Chapter 24 -
Marmaduke Sweeps Into Missouri

(Hospital) "This little piece of news should make you smile." Patch cleared his throat and read, "Unhappy with the Union victory at Prairie Grove, General Marmaduke and his cavalry, on the first week of the new year of 1863, left Arkansas and rode up into Missouri and destroyed the Union post at Ozark. He knew that General Herron and his two Yankee divisions had not yet returned to Springfield from Prairie Grove, so he and his cavalry rode the 20 miles to Springfield to destroy that important Federal communications center and supply depot."

General John S. Marmaduke "My main man Marmaduke is on the move," Peg squawked gleefully.

(Dream) General Brown, the Yankee General in charge of the Springfield Military Depot, grabbed the cigar out of Hunter's mouth. "Give me that. I'll light it myself. I have more important things for you to do." The general was sweating and obviously nervous as he paced back and forth. He stopped and looked at Hunter. "I want you to ride to these militia officers, Brigadier General C. B. Holland and Henry Sheppard and tell them to call out all available Enrolled Missouri Militia commanders to concentrate their commands immediately here at Springfield. Tell them I have reports from Captain Burch’s Company H, 14th Missouri State Militia Cavalry Regiment, who while scouting near Dubuque, Arkansas, detected General Marmaduke’s movements. Tell them that Burch reports a Confederate force, estimated between 4000 and 6000 strong, moving toward Springfield. Tell them right now I only have 1343 veteran soldiers to defend this garrison."

Hunter started to run out the door but General Brown grabbed him by the shirtsleeve. "Wait. Tell them that Marmaduke’s immediate objective is the destruction of our major winter supply depot. No! Tell them ‘their’ major winter supply depot, housed in and around Springfield’s Public Square. Tell them if successful, Marmaduke will cause severe hardship for the Army of the Frontier and almost certainly will force the Union army’s withdrawal from northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, leaving their families high and dry." The general gnawed on the end of his unlit cigar anxiously as he rubbed his forehead and paced back and forth. "Yeah. Yeah. Go tell them all of that, and quick. No. Wait. Forget the high and dry stuff."

Again, Hunter started to run out the door but General Brown grabbed him by the shirtsleeve just as a lieutenant walked in. "Stop. Wait. I'll send the lieutenant instead. I want you to go over to the hospitals and tell Doctor Samuel Melcher to look for any convalescent soldiers who might be able to walk short distances and carry a musket."

(Hospital) "I’ll read that again.” Patch offered, “After receiving a report of the Rebels’ approach to Springfield, General Egbert B. Brown set about preparing for the attack and rounding up additional troops. Even though the Union army had constructed fortifications to defend the town and depot, this did not slow down the Rebels. The Confederates advanced in battle line to the attack. The day included desperate fighting with attacks and counterattacks until after dark, but the Federal troops held. With knowledge that General Herron was on his way back from the battle at Prairie Grove, General Marmaduke and his troops wisely withdrew and faded into the night.”

"Hey, we may not get what we came after, but we'll make you hurt trying to hang onto it.” Peg declared, spitting a stream of brown juice into the brass spittoon.

Patch cleared his throat and continued to read, “Undaunted and still scrapping for a fight, Marmaduke headed 25 miles east to join up with Colonel Porter and his Missouri Cavalry Brigade out of Pocahontas, Arkansas. Together, they planned to capture the Yankee post at Marshfield, Missouri. But 25 miles to the south at Hartville, Missouri, Colonel Samuel Merrill and his Union troops planned to cut off Marmaduke and Porter’s escape route back to Arkansas. Realizing this, a four-hour battle ensued at Hartville in which the Confederates suffered many casualties but compelled the Yankees to retreat. Although they won the battle, the Confederates were forced to abandon the raid and return to friendly Arkansas territory.” Patch sipped his coffee and added, “Here’s a quote from Marmaduke about his expedition, ‘I think I may safely state that the object of the expedition was fully accomplished, and more. Blunt’s Army of the Frontier countermarched rapidly to save Springfield; a long chain of forts, strong in themselves, built at great expense and labor, were razed to the ground, and the heart of the people of Missouri revived again at the presence of Confederate troops.’”

“You tell’um, Mister Marmaduke,” Peg offered gleefully.

“And thus ended Marmaduke’s first expedition up into Missouri.”

“Ended his first expedition into Missouri?” Peg scrunched up his face and fish-eyed Patch sideways. “You mean there were more?”

“Yep. Within 90 days, he was at it again.”

"My main man Marmaduke is on the move again," Peg squawked gleefully.

"Marmaduke marched 2,000 troops from Arkansas toward Bloomfield, Missouri, 50 miles north of the border. Hearing about this advance, the Yankee general McNeil, and his troops stationed there, hastily left Bloomfield and fled 50 miles east to Cape Girardeau."

"Tell me Marmaduke was ‘undaunted and still scrapping for a fight,’" Peg pleaded.

