USA > Missouri > Cedar County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 9
USA > Missouri > Dade County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 9
USA > Missouri > Barton County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 9
USA > Missouri > Hickory County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 9
USA > Missouri > Polk County > History of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade, and Barton counties, Missouri > Part 9
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
THE BEGINNING OF HOSTILITIES.
The American nation seemed on the verge of ruin. The Government was for the time being paralyzed. The army was stationed in scattered detachments on remote frontiers. The fleet was dispersed in distant seas. President Buchanan was distracted with hesitancy and the contradictory counsels of his friends. With the exception of Forts Sumter and Moultrie in Charleston Harbor, Fort Pickens near Pensacola, and Fortress Monroe in the Chesapeake, all the important posts in the seceded States had been seized and occupied by the Confederates, even before the organization of their government.
In vain had Gen. Scott, lieutenant-general of the United States army, observing the energy of the Secessionists, repeatedly urged upon the President that strong garrisons be sent to the imperiled fortresses, some of which were indifferently occupied and some not at all. Scott was not allowed to do anything to save the United States forts, or even to send a warning to the hand- fuls of soldiers who garrisoned them, until it was too late to avail. Early in January, 1861, the President made a feeble effort to re- inforce and provision the garrison at Fort Sumter. The steamer " Star of the West " was sent with men and supplies, but upon ap- proaching Charleston harbor it was fired upon by a Confed- erate battery, and was obliged to return without performing its mission.
In March Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States, and entered upon the duties of his office. William H. Seward, of New York, was chosen Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War, succeeded in the following January by Edwin M. Stanton, and Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy. Lincoln declared, both in his inaugural address and in his early official papers, that the efforts of the new administration would be directed to the re- covery of the forts, arsenals and other public property which had been seized by the Confederate authorities, and it was with this intention that the first military preparations were made. With the second attempt of the Government to reinforce Fort Sumter came the actual beginning of hostilities.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
The defenses of Charleston Harbor were held by Maj. Rob- ert Anderson with only seventy-nine men. He had deemed it prudent to evacuate Fort Moultrie and retire to Sumter, which was situated on an island in front of the city but at some dis- tance. That occupancy having been decided to be "a menace to the free people of the State," Fort Sumter was attacked by Gen. Beauregard, April 12, 1861, on the order of George W. Randolph, secretary of war for the Confederacy. On the 14th, Maj. Anderson and his gallant little band were forced to sur- render, and thus were the fountains of the great deep broken up, deluging the South in blood, and turning her smiling fields to desolation.
On the 15th of April, Lincoln issued a proclamation declar- ing the South to be in a state of rebellion, and calling for 75,000 militia "to repossess the forts, places and property seized from the Union." He also summoned both Houses of Congress to assemble in extraordinary session on July 4, 1861.
The War of the Rebellion now began in earnest. With the firing on Fort Sumter a radical change took place in the senti- ments of a large portion of the Democracy of the North. Every free State, and the slave States of Delaware and Maryland, pledged men and troops to suppress the Rebellion, and such Democratic leaders as Stephen A. Douglas, Matthew H. Carpen- ter, Daniel S. Dickinson, John J. Crittenden and Benjamin F. Butler announced their hearty support of the President. Jef- ferson Davis also issued a proclamation, two days later than that of Lincoln, calling upon the " good people of the Confederacy" to rally and drive out "the invaders." On the same day Vir- ginia seceded from the Union; on May 6 Arkansas followed her example, and then North Carolina on the 20th of the same month. In Tennesseee, specially East Tennessee, there was a strong opposition to disunion, and it was not until the 8th of June that a secession ordinance could be passed. The people of Maryland were divided in their opinions, but the disunion senti- ment prevailed largely. In Missouri, as will presently be seen, the movement resulted in civil war, while in Kentucky the authorities issued a proclamation of neutrality.
On the 19th of April some Massachusetts regiments, pass-
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
ing through Baltimore on their way to Washington, were attacked by the citizens with stones and fire-arms, and three men were killed. This was the first bloodshed of the war. On the preceding day a body of Confederate soldiers advanced on the armory of the United States at Harper's Ferry. The officer in charge destroyed a portion of the vast stores collected there, and then escaped into Pennsylvania. On the 20th of the month, another company of Virginians attacked the great navy yard at Norfolk. The Federal officers commanding fired the buildings, sank the vessels, spiked the guns, and withdrew their forces. Most of the cannons and many of the vessels were afterward recovered by the Confederates, the property thus captured amounting to fully $10,000,000.
