th eimprovement to the grounds
and outbuildings, and interest, aggregate
something like $2,700, which can be reas
onably classed as ’extraordinary expens
es.” the net profit for the year shows
$604.75.
“In order that outstanding bonds,
purchase, of land, construction of bowl
ing alley and all other indebtedness be
canceled, the club authorized an issue of
bonds to raise a sum not to exceed $12,-
tOO at 6 per cent interest. These bonds
were printed but not sold, as an arrange
ment for a loan through a bank was con
summated more favorable to the club;
tills change being authorized by the club
at a special meeting in February last. The
amount stated—viz., $12,500—has been
used to liquidate note due on purchase of
land, $5,000; outstanding bonds, $3,600;
construction of bowling alley, $3,000; in
terest and other indebtedness, say $900,
aggregating 12,500.— The initiation fees
and dues for the coming year should
much more than provide for sinking fund,
interest on loan and ordinary repairs and
renewals.
“One other matter should be called to
the attention of the club, and that is
the able manner in which the boathouse
has been handled by that committee.
Since - the erection of this building each
year has sustained a loss. between re
ceipts and expenditure*. TJie past year
shows, in the ia^tFvf lextjyterdiaary re
allUVVS, 1*1 HIV b J- Aajgq.t'i UiiicXt j 1 C*
pairs, a decided alia satisfactory profit,
due entirely to the energy and ability of
the committee. The c’.ub .paunch also
shows a decided improvement in the mat
ter of profit over the previous year, for
which we are also Indebted to the judg
ment of the boathouse committee."
The following are the oflicers of the
club: Commodore, Julian Schley; vice
commodore, H. H. Bacon; rear commo
dore, A. B. Palmer; secretary and treas
urer, John D. Carswell. The. governing
board consists of fifteen stewards.
Her Number Three By Helen Tyson
M awfully glad you came,
Madeline. I was so afraid
you might not come, and
I wanted to see you so
much,” said Maude Loth-
rop, as she drew up a
large easy chair for her
friend near the window of
her room. “Now you sit
there, dear; let me take
your hat and things; I
know you are all worn out
with your Journey. Aunt
, B out tonight, a matron at
Lrity fair. We will have the
11 to ourselves. Now, wouldn t
have tea right here instead
downstairs tonight?” -
K I should, Maude dear, tr
d like to.”
should so much rather hate
lere. it is so much more, cosy
big dining room. I often take
,ere when there are no guests
t Susanne is off at some af-
>ig room seems so empty when
only one, and I never Ilka to
Sometimes I have Sarah take
with me when I cannot eat
you are quite ready, dear, I
for her and we can talk While
•“aid Miss Maude, when the.
ight in the tea things, "this is
1 Miss Madeline, and she is to
ummer with us. I shall expect
* very nice to her and have
u as comfortable for us as you
>re that will do nicely. You
come for tea things tonight,
roing to have a long talk, and
hem in the lavatory when we
shed. Goodnight. Sarah. You
about eight in the morning."
aid something about It did her
;ee Miss Maude have some one
and returned to her duties
f’ such a dear." said Maude,
low how I couid do without
i as she poured the tea she
dear, I was so pleased to
ur engagement. I gave the
i my heartiest eongratula-
I always admired you so
awfully kind, dear, un
friend.
deline, one reason I was so
that I do so want your ad-
some things and I felt that
be so much better able to
that you are engaged. You
’ve been engaged more than
It was different; because I
realize, until lately, what it
m so worried about it. Oh,
ou can’t know how worried
dear, what can have hap-
see, it was this way. When
seminary, you know I did not
r set. I always liked you,
d I sometimes thought that
• been like you things would
i different. The girls in our
til for dress and parties amt
ome of us had not ‘come out’
ie more we heard the older
the grandeur of it oil. the
ited we were by it. There
was one girl, you remember Nina King?
Well, she was the leader. She used to tell
the most marvelous tales about proposals
she had had. She told us once that she
had been engaged four times and that she
meant to be engaged at least seven times
before she allowed herself to become lied
down to any one man. I was young then
and just longed for the time when I
should be ’out’ and I made up my mind
that I should do as well or better than
Nina King.” _ , , .,
"Why, Maude Lo-throp, I had no idea
that Nina King was that kind of a girl,”
salde Madeline.
