USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 8
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"Resolved, eighth, That while we view the recent outrages committed at Harper's Ferry, as the fruits of the teachings and 'irrepressible con- flict' principles of the Republican party of the North, and sincerely sympa- thize with and approve of the course pursued by the State of Virginia, we regard the Union meetings recently held in the North as manifesting the spirit of patriotism calculated to check the disorganizing principles of the Abolition party, and preserve the Union of the States on true Constitutional grounds.
"Resolved, ninth, That in view of the eminent abilities and long-tried services of the 'wheel-horse' of Democracy, Claiborne F. Jackson, we recommend him as the second choice of this meeting as a candidate for the office of governor.
"Resolved, tenth, That the chair appoint seventeen delegates to at- tend a State convention at Jefferson City and cast the vote of Henry
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County in obedience to the foregoing instruction; whereupon the following were appointed by the chair, towit: G. H. Warth, A. C. Marvin, S. P. Ashby, J. G. Dorman, A. Walmsley, L. Cruce, William Johnson, Addison Bronaugh, John A. Bushnell, R. L. Avery, William M. Wall, John W. Williams, James Swindle, William H. Murrell, A. J. Lee, John O. Coving- ton and William Paul.
"Resolved, eleventh, That each township in the county be requested to elect delegates to a convention to be held at Clinton on the first Mon- day in May next, for the nomination of county officers and the more perfect organization of the party, and the twelfth resolution called for the publication of the foregoing in the Warsaw Democrat, Jefferson Ex- aminer and Clinton Journal. From the latter and under date of January 13, 1860, the above proceedings were taken. The report was signed. "WILLIAM M. WALL, President.
"RICHARD K. MURRELL, Secretary."
The Journal's Comments.
"A report of the proceedings of a Democratic convention, which was held in this place on Monday last, January 9, 1860, will be found in another column. Without expressing any other opinion regarding the general tenor of the resolution adopted, and which every one is at liberty to construe as he pleases, yet we must say that the spirit which dictated the eighth resolution is worthy of general imitation. We have not seen before in any portion of the South, a single instance of a public recognition of the conservative principles which prompted the recent Union demon- strations in the North. Can it be that Henry County has taken the lead of the entire South, in a movement which sound policy as well as com- mon sense would suggest?"
The Journal quoted last above was an independent paper of conserva- tive tendencies but of an outspoken Union sentiment; however, it dis- credited any relationship or adherence to the Republican party. The meet- ings and extracts above referred to show the temper of the people of Henry County and of Missouri generally, at the inception of the war, a feeling which was afterwards moderated by the commencing of one of the greatest civil wars of all history. The people of Henry County, as may be seen, were for the Union at the beginning; and it was not until guns had been fired in anger, that some took up arms to defend what they considered the rights of the sovereign State in which they lived.
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It is impossible to get an accurate account of the number of men or the names of the individuals who enrolled in each of the contending armies. While some joined the Federal forces, the greater number en- rolled themselves under the Stars and Bars and followed the fortunes of the Confederacy. Records show that in the Federal forces there were enrolled six volunteers from this county in the 18th Infantry, one in the 24th Infantry, one in the 27th Infantry, nine in the 33rd Infantry, three in the 1st Cavalry, two in the 8th Cavalry, or twenty-two in all. In the Missouri State Military there were four volunteers in the 1st Infantry, two in the 6th Cavalry, twenty-seven in the 7th Cavalry, or thirty-three in all. One volunteer from Henry County joined a Kansas regiment, two an Arkansas regiment and two the 3rd Arkansas Regiment, or five in all. There is an official record of sixty who joined the Federal forces up to January, 1864. There were others undoubtedly, but the total number of Union soldiers from this county was certainly not over seventy-five or eighty; the war having practically ceased, as far as this section is con- cerned, by the date last above mentioned.