The Southern forces poured into Virginia in such numbers that for a time the city of Washington seemed in danger. May 3 the President called for 83,000 more soldiers, whose term of enlistment should be for three years, or during the continuation of the war. Lieut .- Gen. Winfield Scott was made comman- der-in-chief of the United States forces. As many war ships as could be mustered were sent to blockade the Southern harbors. In the seceded States, also, there were tireless preparation and activity. Richmond was chosen as the capital of the Confeder- acy. Mr. Davis and the officers of his cabinet had already re- paired thither, for the purpose of directing the affairs of the government and the army. So stood the opposing powers in the beginning of the summer of 1861.
It was now evident that a great war, perhaps the greatest in modern times, was about to break over the American nation.
Having thus outlined the causes of the war, and the breaking out of actual hostilities, let us turn to our own State and see what part she bore in the mighty conflict.
THE ATTITUDE OF MISSOURI.
The people of Missouri had been, as we have seen, deeply in- volved in the agitation caused by the territorial questions con- nected with the subject of slavery. Moreover, the State was largely populated by emigrants from Kentucky, Virginia and other Southern States, or by their descendants, and naturally
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
there was a widespread sympathy with the secession movement. Nevertheless there was much intelligent conservatism among the people, and they were not, in the language of Gov. Stewart's last message, to be frightened from their property by the past un- friendly legislation of the North, or dragooned into secession by the restrictive legislation of the extreme South.
The General Assembly met in Jefferson City on December 31, 1860, under peculiarly embarrassing circumstances. Ten days before it convened South Carolina had passed an ordinance of secession, and before the 20th of January four other Southern States had followed her example. Besides this, the preceding national and State canvass had resulted in returning to the State Legislature representatives of each of the four political parties into which the people were divided. There were, in each branch of the General Assembly, Breckinridge Democrats, Douglas Democrats, Union or Bell-Everett men, and Republicans, and in neither Senate nor House was any one of these parties domi- nant. January 4, 1861, Claiborne F. Jackson, author of the famous "Jackson Resolution," was inaugurated as governor, having been elected by the Douglas Democrats. While Gov. Stewart's farewell message concluded with an eloquent appeal for the maintenance of the Union, as he depicted the inevitable ruin and bloodshed that must attend secession, Gov. Jackson's inaugu- ral insisted that the interests of all the slave-holding States were identical; that in case the Union were really divided, it would be the duty and privilege of Missouri to stand by the South; that the State was in favor of remaining in the Union as long as there was any hope of maintaining the guarantees of the constitution, but that, in any event, he was utterly opposed to coercion.
Believing that Missouri was entitled to a voice in the settle- ment of the questions then pending in the country, he recom- mended the immediate call of a State convention, that the will of the people might be ascertained. Such a convention was called by Gov. Jackson, in accordance with an act of the Legislature, and met at Jefferson City, February 28, 1861. Each senatorial district sent to this convention three times as many delegates as the number of members in the State Senate to which said district was entitled. In all ninety-nine members were present, and the
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
convention was permanently organized by the election of the fol- lowing officers: Sterling Price, of Chariton County, president (he was then regarded as a decided Union man) ; Robert Wilson, of Andrew County, vice-president; Samuel A. Lowe, of Pettis, secretary ; Robert A. Campbell, of St. Louis, assistant secretary ; C. P. Anderson, of Moniteau, door-keeper; B. W. Grover, ser- geant-at-arms.
On March 9, during an adjourned meeting at St. Louis, Mr. Gamble, chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, re- ported from the majority of that committee a list of resolutions, which, after some amendments were adopted by the convention, which thus refused to pass the ordinance of secession.
The amended resolutions are as follows:
1. Resolved, That at present there is no adequate cause to impel Missouri to dissolve her connection with the Federal Union, but on the contrary, she will labor for such an adjustment of existing troubles as will secure the peace, as well as the rights and equality of all the States.
3 2. Resolved, That the people of this State are devotedly attached to the insti- tutions of our country, and earnestly desire that by a fair and amicable adjust- ment all the causes of disagreement that at present unfortunately distract us as a people, may be removed, to the end that our Union may be preserved and per- petuated, and peace and harmony be restored between the North and South.
3. Resolved, That the people of this State deem the amendments to the Con- stitution of the United States, proposed by the Hon. John J. Crittenden, of Ken- tucky, with the extension of the same to the territory hereafter to be acquired by treaty, or otherwise, a basis of adjustment which will successfully remove the causes of difference forever from the arena of national politics.
4. Resolved, That the people of Missouri believe the peace and quiet of the country will be promoted by a convention to propose amendments to the Consti- tution of the United States, and this convention therefore urges the Legislature of this State and the other States to take the proper steps for calling such a con- vention in pursuance of the fifth article of the constitution ; and by providing by law for an election by the people of such number of delegates as are to be sent to such convention.
