returned in a few days, and then preparations were begun for a march
to Springfield. Colonel Blair left Booneville for St. Louis and
Washington, while General Lyon attended to the preliminaries for his
contemplated movement. The First Iowa Infantry joined him, and formed
a part of his expeditionary force. The Rebels gathered at Lexington,
and thence moved southward to reach the Arkansas line, to form a
junction with the then famous Ben McCulloch.

The prospect was good that Central Missouri would soon be clear of
Rebels. Our general success in the State depended upon occupying
and holding the Southwest. General Lyon was to move thither from
Booneville. General Sweeney had already gone there by way of Rolla,
while another force, under Major Sturgis, was moving from Leavenworth
in a southeasterly direction. All were to unite at Springfield and
form an army of occupation.

Preparations went on slowly, as the transportation was to be gathered
from the surrounding country. Foreseeing that the expedition would
be slow to reach Springfield, I returned to St. Louis. There I made
preparations to join the army, when its march should be completed, by
a more expeditious route than the one General Lyon would follow.

At Booneville, General Lyon established a temporary blockade of the
Missouri River, by stopping all boats moving in either direction. In
most cases a single shot across the bow of a boat sufficed to bring it
to land. One day the _White Cloud_, on her way from Kansas City to St.
Louis, refused to halt until three shots had been fired, the last one
grazing the top of the pilot-house. When brought before General Lyon,
the captain of the _White Cloud_ apologized for neglecting to obey the
first signal, and said his neglect was due to his utter ignorance of