The General Assembly of Missouri met at Jefferson City, in obedience to
the Governor's call, on the 2d of May, and the Governor, after calling
attention of the body to the state of the country, made an out-and-out
appeal for Secession, saying that the interests and sympathies of
Missouri were identical with those of other Slaveholding States, and she
must unquestionably unite her destiny with theirs. She had no desire for
war, but she would be faithless as to her honor and recreant as to her
duty if she hesitated a moment to make complete preparations for the
protection of her people, and that therefore the Legislature should
"place the State at the earliest practicable moment in a complete state
of defense." As this is what the Legislature had expected, and what it
had met for, no time was lost in going into secret session to carry out
the program.
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The first of these was the odious Military Bill, the passage of which
was stubbornly resisted, step by step, by the small band of Union men.
This, it will be recollected, put every able-bodied man into the
Militia of Missouri, under the orders of officers to be appointed by
the Governor; compelled him to obey implicitly the orders received from
those above him, and prescribed the heinous crime of "treason to
the State," which extended even to words spoken in derogation of the
Governor or Legislature. Offenses of this kind were to be punished by
summary court-martial, which had even the power to inflict death. Other
bills perverted the funds for the State charitable institutions into the
State military chest, seized the school fund for the same purpose, and
authorized a loan from the banks of $1,000,000 and another of $1,000,000
of State bonds, to provide funds by which to carry out the program.
On the evening of Friday, May 10, while these measures were being fought
over, the Governor entered the House with a dispatch which he handed to
Representative Vest, afterwards United States Senator from Missouri, who
sprang upon a chair and thrilled all his hearers by reading that "Frank
Blair, Capt. Lyon and the Dutch" had captured Camp Jackson, seized
all the property there, and marched the State troops prisoners to the
Arsenal. The wild scene that followed is simply indescribable. For many
months there had been much talk about "firing the Southern heart," and
here was something of immediate and furnace heat.
As soon as the members recovered from the stun of the blow, they went
into paroxysms of passion. In a few minutes the Military Bill was rushed
through, followed by the others, and a new one to appropriate $10,000
for the purpose of securing an alliance with the Indians on the borders
of the State. This done, the members bolted out in search of weapons
with which to arm themselves, as there was a rumor that the awful Blair
and Lyon with their "mercenaries" were on the march to subject the
Legislature to the same treatment that they had Frost's Militia.
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Muskets, shotguns, rifles, pistols and pikes were brought out, cleaned
up, bullets molded and cartridges made, and the Governor ordered the
members of his staff to seize a locomotive and press on as fast as
possible towards St. Louis to reconnoiter the advance of the enemy; if
necessary, to destroy the bridges over the Gasconade and Osage Rivers to
obstruct the march.
No enemy was found, but the zealous Basil Duke, in order not to be
guilty of any sin of omission, burnt a part of the Osage bridge. The
meeting of the Legislature in the evening was grotesque, as every member
came with a more or less liberal supply of arms, usually including
a couple of revolvers and a bowie-knife in belt. During the exciting
session which followed, rifles stood by the desks or were laid across
them, with other arms, and it was good luck more than anything else
that no casualty resulted from accidental discharge of fire-arms. The
excitement grew over the stirring events in St. Louis of Saturday and
Sunday, and the Governor immediately proceeded to the exercise of the
extraordinary powers conferred upon him by the Military Bill.
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As the star of Gen. D. M. Frost sank ingloriously below the horizon of
Camp Jackson, that of Sterling Price rose above it to remain for four
years the principal luminary in the Confederate firmament west of the
Mississippi.
[Illustration: 038-General Sterling Price]
That does not seem to depend upon intellectual superiority, upon greater
courage or devotion, or even upon clearer insight. A man leads
his fellows--many of whom are his superiors in most namable
qualities--simply because of something unnamable in him that makes him
assume the leadership, and they accept it. There was hardly a prominent
man in Missouri who was not Price's superior in some quality usually
regarded as essential. For example, he was a pleasing and popular
speaker, but Missouri abounded in men much more attractive to public
assemblages. He was a fair politician, but rarely got more than the
second prize. He had distinguished himself in the Mexican War,
but Claiborne Jackson made more capital out of his few weeks of
inconsequential service in the Black Hawk War than Price did out of the
conquest of New Mexico and the capture of Chihuahua.
He served one term in Congress, but had failed to secure a renomination.
He had been elected Governor of Missouri while his Mexican laurels were
yet green, but when he tried to enter the Senate, he was easily defeated
by that able politician and orator, James S. Green.
Though he belonged to the dominant Anti-Benton faction of the Missouri
Democracy and the Stephen A. Douglas wing, he never was admitted to the
select inner council, nor secured any of its higher rewards, except one
term as Governor.
At the outbreak of the war he was holding the comparatively unimportant
place of Bank Commissioner. For all that, he was to become and
remain throughout the struggle the central figure of Secession in the
trans-Mississippi country.
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Officers of high rank and brilliant reputation like Ben McCulloch, Earl
Van Dorn, Richard Taylor and E. Kirby Smith were to be put over him, yet
his fame and influence outshone them all.
Unquestionably able soldiers such as Marmaduke, Shelby, Bowen, Jeff
Thompson, Parsons, M. L. Clark and Little, were to serve him with
unfaltering loyalty as subordinates.
The Secessionist leaders of Missouri, headed by Gov. Reynolds, were to
denounce him for drunkenness, crass incapacity, gross blundering, and a
most shocking lack of discipline and organization.
Very few commanding officers ever had so many defeats or so few
successes. He was continually embarking upon enterprises of the greatest
promise and almost as continually having them come to naught; generally
through defeats inflicted by Union commanders of no special reputation.
Yet from first to last his was a name to conjure with. No other than his
in the South had the spell in it for Missourians and the people west of
the Mississippi. They flocked to his standard wherever it was raised,
and after three years of failures they followed him with as much eager
hope in his last disastrous campaign as in the first, and when he died
in St. Louis, two years after the war, his death was regretted as a
calamity to the State, and he had the largest funeral of any man in the
history of Missouri.
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Sterling Price was born in 1809 in Prince Edward County, Va., of a
family of no special prominence, and in 1831 settled upon a farm
in Chariton County, Mo. He went into politics, was elected to the
Legislature, and then to Congress for one term, after which he commanded
a Missouri regiment in Doniphan's famous march to the Southwest, where
he showed great vigor and ability. He was a man of the finest physique
and presence, six feet two inches high, with small hands and feet and
unusually large body and limbs; a superb horseman; with a broad, bland,
kindly face framed in snow-white hair and beard. His name would indicate
Welsh origin, but his face, figure, and mental habits seemed rather
Teutonic. He had a voice of much sweetness and strength, and a paternal
way of addressing his men, who speedily gave him the sobriquet of "Pap
Price." He appeared on the field in a straw hat and linen duster in the
Summer, and with a blanket thrown over his shoulders and a tall hat in
Winter. These became standards which the Missourians followed into
the thick of the fight, as the French did the white plume of Henry of
Navarre.
He had been elected as a Union man to the Convention, which at once
chose him for President, but his Unionism seemed to be a mere varnish
easily scratched off by any act in favor of the Union.
Thus, immediately after the occurrences in St. Louis, he went to the
Governor with the remark that "the slaughter of the people of Missouri"
in St. Louis had proved too much for him, and his sword was at the
service of the State.
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It is significant of the way men were swayed in those days, that the
murder of the German volunteers patriotically rallying to the defense
of the Arsenal, and the murder and outrages upon the Union people
throughout the State, did not affect Gen. Price at all, but he was moved
to wrath by the shooting down of a few rioters.
His going over was welcomed as a great victory by the Secessionists,
offsetting the capture of Camp Jackson. Gov. Jackson promptly availed
himself of the offer, and at once appointed Gen. Price Major-General
in command of the forces of Missouri to be organized under the Military
Bill.
