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In February of , and it voted to move from the state capital of Jefferson City to the strongly Unionist city of St. Louis. Then it voted decisively to remain within the Union. The apparent contradiction, however, reflected the mixed sentiments of Missouri voters, who remained largely Unionist, yet had little appetite for going to war against the Confederacy. ST. LOUIS ARSENAL In early February, U.S. Army Captain Nathaniel Lyon was transferred to Missouri and stationed at the St. Louis Arsenal . The arsenal was under the command of Maj. Gen. William S. Harney and was directly supervised by Maj. Peter V. Hagner , both conservative in politics and thus trusted by the outgoing Buchanan Administration . Lyon by contrast had a reputation as an outspoken Republican; indeed, he soon rose in rank and responsibility thanks to the influence of Republican Congressman Frank Blair , who had faith in Lyon as a resolute Unionist. Both the secessionists and Unionists recognized the importance of the St. Louis Arsenal, which contained one of the largest caches of military supplies in the West . A secessionist squad within St. Louis, the "Minute Men," organized to capture it. Governor Jackson himself plotted to seize it in early 1861, and secretly asked the newly organized Confederate government for siege artillery to use in attacking the post. Meanwhile, he called hundreds of members of the state militia into active duty, ostensibly for training, and they established an armed camp in St. Louis, not far from the arsenal. To defend it, Lyon and Congressman Blair arranged for members of a Republican paramilitary group from the 1860 campaign, a primarily German-immigrant organization called the Wide Awakes , to be enrolled into the federal army in volunteer regiments. Hagner and Harney resisted the move; after the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in March, however, Blair and his brother, Postmaster General Montgomery Blair , exerted pressure to have Lyon named commander of the arsenal. Blair went further, arranging to have Harney called to Washington for consultations with the War Department. Now unimpeded, Lyon enrolled the Wide Awakes. He then smuggled the remaining arms into Illinois, safe from capture by Jackson's state militia or the secessionist "minute men." [http://www.missouricivilwarmuseum.org/documents/11mar1861.htm At this juncture, with the arms safely removed and the arsenal strongly garrisoned, Lyon might have been politically wise to let Governor Jackson make the first overtly hostile act. Instead, the aggressive Union officer encircled the state militia encampment on May 10 and forced the surrender of its occupants. The inexperienced federal recruits marched their prisoners through the streets, back to the arsenal, when shots rang out. Panicked, the men opened fire on the largely hostile civilian crowds that surrounded them. The incident was denounced by secessionists as the " St. Louis Massacre ." It immediately crystalized the secessionists and Unionists into distinct camps, and marked the outbreak of armed hostilities in Missouri. Governor Jackson called for the formation of a new Missouri State Guard . Price, who had resigned from the now-adjourned state convention on secession, took command of the new force. Despite the public outrage at the bloodshed in St. Louis, however, Missourians remained reluctant to fight, and only a small fraction of the 50,000 volunteers called for in Jackson's request actually showed up for duty. Harney returned from Washington on May 12 and immediately attempted to calm the volatile situation. Attempts to remove Lyon, however, were undercut by Lyon's strong supporter among the Missourians in the Lincoln administration. On May 16 , Attorney General Edward Bates presented to Lincoln two representatives of St. Louis, who spoke on Lyon's behalf. Postmaster General Montgomery Blair and War Secretary Simon Cameron also urged Lincoln to retain him. Lincoln agreed to leave Lyon in St. Louis. A week later Harney met with Price and drafted the Price-Harney Truce , reading :"General 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 General Harney publicly declares that, this object being thus assured, he can have no occasion, as he has no wish, to make military movements, which might otherwise create excitements and jealousies which he most earnestly desires to avoid." {Link without Title} The truce could only be temporary. Governor Jackson was firmly committed to bringing Missouri into the Confederacy; from his perspective, the ceasefire served to buy time for recruiting and arming additional men. Frank Blair was equally committed to making the state an active supporter of the Union war effort. He convinced Lincoln to authorize him to dismiss Harney; he did so on May 30 and orchestrated the promotion of Lyon to be Harney's successor. Facing reassignment, Harney pleaded with the Lincoln administration to continue cooperation in good faith with Price and protested