Today in History:

333 Series I Volume XLI-II Serial 84 - Price's Missouri Expedition Part II

Page 333 Chapter LIII. CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. - UNION.

went up this morning on steamer with Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry. I cannot spare more without robbing myself, as I may have to arm militia. Colonel Ford says this morning that Thornton will have 1,500 or 2,000 men by night.

S. R. CURTIS,

Major-General.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, July 22, 1864.

General ROSECRANS:

After full consultation with General Blunt and other military men I have become satisfied that Missouri is in imminent peril of devastation. Ten thousand rebels are in course of concentration on the border and should be met by prompt action in calling out the loyal men of Missouri and arming them for the field.

J. H. LANE.

SEDALIA, July 22, 1864.

Major-General ROSECRANS:

Captain Blair, Fourth Cavalry Missouri State Militia, who was sent on scout last night to learn news of Yeager and his band of guerrillas, who were reported to have burned Arrow Rock, reports to Colonel Hall this afternoon from Boonville as follows:

Heard of no enemy on the way. Captain Parke, commanding at Boonville, says Colonel Yeager's command when last heard from was going toward Cambridge. Guerrillas plenty across the river. Ferry-boat at Boonville has stopped running.

J. TOTTEN,

Brigadier-General.

[JULY 22, 1864.]

Major General W. S. ROSECRANS,

Commanding Dept. of the Missouri, Hdqrs. Saint Louis, Mo.:

We, the undersigned, unconditional Union men of Audrain County, Mo., would most respectfully represent that, feeling a deep and personal interest in the permanent peace and future happiness of our county and State, we have watched the actions of men and the course of events in this section of our State from the outbreak of this most unfortunate, most unhappy, and causeless rebellion. And from all the evidences presented to our minds for the past few months, and now being crowded upon us in an unmistakable manner, we are thoroughly convinced and are now satisfied that there has never been a time since the commencement of this wicked rebellion when loyal men have felt so little security for their property and persons. There has never been a time when loyal men have been so frequently and so brutally murdered or stripped of all they possessed and threatened with immediate death if they remain in the country, and under this state of suspense and insecurity many are leaving the State, and unless some measures are adopted by which a speedy reaction can be brought about many must and will of necessity leave their homes with what little they can save, and seek safety for their families in some more secure localities. The and seek safety for their families in some more secure localities. The general operative measures of this county for the past two years or more has made it safer and more profitable to the disloyal than to the truly loyal men of the country. By the actions of guerrillas and their


Page 333 Chapter LIII. CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. - UNION.