USA > Missouri > Johnson County > The history of Johnson County, Missouri : including a reliable history of the townships, cities, and towns, together with a map of the county; a condensed history of Missouri; the state constitution; an abstract of the most important laws etc > Part 11
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upon their face were believed by union men to show a sympathy with secession, and though the stars and stripes floated over the "camp," Gen. Lyon deemed it necessary to examine it himself under disguise. It was reported that shot and shells and cannon had been received marked "mar- ble." Two streets in the camp were named respectively, Davis and Beauregard. This it was claimed denoted strong interest in the southern leaders. In the midst of these rumors, whether founded well or ill can not now certainly be said, Gen. Frost addressed a note to Capt. Lyon, con- taining the following:
I would be glad to know from you personally whether there is any truth in the statements that are constantly poured into my ears. So far as regards any hos- tility being intended toward the United States, or its property, or representa- tives, 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 say positively that the idea has never been entertained. On the contrary, prior to your taking com- mand of the arsenal, I proffered to Major Bell, then in command of the very few troops constituting its guard, the service 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 adju- tant-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 the orders of my constitutional commander.
Lyon did not receive this note, and it is authoritatively stated, would not. Preparations were then being made to surround the " camp." After four or five thousand troops had been stationed around it, and bat- teries planted on the heights overlooking it, and while thousands of people were gathered round breathless with interest, the following letter was addressed to Gen. Frost:
SIR: Your command is regarded as evidently hostile towards 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 camps 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 pur- pose 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 hostili- ties 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 Wash- ington, 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 sur- rendering, under this demand, shall be humanely and kindly treated. Believing
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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.
A hasty consultation was held between Frost and his officers. Seeing their helplessness to successfully oppose so large a force, only one course was left-a surrender. After they were made prisoners, an offer was made to release them on condition that they would subscribe to support the constitution. This was declined on the ground that having once taken the oath of allegiance, to renew it now would but stamp their former acts as rebellious.
The Missouri Republican of May 11, 1861, contains this account of the massacre which occurred on marching the prisoners from "Camp Jack- son" to the city: "About half past five, the prisoners of war left the grove and entered the road, the United States soldiers enclosing them by a single file stretched along each side of the line. A halt was ordered and the troops remained standing in the position they had deployed into the road in. The head of the column at the time rested opposite a small hill on the entrance to the grove. Vast crowds of people covered the sur- rounding grounds and every fence and housetop in the vicinity. Suddenly the sharp reports of several fire-arms were heard from the front of the column and the spectators that lined the adjoining hill were seen fleeing in the greatest dismay and terror. It appears that several members of one of the German companies, on being pressed by the crowd and receiving several blows from them, turned and discharged their pieces. Fortunately no one was injured, and the soldiers who had done the act were at once placed under arrest. Hardly, however, had tranquillity been restored, when volley after volley of rifle reports were suddenly heard from the extreme rear ranks, and men, women and children were beheld running wildly and frantically away from the scene. Many, while running, were suddenly struck to the sod, and the wounded and dying made the late beautiful field look like a battle-ground. The total number killed and injured is about twenty-five. It was reported that the arsenal troops were attacked with stones and a couple of shots discharged at them by the crowd before they fired."
Great importance attaches to this firing of federal soldiers, for it as openly proclaimed war in Missouri as the fatal shot at Fort Sumter sounded the doom of the union.
The story of a brutal assault upon defenseless women and children swept across the peaceful valleys of Missouri like a wave of prairie fire. The midnight watcher told it to the horrified traveler, while the cries of the solitary rider in the darkness flew upon the wings of the wind. The strong pent-up passions against Federal authority burst forth. We have 6
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seen the effect of the news at the state capital. Throughout the state there were uprisings to arms. As the tale was told from lip to lip, its proportions grew fearfully gigantic. And though the tidings were soon corrected, as to the details of the firing, the excitement could not be allayed. Whether right or wrong in doing so, whether it was the single assault of some desperate citizen, the onset of an armed mob, or wanton and brutal madness, that caused the firing, cannot now, amid the conflict- ing accounts, be definitely settled. But the die was cast. The soil of Mis- souri must drink the blood of her sons.
Two days after the onslaught we have depicted, Brigadier-General Wm. S. Harney, who had charge of the western department, returned to St. Louis from Washington. He immediately issued a proclamation to the people in which he deplored the existing state of things, assured the people that no "unnecessary force" would be used in "preserving the public peace," and bade them return to their respective avocations and . abstain "from heated discussions."