"Well, it was Nina and no other, that
first put the idea in my head, and after
my first party I was always hoping for
some kind of an ‘experience,’ as Nina call
ed them. I did not have to wait long.
The ‘experience’ came in the person of a
man much older than myself. I liked him
well enough and enjoyed being with him,
but the idea of marrying him never enter
ed my head. We were engaged for a time
and I shall never forget the lovely flowers
he used to send me: roses, orchids and the
rarest and most beautiful flowers of ail
kinds. But he soon bored me and I tired of
being with him. Then I sent back his ring
and it was all over.”
“You must have felt wonderfully re
lieved when it was over, Maude, I feel
sure I should have been," said her
friend.
"I was, but I was anxious for more con
quests. I was wild with the excitement
of it. I did not wait long this time. He
came and he, too, was my senior. But
he was a different kind. He was so bossy.
He wouldn’t let me look at any one but
himself, and he scowled when any of the
boys came near me. Once I thought he
actually growled, when Tcddie Shepherd
sat out a dance with me in the conserva
tory. That was the end of him. I went
right to the monster that night, and set
tled it for good and all. I was not his
slave to come and go only at his bidding,
and I told him so. He tried to storm it
out and then he coaxed, but I would not
be coaxed. I think he was the very mad
dest man I ever saw. and he called me
names and I was afraid of him. I w*as so
glad when Aunt Susanne came and took
me home. I was afraid he would do some
thing desperate.”
"Did your aunt approve of your be’ng
engaged?” asked Madeline.
“Well. I don’t know whether she did or
not; she never objected. Auntie is so
taken up with her clubs and is so much in
society that she has no time to take inter
est in the serious affairs of life. But to
go on. the third time I was engaged was
different. Number three was so different
from the rest. I was really in love, Made
line, I know I was, and the worst of it is
I still love him.”
“How worst of all, dear, aren’t you still
e "Fc ? r e haps 0 you*will think I am dreadful,
but I’ve been engaged twice since; but I
couldn't bear them and I broke with both,
and I’ve had lots of offers and I wouldn’t
listen to them. I’m ashamed of it, too. I
can’t help it. I don’t know why they do
it, but the men must think I am spooney,
for they all, whenever they get a chance,
try to say silly things to me."
"How is it that you broke your en
gagement with Number Three,, if you
loved him and still love him?”
“It was this way. I knew I liked Ted
better than tile rest. He was Teddie
Shepherd. But I did not know I loved
him until he had gone. He went to Aus
tralia a week after I returned his letters
and ring. He sent me such a nice letter
and said that he Ipved me and always
should, and that he hoped I would be
very happy. He would do anything to
make me happy, and that was why he
was going away. And if I should ever
change my mind again, and thought I
could care for him just a little, to send
for him and he would come back. Oh.
how I have cried over that letter. I went
out more and tried to be gayer than ever
hoping that it would wear away, but it
wouldn’t. I was engaged twice, but I
couldn't endure it when I thought of Ted.
For the first time I knew what it meant
to be engaged and what love was. I
suppose if mother had lived or even papa,
it wiould have been different. You know
I have been an orphan ever since I was
five years old. Aunt Susanne is so busy
and she likes me to be popular with the
men. and I never was taught how I ought
to behave, and I have been very silly.”
“Have you never heard from Ted,
dear?” asked Madeline.
“Never once. Ted isn’t that kind. He
would never come back unless I asked
him, and he has no reason to think that
I care for him,” Mahde answered as she
leaned wearily back in her chair.
“Why don't you write to him, dear?”
“That is just what I wanted to ask you
about. I only know he went to Australia.
I don’t know where, and do you suppose
a letter just addressed Theodore Shep
herd, Australia, would reach him?” asked
Maude.
“Why not try, dear; send it to his old
address here, and ask to have it forward
ed to Australia. That is, if you are quite
sure you want him to come back."
Maude sat a long time at her writing
'desk and the floor was strewn with
crumpled bits of tinted note paper—un
satisfactory attempts. Finally she gave
this letter to Madeline for her approval:
"Dear Ted:
"When you went away I told you that
I did not love you. I was mistaken. I
have known it ever since you went away.
