[204] Born in Connecticut, 1818; died, 1861. Served with distinction in the Mexican War; supported Free Soil party in Kansas, 1857; was placed in command of the United States arsenal at St. Louis, 1861; succeeded General Harney in command of the Department; defeated Confederates at Boonville and at Dug Spring; was defeated by greatly superior force at Wilson’s Creek, and killed in the battle, August 10, 1861. [205] Born in Baden, 1824. General Sigel died in New York in 1902, and at the time of his death his services for the Union were highly eulogized. [206] _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, Vol. I., p. 306. CHAPTER XXVIII. =THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1862.= THE WAR IN THE WEST. [Illustration: EDWIN M. STANTON.] =475. Secretary Edwin M. Stanton.=—The first very important event of the year 1862 was the substitution of Edwin M. Stanton[207] for Simon Cameron, as Secretary of War, January 13. Cameron, who had been a candidate for the Presidential nomination, had been taken into the Cabinet under the policy already referred to (§ 451), but the duties soon proved too severe for his energy and his years. He was appointed Minister to Russia; and the vacant position was given to Stanton, who, as a War Democrat, had shown his ability and his spirit as Attorney-General in Buchanan’s reorganized Cabinet. Stanton at once put new life into the War Department. He was, at times, exceedingly disagreeable in his methods, but he was the terror of evil doers; and to the end of the war his marvelous energy and remarkable administrative ability made themselves felt in every branch of the service. It is doubtful if there has been any greater Minister of War in modern times.