On the night of the 9th, loyal parties in St. Louis supplied a sufficient number of horses to move the light artillery necessary to accomplish the desired object.  On the morning of the 10th, Captain Lyon’s command moved from various points, so as to surround the Rebel camp at three o’clock in the afternoon.  At that hour General Frost, the Rebel commander, was surprised at the appearance of an overpowering force on the hills surrounding his position.  A demand for surrender gave half an hour for deliberation.  At the end of that time General Frost concluded to capitulate.  The prisoners, less than a thousand in number, were marched to the arsenal and safely secured.

This achievement destroyed Camp Jackson, and established the United States authority in full force over St. Louis.  An unfortunate collision occurred between the soldiers and the crowd outside.  Provoked by insults terminating in an assault with fire-arms, a portion of the German troops fired upon the multitude.  Upward of thirty persons were killed or wounded in the affair.  With the exception of this unhappy collision, the capture was bloodless.

General Harney arrived at St. Louis soon after this event, and assumed command in Missouri.  The agreement known as “the Price-Harney truce” was immediately made.  Under an assurance from Governor Jackson that the State troops should be disbanded, General Harney promised that no hostilities should be undertaken, and attempted to cause the dispersal of the Union volunteers.  The status of the latter had been so fixed that General Harney was not empowered to disarm them, and he so informed, the State authorities.  His message announcing this read nearly as follows:—­

“I have ascertained that I have no control over the Home Guards. 
“W.  S. HARNEY, Brig.-Gen.”

This message was received at the Police Head-Quarters in St. Louis, on the morning of Sunday, May 15th.  It was misunderstood by the parties who read it.  They inferred, from the tenor of the dispatch, that General Harney was unable to restrain the Union volunteers.

The most frightful stories had been circulated concerning the blood-thirsty character of these soldiers, particularly the German portion.  Visions of murder, pillage, house-burning, and all the accompanying outrages committed by an unrestrained army, flitted through the minds of the Secessionists.  The story spread, and gained intensity with each repetition.  “The Dutch are rising; we shall all be slain in cold blood!” was the cry, echoed from house to house.  Not less than five thousand people fled from the city on that day, and as many more within the succeeding twenty-four hours.  Carriages, wagons, drays, every thing that could transport persons or valuables, commanded exorbitant prices.  Steamboats were chartered as ferries to the Illinois shore or to go to points of safety, either up or down the river.  Many persons abandoned their houses, taking with them only a few articles of value or necessity, while others carried away nothing, in their haste to escape.