I want you to come back, if you still love
me, Ted. And if you want me I want to
be your wife. I did not know what it
meant before you went away, dear Ted.
But I do wish you back, with all my
heart I do. If I hear from you, Ted. I
shall begin my trosseau at once and the
wedding shall be whenever you say.
"Yours always, Maude.”"
The letter was mailed before the girls
slept.
That summer seemed long to Maude as
she waited for a reply. Had Ted forgot
ten her? Surely the letter had had time
to reach him long ago. Then one morn
ing just as the autumn tints were color
ing the green foliage in the garden there
came a cablegram. She could hardly
wait to open it. It contained two words
only: "Coming. Ted.” Between those
two words the girls read volumes.
Before snow fell invitations were out
for the wedding. No prettier bride ever
wore orange blossoms. As the organ
pealed loudly the triumphant wedding
march and the bridal party passed slow
ly out of the church the rosy little bride
whispered to her maid’of honpr:
"Madeline, dear, I am so happy.”
The Story of an Old Georgia Home
\ S tradition has it, away back in the
**forties Major W. P. Rembert, at that
time one of the wealthy planters of
Georgia, owning large tracts of land on
the Savannah river near the confluence
of Broad river, on account of the health
of his family and himself decided to
move to a higher altitude, and in his
selection of a site chose a mountain top
overlooking the junction of the two
mountain streams, Chattooga and Tal
lulah rivers, where they form the Tugalo.
Here he bought from the then famous
hunter of Tallulah. Colonel Adam Van-
divre, that beautiful spot known far and
wide as the "Rembert Place,” and
built what would have been called in
those days a modern summer home of
nine or ten rooms, and from that time
On it has been almost as well known
as Tallulah Falls, few places in Georgia
being as noted. Major Rembert occu
pied this home every year from May un
til October as a summer home, and at
one time being the hiding place of Gen
eral Robert Toombs during the stormv
days of 1S65.
After the death of Major Rembert the
once pretty home went down and for
years was occupied by a lonely hermit
and noted writer. Dr. Felix L. Oswald,
with boy, coon, monkeys and donkeys,
studying evolution.
The doctor used to explain why he se
lected the place by showing you from
each end of the front verandah, one end
overlooking the peaceful valley below, the
other the Blue Ridge mountains above,
from Virginia to Alabama, saying: "I
am midway between civilization and the
wilds.”
There was a still stranger personage
who once had charge of this mountain
heme, by name, Barney Corrigan.who was
Major Rem belt’s overseer on the cotton
plantations, and Major Rembert being
so attached to him, brought him to the
mountains with him. Barney saved the
earnings of a lifetime; though small at
first, they grew until just before his
death be was a "mountain Vanderbilt,”
and was "banker” for all this section,
being known as “the kind old bachelor.”
His "bushels” of gold and silver made
him many friends. After a long life of
hard toil, with nothing save the grand
and beautiful scenery of his mountain
home to cheer him, he died one chilly
December with no one at his bedside
except the old Rembert family servants,
one of whom he sent some eight miles
to .nform his friend, since school-boy
days, that the end was near and that he
might tell him where his gold was buried
on the mountain side. Just as the sun
was rising over the hilltops this friend
arrived, but too late for him to tell of
the hidden treasure, for Barney was then
dying.
These and many other legends have i
heard from true tradition of this once
grand old mountain home, which was
destroyed by fire on the night of March
21st. JAMES P. PRATHER.
Confederate Monument at Springfield, Mo
By H CLAY NEVILLE
For fSho Sunny South
N the l«th of next Au
gust, the fortieth anni
versary of the battle of
Wilson creek, a monu
ment will be unveiled at
the confederate ceme
tery four miles south of
Springfield, Mo. This
will be one of the most
important events com
memorative of the
southern cause that has
ever occurred west of
the Mississippi river,
and all of the ex-con
federate associations 4n
Missouri are now work
ing together with much
zeal to make the occasion comport with
the sacred memories which the monument
is designed to perpetuate.
