killed, and I sincerely
mourned my loss. But after the fight was over I found my man
quietly riding the spare horse along with the troops, as if nothing
unusual had happened. When I upbraided him for his conduct and
demanded to know where he had been all that time, he replied: "Ah,
Major, when I saw the one horse killed I thought I'd better take
the other to a place of safety!"

Where my efficient assistant obtained his supplies I never knew,
but he would fill without delay any requisition I might make, from
a shoe-string to a buffalo-robe. One day in 1862 I found in my
camp trunk several pairs of shoulder-straps belonging to the grades
of captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel. As I was then a brigadier-
general, I inquired of my man why he kept those badges of inferior
grades. He replied: "Ah, General, nobody can tell what may happen
to you." When, only a few months later, after having been promoted
to the rank of major-general I was again reduced to that of brigadier-
general, I remembered the forethought of my Irish orderly.

[( 1) See War Records, Vol. XIII, p. 7.]

[( 2) The whole correspondence may be found in the War Records,
Vol. XXII, part ii.]

CHAPTER V
In Command of the Department of the Missouri--Troops Sent to General
Grant--Satisfaction of the President--Conditions on which Governor
Gamble would Continue in Office--Anti-Slavery Views--Lincoln on
Emancipation in Missouri--Trouble Following the Lawrence Massacre
--A Visit to Kansas, and the Party Quarrel There--Mutiny in the
State Militia--Repressive Measures--A Revolutionary Plot.

On May 24, 1863, I relieved General Curtis in command of the
Department of the Missouri. In his instructions of May 22, General
Halleck said:

"You owe your appointment entirely to the choice of the President
himself. I have not, directly or indirectly, interfered in the
matter. But I fully concur in the choice, and will give you all
possible support and assistance in the performance of the arduous
duties imposed upon you."

IN COMMAND OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI

A few days later I received the following significant letter from
the President:

"Executive Mansion, Washington, May 27, 1863.
"General J. M. Schofield:

"My dear Sir: Having relieved General Curtis and assigned you to
the command of the Department of the Missouri, I think it may be
of some advantage for me to state to you why I did it.

"I did no