In receiving the news, shortly afterward, of the passage of the " military bill " by the legislature, (the bill passed fifteen minutes after the news of the capture of Camp Jackson,) Gen. Harney issued another proclamation in which he defines the position of the government with regard to Missouri:
"It is with regret that I feel it my duty to call your attention to the recent act of the general assembly of Missouri, known as the military bill, which is the result, no doubt, of the temporary excitement that now pervades the public mind. This bill cannot be regarded in any other light than an indirect secession ordi- nance, ignoring even the forms resorted to by other states. Manifestly its most material provisions are in conflict with the constitution and laws of the United States. To this extent it is nullity, and cannot, and ought not to be upheld or regarded by the good citizens of Missouri. There are obligations resting upon the people of Missouri under the constitution and laws of the United States which are paramount, and which, I trust, you will carefully consider and weigh well before you allow yourselves to be carried out of the union, under the form of yielding obedience to this military bill, which is clearly in violation of your duties as citizens of the United States. It must be apparent to every one who has taken a proper and unbiased view of the subject, that, whatever may be the termination of the unfortunate condition of things in respect to the so-called "Cotton States," Missouri must share the destiny of the union. Her geograph- ical position, her soil, productions, and, in short, all her material interests point to this result. We cannot shut our eyes against this controlling fact. It is seen and its force is felt throughout the nation. So important is this regarded to the great interests of the country, that I venture to express the opinion that the whole power of the government of the United States, if necessary, will be exerted to maintain Missouri in her present position in the union. I express to you, in all frankness and sincerity, my own deliberate convictions, without assuming to speak for the government of the United States, whose authority, here and elsewhere, I shall, at all times, and under all circumstances, endeavor faithfully to uphold."
The spirit evinced by Gen. Harney's proclamations was first concilia- tion and peace; second, the preservation of the union as far as Missouri
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was concerned by force of arms. As a further witness to the desire of both the state and federal forces for an aversion of the horrors of civil war, is the following agreement, which explains itself:
, ST. LOUIS, May 21, 1861.
" The undersigned, officers of the United States government, and of the gov- ernment of the State of Missouri, for the purpose of removing misapprehensions and allaying public excitement, deem it proper to declare publicly that they have, this day, had a personal interview in this city, in which it has been mutu- ally understood, without the semblance of dissent on either part, that each of them has no other than a common object equally interesting and important to every citizen of Missouri: that of restoring peace and good order to the people of the state in subordination to the laws of the general and the state governments. It being thus understood, there seems no reasons why every citizen should not confide in the proper officers of the general and state governments to restore quiet; and, as the best means of offering no counter influences, we mutually recommend to all persons to respect each other's rights throughout the state, making no attempt to exercise unauthorized power, as it is the determination of the proper authorities to suppress all unlawful proceedings which can only dis- turb the public peace. Gen. Price, having by commission, full authority over the militia of the state of Missouri, undertakes, with the sanction of the governor of the State, already declared, to direct. the whole power of the state officers to maintain order within the state among the people thereof; and Gen. Harney, publicly declares, that this object being assured, he can have no occasion, as he has no wish, to make military movements which might otherwise create excite- ments and jealousies, which he most earnestly desires to avoid. We, the under- signed, do therefore mutually enjoin upon the people of the state, to attend to their civil business, of whatsoever sort it may be; and it is to be hoped that the unquiet elements, which have threatened so seriously to disturb the public peace, may soon subside and be remembered only to be deplored.
WM. S. HARNEY, Brigadier General Commanding. STERLING PRICE, Major General M. S. G.
This compact though so explicit in its declarations, was not long in force. The authorities in Washington did not approve of it. On the 31st of May, Capt. Lyon succeeded Gen. Harney in command. On June the 11th, another effort was made at reconciliation. A four hours' inter- view was held in St. Louis between Gen. N. Lyon, Col. Frank P. Blair and Maj. H. A. Conant, on the one side, and Gov. Jackson, Gen. Price and Thomas L. Snead, on the other. The only object attained was the devel- opment of the fact that no peaceful means could produce the desired quiet. The representatives of the state government withdrew, and soon after Gov. Jackson issued a proclamation calling into active service fifty thousand of the state militia. From the two extracts which we give here the demands at the interview of the state and federal governments are respectively shown. Lyon demanded: "That I would disband the State Guard and break up its organization; that I would disarm all the companies which had been armed by the state; that I would pledge myself not to attempt to organize the militia under the military bill; that I would repress all insurrectionary movements within the state; that I
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would maintain a strict neutrality in the present unhappy contest." * * They refused to disarm their own home guards, and insisted that the federal government should enjoy an unrestricted right to move and station its troops throughout the state, whenever and wherever that might, in the opinion of its officers, be necessary for the protection of the " loyal subjects " of the federal government, or for the repelling of invasion, and they plainly announced that it was the intention of the administration to take military occupation, under these pretexts, of the whole state, and to reduce it as avowed by Gen. Lyon himself, to the 'exact condition of Maryland.'"
