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Conspiracy had been working with untiring persistence in every Slave State since, and even before, the formal secession of the
Cotton States in January, and had everywhere made considerable advances, notably in the
State of Missouri.
Governor Jackson, of that State, had leagued himself with the secession plot, though still concealing his purpose with outward professions of loyalty.
Many subordinate officers and members of the Legislature were secretly aiding him. Together they were leading
Missouri through the usual and well-established paths to ultimate treason, by means of official recommendations from the
Governor and various shrewdly devised laws passed by the Legislature.
They made a serious miscalculation, however, in the stereotyped and hitherto always successful expedient of a State Convention.
When that body was elected and met (February 28th), it showed such an overwhelming majority of Union members, that the plotters of treason were quite willing to hide their defeat in joining certain pointed declarations by the convention against secession, and adjourning its sittings to the following December, trusting their chances to a more pliant and treasonable legislature; hoping to bring about a policy of arming the
State under pretence of local defence, and committing it to a neutral attitude under plea of
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local security.
In all their efforts, however, they met the constant and determined watchfulness and opposition of zealous and fearless
Unionists, among whom
Frank P. Blair, junior, was a conspicuous leader.
It so happened, also, that in this State a small detachment of the regular army was, for the first time, rendered useful in thwarting the local development of disunion.
At the city of
St. Louis was an arsenal belonging to the
United States, containing a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition.
To obtain these was from the beginning, as in other States, a prime object of
Governor Jackson and his co-conspirators.
They had in January, as they believed, perfected an intrigue for the surrender of the arsenal, by the officer in charge, into their hands and control.
That arrangement was soon blighted by the arrival of reinforcements ordered there by
General Scott to protect the place, under command of an officer afterward famous-
Captain Nathaniel Lyon, of the Second United States Infantry.
Lyon was a man of outspoken anti-slavery principles, of unswerving loyalty to his flag, and of unsleeping vigilance over his post and the
Government interests.
By the middle of February enough recruits had been added by
General Scott to his own company of eighty trained regulars to raise his force to four hundred and eighty-eight men.
Holding the same political convictions and patriotic impulses,
Lyon and
Blair became quickly united in an intimate personal friendship; and very soon, also,
Lyon's regulars and
Blair's Home Guards sustained each other in a mutual reliance and protection.
Their common watchfulness over the arsenal was by no means wasted.
Governor Jackson was determined to establish by force what he had failed to accomplish by intrigue.
He sent two trusty agents to the
Rebel President to solicit help in arms and ammunition.
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“After learning,” wrote
Jefferson Davis, in reply, April 23d, “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 twelve-pounder howitzers and two thirty-two-pounder guns, with the proper ammunition for each.
These, from the commanding hills, will be effective, both against the garrison, and to breach the enclosing walls of the place.”
Encouraged by this co-operation, the
Governor, as his next step, instructed one of his militia generals,
D. M. Frost, a West Point graduate, to assemble the available organized and equipped volunteer companies of the
State in a camp of instruction at
St. Louis.
The Governor had also convened his Rebel Legislature to meet in extra session on May 2d.
The day following, May 3d, began the assembling of the militia in “Camp Jackson,” so named in honor of the
Governor.
Two regiments and part of a third soon arrived; and though some of the companies were either without political bias, or of Union sentiment, a general spirit of secession pervaded the camp, and its avenues were christened “
Davis” and “
Beauregard.”
The object of the organization soon became unmistakably known to
Lyon,
Blair, and the Union Safety Committee, who, by the aid of skilful detectives, gained information of all its movements.
On the night of May 8th, the cannon, ammunition, and some muskets furnished by
Jefferson Davis, were landed from a New Orleans steamer, in boxes marked “marble,” and immediately loaded upon drays and hauled out to the camp.
Under this threatening disclosure, the Unionists felt they could no longer dally with the conspiracy.
Already three weeks before, the United States Arsenal at
Liberty, Mo., had been robbed of its arms by the disunionists, and
Jeff.
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Thompson was known to be actively drilling rebel companies at
St. Joseph.
They could not afford to allow a concentration of these and other treasonable forces.
In the meanwhile the
Washington authorities, receiving
Governcr Jackson's insulting refusal to furnish troops, had ordered the enlistment of
Blair's Home Guards into the
United States service, to the number of four regiments, which order was soon increased to ten thousand men.
With this force
Lyon felt himself strong enough to crush the budding insurrection.
On the morning of May 9th he disguised himself in female garb, and, seating himself beside a friend in a barouche, was driven out into Camp Jackson, personally and leisurely inspecting its strength, situation, and military approaches.
The next day the arsenal and the various volunteer armories were alive with military preparation, and, at two o'clock in the afternoon,
Lyon, at the head of his battalion of regulars, with six pieces of artillery and six regiments from the lately organized Missouri Volunteers and reserve Corps (as they were respectively called), marched rapidly through various streets of
St. Louis, in two columns, concentrating at Camp Jackson.
Before
General Frost was well aware of the coming event, these regiments had surrounded his camp and posted the batteries on commanding elevations.
The camp thus invested, with batteries and arms ready for instant action,
Lyon sent
Frost a note, stating that his command was regarded as hostile to the
United States, and demanding an immediate surrender, “with no other conditions than that all persons surrendering under this demand shall be humanely and kindly treated,” and allowing half an hour's time for compliance.
The circumstances left
Frost no alternative, and before the expiration of the half-hour he gave notice of his unconditional surrender.
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So far everything had gone as harmlessly as if the affair were merely a gala parade; but now a most deplorable occurrence succeeded.
The march, the halt, and the capture greatly excited a vast crowd which the occasion drew together; and scarcely had the homeward march with the prisoners begun, when the troops were assailed by secession rowdies with abusive language, stones, missiles, and finally a pistol shot or two.
This last provoked a return volley without orders from one or two companies, by which, and the desultory shots succeeding, fifteen to twenty innocent bystanders and several soldiers were instantly killed.
The untoward incident caused a dangerous ferment in the city, but the courageous efforts of the police prevented a general riot.
The telegraphic news of the capture of Camp Jackson threw the
Governor's revolutionary cabal and disloyal legislature sitting at
Jefferson City into the utmost consternation.
The Governor immediately sent out and caused a bridge on the railroad from
St. Louis to be burned, to prevent any sudden descent by
Lyon upon the capital; and during the afternoon and night, the Legislature in secret session rushed through several acts specially designed to promote rebellion, which they had before been concocting with more circumspection.
A few days later, a military bill, virtually making the
Governor an irresponsible military dictator, was formally passed; and having thus, as the conspirators thought, made all necessary legal preparations, the session was finally adjourned on May 15th.
General Harney, the ranking officer in the Department of the West, who had been temporarily called away, returned to
St. Louis the day after the
Camp Jackson affair, thus superseding
Lyon in command.
It must be explained that events, and particularly antecedent conditions, had most unfortunately
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divided the
Missouri Unionists into two bitterly and tagonistic factions, which, indeed, continued throughout the whole four years war. The Radicals, embracing the large German population of
St. Louis, and who formed the bulk of the Home Guard, were mainly of democratic antecedents, and strong anti-slavery sentiment; these followed the leadership of
Blair and
Lyon.
The Conservatives, more generally of American nativity, belonging rather to the wealthy and the business classes of the city, largely of Whig antecedents and strongly tinged with the “Know-nothing” prejudices of former years, and holding very tolerant if not actually favorable sentiments toward slavery, grouped themselves about
General Harney.
The Radicals believed in defending the
Government with steel and lead; the Conservatives trusted to reclaim their erring brethren with forbearance and moral suasion.
Cold after-criticism finds both factions chargeable with extremes of feeling and speech; but if the former were prone to excessive zeal, the latter were yet more culpable in a stupid over-caution.
Such deep local antagonisms, however, of nationality, class, and life-long political prejudice, can hardly be expected to act with moderation in the blinding atmosphere of revolution.
Harney was a loyal and courageous soldier, but lacked the quick, instinctive judgment of the statesman.
Beset by noisy clamor on both sides, he vibrated to acts of conflicting rather than consistent administration.
His first impulse was to order the disbandment of the Home Guards.
Convinced that this was beyond his power, he soon after (May 14th) issued his proclamation justifying the capture of Camp Jackson, denouncing the
Military Bill as an indirect secession ordinance, and declaring that “
Missouri must share the destiny of the
Union.”
He also announced his determination to uphold the
Government of the
United States “at all
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times and under all circumstances;” but his measures to carry out this loyal policy were not chosen with wisdom.
Governor Jackson had at once proceeded to organize the militia of
Missouri under his dictatorial military bill; and
Frost's military laurels having withered at Camp Jackson, the
Governor made
ex-Governor Sterling Price his generalin-chief.
Price was less scrupulous in political strategy than
Harney, and within a week he had entrapped the unwary Union commander into an agreement which tied up the
Government forces in a role of mere idle lookers-on, while
Governor Jackson's Missouri militia should without hinderance place the
State in active insurrection.
“
General Price,” so ran the agreement, signed on May 21st, “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.”
This was to be done “in subordination to the laws of the
General and State Governments;” but it gave the conspirators the right of initiative, and left them for a season the uncontrolled, and even unobserved masters of the whole State outside of
St. Louis.
Governor Jackson and
General Price made such prompt use of their time, that before the end of the month reports of outrageous indignities upon Union men came from all parts of the
State, and finally the threatening rumor that a rebel invasion from the
Arkansas border was being encouraged and rapidly formed; and as fast as
Harney brought the facts to the notice of
Price, that dissembling
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conspirator waved them aside with an unvarying denial.
This state of affairs was terminated on May 30th.
Mis. souri matters had been watched with intense and daily solicitude at
Washington.
Each of the
Union factions of that State had a spokesman in the
Cabinet,
Postmaster-General Blair favoring
Lyon and his friends,
Attorney-General Bates those of
Harney; and the
President therefore heard the complaints and justifications of both sides.
Acting thus on full information,
Lincoln, on May 18th, entrusted
Frank P. Blair, junior, with a confidential discretionary order to relieve
Harney whenever he might deem it necessary.
On May 30th, amid the thickening perils from the conspiracy,
Blair felt himself justified in acting upon this discretion;
Harney was relieved, and
Lyon once more placed in command under a newly issued commission as brigadier-general of volunteers, a position to which the first four
Missouri regiments had unanimously chosen him.
With
Lyon once more in power, the conspirators felt that the crisis of their intrigues had come.
Governor Jackson and
General Price therefore solicited an interview with the new commander, which being granted, and a safeguard being furnished them, they visited
St. Louis on June 11th, and were met by
Lyon and
Blair, in a conference of several hours' duration.
As might have been expected, their views and objects were utterly at variance.
The Governor proposed to neutralize
Missouri by excluding United States troops and disbanding the Home Guards;
Lyon, on the contrary, insisted that the
Governor should disband his
Missouri militia, and give the
Government forces full liberty of movement and control throughout the
State.
Separating upon these irreconcilable propositions,
Governor Jackson and
General Price hastened back to
Jefferson City that same night, burning the
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railroad bridges behind them to prevent pursuit; and on the following day, June 12th, the
Governor issued a revolutionary proclamation, calling fifty thousand militia into active service to “repel invasion.”
Lyon evidently expected little else from the rebellious Governor, for he seems to have been ready with plans and preparations to act against the open insurrection that functionary so defiantly proclaimed.
The
Missouri River furnished a convenient military highway to the capital of the
State; and by the afternoon of June 13th,
Lyon had an expedition of three swift river steamers, containing a company of his regulars and several battalions of volunteers, in motion.
They arrived before
Jefferson City on the 15th of June, landed without opposition, occupied the town, and once more raised the Union flag over the
State House.
Governor Jackson and his
Secretary of State precipitately fled, carrying with them only the great seal of the
State, to use in certifying their future publications under the pretended authority of
Missouri.
Learning at
Jefferson City that the
Governor and
General Price were gathering a force and preparing to make a stand at
Boonville, a town fifty miles farther up the
Missouri River,
Lyon, on June 16th, the day following his arrival, leaving but a small guard at the capital, again hurriedly embarked his men, numbering about two thousand, and pushed energetically ahead, determined to leave the enemy no time to recruit an army.
The steamers passed over the intervening distance during the night, and early next morning (June 17th)
Lyon made an unopposed landing four miles below
Boonville.
The Governor's rallying call had indeed already been responded to by several thousand Missourians, being, however, almost totally without organization, and very poorly armed.
Half-way from his landing-place to the
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town
Lyon found a rebel line strongly posted; a spirited fusillade quickly ensued, and for about twenty minutes the
Union advance, composed of perhaps five hundred men, was held in check.
The enemy could, however, not long withstand the fire of a regular battery which was brought up, and which, with the well-delivered volleys of the betterdrilled Union volunteers, soon routed them in a general panic and flight.
General Price early retired from
Boonville on plea of illness; while
Governor Jackson, who viewed the battle from a convenient hill some two miles off, seeing the disastrous result, once more betook himself to flight.
Two on the
Union, and fifteen on the rebel side, were reported killed, with the usual corresponding number of wounded.
Twenty prisoners, two six-pounder guns, two secession flags, and the various supplies of the rebel camp, furnished the
Union force substantial trophies of victory.
Moving cautiously forward,
Lyon occupied the town of
Boonville, and issued a quieting proclamation to its terror-stricken inhabitants, while the immature and boyish prisoners he had captured were released on parole.
This battle of
Boonville ends the administration of
Governor Jackson-he had long before forfeited his honor and authority by covert treason; from henceforth his role is not only that of an open traitor.
but also of a mere fugitive pretender.
The insurrection and flight of the
State officers left
Missouri without local government.
It happened, fortunately, that the State Convention, when in March it took a recess to the following December, empowered a select committee to call it together at any time upon a pressing emergency.
The emergency having thus come, the committee issued its call; and the convention, minus some of its disloyal members, but yet having a full constitutional quorum, met once more in
Jefferson City, on the 22d of July.
It proceeded by
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ordinance to declare the
State offices vacant, to abrogate the
Military Bill and other treasonable legislation, and provide for new elections; and finally, on the 31st of July, it elected and inaugurated a provisional government, which thereafter made the city of
St. Louis its official headquarters.
Hamilton R. Gamble, a Conservative, was made Governor; he announced his unconditional adherence to the
Union, and his authority was duly recognized by all those portions of the
State which were not under military control of the rebels during the fluctuating fortunes of the local guerilla warfare by which
Missouri was so long tormented and desolated.