the acts of unnamed persons (a likely reference to Blair and Lyon) "who clamored for blood have not ceased to impugn my motives." {Link without Title} ATTACKING JEFFERSON CITY After Harney's dismissal, Governor Jackson and now-General Lyon agreed to one last peace negotiation in St. Louis on June 11 , 1861 . Jackson, Price, and staffer Thomas Snead represented the state government. Blair accompanied Lyon, as did Maj. H. L. Conant. Jackson and Price offered a position of neutrality in the larger war in exchange for the withdrawal of Lyon's troops from the state. After four hours of discussion, Lyon angrily rose and shouted, "Better, sir, far better, that the blood of every man, woman, and child within the limits of the State should flow, than that she should defy the Federal government. This means war." (So reported the press a few days later. Years afterward, Snead would offer a more elaborate and oft-quoted version of the same comments.) {Link without Title} Jackson, Price, and their staff promptly returned to Jefferson City, where the Governor issued a proclamation declaring that Missourians were "under no obligation whatever to obey the unconstitutional edicts of the military despotism" and its "wicked minions," referring to Lyon, whom he said should be driven from the state. {Link without Title} In the meantime, Lyon advanced on Jefferson City. The State government and legislature, fearing for its safety, began an exodus to nearby Boonville, Missouri , which was deemed more defensible from a military perspective. Price, as commander of the state militia, followed from the rear destroying bridges to slow Lyon's advance. Lyon captured the capital on June 14 , but only two state officers, including Attorney General J. Proctor Knott , remained. Jackson and Price fled to the southwestern corner of the state, supported by perhaps 5,000 State Guardsmen. There they linked up with newly organized Confederate forces under General Ben McCulloch , as Lyon followed with his own raw recruits. PROVISIONAL MISSOURI GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED With Governor Jackson in open rebellion against the federal government and the legislature dispersed, Missouri lacked a functioning civil government. On July 30 , two months after Jackson's flight from Jefferson City, the Missouri State Convention on secession reconvened. It was the only popularly elected body still in existence, and it reconstituted itself as the Provisional State Government. The members elected Hamilton R. Gamble as the provisional governor of Missouri. Gamble was a former Whig and political moderate who moved carefully, working with the Lincoln administration and military authorities to ameliorate the often harsh rule of martial law in the state, as widespread guerrilla warfare erupted. Though controversial and arguably unconstitutional, the provisional government filled a void that had been left by the flight of Jackson. NEOSHO LEGISLATURE AND SECESSION ORDINANCE In the fall, Jackson set up a provisional capital in the town of Neosho, Missouri . He called the legislature into session, though most historians believe only a minority of the Assembly responded. On October 28 , 1861 , this legislature took up a bill for Missouri's secession from the Union, passing it on October 30 . On October 31 , it was signed by Governor Jackson. The Neosho Secession Ordinance has been a source of controversy from its inception. Undoubtedly Jackson represented the regular, constitutional state government. Equally clearly, hostilities had been sparked by Lyon's assault on the state militia in St. Louis; the aggressive Union officer acted precipitately in assaulting a legal (though perhaps confrontational) militia encampment, at a time when he faced little military danger from it. The state government of Missouri had, in a very real sense, been attacked. On the other hand, Jackson made little secret of his desire to secure Missouri's secession, and he worked tirelessly to obtain that end. He entered into illicit negotiations with the Confederate government in preparation for an attack on the St. Louis arsenal, and there is little reason to believe that armed hostilities would not have erupted eventually between the federal and Jackson's governments. Perhaps most important, the Neosho Secession Ordinance was passed in open defiance of the State Convention on secession, which had voted overwhelmingly against withdrawal from the Union. Missourians were deeply divided over their place in the emerging Civil War; yet, in the final measure, the large majority of those who fought took up arms to defend the Union, rather than the Confederacy. The technical legality of both the Provisional Government and the Neosho Secession Ordinance must remain highly doubtful; in practical terms, however, it was Gamble's government, not Jackson's, which continued to function within Missouri's borders, and became the direct ancestor of the state government today. |
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