Pretense still counted for much in the war. Later it burnt up like dry straw in the fierce blaze of actualities. Not being Fremont's own, nor contributing particularly to his aggrandizement, Gen. Lyon's plans and aims had little importance to his Commanding General. Gen. Lyon saw clearly that the place to fight for St. Louis and Missouri was in the neighborhood of Springfield, and by messenger and letter he importuned that St. Louis be left to the care of the loyal Germans of the Home Guards, who had shown their ability to handle the city, and that all the other troops there and elsewhere in the State be rushed forward to him, with shoes and clothing for his unshod, ragged soldiers, and sufficient rations for the army, which had well-nigh exhausted the country upon which it had been living for so long. But Fremont frittered away his strength in sending regiments to chase guerrilla bands which dissolved as soon as the trail became too hot. Two regiments were ordered to Lyon from points so distant that they could not make the march in less than 10 days or a fortnight, and some scanty supplies sent to Rolla remained there because of lack of wagons to carry them forward to Springfield, 120 miles away. 150 Later Gen. Fremont testified before the Committee on the Conduct of the War that he had ordered Gen. Lyon, if he could not maintain himself at Springfield, to fall back to Rolla, but singularly he did not produce this order. Though Gen. Lyon had marched his men 50 miles in one day to prevent the junction of Gen. Ben Mc-Culloch's Arkansas column with the hosts Gen. Sterling Price was gathering from Missouri, he was not able to interpose between them. On Saturday, Aug. 3, the Confederates had all gotten together on the banks of Crane Creek, 55 miles southwest of Springfield, with general headquarters in and around the village of Cassville. How many were concentrated is subject to the same obscurity which usually envelops Confederate numbers. Lyon estimated there were 30,000. Later estimates by competent men put the number at 23,000. Gen. Snead, Price's Adjutant-General, put the number at 11,000, which would be a severe reflection on the loyalty of the Missouri Secessionists to their Governor, since Gen. McCulloch certainly brought up about 5,000 from Arkansas, which would leave only 6,000 to respond to Gov. Jackson's proclamation, and gather under the standards set up by his seven Brigadier-Generals--Parsons, Rains, Slack, J. B. Clark, M. L. Clark, Watkins and Randolph.