Gov. Jackson's proclamation concludes thus:
While it is your duty to obey all the constitutional requirements of the Fed- eral government, it is equally my duty to advise you that your first allegiance is due to your own state, and that you are under no obligations whatever to obey the unconstitutional edicts of the military despotism which has enthroned itself at Washington, nor to submit to the infamous and degrading sway of its wicked minions in this state. No brave or true-hearted Missourian will obey the one or sub- mit to the other. Rise, then, and drive out ignominiously, the invaders who have dared to desecrate the soil which your labors have made fruitful, and which is consecrated by your homes.
Immediately after the issue of this, the federal troops under Gen. Lyon took possession of Jefferson City, Gov. Jackson having previously retired to Boonville. Leaving Col. Henry Boernstein in command, at Jefferson City, Gen. Lyon proceeded up the river, and on the 17th encountered the state troops, midway between Boonville and Rocheport, where an engage- ment ensued, resulting in the defeat of the state troops and the occupa- tion of Camp Vest, at Boonville, by the federal forces. Lyon's force was 2,000 in all; the state troops numbered 1,500. Neither side engaged all its men. The loss was slight.
Civil war was now duly inaugurated. Limited space will not allow us to detail the various movements on either side, nor to describe the battles which were fought. We overcome the difficulty as nearly as possible by a table which we append to the chapter and to which we refer the reader.
Gen. Lyon issued a proclamation, at Boonville, reiterating that the fed- eral forces in his command would be used only to maintain the authority of the general government, and the protection of law-abiding citizens. He also declared that the compact between Price and Harney had been disregarded by the state forces, and that the state officers had by word and act virtually declared war. Gov. Jackson proceeded to Arrow Rock, then to Syracuse. He had here some six hundred men. Lyon dispatched Capt. Totten to this point with orders to capture him.
Jack- son hearing of his approach moved toward the south.
The condition of affairs is now described as follows:
Military affairs now progressed so rapidly that the force concentrated
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in the state reached 10,000 men, 2,500 of whom were stationed at Her- mann and Jefferson City, 3,200 at Rolla, the terminus of the south- western branch of the Pacific railroad; 1,000 on the North Missouri rail- road, and 1,000 at Bird's Point, opposite Cairo. In addition to this, there was a force of 2,500 remaining at St. Louis, which could be increased to 10,000 in a few hours, by accession from neighboring camps in Illinois. These troops held the entire portion of the state north of the river, the southeast quarter lying between the Mississippi and a line drawn south- ward from Jefferson City to the Arkansas border, thus giving to the fed- eral government, the important points of St. Louis, Hannibal, St. Joseph and Bird's Point, as a base of operations, with the rivers and railroads as a means of transportation.
Early in July the western department was created, comprising the states and territories between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi river and the state of Illinois, with headquarters at St. Louis. Gen. Fre- mont was placed in command.
Gen. Price was now being reinforced by McCulloch with troops from Arkansas and the confederate states. The scene of operations was the southwestern counties. On the 10th of August the battle of Wilson's Creek was fought, in which the brave, but neglected Lyon was killed The confederates gained a complete victory. Their fighting was valiant in the extreme. The battle is recorded as one of the most bloody in the annals of the war.
The state convention, whose proceedings we have recorded, convened on the 22d of July. On the 31st, the day Gov. Gamble's address to the people was adopted, Lieut .- Gov. Reynolds, in the absence of Jackson, issued a proclamation stating that " Under the existing circumstances, it is his" (Gov. Jackson's) " clear duty to accept the actual situation of affairs, and simplify the real issues, by making, under the statute above men- tioned," (viz: An act authorizing the governor to take such measures as in his judgment he may deem necessary to repel invasion or put down rebellion) " and subject to the future control of the general assembly and the people, a provisional declaration, in the name and on behalf of the people of Missouri, that her union with the northern states has been dis- solved by their acts of war upon her."
Almost contemporaneous with this appeared Gen. Jeff. Thompson's spirited call:
Come now, strike while the iron is hot! Our enemies are whipped in Virginia. They have been whipped in Missouri. General Hardee advances in the center, Gen. Pillow on the right, Gen. McCulloch on the left, with twenty thousand brave southern hearts to our aid. So leave your ploughs in the furrow, and your oxen in the yoke, and rush like a tornado upon our invaders and foes, and sweep them from the face of the earth, or force them from the soil of our state! Brave sons of the ninth district, come and join us! We have plenty of ammunition,
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and the cattle on ten thousand hills are ours. We have forty thousand Belgian muskets coming; but bring your guns and muskets with you, if you have them, if not, come without them. We will strike your foes like a southern thunder- bolt, and soon our camp-fires will illuminate the Merrimac and Missouri. Come, turn out!