"Yep. Ready and willing." Patch sipped his coffee and continued, "Finding, however, that the Federals had placed themselves in the fortifications at Cape Girardeau, Marmaduke ordered one of his brigades to make a demonstration to ascertain the Federals’ strength. Colonel John S. Shelby’s brigade made the demonstration, which escalated into an attack. Those Union forces, not already in the fortifications, retreated into them quickly."

"Hey, come out and fight," Peg declared and added. "You guys started this thing, and we've come to end it."

“Wait, Peg. The South fired the first shot at Fort Sumter”

“Blah. Blah. Blah,” Peg said in a pinched-voice. “Just get back to capturing Camp Jah-Are-Doe.”

“Cape. Cape Girardeau, not camp.” Patch cleared his throat and continued. “Cape Girardeau is a port town on the Mississippi River. Marmaduke would have captured it easily, but he found out that more Yankees troops were soon to arrive from up river. Wisely recognizing the soon to be growing strength of the Federals, Marmaduke withdrew toward Arkansas.”

“Why didn’t they come out and fight?”

“They did. Once their numbers grew significantly enough to chase after Marmaduke, they did. They chased him down the Old Military road atop Crowley's Ridge for 75 miles down to Chalk Bluff where the Confederates hoped to cross the St. Francis River back into Arkansas. To ford the river, Marmaduke established a rearguard that received heavy punishment. Most of Marmaduke’s troops did successfully cross the St. Francis River on a hastily constructed pontoon bridge but suffered heavy casualties doing so. This bitter battle at Chalk Bluff effectively ended Marmaduke's second expedition up into Missouri.”



“Marmaduke. My hero,” Peg offered wistfully as he leaned back in his chair. With legs outstretched and fingers locked behind his head, he lifted his glassy eyes to the tent’s ceiling and took a deep breath.

“This is interesting. Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi River is only a few miles south of where the Indians crossed the river from Illinois into Missouri on their forced march called The Trail Of Tears back in 1838.”

“The trail of what?” Peg asked, still staring glassy eyed at the tent’s ceiling.

"Nunna daul tsunny - the trail where they cried," Patch answered. “When President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, all Indians living east of the Mississippi River had to leave their homes and march over a thousand miles to Indian Territory.”

“That’s sad,” Peg said, straightening himself up in his chair.

“A lot of Cherokee Indians died along the trail during that severe winter of 1838-39. That is where The Legend of the Cherokee Rose comes from.” Patch looked at the blank look on Peg’s face and continued without asking. “Legend has it that the mothers of the Cherokee grieved and cried so much that the chiefs prayed for a sign that would lift the mothers’ spirits and give them strength to care for their children. From that day forward, a beautiful rose grew wherever a mother’s tear fell to the ground." Patch paused for a moment trying to remember the details. "The rose is white, for the mothers’ tears. It has a gold center, for the gold taken from the Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem that represent the seven Cherokee clans that made the journey - Bird, Paint, Deer, Blue, Wolf, Long Hair, Wild Potato. They say that to this day, the Cherokee rose grows along the route of the Trail of Tears.” Patch paused for a moment and then added, “If memory serves me right, I think Princess Otahki, also known as Nancy Bushyhead, is buried in Missouri, right where they crossed over the icy Mississippi River.”

(Dream) Hunter opened his eyes. It was pitch black. He closed his eyes, and it was still pitch black. He opened and closed his eyes so many times he didn't know if he had his eyes open or closed. But it didn’t matter. It was all pitch black. Hunter shivered a little but suddenly stopped, froze and listened. Something was wrong. He stopped breathing and listened intently. Someone was breathing, and that someone was not too far from him. He took another deep breath and listened, but before he could take another deep breath, the tepee was filled with a blinding bright light from a hand held torch. Yes. He had his eyes open but was now blinded by the bright white light.

"You, boy, grab this rag and pour some water on it from my canteen." An Indian dressed in boots and pants with a gingham shirt on tossed everything into Hunter's lap as he sat cross-legged on the cold earthen floor of the tepee. "Quickly. Put the wet rag on my princess’ forehead and dribble water into her mouth. She has a fever and a chill." While he was talking, he put the torch into a holder and busied himself by unwrapping two army blankets and draping them over the girl's shaking body. "Now! Move!" The Indian ordered. "What's wrong with you boy? You deaf?"

"No, sir. My name is Hunter Jones. I have the measles and have been kicked in the head by a mule."

"Shut up with all that drivel, and do as I told you to."

Hunter quickly scooted over to where the young girl lay and started doing what he was told. Nervously, he asked over his shoulder, "She's pretty. What's her name?"

"Nancy Bushyhead." He took a deep breath and sighed. "I call her Nanny. My name is Chief Jesse Bushyhead."

Hunter cleared his throat and again nervously asked over his shoulder, "Where are we?"

The chief took another deep breath and whispered sadly, "Nunna daul tsunny - the trail where they cried."

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