Gen. Lyon, who had watched every phase of the battle closely, ordered
Capt. Totten to move part of his battery to the support of the 1st
Mo., but as the Captain was about to open he was restrained by seeing
a regiment advancing to within a distance of about 200 yards, carrying
both a Federal and a Confederate flag. It was the direction from which
Sigel had been anxiously expected, and as the uniform of the advancing
regiment was similar to that of Sigel's men, both the infantry and the
artillery withheld their fire until the enemy revealed his character by
a volley, when Capt Totten opened all his guns upon them with canister
and inflicted great slaughter.
Capt Cary Gratz, of the 1st Mo., was so indignant at this treachery that
he dashed out and shot down the man who was carrying the Union flag,
only to be shot down himself almost immediately afterwards by several
bullets from the Confederates. The 2d Kan. was also hurried forward to
support the 1st Mo. Capt Steele's battalion was brought up and the
1st Iowa was sent in to relieve the 1st Kan., which had suffered quite
severely and was nearly out of ammunition.
The battle was renewed with much greater fierceness than ever, the
Confederates advancing in three or four ranks, lying down, kneeling,
standing, sometimes getting within 30 or 40 yards of the Union line
before they were forced back.
Gen. Lyon was everywhere where his presence was needed to encourage the
troops, rally them, and bring them back into line. His horse was shot,
and he received a wound in the head and one on the ankle. He continued
to walk along the line, but he was evidently much depressed by the way
in which Price and McCulloch succeeded in bringing forward fresh troops
to replace those which had been driven from the field. He said to
Maj. Schofield sadly, "I fear the day is lost." Schofield replied
encouragingly, dismounted one of his orderlies and gave the horse to
Lyon, when they separated, each to lead a regiment It was now 9 o'clock,
or little after, and there was a lull in the fight, during which
time the enemy seemed to be reorganizing his force, and Lyon began
concentrating his into a more compact form on the crest of the ridge.
171
Capt. Sweeny called Lyon's attention to his wounds, but Lyon answered
briefly, "It is nothing."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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