The splendid young Missouri, Iowa and Illinois volunteers, welded into superb regiments by months of service, with the worthless of their officers removed by Halleck's rigid pruning, pressed forward with an enthusiasm that no storms could diminish or wretchedness of roads discourage. They forded swollen, icy streams, pulled their wagons up steep hills, or pried them out of quagmires, and bore the fury of the storm with sanguine cheerfulness, believing they were now moving directly forward to the great end of crushing the enemies of the Government and closing the war.
Price's outlying detachments were come up with and struck with a suddenness and vigor that sent them flying in utter rout. It speaks very ill for Price, with all his means for accurate information, that he knew nothing of this rapid advance of the Union army until the heads of Curtis's columns were at his very pickets. He was entirely unready for battle, and could only hastily gather his men together and make a quick retreat to the rough hills south of Springfield, leaving all his stores and his laboriously-constructed cantonments for the Union army. Feb. 13 Curtis had the satisfaction of reporting to Hal-leck as follows:
The Flag of the Union floats over the Court House of Springfield, Mo. The enemy attacked us with small parties at 10:30 o'clock 12 miles out, and my front guards had a running Are with them most of the afternoon. At dusk a regiment of the Confederate cavalry attacked the outer picket, but did not move it. A few shots from a howitzer killed two and wounded several. The regiment retreated to this place, and the enemy immediately commenced the evacuation of the city. I entered the city at 10 a. m. My cavalry is in full pursuit. They say the enemy is making a stand at Wilson's Creek. Forage, flour and other stores in large quantities taken. Shall pursue as fast as the strength of the men will allow.
In Gen. Sheridan's "Memoirs" he gives this sidelight on the advance upon Springfield:
By hard work we soon accumulated a sufficient quantity of
flour and corn meal to justify the resumption of our march
on Springfield, at or near which point the enemy was
believed to be awaiting us, and the order was given to move
forward, the Commanding General cautioning me, in the event
of disaster, to let no salt fall into Gen. Price's hands.
Gen. Curtis made a hobby of this matter of salt, believing
the enemy sadly in need of that article, and he impressed me
deeply with his conviction that our cause would be seriously
injured by a loss which would inure so greatly and
peculiarly to the enemy's benefit; but we discovered
afterward, when Price abandoned his position, that about all
he left behind was salt.
When we were within about eight miles of Springfield Gen.
Curtis decided to put his troops in line of battle for the
advance on the town, and directed me to stretch out my
supply train in a long line of battle, so that in falling
back, in case the troops were repulsed, he could rally the
men on the wagons. I did not like the tactics, but, of
course, obeyed the order.
The line moved on to Springfield, and took the town without resistance, the enemy having fled southward, in the direction of Pea Ridge, the preceding day. Of course, our success relieved my anxiety about the wagons; but fancy has often pictured since the stampede of six-mule teams that, had we met with any reverse, would have taken place over the prairies of southwest Missouri.
It was felt almost certain that Price had only abandoned Springfield in order to offer battle more advantageously in the rough hills south of the town where Wilson's Creek had been fought. The spirit of the army was up, and it moved promptly forward to engage him in his chosen fastness. The Secessionist historians and the admirers of Price, Marmaduke, Shelby and others give thrillingly sanguinary stories of the fierce resistance offered in the defiles and passes through the foothills of the Ozarks, but these statements are not supported by either the official reports or the regimental histories of the Union army. These all concur in the statement that while there was a great deal of noisy cannonading, Price's troops yielded ground quite easily, and all were surprised that no more effective resistance was made at places that offered such wonderful opportunities for defense.
In his report to Gov. Jackson Gen. Price gives this succinct statement of his share in the movement: