Civil War History - Secession and PoliticsWas it Slavery, or was it States Rights? Perhaps it was the election of Lincoln? What were the real reasons for Southern Secession and what were the political issues in this time of war? Find your answers here in the Secession and Politics Disussion.
St. Louis lawyer Uriel Wright declared in May 1861, "If Unionism means such atrocious deeds as have been witnessed in St. Louis, I am no longer a Union Man."
Wright was referring to what later became known as the Camp Jackson Incident, the first and only armed clash between Union and secessionist forces in St. Louis. At the western end of the St. Louis Street Railway line (near today’s St. Louis University), in a park-like setting, events exploded which cast Missouri headlong into the Civil War.
Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson, who favored the southern cause, realized that the key to keeping his state neutral or causing it to secede from the Union lay within the walls of the U.S. Arsenal in St. Louis. Located on south Broadway, just three miles from the Old Courthouse and across the street from where the Anheuser-Busch Brewery stands today, sixty thousand muskets lay waiting to be used by one side or the other. The arsenal also held forty-five tons of gunpowder, over one million cartridges, forty cannons, and all the necessary machinery to repair and manufacture more arms. With this prize Governor Jackson could arm his Missouri Militia and control the future of the state.
Brig. Gen. Daniel Frost, who was secretly working for Governor Jackson, reported in January 1861 that the commander of the arsenal, Maj. William H. Bell, was ready to turn it over to state authorities if this was demanded of him. Missouri Senator Frank P. Blair, however, along with many pro-Union citizens of St. Louis, was not willing to allow this prize to fall into Governor Jackson’s hands. Blair pulled political strings to have Maj. Bell relieved of command at the arsenal, and replaced him with pro-Union Capt. Nathaniel Lyon. By April, Lyon sent the majority of the arms and munitions safely across the river to Illinois, and issued the remainder to over 7,000 volunteers.
The issue of which side would control St. Louis was still unsettled when Fort Sumter was fired upon by South Carolina forces on April 12, 1861, touching off the Civil War. On April 23rd Governor Jackson ordered the pro-secession Missouri Militia to establish a camp "to attain a greater degree of efficiency and perfection in organization and discipline." In response Gen. Frost ordered the militia of the 1st Military District into a week of training.
In the early morning hours of May 6, 1861, about 800 uniformed men began forming in companies and regiments at the corner of Sixth and Olive Streets. At 9:30 a.m. drums began to roll as columns of these pro-secession men marched west on Olive to the edge of town....
The soldiers established "Camp Jackson," a military encampment named after Missouri’s governor, near today’s St. Louis University.
The next few days passed quietly, but with much anxiety as rumors began to spread through Camp Jackson of an intended attack by Union forces under Gen. Lyon. Two companies of U.S. Regulars and about 7,000 volunteers, mostly Germans, composed Lyon’s command. Around the campfires of the First Regiment the general feeling was expressed by drummer William C. Streeter, who stated that "If the United States regulars attack the camp I won’t lift a finger in resistance, but if the Illinois, Iowa or German troops make the attack, I’m ready for a fight." On the morning of May 10, Gen. Frost sent a letter to Gen. Lyon from Camp Jackson asking what Lyon intended to do with his troops. Would he attack the camp of secession forces? Gen. Lyon refused to accept the letter, and ordered his 7,000 solders to begin their march on Camp Jackson.
Gen. Lyon deployed his infantry and two batteries of artillery completely around the camp, cutting off any possible escape if Gen. Frost intended to slip away. He sent a letter to Gen. Frost demanding the unconditional surrender of the secessionist forces. Within Camp Jackson, William C. Streeter recalled that as "soon as the first startle at the appearance of the Federal troops had passed, Captain West ordered his company to fall in for drill, saying: ‘Men, don’t pay any attention to them.’ Captain West soon was sent for to report at brigade headquarters, and leaving the company standing at a ‘parade rest,’ he obeyed the call. Although it seemed a long time, it was really but a few minutes when he returned and, assuming command, spoke, practically as follows: ‘Men, this camp is to be surrendered to General Lyon and we with it as prisoners of war. We are to be marched to the United States arsenal to-night, and after that God alone knows what disposition will be made of us’... After a few preliminary evolutions in the manual of arms, Captain West, just to show that we were soldiers, gave the orders to stack arms, hang the belts and accouterments on the stacks then right face, forward march into our assigned position at the head of the column of prisoners, between two ranks of Federals."
While waiting for Frost’s surrender, Gen. Lyon was kicked in the stomach by an orderly’s horse and rendered unconscious. An hour passed before he regained his senses, just enough time for trouble to begin. Fifteen-year-old Philip D. Stevenson remembered that "a tedious and dangerous delay in the proceedings took place, why, I know not. Why they did not march their prisoners off at once I can not tell. The delay brought all the trouble. The masses of the people and the troops themselves grew more and more into ferment of ill suppressed excitement. Probably insults, jeers too were thrown by the people at the German soldiers all through this waiting time, but I did not hear any. The first thing of the kind I noticed was the thing that precipitated the massacre! That massacre was started by a boy of my own age. He was quite near me at the time and I saw his act. We were inside the square, standing in quite a crowd of people looking at and facing the soldiers, and not thirty paces off. This boy picked up a clod of dirt and pitched it at their mounted officer, a Captain Blandowski, who was riding up and down the line slowly, trying I suppose to keep order. In an instant the whole line, up with their guns, fired a volley into us! He had wheeled his horse with a smothered exclamation of some kind (the clod had hit his leg) and they, I supposed thought he said ‘fire!’ I do not believe he did. But the mischief was done; the raw undisciplined and excited recruits were beyond his control. Their volley was wild and overhead for the most part, but the results were bad enough. Blandowski himself shot, his leg shattered, and quite a number in the crowd killed and wounded. That however was but the beginning. We ran, of course, pell mell, but where could we run? Only towards the other side of the square. And as we did so, the other side opened on us. And thus like sheep in a slaughter pen, for some minutes, nay, after intervals of silence, men, women and children, were kept running from one side of the pen to the other, only to receive another volley poured into them, some falling killed or wounded all the time."
As the officers regained control of their men and the smoke cleared, the results of the past few minutes were plainly seen. Twenty-eight people lay dead or wounded on the green spring grass. Many more no doubt were carried to nearby homes mortally wounded, to die days later but not to be counted in the death tally. The prisoners were finally marched through the city streets to the St. Louis Arsenal. There they spent a cold, hungry and uncomfortable night crowded into a few buildings, and were paroled the following morning.
Following the round-up and unfortunate killing at Camp Jackson, St. Louis was firmly in the hands of the Union; soon the rest of the state followed. General Lyon led his army up the Missouri River to take the state capitol, Jefferson City, and forced the governor and the legislature to flee the state. Many of St. Louis’ young men served in the ranks of the Federal army, and saw action in Missouri and throughout the South.
Governor Jackson used the events of May as a rallying cry to gather troops to his standard, for in his eyes Missouri had been invaded, its citizens murdered in the streets by Federal soldiers. The incident pushed many of Missouri’s young men, who were generally neutral on the issues of the war, into the ranks of the pro-southern Missouri State Guard. Many later served in the Confederate army, and tried to regain their beloved but "lost" state. Most never returned, finding only an unmarked grave on some southern battlefield, far away from home.
St. Louis’ Camp Jackson Incident was one of the earliest instances of bloodletting in the Civil War, a minor precursor to the horrible battles to follow. It helped to polarize an already divided state. Even pro-Union men like prominent lawyer Uriel Wright disapproved of the conduct of the affair and the fact that it needlessly evolved into a bloody confrontation. St. Louis made nationwide headlines, sending a message that the state was by no means secure and prompting President Lincoln’s later actions to keep Missouri in the Union at all costs. The Camp Jackson Incident set the tone for the conduct of the Civil War in the West, continuing the partisan violence of "Bleeding Kansas" and leading to the guerrilla outrages of "Bloody Bill’ Anderson and William Clarke Quantrill. Missouri went on to suffer four long years of bloodshed, trailing only Virginia and Tennessee in the number of battles and skirmishes fought on her soil. The state paid a horrible price for the mistakes of Camp Jackson, which undoubtedly helped to prolong and deepen the animosities of the Civil War. http://www.nps.gov/jeff/historycultu...mp_jackson.pdf
What is your point here? Certainly this incident occured, although I doubt any particular account of it would be completely accurate. I have already posted a message to you in another thread saying as much and giving the same number of dead. What do you intend to say by posting it?
These incidents are useful for inciting resentment against the troops. The Boston Massacre, not as bad as St. Louis or Baltimore, had far-reaching influence on the Revolution. It seems that everyone concentrates on the "innocent" civilians. No one sides with the soldiers who most certainly didn't intend to harm anyone. I've learned to never chuck rocks at a man with a gun. And to never hang around with people who do.
Of course, bullets do not discriminate between the rock-chucker and the bystander, and that makes all such incidents tragic. But why are the troops blamed and not the instigators?
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
These incidents are useful for inciting resentment against the troops. The Boston Massacre, not as bad as St. Louis or Baltimore, had far-reaching influence on the Revolution. It seems that everyone concentrates on the "innocent" civilians. No one sides with the soldiers who most certainly didn't intend to harm anyone. I've learned to never chuck rocks at a man with a gun. And to never hang around with people who do.
Of course, bullets do not discriminate between the rock-chucker and the bystander, and that makes all such incidents tragic. But why are the troops blamed and not the instigators?
Some like to blame soldiers... especially US soldiers. Hasn't changed in the last 140 odd years nor have those who enjoy doing so.
__________________ Shane Christen
American Legion Post 352
SUVCW Camp Abernethy# 48
Lifetime NRA member
3rd MN VI
For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Eccl 1:18
Some like to blame soldiers... especially US soldiers. Hasn't changed in the last 140 odd years nor have those who enjoy doing so.
These were not regulars...but raw recruits (principally German immigrants)...
Some accounts have the number of killed at 28 civilians (including a woman and baby), 3 militiamen (unarmed), and 2 of Lyons troops (believed to have been shot by there own men).
The provocation: either a lone pistol shot by a drunken man or a clod of dirt thrown by a boy. I've found no first hand account that describes anything more than that.
William T. Sherman:
"The great mass of the people on that occasion were simply curious spectators, though men were sprinkled through the crowd calling out, 'Hurrah for Jeff Davis!' and others were particularly abusive of the '****ed Dutch'..."
These were not regulars...but raw recruits (principally German immigrants)...
Some accounts have the number of killed at 28 civilians (including a woman and baby), 3 militiamen (unarmed), and 2 of Lyons troops (believed to have been shot by there own men).
The provocation: either a lone pistol shot by a drunken man or a clod of dirt thrown by a boy. I've found no first hand account that describes anything more than that.
William T. Sherman:
"The great mass of the people on that occasion were simply curious spectators, though men were sprinkled through the crowd calling out, 'Hurrah for Jeff Davis!' and others were particularly abusive of the '****ed Dutch'..."
No bricks, no bottles, no paving stones.
As I mentioned before you started this thread, the most common description of the start of this riot is the drunk trying to push his way through the crowd because it comes from W. T. Sherman, who was in the crowd with his son when it was fired on at that point. The drunk had shot one of Osterhaus' staff in the leg, and the regiment fired back in his account. Sherman described it as follows. You'll notice the casualties he saw (4-5 dead and a number wounded) were nowhere near the total for the day, which implies other people were killed and injured in other places and at other times, very possibly in relation to other incidents.
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I again turned in the direction of Camp Jackson, my boy Willie with me still. At the head of Olive Street, abreast of Lindell's Grove, I found Frank Blair's regiment in the street, with ranks opened, and the Camp Jackson prisoners inside. A crowd of people was gathered around, calling to the prisoners by name, some hurrahing for Jeff Davis, and others encouraging the troops. Men, women, and children, were in the crowd. I passed along till I found myself inside the grove, where I met Charles Ewing and John Hunter, and we stood looking at the troops on the road, heading toward the city. A band of music was playing at the head, and the column made one or two ineffectual starts, but for some reason was halted. The battalion of regulars was abreast of me, of which Major Rufus Saxton was in command, and I gave him an evening paper, which I had bought of the newsboy on my way out. He was reading from it some piece of news, sitting on his horse, when the column again began to move forward, and he resumed his place at the head of his command. At that part of the road, or street, was an embankment about eight feet high, and a drunken fellow tried to pass over it to the people opposite.
