 | LOYAL SOUTHERN WOMEN. Women of the war : |  |
Spirited Conduct of Mrs. Phelps.
John F. Phelps, a loyal Missourian, resides near Wilson's
Creek, where the bloody engagement took place
in which General Lyon met his untimely but heroic death.
At the time of the battle he was away from home, in command
of a Union regiment of Missouri volunteers. After
Lyon's death the Union force retreated to Springfield, leaving
the body of their general in the hands of the enemy.
Mrs. Phelps determined to rescue it, and see that it had a
Christian burial. It was reported also that some of the
secessionists had threatened to cut out the heart of the
dead soldier, and preserve it as a trophy.
Arming herself, she went out on the field, appalling as it
was with the dead still unburied, and stood guard over the
body of the hero all night. When ordered to give it up,
she fearlessly refused; and when they insisted, she said they
must sacrifice her before they could lay ruthless hands on
the remains of that fallen brave.
After daylight she made the proper arrangements, and
removed the corpse to her house, where it was duly laid
out. To furnish him a funeral pall, she cut into breadths
and sewed together in a proper form a magnificent black
velvet robe, a part of her own apparel.
Though perfectly aware of her unprotected situation, the
rebels surrounded the house in which the lifeless form of a
gallant enemy was guarded by a solitary but heroic woman,
and made the night hideous by savage screams, horrible
oaths, and barbarous threats. In a short time, however, they
retreated, and the body of General Lyon was taken in charge
by the loyal army, removed to Connecticut, his native state,
and there interred with the fullest military honors.
General Price soon after returned to the vicinity of Wilson's
Creek, and called on Mrs. Phelps. He was about to enter
the house, when she forbade his crossing her threshold.
He remonstrated with her, and tried to cajole her by flatteries
and amusing talk. When he again spoke of coming
in, she addressed him in these words: "General Price, you
are a man, at the head of twenty thousand troops. I am a
helpless woman. You are armed. I am not. You have
the physical power to take possession of my house. If
you ever enter here, it will be simply by reason of my
weakness, not by my consent. I ask you, as a soldier,
to, Price did not insist, and whenever he came there,
stood in the yard, and conversed with the lady of the house
through the open door.
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