Though even to Gen. Harney's eyes the Military Bill was repugnant and he
denounced it as direct Secession, the Governor proceeded with all speed
to execute it.
Each Congressional District in the State was made a Military Division.
A Brigadier-General was appointed to the command of each, and ordered to
immediately proceed to the enrollment of the men in it who were fit for
military duty, and to prepare them for active service.
The able and witty Alexander W. Doniphan--"Xenophon" Doniphan of Mexican
fame--who had made the astonishing march upon New Mexico and Chihuahua,
was appointed to command one of the Divisions, but he was too much of a
Union man, and declined. It was significant from the first that all
the officers commissioned were more or less open Secessionists, and
commissions were refused to some who sought them because they would not
swear to make allegiance to Missouri paramount to that of the United
States.
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As finally arranged the Divisions were commanded as follows:
First Division, M. Jeff Thompson.
Second Division, Thos. A. Harris.
Third Division, M. L. Clark.
Fourth Division, Wm. Y. Slack.
Fifth Division, A. E. Steen.
Sixth Division, M. M. Parsons.
Seventh Division, J. H. McBride.
Eighth Division, Jas L. Rains.
All of these were men of decided ability and standing, and Parsons, M.
L. Clark and Slack had served with credit in the Mexican War. Parsons
became a Major-General in the Confederate army, and Clark, Slack, Steen
and Rains Brigadier-Generals.
A striking figure among them was M. Jeff Thompson, called the "Missouri
Swamp Fox" by his admirers, and who aspired to become the Francis Marion
of the Southern Confederacy. He was a tall, lank, wiry man, at least
six feet high, about 35 years old, with a thin, long, hatchet face, and
high, sharp nose, blue eyes, and thick, yellow hair combed behind his
ears. He wore a slouch white hat with feather and a bob-tailed coat,
short pantaloons, and high rough boots. A white-handled bowie-knife,
stuck perpendicularly in his belt in the middle of his back, completed
his armament, and he was never seen without it. His weakness was for
writing poetry, and he "threw" a poem on the slightest provocation.
Fortunately none of these has been preserved.
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Each Brigadier-General soon raised in his Division several regiments and
battalions of infantry, troops of cavalry, and batteries of artillery,
composed of very excellent material, for the young men of the Middle
Class were persuaded that it was their duty to respond to the State's
call to defend her. The strongest political, social and local influences
were brought to bear to bring them into the ranks, and the Missouri
State Guard was formed, which was to fight valorously against the
Government on many bitterly contested fields.
The White Trash, always impatient of the restrains of law and
organization, did not enter so largely into these forces, but remained
outside, to form bands of bushwhackers and guerrillas, to harry
Union men and curse the State with their depredations, in which the
Secessionists were scarcely more favored than the Union men.
The influence of Gen. Scott and Attorney-General Bates, added to the
passionate representations of the Gamble-Yeatman delegation, and the
frantic telegrams from Missouri, had restored Harney to full power, with
Lyon, who had been commissioned a Brigadier-General of Volunteers, as
his subordinate.
Harney was exerting himself to the utmost to restore peace and
confidence in Missouri, and when free from the social influence of
the Secessionists who surrounded him his soldierly instincts made him
perceive that the emergency was greater than he had calculated upon. In
one of these better moods he telegraphed to the Adjutant-General, May
17, that he ought to have 10,000 stand of arms placed at his disposal
to arm the Union men of Missouri; that Iowa be called upon to send him
6,000, and Minnesota 3,000 men. Then the Secessionists would get hold
of him again, and induce another mood, such as brought about a conference
between him and Gov. Jackson and Gen. Price, leading to an agreement
which Gen. Harney published in a proclamation. The agreement was as
follows:
[Illustration: 090-General Franz Sigel]
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Saint Louis, May 21, 1861.
The undersigned, officers of the United States Government
and of the Government 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 mutually 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 State Governments. It being thus
understood, there seems no reason why every citizen should
not confide in the proper officers of the General and State
Governments to restore quiet, and, as among 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 powers, as
it is the determination of the proper authorities to
suppress all unlawful proceedings, which can only disturb
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 thus
assured, he can have no other occasion, as he has no wish,
to make military movements, which might otherwise create
excitements and jealousies which he most earnestly desires
to avoid.
We, the undersigned, do mutually enjoin upon the people of
the State to attend to their civil business of whatever 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.
STERLING PRICE, Major-General Missouri State Guard.
WILLIAM S. HARNEY, Brigadier-General Commanding.
Harney was convinced of the sincerity of Jackson and Price in carrying
out this agreement, which he submitted for approval to the War
Department.
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F. P. Blair wrote to the Secretary of War urging that the four regiments
assigned to Missouri for three years' service, which Lyon was to
command, should not be officered by the Governor of Missouri, but that
it would be better that they be nominated by Gen. Lyon, subject to the
approval of the President, and he said: "The agreement between Harney
and Gen. Price gives me great disgust and dissatisfaction to the Union
men; but I am in hopes we can get along with it, and think that Harney
will insist on its execution to the fullest extent, in which case it
will be satisfactory."
In spite of Gen. Harney's faith, he was inundated with complaints from
all parts of the State as to loyal citizens in great numbers being
outraged, persecuted, and driven from their homes. These complaints also
reached the President, and Adjutant-General Thomas called Gen. Harney's
attention to them in a strong letter May 27, in which he said: "The
professions of loyalty to the Union by the State authorities of Missouri
are not to be relied upon. They have already falsified their professions
too often, and are too far committed to Secession to be entitled to
your confidence, and you can only be sure of desisting from their wicked
purposes when it is out of their power to prosecute them."
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Two days later Gen. Harney replied that the State was rapidly becoming
tranquilized; that he was convinced that his policy would soon restore
peace and confidence in the ability of the Government to maintain its
authority. He asserted that the agreement between himself and Price
was being carried out in good faith. At the same time he called the
attention of Gen. Price to the reports that the Secessionists had seized
15,000 pounds of lead at Lebanon, a lot of powder elsewhere, had
torn down the American Flag from several post offices, and hoisted
Secessionist flags in their places, and that troops and arms were coming
into Missouri from Arkansas and elsewhere, etc., etc. Price replied that
he was satisfied that the information was incorrect; that neither he nor
the Governor knew of any arms or troops coming into the State from any
quarter; that he was dismissing his troops, and that Gen. Harney had
better not send out any force, as it would exasperate the people.
Again Gen. Harney wrote Gen. Price reciting fresh acts of disloyalty and
outrage, and saying that unless these ceased, he would feel justified
in authorizing the organization of Home Guards among the Union men to
protect themselves. Price replied at length opposing the organization
of Home Guards as having a tendency to "excite those who now hold
conservative peace positions into exactly the contrary attitude, an
example of which we have in St. Louis. It would undoubtedly, in my
opinion, lead to neighborhood collision, the forerunner of civil war."
Price finished by calling attention to his orders to all citizens to
scrupulously protect property and rights, irrespective of political
opinion, denying the reports which had reached Gen. Harney, and
reiterating that he was carrying out the agreement in good faith.
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Lyon, Blair and the other Unconditional Union leaders had become
convinced of what they feared; to wit, that the agreement simply tied
Harney's hands, and prevented any assertion of the Government's power to
protect its citizens, while leaving the Secessionists free to do as they
pleased and mature their organization until they were ready to attack
the Union men and sweep the State into Secession.
In spite of Gen. Scott and Attorney-General Bates, the Administration
at Washington was rapidly coming to this conclusion, and sent a special
messenger to St. Louis from Washington with dispatches to Col. Blair.
