Raids
On July 7, Jackson decided not to follow Sigel’s men on their retreat toward Springfield. There were Confederate soldiers, under Gen. Ben McCulloch and Gen. Sterling Price, already stationed there. However, with the growing call to arms from the Confederate Army, a number of men decided to detach from the Missouri State Guard, and enlisted with the Confederate troops, officially becoming part of the Confederate Army. Jaris Adams was part of that regiment. He made the long, slow trip toward Springfield, along with a few hundred other men, many of which were also from Barton County. He had hoped to find time along the trip to send word to Cordia and his mother that he had survived his first engagement, but free time was hard to come by. Eventually, they found the Confederate Army and were enlisted. Jaris retained his rank of lieutenant and was soon drilling with a whole other set of men.
Throughout the rest of July, both armies were relatively quiet as far as fighting was concerned, though they both seemed to be doing quite a bit of moving. To look at Missouri from afar would have been quite like watching a giant chess match. Lyon was desperately working his way toward Sigel, force-marching his men for many days to reach Springfield. Jackson and McCulloch were also shifting their troops around. It seemed only a matter of time before a major battle would have to take place. The soldiers on both sides began to brace themselves for the impending doom of combat.
* * *
There had been rumors of raiders attacking some of the settlements in Vernon County, north of Lamar. So far, Cordia had not heard of anyone in Barton County being attacked. But the small number of militia drilling on the square every day was a reminder that it was possible that those marauders could burst into town at any time, a threat that kept the townsfolk constantly on guard. She went by the courthouse everyday now. Usually, there was nothing new posted. Sometimes, there would be news of troop movements or of wounded soldiers being discharged. She never saw mention of either Jaris’s name or Will’s—which was exactly what she was praying for.
The post office was also a daily stop for her. Most days nothing came. On this day, July 30, she received a letter from Jaris, telling her that he had transferred into the Confederate Army, that he was no longer in the Missouri State Guard. For Cordia, all this meant was that she now needed to be looking for the names of Gen. Sterling Price and Gen. Ben McCulloch when she was checking on engagements, rather than Gov. Jackson. It alarmed her quite a bit to hear that these principal Confederate armies were converging near Springfield at the same time that the Union armies of Lyon and Sigel also seemed to be joining together there. Hopefully, they would miss each other and continue to dance around the state without actually fighting. However, this was a war, and it seemed fairly certain that, eventually, they were going to collide.
That afternoon at the Adams Farm, Julia read to her a second letter that she had received from Will. He was also marching to Springfield, it seemed. Julia was so happy to have heard from him again. His words seemed to reassure her that he was going to make it through this war just fine. While Cordia was also happy to have heard from Will, she was a little saddened that he had now written his sister twice and had yet to send any correspondence to her whatsoever. Once again, she thought perhaps she had been foolish in ever thinking that Will had feelings for her, although this letter, like the last, did speak highly of her. Still, she did not find the same amount of comfort in his letter as his sister did.
* * *
On August 9, Franz Sigel’s men were camped south of Wilson’s Creek, near Springfield. Will took a few moments that evening to write Cordia another letter. Though he had yet to mail the last one he had written to her, he had a strange feeling about what might happen the next day. It was difficult to gather much information from the officers; however, he was fairly certain there would be a battle tomorrow. He had heard enough to know that the Confederate Army, under Gen. McCulloch, was bivouacked nearer to the creek. He also knew that Lyon’s men were camped just north of the creek. Now, he was not a military specialist, but it would seem like a good idea to him to try to catch McCulloch in between. He imagined that was probably what the higher-ups were thinking as well. He wasn’t sure exactly how many men the enemy had, but he knew his side was probably outnumbered. So, he took a few moments to write Cordia another letter—not insinuating he thought he was going to die—but he did want her to know that, the night before this battle, his mind was on her.
It seemed Will had only been asleep for a few seconds when he heard men whispering. Once again, he had been dreaming about Nolan. They had been hiding in that well again. This time, their mother had had enough and chased them around the yard with a broom. He tried to shake the image of his brother’s laughing eyes out of his head and bring himself back to reality. “Time to get up,” Frank was saying in his ear. Will groaned. The sun wasn’t even up. “Be quiet,” Frank continued. “We don’t want to wake the snoozing Rebs.”
Will wiped the sleep out of his eyes. The stars were still shining above him as he rolled up his blanket and gathered up the rest of his belongings. “What time is it?” he whispered to Skeet, who looked to be still half asleep himself.
Skeet carried a pocket watch, which he pulled out and attempted to focus his eyes upon. “Three o’clock,” he finally said, almost a question. Apparently, he couldn’t believe how early it was either.
As they began to fall into line, Frank leaned over and whispered, “Elephant’s waking up mighty early this morning.”
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