July 31 1861 “Capt Jas. E. Calloway will proceed at the earliest practicable moment to Springfield Ills. and correct as far as possible the many errors that have been made in filling Requisitions for the 21st Ills. Vols. by the Quartermasters Dept. of the State.”

“He will also transact all public business entrusted to his care, take charge of such property as may be turned over to him for transportation to this place, and return and report for duty with his company and Regt. without unnecessary delay.”

National Archives RG 94 “21st Ill Order Book” Special Orders No. 28

July 29 1861 “Up to this time my regiment had not been carried in the school of the soldier beyond the company drill, except that it had received some training on the march from Springfield to the Illinois River. There was now a good opportunity of exercising it in the battalion drill. While I was at West Point the tactics used in the army had been Scott’s and the musket the flint lock. I had never looked at a copy of tactics from the time of my graduation. My standing in that branch of studies had been near the foot of the class. In the Mexican war in the summer of 1846, I had been appointed regimental quartermaster and commissary and had not been at a battalion drill since. The arms had been changed since then and Hardee’s tactics had been adopted. I got a copy of tactics and studied one lesson, intending to confine the exercise of the first day to the commands I had thus learned. By pursuing this course from day to day I thought I would soon get through the volume.”

“We were encamped just outside of town on the common, among scattering suburban houses with enclosed gardens, and when I got my regiment in line and rode to the front I soon saw that if I attempted to follow the lesson I had studied I would have to clear away some of the houses and garden fences to make room. I perceived at once, however, that Hardee’s tactics—a mere translation from the French with Hardee’s name attached—was nothing more than common sense and the progress of the age applied to Scott’s system. The commands were abbreviated and the movement expedited. Under the old tactics almost every change in the order of march was preceded by a “halt,” then came the change, and then the “forward march.” With the new tactics all these changes could be made while in motion. I found no trouble in giving commands that would take my regiment where I wanted it to go and carry it around all obstacles.”

Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant Chapter XVIII

July 27 1861 “By command of Brig. Gen Pope the 24th Ill Vol will move with dispatch to St. Louis Mo by way of North Missouri Railroad and upon arrival at the place to report your Regt. to Major Genl. Fremont for service.”

National Archives RG 94 “21st Ill Order Book”

July 26 1861 “One company of cavalry from the 1st Regt Ills and one company of infantry from the 15 Ills Vol will be detailed at once to proceed to Montgomery City Mo, there to act in conjunction with the Home Guards in repelling a threatened attack at that point.”

National Archives RG 94 “21st Ill Order Book” USG Special Orders No. 4

July 25 1861 Issued order, “[F]or the guidance of all concerned, the following orders will be published to the several commands composing the force of this place.  No wandering will be permitted and every violation of this order will be summarily and severely punished.

“No soldier will be allowed to go more than one mile beyond his camp except under order or by special permission on pain of being dealt with as a deserter.  No expeditions will be fitted out for the purpose of arresting suspected persons without first getting permission from these Head Quarters.  Soldiers will not be permitted to be out of their camps after retreat roll call and all such absentees will be punished by confinement and extra tours of guard duty.”

National Archives RG 94 “21st Ill. Order Book” Gen Order No 1

July 24 1861 Received order from Brig. Gen. John Pope that he is assuming command of the District of Northern Missouri and that I have been assigned command of all troops near Mexico.

U S Grant Chronology

July 21 1861 “My arrival in Mexico had been preceded by that of two or three regiments in which proper discipline had not been maintained, and the men had been in the habit of visiting houses without invitation and helping themselves to food and drink, or demanding them from the occupants. They carried their muskets while out of camp and made every man they found take the oath of allegiance to the government. I at once published orders prohibiting the soldiers from going into private houses unless invited by the inhabitants, and from appropriating private property to their own or to government uses.”

Personal Memoirs of U S Grant Chapter XVIII p 165

July 20 1861 Received orders yesterday from Gen. Hurlbut.  “Col. Grant 21st Regt Ills will with his entire Regt. take train of [North Missouri R.R.] and proceed at 4 A.M. tomorrow 20th to Mexico to the aid of Col. Morgan L Smith, and effect a junction with his force and afterwards report to Brig. Gen. Pope …”

“In taking leave of the Regt which now probably leaves his command, he desires to render his thanks for orderly and Soldier-like deportment which has given the Regiment a most desirable reputation — no complaint has been made to any Citizen against the 21st Regt. and their Obedience to all Orders and promptness of movement are the best evidence of the attention of the Officers.”

National Archives Record Group 94 “21st Ill. Order Book”

July 19 1861 Wrote Julia “When we first came here there was a terrible state of fear existing among the people.  They thought that every horror known in the whole catalog of disasters following a state of war was going to be their portion at once.  But they are now becoming much more reassured.  They find that all troops are not the desperate characters they took them for.  Some troops have behaved badly in this part of the state and given good grounds for fear, but they have behaved no worse than their own people.  The Secessionists commit every outrage upon the Unionists.  They seize their property, drive them out of the state etc. and destroy the railroad track wherever they find it without a guard.”

Papers of Ulysses S Grant vol 2 p 72-73

July 18 1861 Our regiment returned to camp along the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad.  We will proceed to Macon City, and from there to Alton.

Papers of Ulysses S. Grant vol 2 p 72