On the other hand, probably a thousand sons of the county devoted their fortunes and offered their lives to the cause of the South. One com- pany which was raised at or near Windsor, was General Price's body- guard; but the record of those who went into the Southern army, is hard to obtain. Preparations for the war in Missouri actually opened with the call of President Lincoln on April 15, 1861, in which 75,000 men were asked for to suppress combinations in the Southern States. Simul- taneously with the call Hon. Simon Cameron sent a telegram to the Gov- ernors of the States not mentioned in the proclamation, asking them to send a certain number of militia to serve for three months; Missouri's quota of the total being four regiments. On the seventeenth of April, 1861, Governor Jackson sent the following reply to the Secretary of War, whose dispatch of the fifteenth inst., making a call on Missouri for four regi- ments of men for immediate service, had been received:
"There can be, I apprehend, no doubt but these men are intended to form a part of the President's Army to make war upon the people of the seceeded States. Your requisition in my judgment is irregular, uncon- stitutional and cannot be complied with. Not one man will the State of Missouri furnish to carry on such an unholy war."
This was signed by C. F. Jackson, Governor of Missouri. From then on things moved swiftly. On the twenty-second of April, after the
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arsenal at Liberty had been seized, the Governor issued a proclamation calling the Legislature of Missouri to meet May following in extra ses- sion, to take into consideration the momentous issues which were pre- sented and the attitude to be assumed by the State in the struggle. On the twenty-second of April, 1861, the adjutant general of Missouri issued the following military order:
Headquarters Adjutant General's Office, Missouri.
Jefferson City, April 22, 1861.
(General Order No. 7.)
I. To attain a greater degree of efficiency and perfection in organi- zation and discipline, the commanding officers of the several military districts in this State, having four or more legally organized companies, whose armories are within fifteen miles of each other, will assemble their respective commands at some place to be by them severally designated, on the third of May, and to go into an encampment for a period of six days as provided by law. Captains of companies not organized into bat- talions, will report the strength of their companies immediately to these headquarters, and await further orders.
II. The quartermaster general will procure and issue to quarter- masters of districts, for these commands not now proivded for, all neces- sary tents and camp equipage, to enable the commanding officers thereof to carry the foregoing order into effect.
III. The light battery now attached to the Southwest Battalion, and one company of mounted riflemen, including all officers and soldiers be- longing to the First District, will proceed forthwith to St. Louis and re- port to General D. M. Frost for duty. The remaining companies of said battalion will be disbanded for the purpose of assisting in the organiza- tion of companies upon that frontier. The details of the execution of the foregoing are intrusted to Lieutenant Colonel John S. Bowen, com- manding the battalion.
IV. The strength, organization and equipment of the several com- panies in the districts will be reported at once to these headquarters, and district inspectors will furnish all information which may be ser- viceable in ascertaining the condition of State forces.
By order of the Governor,
WARWICK HOWE, Adjutant General of Missouri.
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On May 2, 1861, the Legislature convened in extra session. Among the many acts passed was one authorizing the Governor to purchase on necessity David Valentine's factory at Boonville for the manufacture of arms and munitions of war; authorizing the appointment of one major- general by the Governor and also appointing him to take possession of the railroads and telegraph lines of the State when in his opinion the security of the commonwealth demanded. Acts providing further for the organization, government and support of the military forces were passed; also provision was made for borrowing one million dollars to arm and equip the militia of the State to enable them to repel invasion and protect the lives and property of the people. An act was also passed creating a "military fund" which was to consist of all money then in the treasury or might thereafter be received from one-tenth of one per cent. on the one hundred dollar valuation, which had been levied by an act of Novem- ber, 1857, to complete certain railroads, and also the proceeds of a tax of fifteen cents on the one hundred dollar assessed valuation and the proceeds of the two-mill tax, all of which had hitherto been appropriated for educational purposes.
Following the preparations for war, as outlined above, Camp Jack- son was organized near St. Louis on May 3, and on May 10 Sterling Price, later formally known as "Old Pap," was appointed major-general of the State Guard; and on the same day, General Frost, who commanded Camp Jackson, addressed Gen. N. Lyon, commander of the U. S. forces in St. Louis, as follows:
Capt. N. Lyon, commanding United States troops in and about St. Louis Arsenal.
