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began to think it might be well to do something, particularly as the authorities of the Confederate government had urged upon the authorities of Missouri the importance of getting possession of the arsenal and the arms in it. He, therefore, prepared a memorial to the governor to the effect that he should send an agent to the South to procure mortars and siege guns; that he should prevent the garrisoning of the little arsenal at Liberty; that he should order him to form a military camp of instruction at or near St. Louis, with authority to muster military companies into the service of the State, erect batteries and do other warlike things for the protection of the State; that he should issue a proclamation informing the people of Missouri that President Lincoln had acted illegally in calling out troops, and that he should convene the general assembly in extra session at once.
These things the governor did. To Mr. Lincoln's call for troops he replied that ‘not a man would the State of Missouri furnish to carry on such an unholy crusade.’
He sent Captains Duke and Greene to Montgomery with a letter to the President of the Confederacy, requesting him to furnish the siege guns and mortars required to reduce the arsenal.
He called the legislature together in extra session, and he ordered the commanding officers of the several military districts of the State to assemble their commands on the 3d of May and go with them into encampment for six days. The arsenal at Liberty had already been taken by the Southern men in the western part of the State, who had got tired of waiting for orders or permission to take it, and had acted on their own responsibility.
They got with it about a thousand muskets, four brass field-pieces and a small amount of ammunition.
General Frost went into encampment on the western outskirts of St. Louis, and his command was strengthened by Lieut.-Col. John S. Bowen's battalion, which had been on duty in the southwest.
Besides, a good many young men from different parts of the State
Atlanta, Ga. 1899.
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