JEFF. THOMPSON, Brigadier-General Commanding.
We can in no wise better contrast the two powers in the state and the military operations which each proposed, than by the following extracts from proclamations issued respectively, August 3d and 5th, by Governors Gamble and Jackson:
All citizens who are embodied under the act of the last session of the general assembly, popularly called the " military law," are notified that the law has been abrogated, the troops disbanded; the commissions issued under it, as well as the commission under the act of the same session for the appointment of a major- general, have been annulled, and all soldiers and officers are enjoined to cease action in a military capacity. The officers and their troops belonging to the con- federate states, who have invaded Missouri, are notified that it is against the will of the people of Missouri that they should continue upon the soil of this state, and that their continuance in Missouri will be considered an act of war, designed to bring upon our state the horrors of war, which Missouri desires to avoid. They are, therefore, notified to depart at once from the state.
Given under my hand as governor, and under the great seal of the state of Missouri, at Jefferson City, this 3d day of August, 1861.
HAMILTON R. GAMBLE.
Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority in me vested by said act, I, Claiborne F. Jackson, governor of the state of Missouri, appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of my intentions, and firmly believing that I am herein carrying into effect the will of the people of Missouri, do hereby, in their name, by their authority, and on their behalf, and subject at all times to their free and unbiased control, make and publish this provisional declaration, that by the acts of the people and government of the United States of America, the political connection heretofore existing between said states and the people and govern- ment of Missouri is, and ought, to be, totally dissolved; and that the state of Missouri, as a sovereign, free, and independent republic, has full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent states may do.
Published and declared at New Madrid, Missouri, this fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-one.
CLAIBORNE F. JACKSON, Governor of Missouri.
Notwithstanding the call of Thompson, the proclamation of Gov. Jack- son, and the subsequent victory at Wilson's creek, which we have men- tioned, the confederate forces did not proceed on their previously planned line of march to the great prize of St. Louis. Proclamations, boasting of the victory, were issued, one by McCulloch and one by Price, but the forces under them remained quiet, near Springfield. Recruits, however, were being mustered in in the western counties. A lack of provisions embarrassed the confederates. Meantime, Fremont was being re-inforced by large numbers of federals from the northwest.
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One terrible effect came from the battle of Wilson's Creek-the martial law. In the imminence of the crisis, which the news of the battle caused, Gov. Gamble called into service 42,000 men of the militia to serve for six months, unless peace be sooner restored. Lawlessness of every character and of all parties was an attendant of the chaotic times. In order to stop the reign of violence Fremont appointed J. Mckinstry provost-marshal-gen- eral of the state, and declared a martial law which announced that all per- sons within the lines of the army of the occupation (extending from Leav- enworth, by way of Jefferson City, to Cape Girardeau), "if taken with arms in their hands, should be tried by court-martial, and if found guilty, shot; that the property of all persons who should be proven to have taken an active part with the enemies of the government, should be confiscated for public use, and their slaves declared free; that all persons engaged in the destruction of bridges and railroads, etc., should suffer the extreme . penalty of the law," etc., etc.
On September 2d, this was replied to by Gen. Jeff. Thompson, in a pro- clamation, stating, "that for every member of the Missouri state guard, or soldier of our allies, the armies of the Confederate States, who shall be put to death in pursuance of the said order of Gen. Fremont, I will hang, draw, and quarter a minion of said Abraham Lincoln," and, "if this rule is to be adopted (and it must first be done by our enemies), I intend to exceed Gen. Fremont in his excesses, and will make all tories that come within my reach rue the day that a different policy was adopted by their leaders."
September was chiefly passed by Fremont in making preparations, at St. Louis, for an aggressive movement toward the southwest. The plan was, to overwhelm the confederates, and push them from the state.
Gen. Price having recruited his forces in the southwest, moved in the latter part of July toward Lexington. His line of march made a great curve toward the Kansas border, so that in reality he approached Lexing- ton from the west. An alienation had sprung up between Price und McCulloch, resulting in the withdrawal of the latter from the state. Not- withstanding this, Price had a formidable force. The siege and assault upon Lexington was the second important engagement in the campaign of 1861, and resulted in a confederate victory. The white flag of surrender was raised on the 20th, and about 3,000 union soldiers became prisoners of war.
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