of cavalry and three batteries of artillery, had joined Shelby near Batesville, sixty miles south of the lines of our State, and would invade us with from 15,000 to 20,000 veteran mounted men.

We had then about 6,500 mounted men for field duty in the department, scattered over a country 400 miles long and 300 broad, which, with the partially organized new infantry regiments and our dismounted men, constituted the entire force to cover our great depots at Saint Louis, Jefferson City, Saint Joseph, Macon, Springfield, Rolla, and pilot Knob, guard our railroad bridges against this invasion and protect, as far as possible, the lives and property of our citizens from the guerrillas who swarmed over the whole country bordering on the Missouri River. Fortunately, Major General A. J. Smith's troops, passing Cairo toward Nashville, at the urgent solicitation of the general commanding, were ordered to halt and oppose Price, thus giving us 4,500 veteran infantry.

III. Unable to concentrate until the point was determined where the enemy would strike, without surrendering all the remaining portion of the State, you could only make preliminary preparations and await the coming storm, while the Enrolled Missouri Militia, which had never yet failed to respond to the call of patriotism, prepared to defend their homes against the invader and his traitor friends in our midst.

IV. When Springfield appeared safe from the blow, General Sanborn move with all his available cavalry to re-enforce Rolla, where General McNeil was preparing to secure our depots and great supply trains, while Ewing and his band of heroes, the young Forty-seventh Missouri Infantry, detachments of the First, Second, and Third Missouri State Militia, the Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, and battery H, Second Missouri Light Artillery, by their grand defense of Pilot Knob, September 27, proved the presence of the enemy's entire force in southeast Missouri, gave him the first staggering blow, and allowed time for the Enrolled Missouri Militia and citizens of Saint Louis to prepare for its defense, then covered only by General Smith's infantry and three regiments of cavalry, thrown as far as practicable toward the enemy.

V. The zeal and energy of the citizens, aided by the timely arrival of the One hundred and thirty-second, One hundred and thirty-fourth, One hundred and thirty-sixth, One hundred and thirty-ninth, One hundred and fortieth, and One hundred and forty-second Illinois Regiments (100 days' volunteers), who generously and promptly came to our assistance, soon put us at ease about the safety of Saint Louis, and struck the second blow to the invasion. The gallant First, Second, Third, Fourth, Tenth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Eighteenth, and Eighty-fifth Regiments of Enrolled missouri Militia, and the National Guard of Saint Louis, under Generals Pike, Wolff, and Miller, organized to support General Smith's infantry, and roll the rebel tide westward.

General Brown concentrated at Jefferson City the troops of the Central District, and re-enforced by General Fisk, with all available troops north of the Missouri, prepared for the defense of the capital of the State, the citizens of which vied with the military in their enthusiastic exertions to bring the great invasion to naught.

The enemy, after waiting at Richwoods for a day or two and threatening Saint Louis, started for the State capital, accompanied by Tom Reynolds, Trusten Polk, and other Missouri traitors, to inaugurate another bogus election. McNeil and Sanborn, moving with all their available cavalry, by forced marches reached the point of danger a few miles in advance of him, and uniting with Fisk and Brown saved Jefferson City, and struck the third blow to the hopes of the invaders and traitors, who had boasted they would plant themselves there and hold the State.