en who owned full one-third of the
property destroyed.

220

A large number of these were engaged in the trade of the Southwest, for
which Osceola was a distributing center. Goods were brought up the river
during the high water and then shipped through the country by wagons.
The town was also the County seat of St. Clair County, and contained the
public records, etc.

Still more unfortunate was it that Lane's act was taken as an excuse for
the Missouri guerrillas to retaliate upon Kansas towns and the property
of the Union people in their own State. Lane says in his report: "The
enemy ambushed the approaches to the town, and after being driven from
them by the advance under Cols. Montgomery and Weer, they took refuge in
the buildings of the town to annoy us. We were compelled to shell them
out, and in doing so the place was burned to ashes, with an immense
amount of stores of all descriptions. There were 15 or 20 of them
killed and wounded; we lost none. Full particulars will be furnished you
hereafter."

This shows that even he felt the necessity of apologizing for the act,
but the apology is too transparent. The fact was that the Kansas men
saw an opportunity to pay back some of their old scores against the
Missourians and did not fail to improve it.

In spite of Gen. Fremont's promise to the President to "take the field
himself and attempt to destroy the enemy," he moved with exceeding
deliberation. It is true that he left St. Louis for Jefferson City,
Sept. 27, a week after Mulligan's surrender, but that week had been
well employed by Price in gathering up all that he could carry away and
making ready to avoid the blow which he knew must fall.

221

After arriving at Jefferson City, Fremont, instead of taking the troops
which were near at hand and making a swift rush upon his enemy, the
only way in which he could hope to hurt him, began the organization of
a "grande armee" upon the European model, and that which McClellan was
deliberately organizing in front of Washington.

The impatient people, who were paying the $3,000,000 a day which the war
was now beginning to cost, and who had begun to murmur for results, were
amused by stories of plans of sweeping down the Mississippi clear to
New Orleans, taking Memphis, Vicksburg and other strongholds on the way,
severing the Southern Confederacy in twain, so that it would fall into
hopeless ruin.

This was entirely possible at that time with the army that