Lyon pushed on at once to the camp of the enemy, and there captured some 1,200 pairs of shoes, 20 to 30 tents, and a considerable quantity of ammunition, with quite a supply of arms, blankets and personal effects.
The detachment which had gone by the river on the boats aided in securing the victory by a noisy bombardment with their howitzer, and landing at the town, captured two six-pounders, with a number of prisoners. The Mayor of Boonville came out and formally surrendered the town to Gen. Lyon and Col. Blair. Parties were sent out the various roads to continue the pursuit, and Gen. Lyon issued the following proclamation, admirable in tone and wording, to counteract that of the Governor and quiet the people, especially as to interference with slave property:
To the People of Missouri:
Upon leaving the city of St. Louis, In consequence of the
declaration of war made by the Governor of this State
against the Government of the United States, because I would
not assume in its behalf to relinquish its duties and
abdicate its rights of protecting loyal citizens from the
oppression and cruelties of Secessionists in this State, I
published an address to the people, in which I declared my
intention to use the force under my command for no other
purpose than the maintenance of the authority of the General
Government and the protection of the rights and property of
all law-abiding citizens. The State authorities, in
violation of an agreement with Gen. Harney, on the 21st of
May last, had drawn together and organized upon a large
scale the means of warfare, and having made declaration of
war, they abandoned the Capital, issued orders for the
destruction of the railroad and telegraph lines, and
proceeded to this point to put in execution their purposes
toward the General Government. This devolved upon me the
necessity of meeting this issue to the best of my ability,
and accordingly I moved to this point with a portion of the
force under my command, attacked and dispersed hostile
forces gathered here by the Governor, and took possession of
the camp equipage left and a considerable number of
prisoners, most of them young and of immature age, who
represent that they have been misled by frauds ingeniously
devised and industriously circulated by designing leaders,
who seek to devolve upon unreflecting and deluded followers
the task of securing the object of their own false ambition.
Out of compassion for these misguided youths, and to correct
impressions created by unscrupulous calumniators, I have
liberated them, upon condition that they will not serve in
the impending hostilities against the United States
Government. I have done this in spite of the known facts
that the leaders in the present rebellion, having long
experienced the mildness of the General Government, still
feel confident that this mildness cannot be overtaxed even
by factious hostilities having In view its overthrow; but
if, as in the case of the late Camp Jackson affair, this
clemency than still be misconstrued, it is proper to give
warning that the Government cannot be always expected to
indulge it to the compromise of its evident welfare.
Having learned that those plotting against the Government
have falsely represented that the Government troops intended
a forcible and violent invasion of Missouri for the purposes
of military despotism and tyranny, I hereby give notice to
the people of this State that I shall scrupulously avoid all
interferences with the business, rights, and property of
every description recognized by the laws of this State, and
belonging to law-abiding citizens; but that it is equally my
duty to maintain the paramount authority of the United Sates
with such force as I have at my command, which will be
retained only so long as opposition shall make it necessary;
and that it is my wish, and shall be my purpose, to devolve
any unavoidable rigor arising in this issue upon those only
who provoke it.
All persons who, under the misapprehensions above mentioned,
have taken up arms, or who are now preparing to do so, are
invited to return to their homes, and relinquish their
hostile attitude to the General Government, and are assured
that they may do so without being molested for past
occurrences.
N. LYON,
Brigadier-General, U. S. Vols., Commanding.
Several thousand of Jackson's Militia had already assembled at Lexington, nearly midway between Boonville and Kansas City. When they heard of the affair at Boonville they realized that they were in danger of being caught between the column advancing from that direction and the one under Maj. Sturgis, which Gen. Lyon had ordered forward from Leavenworth through Kansas City, while a third, under Col. Curtis, was approaching from the Iowa line. They dispersed at once, to fall back behind the Osage River, at Gen. Price's direction. Thus Lyon gained complete control of the Missouri River in its course through the State, enabling him to cut off the Confederates in the northern from those in the southern part of the State.
Another success which came to him was the seizure of the office of the St. Louis Bulletin, and the discovery there of a letter from Gov, Jackson to the publisher, which completely proved all the allegations that had been made as to the Governor's action, decisively contradicted the material assertions in his proclamations and vindicated Gen. Lyon from the charges against him of undue precipitancy. The letter was long, personal and confidential. In it he said:
I do not think Missouri should secede today or tomorrow, but
I do not think it good policy that I should so disclose. I
want a little time to arm the State, and I am assuming every
responsibility to do it with all possible dispatch. Missouri
should act in concert with Tennessee and Kentucky. They are
all bound to go out, and should go together, if possible. My
judgment is that North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas will
all be out in a few days, and when they go Missouri should
follow. Let us, then, prepare to make our exit. We should
keep our own counsels. Every man in the State is in favor of
arming the State. Then let it be done. All are opposed to
furnishing Mr. Lincoln with soldiers. Time will settle the
balance.
Nothing should be said about the time or the manner in which
Missouri should go out. That she ought to go, and will go at
the proper time, I have no doubt. She ought to have gone out
last Winter, when she could have seized the public arms and
public property, and defended herself. That she has failed
to do, and must wait a little while. Paschall is a base
submissionist, and desires to remain with the North, if
every Slave State should go out. Call on every country paper
to defend me, and assure them I am fighting under the true
flag. Who does not know that every sympathy of my heart is
with the South? The Legislature, in my view, should sit in
secret session, and touch nothing but the measures of
defense.
Though in point of fighting and losses this initial campaign
ending with the skirmish at Boonville had been
insignificant, its results far surpassed those of many of
the bloodiest battles of the rebellion. The Governor of the
State was in flight from his Capital; his troops had been
scattered in the first collision; control had been gained of
the Missouri River, cutting the enemy's line in two; and
above all, there was the immense moral effect of the defeat
in action of the boastful Secessionists by the much
denounced "St. Louis Dutch." This alone accounted for the
acquisition of many thousand wavering men to the side of the
Union. Missourians were not different from the rest of
mankind, and every community had its large proportion of
those who, when the Secessionists seemed to have everything
their own way, inclined to that side, but came back to their
true allegiance at the first sign of the Government being
able to assert its supremacy. The Government was now aroused
and striking—and striking successfully. Its enemies were
immensely depressed, and its friends correspondingly elated.