ntil after the firing on Fort Sumter, when he resigned to
return to Missouri and raise a regiment for the Southern Confederacy.
He was to rise to the rank of Major-General in the Confederate army,
achieve much fame for military ability, and be elected, in 1884,
Governor of the State.

123

The column immediately under the command of Gen. Lyon consisted
of Totten's Light Battery (F, 2d U. S. Art.); Co. B, 2d U. S.; two
companies of Regular recruits; Col. Blair's Missouri regiment and
nine companies of Boernstein's Missouri regiment; aggregating somewhere
between 1,700 and 2,000 men. On the evening of Sunday, June 16, the
boats carrying the command arrived within 15 miles of Boonville, and
lay there during the night. The next morning they proceeded up to within
about eight miles of the town, when all but one company of Blair's
regiment and an artillery detachment disembarked and began a land march
upon the enemy's position. The remaining company and the howitzer were
sent on with the boats to give the impression that an attack was to be
made from the river side.

The people in the country reported to Gen. Lyon that the enemy was fully
4,000 strong, and intended an obstinate defense. He therefore moved
forward cautiously, arriving at last at the foot of a gently undulating
slope to a crest one mile distant, on which the enemy was stationed,
with the ground quite favorable for them. Gen. Lyon formed a line of
battle about 300 yards from the crest, with Totten's battery in the
rear and nine companies of Boernstein's regiment on the right, under
the command of Lieut.-Col. Schaeffer, and the Regulars and Col. Blair's
regiment on the left. It was a momentous period, big with Missouri's
future.

124

The engagement opened with Capt. Totten shelling the enemy's position
and the well-drilled German infantry advancing with the Regulars, firing
as they went. The question was now to be tried as to the value of the
much-vaunted Missouri riflemen in conflict with the disciplined
Germans. The former had been led to believe that they would repeat the
achievements of their forefathers at New Orleans.

Under the lead of Col. Marmaduke, the Confederates stood their ground
pluckily for a few minutes, but the steady advance of the Union troops,
with the demoralizing effect of the shells, were too much for them. Col.
Marmaduke attempted to make an orderly retreat, and at first seemed
to succeed, but finally the movement degenerated