5. Resolved, That in the opinion of this convention, the employment of mili- tary force by the Federal Government to coerce the submission of the seceding States, or the employment of military force by the seceding States to assail the Government of the United States, will inevitably plunge this country into civil war, and thereby entirely extinguish the hope of an amicable settlement of the fearful issues now pending before the country ; we therefore earnestly entreat, as well the Federal Government as the seceding States, to withhold and stay the arm of military power, and on no pretense whatever bring upon the nation the horrors of civil war. And in order to the restoration of harmony and fraternal feeling between the different sections we would recommend the policy of with- drawing the Federal troops from the forts within the borders of the seceding States, when there is danger of collision between the State and Federal troops.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
The sixth and seventh resolutions we omit because they have no reference to war questions. Two of the resolutions will at- tract the attention of every intelligent reader: the first, contain- ing the explicit declaration that there was no adequate cause to impel Missouri to dissolve her connection with the Federal Union; and the fifth wherein the convention took uncompromising ground against the employment of military force by either the seced- ing States or the nation.
It was with the earnest and patriotic purpose of averting civil war that the Union men of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and other slave States entreated the Federal Government not to resort to military force, but after the firing upon Fort Sumter and other violent and unmistakably rebellious acts, these patriots as- sumed more extreme views.
GOV. JACKSON AND THE MISSOURI LEGISLATURE.
Upon President Lincoln's call for 75,000 men, Simon Cam- eron, Secretary of War, issued a telegram to all of the loyal and doubtful States, requesting each of them to detail from the mili- tia of the State a certain number of men, as infantry or riflemen, for a period of three months.
Missouri's quota was fixed at four regiments, which Gov. Jackson was requested to furnish. The following was his reply:
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI, JEFFERSON. CITY, April 17, 1861. 5
To the Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.,
SIR :- Your dispatch of the 15th inst., making a call on Missouri for four regiments of men for immediate service has been received. There can be, I apprehend, no doubt but these men are intended to form a part of the Presi- dent's army to make war upon the people of the seceded States. Your requisi- tion, in my judgment, is illegal, unconstitutional and revolutionary in its objects, inhuman and diabolical, and cannot be complied with. Not one man will the State of Missouri furnish to carry on such an unholy crusade.
C. F. JACKSON, Governor of Missouri.
Pursuant to a proclamation of Gov. Jackson, the State Legis- lature convened in extra session May 2, 1861. In his mes- sage to that body, the Governor reiterated the declaration that the interests and sympathies of Missouri were identical with those of the slave-holding States, and recommended the pol- icy of arming the people and placing the State in an attitude of defence.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
The Legislature responded by passing several important measures, among which were the following: To authorize coun- ties to loan money, not exceeding $30,000 each, to the State; to authorize the Banks of Missouri to issue $1, $2, and $3 notes to the amount of $1,500,000, instead of the same amount of larger notes; to authorize the Governor to purchase or lease David Ball- entine's foundry at Boonville for the manufacture of arms and the munitions of war; to authorize the Governor to appoint one major-general, who, in time of insurrection, invasion, or war, should command the entire military force in the field; to author- ize the Governor, whenever in his opinion the security and wel- fare of the State might require it, to take possession of the rail- road and telegraph lines within the State; to provide for the organization, government and support of the "Missouri State Guard; " and to authorize the Governor to borrow $1,000,000 to arm and equip the militia of the State to repel invasion, and pro- tect the lives and property of the people.
SURRENDER OF CAMP JACKSON.
Into the midst of this body of busy legislators dropped the news of the capture of Camp Jackson, at St. Louis.
By order of Gov. Jackson, the United States arsenal at Liberty, Clay County, had been seized April 20, 1861, and on the same day of the Governor's proclamation calling an extra ses- sion of the General Assembly the following general military order was issued by Warwick Hough, then adjutant general of Mis- souri:
(General Orders No. 7.)
HEADQUARTERS ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, MO., JEFFERSON CITY, April 22, 1861. 5
First. To attain a greater degree of efficiency and perfection in organiza- tion and discipline, the commanding officers of the several military districts in this State, having four or more legally organized companies therein, 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 3d of May, and to go into an encampment for the period of six days, as provided by law. Captains of companies not organized into battalions will report the strength of their companies immediately to these headquarters, and await further orders.
Second. The quartermaster-general will procure and issue to the quar- termasters of districts, for those commands not now provided for, all necessary tents and camp equipage, to enable the commanding officers thereof to carry the foregoing orders into effect.