In an envelope was found a notice from the War Department to Capt. Lyon
that he had been appointed a Brigadier-General to rank from the 18th of
May, and there was also an order relieving Gen. Harney from the command
of the Department of the West, and granting him leave of absence
until further orders. There was a private letter to Col. Blair in the
handwriting of President Lincoln, in which he expressed his anxiety in
regard to St. Louis and Gen. Harney's course. He was, however, a little
in doubt as to the propriety of relieving him, but asked Col. Blair to
hold the order until such time as in his judgment the necessity for such
action became urgent. This for several reasons:
We had better have him for a friend than an enemy. It will
dissatisfy a good many who would otherwise remain quiet.
More than all, we first relieved him, then restored him; now
If we relieve him again the public will ask: "Why all this
vacillation?"
Col. Blair fully understood and sympathized with the President. He put
the letter and order in his pocket and talked confidentially to Lyon in
regard to it. They decided not to publish the order until it would be
wicked to delay it. They both liked and admired Harney, and if he could
be decisively separated from his Secession environment, he could be
of the greatest possible value. They would give him the opportunity of
thoroughly testing his policy.
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Blair tried his best to arouse Gen. Harney to a sense of what was
going on, and particularly to demand suspension of the execution of the
Military Bill, but without effect. He sent to Gen. Harney telegrams
and correspondence, showing that the Brigadier-Generals were rapidly
organizing their forces, that emissaries were stirring up the Indians,
and that Chief Ross, of the Cherokee Nation, had promised 15,000
well-armed men to help the Secessionists. When Harney called Price's
attention to this, Price calmly pooh-poohed it all as of no consequence.
Therefore, on May 30, Blair decided that the emergency for the delivery
of the order had come, and sent it to Gen. Harney, and at the same time
wrote to the President in explanation of what he had done.
Gen. Harney wrote the Adjutant-General of the Army a pathetic letter, in
which he said:
My confidence in the honor and integrity of Gen. Price, in
the purity of his motives, and in his loyalty to the
Government, remains unimpaired. His course as President of
the State Convention that voted by a large majority against
submitting an Ordinance of Secession, and his efforts since
that time to calm the elements of discord, have served to
confirm the high opinion of him I have for many years
entertained.
My whole course as Commander of the Department of the West
has been dictated by a desire to carry out in good faith the
instructions of my Government, regardless of the clamor of
the conflicting elements surrounding me, and whose advice
and dictation could not be followed without involving the
State in blood and the Government in the unnecessary
expenditure of millions. Under the course I pursued Missouri
was secured to the Union, and the triumph of the Government
was only the more glorious, being almost a bloodless
victory; but those who clamored for blood have not ceased to
impugn my motives. Twice within a brief space of time have
I been relieved from the command here; the second time in a
manner that has inflicted unmerited disgrace upon a true and
loyal soldier. During a long life, dedicated to my country,
I have seen some service, and more than once I have held her
honor in my hands; and during that time my loyalty,
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I believe, was never questioned; and now, when in the
natural course of things I shall, before the lapse of many
years, lay aside the sword which has so long served my
country, my countrymen will be slow to believe that I have
chosen this portion of my career to damn with treason my
life, which is so soon to become a record of the past, and
which I shall most willingly leave to the unbiased judgment
of posterity. I trust that I may yet be spared to do my
country some further service that will testify to the love I
bear her, and that the vigor of my arm may never relax while
there is a blow to be struck in her defense.
I respectfully ask to be assigned to the command of the
Department of California, and I doubt not the present
commander of the Division is even now anxious to serve on
the Atlantic frontier.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
WM. S. HARNEY, Brigadier-General, U. S. Army.
He started for Washington, but the train on which he was going was
captured at Harper's Ferry by a Secession force, and he was taken a
prisoner to Richmond, where the authorities immediately ordered his
release.
The Government made no further use of him; he was retired in 1863 as a
Brigadier-General. At the conclusion of the struggle, in which he took
no further part, he was brevetted a Major-General, and died in the
fullness of years May 9,1889, at his home at Pass Christian, Miss.
Once more Gen. Lyon was in the saddle, this time for good, with Frank
Blair and the Radicals massed behind him.
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