Sir :- I am constantly in receipt of information that you contemplate an attack upon my camp, whilst I understand that you are impressed with the idea that an attack upon the arsenal and United States troops is intended on the part of the militia of Missouri. I am greatly at a loss to know what could justify you in attacking citizens of the United States, who are in lawful performance of their duties, devolving upon them under the constitution in organizing and instructing the militia of the State in obedience to her laws, and, therefore, have been disposed to doubt the correctness of the information I have received.
I would be glad to know from you personally whether there is any truth in the statements that are constantly pouring into my ears. So far as regards any hostility being intended toward the United States, or
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its property or representatives by any portion of my command, or, as far as I can learn (and I think I am fully informed) of any other part of the State forces, I can positively say that the idea has never been entertained. On the contrary, prior to your taking command of the ar- senal, I proffered to Mayor Bell, then in command of the very few troops constituting its guard, the services of myself and all my command, and, if necessary, the whole power of the State, to protect the United States in the full possession of all her property. Upon General Harney taking command of this department, I made the same offer of services to him, and authorized his adjutant general, Captain Williams, to communicate the fact that such had been done to the war department. I have had no occasion since to change any of the views I entertained at the time, neither of my own volition nor through the orders of my constitutional com- mander.
I trust that after this explicit statement that we may be able, by fully understanding each other to keep far from our borders the mis- fortunes which so unhappily affect our common country.
This communication will be handed you by Colonel Bowen, my chief of staff, who will be able to explain anything not fully set forth in the foregoing.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, BRIGADIER GENERAL D. M. FROST, Commanding Camp Jackson, M. V. M.
May 10, 1861, General Lyon sent the following to General Frost:
Headquarters United States Troops, St. Louis, Missouri, May 10, 1861. General D. M. Frost, commanding Camp Jackson:
Sir: Your command is regarded as evidently hostile toward the Government of the United States.
It is, for the most part, made up of those secessionists who have openly avowed their hostility to the general Government, and have been plotting at the seizure of its property and the overthrow of its authority. You are openly in communication with the so-called Southern Confederacy, which is now at war with the United States, and you are receiving at your camp, from the said Confederacy and under its flag, large supplies of the material of war, most of which is known to be the property of the United States. These extraordinary preparations plainly indicate none other than the well-known purpose of the Governor of this State, under
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whose orders you are acting, and whose communication to the Legislature has just been responded to by that body in the most unparalleled legisla- tion, having in direct view hostilities to the general Government and co- operation with its enemies.
In view of these considerations, and of your failure to disperse in obedience to the proclamation of the President, and of the imminent necessities of State policy and warfare, and the obligations imposed upon me by instructions from Washington, it is my duty to demand, and I do hereby demand of you an immediate surrender of your command, with no other conditions than that all persons surrendering under this com- mand shall be humanely and kindly treated. Believing myself prepared to enforce this command, one-half hour's time before doing so will be allowed for your compliance therewith.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
N. LYON, Captain Second Infantry, Commanding Troops.
On the same day Camp Jackson surrendered and all of the prisoners were released except Capt. Emmett McDonald, who refused to sign a parole. On May 12, Brig .- Gen. William S. Harney, commanding the mili- tary district of Missouri, issued a proclamation to the people stating that he would carefully abstain from the exercise of any unnecessary powers and would only use the military forces stationed in this district in the last resort, in order to preserve peace. A second proclamation was issued on the fourteenth of May and on the twenty-first a conference was held between General Price and General Harney; on this date (May twenty- first) General Harney was superseded by General Lyon; and on June eleventh a second conference was held in St. Louis between the national and State authorities. This conference having resulted in no decision and no compromise, Governor Jackson left St. Louis and went to Jefferson City, burning the railroad bridges and cutting all telegraph lines behind him. Immediately on his arrival at Jefferson City, the Governor issued a proclamation under date of June twelfth, calling into active service 50,000 militia, for the purpose of repelling invasion and protecting the lives and property of the people of the State. The Governor was at a tremendous disadvantage in the controversy that was being waged with the national authorities. There were disciplined and well-equipped bodies of United States troops in the State, under trained and efficient officers ; while the Missouri troops, such as they were, had all been captured and
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disarmed at Camp Jackson, and it took time to organize an army and to equip one; therefore the Federal troops swiftly followed the fleeing Gov- ernor and on the fifteenth of June Col. F. P. Blair took possession of the State capitol. Governor Jackson, General Price and other civil and mili- tary officers had left Jefferson City on the thirteenth for Boonville. On the seventeenth of June the Federal forces under General Lyon had pro- ceeded by boat to Boonville and on the hills near that city took place the first battle of the Civil War on Missouri soil.