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
Third. The light battery now attached to the Southwest Battalion, and one company of mounted riflemen, including all officers and soldiers belonging to the First District, will proceed forthwith to St. Louis, and report to Gen. D. M. Frost for duty. The remaining companies of said battalion will be dis- banded for the purpose of assisting in the organization of companies upon that frontier. The details in the execution of the foregoing are intrusted to Lieut. - Col. John S. Bowen, commanding the battalion.
Fourth. The strength, organization and equipment of the several com- panies in the districts will be reported at once to these headquarters, and divis- ion inspectors will furnish all information which may be serviceable in ascer- taining the condition of the State forces.
By order of the Governor.
WARWICK HOUGH, Adjutant- General of Missouri.
Pursuant to this order, the military encampment of Camp Jackson, at Lindell's Grove, St. Louis, was organized May 3, by Brig .- Gen. Daniel M. Frost, of the Missouri Militia. Its object, as stated above, was said to be the attainment of greater efficiency in the organization and drill of the State troops, but there seemed to be reason for the suspicion, entertained by officers of the United States Army, that Gov. Jackson, Gen. Frost and their confréres, had some ulterior purpose in view. This purpose was believed by many to be nothing less than the seizure of the United States arsenal at St. Louis, and the military con- trol of the State by those who, notwithstanding the anti-secession voice of the people, were determined to link her destinies with the Confederacy.
The stars and stripes floated over Camp Jackson, yet Capt. Nathaniel Lyon, commandant of the arsenal, had in view the sentiments of Gov. Jackson's inaugural and of his more recent message to the Legislature, his response to the requisition of the Secretary of War, the seizure of the arsenal at Liberty, and the fact that two of the streets in the new camp were called "Davis" and "Beauregard," after two of the most prominent leaders of the Rebellion. Also Capt. Lyon discovered that cannon and mortars in boxes, marked "Marble," and shot and shell in barrels, had been landed at the St. Louis wharf and hauled to Camp Jackson.
On the morning of May 10, Gen. Frost having been informed that the United States troops were preparing for an attack upon his camp addressed the following note to Capt. Lyon:
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
HEADQUARTERS, CAMP JACKSON, - MISSOURI MILITIA, May 10, 1861.
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 at- tack 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 the lawful performance of 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 intendent toward the United States, 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 arsenal, I proffered to Maj. 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 Gen. Harney's taking command of this department, I made the same proffer of services to him, and authorized his adjutant-general, Capt. 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 that time, neither of my own volition nor through orders of my constitutional commander.
I trust that after this explicit statement we may be able, by fully under- standing each other, to keep far from our borders the misfortunes which so unhappily affect our common country.
This communication will be handed to you by Col. 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,
BRIG .- GEN. D. M. FROST, Commanding Camp Jackson M. V. M.
On the day of this communication, and perhaps at the very hour of its writing, Capt. Lyon was making active preparations to march upon Camp Jackson. It was said that he refused to receive the communication from Gen. Frost.
Between 2 and 3 o'clock, on the afternoon of the same day, Gen. Frost received a note from Capt. Lyon as follows:
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES TROOPS, 1 ST. LOUIS, Mo., May 10, 1861.
Gen. D. M. Frost, Commanding Camp Jackson,
SIR :- Your command is regarded as evidently hostile toward the Govern- ment 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
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HISTORY OF MISSOURI.
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 whose orders you are acting, and whose purpose, recently communicated to the Legislature, has just been responded to by that body in the most unparalleled legislation, 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 demand, shall be humanely and kindly treated. Believing myself prepared to enforce this demand, one-half hour's time before doing so will be allowed for your compliance therewith.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
N. LYON, Capt. Second Infantry, Commanding Troops.
Capt. Lyon's command numbered between 6,000 and 7,000 men, and about twenty pieces of artillery. With this force he rapidly invested Camp Jackson, planting batteries on the over- looking heights, and allowing none to pass the lines thus formed. Many of the citizens seized whatever weapons they could lay their hands upon, and rushed to the assistance of the State troops, but were, of course, foiled in their design. Men, and numbers of women and children, flocked to the neighboring hills, wishing to obtain a view of the scene, and thinking themselves out of harm's way. Upon the receipt of Capt. Lyon's communication, Gen. Frost called a hasty consultation of the officers of his staff, and as resistance seemed mere recklessness, a surrender upon the proposed terms was quickly agreed to. The State troops were therefore made prisoners of war, but an offer was made to release them on condition that they would take an oath to support the constitution of the United States, and would swear not to take up arms against the Government.
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