Gen. Rains soon succeeded in rallying his men.
Gens. Slack, McBride, Parsons and Clark rushed to his assistance with what men they could hastily assemble, and Gen. Price led them forward in a line covering Gen. Lyon's entire front. Both sides showed an earnest disposition to come to close quarters, and a fierce fight lasting for perhaps half an hour followed. Sometimes portions of the Union troops were thrown into temporary disorder, but they only fell back a few yards, when they would rally and return to the field. The enemy strove to reach the crest of the ridge and drive the Union troops back, but were repulsed, while the Union troops, following them to the foot of the ridge, were driven back to the crest.
The Confederates brought up a battery, which, however, was soon silenced by the fire concentrated upon it from Totten's battery and that of Lieut. Du Bois. In the meanwhile Capt. Plummer had been pushing his Regulars thru the corn and oat fields toward the battery which he wanted to take, and was within 200 yards of it when Capt. Mcintosh, an officer of the Old Army, and now Adjutant-General for McCulloch, saw the danger and rushed up the 3d La. and the 2d Ark. against Plummer's left The Regulars made a stubborn resistance for a few minutes, but their line was enveloped by the long line of the two regiments, and they fell back with considerable haste across the creek toward Totten's battery.
Mcintosh saw his advantage and pursued it to the utmost, sending his Louisianians and Arkansans forward on the double-quick to prevent Plummer from rallying. The watchful DuBois saw the trouble the Regulars were in, and turning his guns upon his pursuers enfiladed them with canister and shell with such effect that they in turn ran, and were rallied by Mcintosh behind a little log house, into which DuBois put a couple of shells and sent them further back.
By this time the battle was two hours old and the roar of the conflict died down, except on the extreme right, where the 1st Mo. was still having a bitter struggle with a superior force of fresh troops with which Price was endeavoring to turn the Union right flank.
Gen. Lyon, who had watched every phase of the battle closely, ordered Capt. Totten to move part of his battery to the support of the 1st Mo., but as the Captain was about to open he was restrained by seeing a regiment advancing to within a distance of about 200 yards, carrying both a Federal and a Confederate flag. It was the direction from which Sigel had been anxiously expected, and as the uniform of the advancing regiment was similar to that of Sigel's men, both the infantry and the artillery withheld their fire until the enemy revealed his character by a volley, when Capt Totten opened all his guns upon them with canister and inflicted great slaughter.
Capt Cary Gratz, of the 1st Mo., was so indignant at this treachery that he dashed out and shot down the man who was carrying the Union flag, only to be shot down himself almost immediately afterwards by several bullets from the Confederates. The 2d Kan. was also hurried forward to support the 1st Mo. Capt Steele's battalion was brought up and the 1st Iowa was sent in to relieve the 1st Kan., which had suffered quite severely and was nearly out of ammunition.
The battle was renewed with much greater fierceness than ever, the Confederates advancing in three or four ranks, lying down, kneeling, standing, sometimes getting within 30 or 40 yards of the Union line before they were forced back.