The Missouri State troops were ill-equipped, undisciplined, prac- tically without ammunition and arms, and although gallantly led by Colonel, afterwards Governor John S. Marmaduke, the engagement was little more than a skirmish and the total casualties were four-two on each side. The next day General Lyon issued a proclamation to the peo- ple of Missouri, while the Confederate troops were in full retreat, hurry- ing to southwest Missouri, where the Legislature was to meet. On their retreat Price, who had assumed command of the Confederate forces, led his men through Henry County. Hon. D. H. McIntyre, at one time at- torney general of Missouri, was accustomed to relate that it was on the occasion of this retreat that he made his first visit to Clinton, which town was passed through by Price and his troops on their way to Springfield. McIntyre, at the time of the breaking out of the war, was a student at Westminster College at Fulton and a member of the senior class. On a certain day he was eating his lunch in the college building when he re- ceived a message, together with Joseph S. Laurie of Saline County, calling him to the court house square. They hurried away from the college in response to the summons, leaving their books open on the desks and their lunch baskets uncovered, their food half consumed. On their arrival at the square, they found that they had been elected as officers of a volun- teer Confederate regiment-McIntyre as captain and Laurie as first lieu- tenant. Courageous and hopeful, they moved forward to join Price, never returning to their college duties again.
In illustration of the temper of the times-the following June, when ยท the president of Westminster College, S. S. Lowe, afterward president of the University of Missouri, awarded the diplomas, he conferred the de- grees "in absentia" on both McIntyre and Laurie, in his speech, which was in Latin, being careful to make only a very guarded reference to these men, owing to the excited passions of the times. His exact language was that he conferred the diplomas "on Centurian McIntyre and Legatus
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Laurie, absent in a field crowded with tents;" so bitter was the feeling between the adherents of the North and South that Unionists concluded that even such a reference was disloyal and for fifty years the usefulness of Westminster College was hampered by the alienation of some people, due to this little incident.
McIntyre and Laurie joined Price and went, as has been above stated, with him on the occasion of his passing through Henry County and Clin- ton on his retreat.
On the Grand River General Price was closely pursued by Lyon. Early in July, Lyon had reached the Grand River in Henry County and he was there reinforced by three thousand troops from Kansas, com- manded by Major S. D. Sturges. In the meantime, a battle liad occurred at Carthage between the forces of General Seigel and Jackson. On the sixth of July, Lyon reached Springfield. Meanwhile, a State convention which had been called had met and declared the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State vacant, these officers having gone with the Southern armies; and from this time on there were two distinct governing bodies in Missouri. On July 26, Gen. John C. Fremont assumed the command of the western department and established his headquarters in St. Louis. The battle of Dug Springs, between Captain Steele's forces and General Raine's, occurred on the second of August, followed by the so-called Battle of Athens, on the fifth of August; and on August 10 occurred the most serious engagement of the war on Mis- souri soil, when the Federal forces under Gen. Nathaniel Lyon met the troops of General McCulloch at Wilson's Creek, near Springfield. The en- gagement resulted in a victory for the Confederate forces. General Lyon himself was killed and the Union troops forced to retreat.