The states of Missouri, Arkansas, Louis
iana and Texas have a common interest
in the confederate cemetery in Springfield,
as each has sons sleeping there who fell
In the first great battle fought in the
west. The four states named will have
a formal representation at the unveiling
of the monument, and never again per
haps will so many confederate veterans
meet in any reunion west of the Mis
sissippi. All of the states and territories
of the west and southwest will be invited
to participate in the dedication of this
memorial shaft. The Missouri state camp
of ex-confederate veterans will meet here
the day before the anniversary of the bat
tle and conduct the exercises of the un
veiling. It is the aim of the various ex-
confederate associations that have the ar
rangements of the affair in hand to bring
every survivor of the battle of Wilson
creek who is able to travel to Springfield
to witness the dedication of the monu
ment. General John B. Gordon and Sena
tor Daniel, of Virginia, will perhaps be
two of the speakers for the occasion, and
the governors of Missouri, Arkansas,
Louisiana and Texas are expected to be
present.
The monument was designed by the
Italian sculptor. Chevalier Trentanove,
who is now at work on the bronze statue
in Florence., The statue is twelve feet
and seven inches in height and represents
a private southern soldier. The figure
stands with forded arms, gazing slightly
upward, and is weaponless except a pis
tol belted at the side. The dress of the
soldier caused the question of propriety
to be raised by - some of the ex-confeder-
ates here who said the uniform was incon
gruous because of the fact that the de
signer put cavalry boots on his model.
Others contend that the mixture of dress
make the statue represent the two im
portant branches of the army—the infan
try and cavalry—and on that account
gives the monument a more general char
acter.
The base of the monument will be four
teen feet square and made of Vermont
granite. The foundation will be in four
pieces, and each succeeding layer will
consist of a solid stone. The base of the
monument will be eighteen feet high.
The confederate cemetery at Springfield
contains about four acres of ground and
is inclosed by a wall of limestone that
will stand for ages without the need of
repair.
There are about 500 graves In the ceme
tery. most of them marked "unknown,”
for the confederate dead were not interred
here until several years after the close
of the war and the bones gathered up at
Wilson creek and other battlefields near
Springfield could seldom be identified.
The southern forces lost at Wilson
Creek about 263 men killed on the battle
field or mortally wounded.
On the 8th of January. 1863, what is
known here as the battle of Springfield,
or “the Marmaduke fight,” was fought
in the southern part of the old town. Gen
eral John S. Marmaduke, afterwards one
of the governors of Missouri, command
ed the confederate forces in that engage
ment. The southern dead were left on
the field and buried by the citizens of
Springfield the day after the battle. The
graves were dug just south of what was
then the southern edge of the town and
in 1868 when it became necessary to ex
tend South street, the workmen in exca
vating unearthed many of the bones of
the confederate soldiers. This caused the
question of a cemetery site to be discuss
ed and the southern people of Springfield
selected the present grounds for that pur
pose and began to gather up remains of
all the confederate dead around Spring-
field and ii-ter them there.
The battlefield of Wilson Creek, eight
miles west of the cemetery, had not been
protected during these seven years, and
some graves were, of course, never found.
The little valley of Wilson Creek had of
ten been flooded by heavy rains, and now
and then the skeleton of a southern sol
dier was washed down into the James
river and lost.
The struggles of the Confederate Ceme
tery Association to get money to protect
their dead now seems almost as pathetic
as some of the events of the war, and
form a part of that great tragedy of
the lost cause whose complete history
will never be written. Jefferson Davis
gave the monument his personal aid and
General Robert E. Lee sent a lock of his
hair to be sold as a souvenir at an en
tertainment got up to raise funds for the
cemetery. Mrs. C. D. Kennedv. of Spring-
field, the wife of an ex-confederate sol
dier who was the founder of the first
democratic newspaper published here af
ter the war, and consul general at Maita
under President Cleveland’s last admin
istration, has now that braid of the great
southern chieftain’s hair, which he would
have contributed to no other cause in the
world.
The battle of Wilson Creek, or Oak
Hills, as it is called in the confederate
reports of the engagement, was a hard
and bloody struggle of seven hours’ dura
tion fought In an open field by troops,
most of whom had never before been
under fire. The war was then just open
ing in the west arid on the 19th of Au
gust, 1861, the sound of hostile cannon
had never been heard by the people of
Springfield and the inhabitants of the Bur-
rounding country. It was more than
100 miles from the battlefield to the near
est railroad and the news of the progress
of the war on the Atlantic coast reached
the Ozark mountaineers very slowly. But
meager reports of the great southern vic
tory at Bull Run had been received by
the people of southwest Missouri when
the battle of Wilson Creek brought the
realities of war to their very doors.