One of the regular sergeant file-closers ordered him back, but he attempted to pass through the ranks, when the sergeant barred his progress with his musket "a-port." The drunken man seized his musket, when the sergeant threw him off with violence, and he rolled over and over down the bank. By the time this man had picked himself up and got his hat, which had fallen off, and had again mounted the embankment, the regulars had passed, and the head of Osterhaus's regiment of Home Guards had come up. The man had in his hand a small pistol, which he fired off, and I heard that the ball had struck the leg of one of Osterhaus's staff; the regiment stopped; there was a moment of confusion, when the soldiers of that regiment began to fire over our heads in the grove. I heard the balls cutting the leaves above our heads, and saw several men and women running in all directions, some of whom were wounded. Of course there was a general stampede. Charles Ewing threw Willie on the ground and covered him with his body. Hunter ran behind the hill, and I also threw myself on the ground. The fire ran back from the head of the regiment toward its rear, and as I saw the men reloading their pieces, I jerked Willie up, ran back with him into a gully which covered us, lay there until I saw that the fire had ceased, and that the column was again moving on, when I took up Willie and started back for home round by way of Market Street. A woman and child were killed outright; two or three men were also killed, and several others were wounded. The great mass of the people on that occasion were simply curious spectators, though men were sprinkled through the crowd calling out, "Hurrah for Jeff Davis!" and others were particularly abusive of the "****ed Dutch" Lyon posted a guard in charge of the vacant camp, and marched his prisoners down to the arsenal; some were paroled, and others held, till afterward they were regularly exchanged.
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Your young boy (age 15) is reporting a different incident at a different place and time, or he is reporting a totally different view on what happened in the same place. No one person would have been in a position to witness anything like the entire event. Riots, like combat and car accidents, are chaotic. Witness reports on what happened are usually fragmentary and often contradictory. After the war, Southern historians blamed everything on the Unionists. Northern historians blamed everything on the Secessionists. What a surprise!
Once people start shooting, other people generally get hurt, often more by bad luck than accurate shooting. This is particularly true if you are around raw troops. To illustrate how absurd this can get, there was an incident in the Napoleonic wars. A French Brigadier had just received a reinforcement of men, raw draftees marched down into Spain without much training. He had them issued with blanks and put them through the manual of arms, ending by having them fire a volley. Unfortunately (and oddly for an experienced soldier), he was standing in front of them when they fired. They really did have blanks, but he was transfixed by one of the 28 ramrods that came flying out with the volley, and died -- killed accidentally by a bunch of men with no bullets.
Once the violence starts, it spirals out of hand quickly. Riots take on a life of their own. That's why you have the rest of the casualties, and the violence and burning buildings throughout the rest of the day. Also why you have two more incidents in the next few days where Union troops are confronted in the town, with casualties on both sides.
As I mentioned before you started this thread, the most common description of the start of this riot is the drunk trying to push his way through the crowd because it comes from W. T. Sherman, who was in the crowd with his son when it was fired on at that point. The drunk had shot one of Osterhaus' staff in the leg, and the regiment fired back in his account. Sherman described it as follows. You'll notice the casualties he saw (4-5 dead and a number wounded) were nowhere near the total for the day, which implies other people were killed and injured in other places and at other times, very possibly in relation to other incidents.
Yes, there may have been more than one incident that day. The article (first post) and General Frost's account both describe being fired on while at the camp. Sherman's account appears to be after they left the camp and started the march toward the arsenal.
Whatever the case, he (Sherman) describes no bricks, rocks, or firearms used by the crowd other than the drunken man with a pistol.
Yes, there may have been more than one incident that day. The article (first post) and General Frost's account both describe being fired on while at the camp. Sherman's account appears to be after they left the camp and started the march toward the arsenal.
Whatever the case, he (Sherman) describes no bricks, rocks, or firearms used by the crowd other than the drunken man with a pistol.
Unfortunately for that, they both appear to be describing the mortal wounding of Captain Blandowski. Which one do you think got it accurately: the 15 year old boy, or the experienced soldier, William T. Sherman? Or neither? All are possible.
Please note that the account you quoted from the NPS site does not indicate where or when the boy's account took place. It only looks that way because it goes from a sentence where they are describing Lyon being kicked by a horse into the boys account without indicating the transition, and start in the middle of a sentence from the boy's account.
These incidents are useful for inciting resentment against the troops. The Boston Massacre, not as bad as St. Louis or Baltimore, had far-reaching influence on the Revolution. It seems that everyone concentrates on the "innocent" civilians. No one sides with the soldiers who most certainly didn't intend to harm anyone. I've learned to never chuck rocks at a man with a gun. And to never hang around with people who do.