A series of proclamations followed, each side declaring itself to be the duly-appointed guardians of the welfare of the State. On August 24, Gov. Hamilton R. Gamble, who was the recognized head of the State by the Federal authorities, issued a proclamation for 32,000 men for six months' serivce in the Union army, which was followed on August 30 by another proclamation issued by General Fremont in which he de- clared martial law and promised that the slaves of all persons who should thereafter take an active part with the enemies of the Government should be free. Fremont's proclamation brought an immediate reply from Gen. Jeff Thompson and on the eleventh of September President Lincoln modi- fied General Fremont's declaration of martial law as far as the clause
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referring to confiscation of property and liberation of the slaves was concerned. September 12, 1861, Price attacked Lexington and eight days later compelled the surrender of Colonel Mulligan, with 2,600 men. Price retired to southwest Missouri and wintered in those counties, issuing a proclamation in Neosho, November 27, in which he called for 50,000 men. In December General Hunter, who had succeeded to the command of the western department, levied an assessment on certain wealthy citizens of St. Louis, to provide for feeding and clothing Union refugees, and later, in the same month, declared martial law in St. Louis and the country adjacent, the declaration covering all the railroad lines. On January 8, 1862, the provost marshal of St. Louis issued General Order No. 10, to the effect that it was hereby ordered "that from and after this date the publication of all newspapers in the State of Missouri, St. Louis city papers excepted, should furnish to his office immediately on publication one copy of each issue, for inspection."
A failure to comply with the order would render the newspaper liable to suppression and local provost marshals were ordered to furnish the proprietors of the several newspapers with copies of the order and to attend to its enforcement. On January 26 General Halleck issued Order No. 18, which forbade the display of secession flags in the hands of women or on carriages, and in case of violation the carriages were to be confis- cated and the women arrested. On February 4 a similar order was issued to the professors and instructors of the State University at Columbia, forbidding the funds of the institution to be used "to teach treason or to instruct traitors." On February 20, a military commission was convened by Special Order No. 120, which met in March and tried Edmond J. Ellis of Columbia, at that time editor and proprietor of the "Boone County Standard," for the publication of information which was of benefit to the enemy, and for encouraging resistance to the United States Govern- ment. Ellis was found guilty and banished from Missouri during the war, and his printing materials confiscated and sold. During the late fall a battle (so-called but really a skirmish) was fought at Osceola and during the whole of that winter Confederate troops were in and about Henry County. The gradual approach of Union forces compelled the re- tirement of the Confederate Army to the south, and on March 6, 1862, occurred a battle at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, between the contending armies of Curtiss and Van Dorn. Skirmishes continued throughout the State during the year of 1862. The battle of Cherry Grove in June, between
ROCK ISLAND PARK, WINDSOR, MO.
HIGH SCHOOL AND GRADE SCHOOL, WINDSOR, MO.
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the forces of Col. Joseph C. Porter and Col. H. S. Lipscomb, was followed in the same month by a battle at Pierce's Mill in which Col. J. Y. Clopper met Colonel Porter. On July 22 occurred the Florida engagement, on the twenty-eighth the battle of Moore's Hill, on August 6 the battle near Kirksville, on the eleventh the battle at Independence, on the sixteenth the well-known battle of Lone Jack. The war began to assume more and more the character of guerilla fight in Missouri, and irresponsible bands made life a terror throughout the State.
About this time the notorious Col. Jim Lane of Kansas made a raid in Henry County, in the course of which he visited Clinton and, in accord- ance with his usual habits, decided to destroy those things which he could not carry off, or which were not of use to him in a military way. His object seemed to be to injure the people as much as possible and the county records appealed to him as being easily destructible, and because of their character most liable to cause confusion and loss to the people if they were destroyed. He therefore decided to burn them, but he was finally persuaded not to do so. The people, by this time, had become thoroughly alarmed as to the safety of the records and so Judge J. G. Dorman boxed them up and took them to Sedalia. The trip was eventful and perilous, and on the way wagons broke down which added to the difficulties of the journey. However, they finally safely arrived at Se- dalia and were kept in safety for the remainder of the war.
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