Genera) Nathaniel Lyon, at the head of
the Army of the Southwest, occupied
Springfield. General Franz Sigel, a sol
dier of foreign birth and education, was
the second officer in the union army. The
federal forces were well equipped and
drilled for that stage of the war. Some
of General Lyon’s men were soldiers of
the regular army. General Slgel’s troops
wire German volunteers and some of
these had done service In the father-
land.
General Ben McCulloch, a Texan vet
eran who had helped evenge the butch
ery of the heroes of the Alamo at San
Jacinto, was the senior officer of the con
federate forces advancing on Spring-
field from the Arkansas border. General
Sterling Price, affectionately called "Old
Pap Price” by his men later on in the
war, commanded the Missouri state
guards, at the battle of Wilson Creek.
In General Price’s command were many
new recruits from Arkansas and the
mountains of Missouri, who had no other
weapons than the flint lock rifles and
shotguns they had borrowed from their
cabin homes in the Ozark wilderness when
Confederate monument to be un•
veiled at Springfield, Mo., Jtu*
gust, to, 1901
the Signal of war called them away to
fight for “southern rights" against the
“northern invaders,” as the union sol
diers were called by the adherents of
the young confederacy. All kinds of
weapons known in the ante-bellum days
were used at Wilson Creek. Flint lock
pistols picked up on the battlefield thir
ty-five years ago are now kept as prized
souvenirs by some of the farmers who
owned the ground where the two armies
struggled. General McCulloch was mov
ing to attack General Lycn and bivouack
ed on the 9th of August near the mouth
of Wilson Creek to rest his men and
allow them to kill some beeves and roast
green corn for rations. It would have
been but an easy half day’s march to
Springfield, and the plan was to reach
the town by night and give battle to the
union army early on the morning of the
10th. The order to break camp at Wilson
Creek had already been given and the
southern army was astir for the final
march before the expected battle, when
a summer shower began to fall. The am
munition of the soldiers was exposed.
Some of the men carried rudely made
cartridges in their pockets. The powder
In the horns of the hunter recruits might
get wet. General McCulloch saw this
danger and countermanded the order to
march and the soldiers were told to keep
their powder dry. In an hour or two the
rain had ceased, but the army remained
in camp that afternoon in the valley of
Wilson Creek and many of the Missouri
and Arkansas volunteers molded bullets
for their old deer guns.
General Lyon that afternoon decided to
anticioate the attack of his enemy, and
after dark marched down to Wilson
Creek, reaching the picRets of the south
ern army about daylight. General Sigel.
commanding the flanking column of the
federal army, had started out of Spring-
field several hours in advance of General
Lyon, and he was in position for the at
tack long before the confederate camp
began to stir. The union commanders
plan of battle was to attack the southern
forces in front, drive them back on Gen
eral Sigel’s flanking column and thus, it
possible, bag the prey.
The battle began about sun-up on tne
front and rear of the confederate camp.
The surprise was almost complete and
fully half of the southern soldiers were
either in bed or preparing breakfast, when
General Lyon’s battery, commanded by
Lieutenant Totten, afterwards a famous
artillery officer in the union army, opened
fire from the top of what is now known“
"Bloody Hill,” on the confederate camp
in the valley below.
There was some demoralization amo g
a portion of the southern troops at first.
There were a thousand or more of the
new recruits that had no gun of any
kind. That was a time, too, when a large
number of the southern volunteers want-d
to fight on horseback, they thought. The
cavalry service was very attractive to
the cavalier spirit of the south and fully
half of General Price’s state guards sad
dled the horses when they took down
their rifles from the old gun racks and
started to join the army.
At Wilson creek these horees JJI'l price
be a great encumorance to General Brice
and he had to get his unarmed men out
of the range of the federal gups before
the other troops could do much effective
service in resisting the attack.