Of course, bullets do not discriminate between the rock-chucker and the bystander, and that makes all such incidents tragic. But why are the troops blamed and not the instigators?
BTW, the reason that Lyon moved on Camp Jackson was that a shipment of arms had just arrived from Jefferson Davis:
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MONTGOMERY, ALA., April 23, 1861.
His Excellency C. F. JACKSON, Governor of Missouri:
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge yours of the 17th instant, borne by Captains Green and Duke, and have most cordially welcomed the fraternal assurances it brings.(*)
A misplaced but generous confidence has, for years past, prevented the Southern States from making the preparation required by the present emergency, and our power to supply you with ordnance is far short of the will to serve you. After learning as well as I could from the gentlemen accredited to me what was most needful for the attack on the arsenal, I have directed that Captains Green and Duke should be furnished with two 12-pounder howitzers and two 32-pounder guns, with the proper ammunition for each. These, from the commanding hills, will be effective, both against the garrison and to breach the inclosing walls of the place. I concur with you as to the great importance of capturing the arsenal and securing its supplies, rendered doubly important by the means taken to obstruct your commerce and render you unarmed victims of a hostile invasion.
We look anxiously and hopefully for the day when the star of Missouri shall be added to the constellation of the Confederate States of America.
With best wishes, I am, very respectfully, yours,
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
=====
These, with other materials of war, had arrived in St. Louis, been unloaded, and transported to Camp Jackson before Lyon marched on the camp. The news was reported in local newspapers when they arrived. Lyon reports his capture of them afterwards.
Interesting that Governor Jackson had applied to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, for support in capturing a US Arsenal as early as April 17th, sending Basil Duke and another man as emissaries to obtain the arms. Since Jackson was at that time a US citizen as well as bound by a personal oath of office, this would appear to be prima facie evidence of treason on his part -- and treason under the US Constitution is very difficult to prove.
While we might deplore Lyon's choice of a response and the violence that erupted as a result, it is very clear that some effort was underway to attack the US here and that involved the Militia at Camp Jackson who had received the weapons. It might well be that some large percentage of the men in the camp would not have participated if they had been asked -- actual commitment to secession seemed uncertain for many at the time. But the streets in the camp had been named after Jefferson Davis and Beauregard only two weeks after Ft. Sumter and a number of the "Minute Men" companies were flying flags that showed favor for secession. Clearly there was a substantial portion of them that seemed to be leaning that way, and their Governor had just arranged for a shipment of clandestine arms as part of a plan to seize the US Arsenal in St. Louis.
....
Interesting that Governor Jackson had applied to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, for support in capturing a US Arsenal as early as April 17th, sending Basil Duke and another man as emissaries to obtain the arms. Since Jackson was at that time a US citizen as well as bound by a personal oath of office, this would appear to be prima facie evidence of treason on his part -- and treason under the US Constitution is very difficult to prove.
....
Tim
Treason you say?
The "Wide-Awakes"
"...Blair [Francis Preston Blair, Jr., Republican Congressman] foresaw the passage of the St. Louis police bill some time before it passed the house, and adopted measures to counteract its effect. He began re-organizing his Wide-awakes, nominally a political formation, into Home Guards, openly a military organization, and arming and equipping them for active service. In doing this he was plainly violating and defying the laws of the State. He was organizing a military force within the limits of the State, over which the State authorities had no control, and which was intended to be used to overthrow the government of the State and make war on its people. The State had not seceded, and there was no evidence it would secede. The evidence, in fact, was strongly the other way. Blair deliberately put himself in the position of a revolutionist. He was backed by a self-constituted committee of safety, of which Oliver D. Filley, mayor of the city, was chairman. The first Home Guard company organized was composed mostly of Germans, but had a few Americans in it. Blair never shrank from responsibility, and he became captain of the company. In a short time eleven companies, composed almost entirely of Germans, aggregating about 750 officers and men, were organized. This was before the inauguration of Lincoln, and they were armed in part by the governor of Illinois and equipped by private contributions...." http://www.civilwarhome.com/missouri3.htm
So you have a member of Congress, the Governor of Illinois, and other like-minded political operatives raising and arming a military force with the purpose of subverting the elected Government of the State of Missouri.
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