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In order to obtain the cooperation of the Confederate armies, the Governorand General Price sent me to Richmond , after the capture of Lexington, as aspecial commissioner to explain to President Davis the condition of affairs inMissouri , and to negotiate a treaty of alliance with the Confederate States,inasmuch as Missouri had not seceded nor been admitted into the Confederacy.By their direction I went by way ofMcCulloch’s headquarters, in orderto make one more effort to securehis cooperation, and failing in that,to get from him certain supplieswhich General Price greatly needed,particularly caps for the musketswhich we had captured at Lexing-ton. To all my entreaties McCullochreplied that Price had gone to theMissouri against his advice; that themovement was unwise and would re-sult in disaster, and that he wouldnot endanger his own army by goingto his assistance; and that as formusket-caps, he had none to spare.
General John C. Fremont , who hadassumed command of the Union ar-mies in the West on the 25th of July,now began to concentrate his forcesmen, with 100 pieces of artillery, to attack him in front, and others to cutoff his retreat, he took the field himself. His plan was magnificent—tocapture or disperse Price’s army; march to Little Rock and occupy theplace; turn the Confederates under Polk, Pillow, Thompson, and Hardee, andcompel them to fall back southward; push on to Memphis with his armyand Foote’s flotilla; capture that city; and then make straight for New Orleans .
Price left Lexington on the 29th of September, after advising his unarmedmen to return to their homes, and to wait for a more convenient time to rise.Marching as rapidly as his long train would permit, he reached the Osage onthe 8th of October with about 7000 men. To cross his troops and trains overthat difficult river on a single flat-boat was a tedious operation, but Fremontgave him all the time that he needed, and he got them safely over.
After crossing the Osage, Price marched quickly to Neosho, where theGeneral Assembly had been summoned by Governor Jackson to meet.Fremont continued to follow till the 2d of November, when he was super-seded by Major-General David Hunter, who immediately stopped the pursuitand turned the army back to St. Louis . On the 19th of November Major-General Halleck assumed command of the Federal Department.
When I returned from Richmond, Price had gone into winter quarters onthe Sac River near Osceola. Many of his men had been furloughed so thatthey might go to their homes, where they could subsist themselves during