When the confederate commanders real
ized that they had an «=ncmy in their
front and rear. General McCulloch select-
ed the Third Louisiana, led by Colonel
Hehert to repel the attack of Sigel s
flanking column, which by this time held
a strong position on a hill south of the
center of the camp and about one mile
from Lyon s front. The Louisiana troops
made a splendid appearance as they
marched up that little mountain slope in
X face of Sigel’s battery. They wore
bright new uniforms of 'ray and thUr
equipments were the best tn General Mc-
Oulloch’s army. The German soldiers on
the hill saw the advancing column and
they mistook the Louisiana troops for the
FiSt Iowa, one of General Lyon’s regi
ments that wore gray uniforms, lhey
thought the attack in front had been suc-
cessful and that Lyon had brokethrough
the southern camp. General Si>el v.atcu
ed the advancing column through his
glass and at last exclaimed: They earn
the secession flag!” Still his men held
their fire. They couid not believe that
the approaching line, so superb in bearing
and equipped, belonged to the confederate
army. The Pelican Rifles were so unlike
the raw recruits Sigel’s column had first
encountered in the yalley below.
The Third Louisiana came close to the
admiring Dutch troops before they level
ed their guns. A deadly fire then blazed
in the faces of Sigel’s artillerymen. With
a wild battle cry the gallant soldiers in
gray rushed up the hill and captured the
battery before a gun could be fired.
Sigel’s whole column was routed in five
minutes. His army became a panic-
stricken mob and every man sought
safety in his own way. As the German
troops scattered and fled toward the
James river the Texas cavalry took ud
the pursuit and the daring riders who had
done service for years on the Indian fron
tier now did deadly execution with their
carbines and big revolvers.
Sigel was thus auickly put out of the
fight. He retreated back to Springfield
early in the day. followed bv the strag
gling survivors of his demoralized army.
The Louisiana troops then hurried to
the front and Joined their Missouri and
Arkansas comrades, engaged with Gen
eral Lyon. Here the storm of battle
raged incessantly over and around
"Bloody Hill,” till about 11 o’clock. For
seven hours there was no pause in the
deadly struggle. The union commander
fought heroically. With Sigel routed and
hurrying away from the field, the odds
were against Lyon, but he fought on and
exposed himself to the enemy’s Are reck
lessly. His horse was shot on the summit
of the fatal hill. The general was also
bleeding from a wound. He mounted an
other horse and started to lead the First
Iowa, that had rallied, for one more
charge. At the head of his decimated
regiment the union commander fell, and
then the battle suddenly ended. The rem
nant of General Lyon’s army followed Si-
gel’s stragglers back to Springfield and
the victory of Oak Hills was emblazoned
on the arms of the young and hopeful
confederacy.
That the fighting at Wilson creek was
stubborn and deadly Is shown by the
losses «on both sides. The Wiled and
wounded of the federal army numbered
1,235. The First Missouri infantry had
seventy-six men killed on the field. The
First Kansas lost seventy-seven. The
aggregate losses on each side were about
the same. The fighting was always at
close range. The southern troops march
ed up within a few rods of the union line
and fired their double-barreled shotguns
and flint lock rifles right in the faces of
the foe. The buckshot of General Price’s
Missouri volunteers did fatal work on
“Bloody Hill.” The guns of these trained
mountaineer hunters were loaded heav
ily. and when the battle was over many
of these raw recruits that had escaped the
enemy’s fire found their shoulders very
sore. This was caused by the WcWng of
the old muzzle loaders.
The union army stopped a few hours at
Springfield and then resumed the retreat
toward St. Louis. At Rolls, Mo., the
demoralized command was reorganized
and remained there inactive for several
months.
General McCulloch buried his dead on
the battle field and the next day. Sunday,
August 11th, he marched into Springfield.
The wounded of both armies were moved
to the little town and distributed among
the public buildings, hotels and private
houses. The courthouse and several
churches became hospitals, and almost
every woman in Springfield, of either
side, who could endure the sight of man
gled soldiers found service as a nurse.
The old St. Paul Methodist church, on
South street, was then the largest house
of worship in southwest Missouri. The
building was full of the wounded of both
armies. A young confederate soldier stop
ped as his regiment marched into town
from Wilson creek and looked In at this
improvised hospital. Thirty-five years
later that veteran of Oak Hills was the
pastor of St. Paul church. That ex-con
federate soldier, the Rev. Dr. C. C.-
W’oods, is now the associate editor of The
Christian Advocate, of St. Louis.
After the battle of Wilson creek the
deepest gloom overshadowed the hearts
of the union people of the Ozarks, while
the confederate soldier and the southern
sympathizer reveled in an ecstacy of en
thusiasm.
Those were the golden days of the
southern cause when the “rebel yell” wa*
proclaiming victory for the proud young
standard of "Dixie land” from the Poto
mac to the western frontier.
In the camps of Generals McCulloch
and Price at Springfield, Just after the
battle of Wilson creek, were some of
the most picturesque scenery witnessed
anywhere during the civil war. Here
were gathered together a strange and
heterogenous host of southern defenders.
The Louisiana troops gave the confed
erate army its highest military tone.
These gallant sons of the Creole State
who had left luxurious homes to fight
in the ranks for southern Independence
were idolized by the southern ladies of
Springfield.
From the western frontier of the im
perial Lone Star State, where the water*
of the Rio Grande aft musical with a
thousand memories of romantic adven
ture, the daring Texan ranger had rid
den all the way across the vast In
tervening plane to participate in the glo
rious achievement of driving hack thq
“northern invader.” ’ This . bronzed In
dian fighter, attired in his broad som
brero, fringed buckskin pants, capacious
boots, jingling spurs and pistol belt, was
the most interesting spectacle of the
confederate camp. For the entertainment
of his civilian admirers this centaur of
the west would now and then pick up
a gravel from the street or lasso a steer
on the town commons while running his
horse at full speed.
The ranger was an unknown quantity
yet-In the civil war, but to the people
of Springfield Jijst after the battle of
Wilson creek he seemed the most prom
ising champion of the southern cause.
He came from the Indian frontier with
the fame and paraphernalia of a resist
less hero. The tales that were told of
the rangers’ prowess and skill in fight
ing the wily savage on the western
plains could, hardly have been more im
probable, but that was a credulous age.
and few of the partisans of the south
who gazed on the marvelous feats of
horsemanship exhibited by the bold
Texan as he dashed about the camp
doubted the truth of these wonderful
legends. That the knight of the lasso
would perform new wonders in driving
back the “hireling foe,” all southern sym
pathizers about Springfield in the latter
part of August. 1861, firmly believed.
When Generals McCulloch and Brice
occupied Springfield after the retreat of
the federal army to Rolla, the new re
cruits from the mountains of Missouri
end Arkansas began to learn their first
lessons in the art of war. Boasting of
neither patrician birth nor heroic adven
ture. these ungainly sons of the Ozarks
had left their homes to fight for that
glittering cause which allured all classes
of men to the field of death. The expe
rience of these unlettered followers of the
confederate standard had been narrow.
Indeed. Beyond their primitive home*
made of oak or pine logs, where the boys
had been born and lived, their knowledge
of the world fid not extend far. The
thrilling coon hunt, the shooting match,
the camp meeting and the Christmas
dances were the events that had given
life its coloring of adventure for the
ycung mountaineers who were not trying
so hard to master some of the simpler
elements In the manual of arms. The tra
ditions of the war in southwest Missouri
say chat some of Price’3 youthful re
cruits had never been “upstairs” till they
came to Springfield and explored tha
architectural wonders of the old Greene
county courthouse, a three-story build
ing which still stands on the west side
of the public square.
Of the prominent confederate officers
v ho took part in the battle of Oak Hills
only General Price survived the close of
the war. General McCulloch was killedf
at Pea Ridge the following March. Gen
eral Black and several other officers who
teck part in the battle near Springfield
fell there also.
Gcneial Price always regarded the battle
of Oak Hills as a great victory for his
troops, and after he was moved to tbs
trans-Mississippi department he often re
minded his men of the valor they exhibit
ed there as an incentive to other achieve
ments.
There is a bill now before congress to
make the battle ground of Wilson creek
a national park. An option has already
been secured on about 300 acres of the
battlefield. Aside from the historic mem
ories associated with this part of the
Ozark plateau, the reservation could be
made very attractive, for the ground has
great diversity of scenery and the wind
ing valley of Wilson creek viewed from
the summit of "Bloody Hill,” where a
pile of native stone marks the spot on
which Gereral Lyon died, looks very pic
ture: que, H. CLAT NEVILLE.
DBTHCT HOST
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