Doc. 148.-Lt.-Gov. Reynolds' proclamation.
To the People of Missouri:--
In an address to you on the 8th inst., I stated that, on a proper occasion and at a proper time, our brethren of the South would extend us efficient aid in our struggle for our liberties.
That occasion and that time have arrived.
The sun which shone in its full midday splendor at Manassas is about to rise upon Missouri.
At the instance of Governor Jackson, expressed through Major E. C. Cabell, of St. Louis, Commissioner of Missouri to the Confederate States, and in gratification of the wish which during the last two months I have labored to accomplish, I return to the State to accompany, in my official capacity, one of the armies which the warrior statesman, whose genius now presides over the affairs of our half of the Union, has prepared to advance against the common foe. In thus doing justice to the warm and active sympathy of the President and people of the Confederate States for our cause, I also feel bound to allude to the very essential aid rendered us by Major Cabell.
As our commissioner, he has displayed at Montgomery and Richmond a zeal and ability in our behalf which deserve the very highest praise.
He remains at Richmond to represent our interests.
It gives me great pleasure thus publicly to acknowledge his important services.
Governor Jackson having considered it desirable for him to visit Richmond, I had intended to await his return to Missouri before I should enter the State; but on consultation with Major-General Polk and General Pillow, we have all come to the conclusion that substantial reasons counsel my presence here.
Our constitution provides that, in the absence of the Governor from the State, the Lieutenant-Governor “shall possess all the powers and discharge all the duties of Governor;” but I shall, of course, reserve for Governor Jackson's decision all matters of importance which admit of delay, or concerning which his sentiments are not fully known to me. His return, which will not be long delayed, will relieve me of this responsibility, and give the State at home the benefits of the patriotic zeal he is exhibiting in her behalf at our Southern capital.
War dissolves all political unions.
The Lincoln Administration, by an open war upon our State, commenced by the perfidious capture of Camp Jackson, has dissolved the Union which, under the Constitution of the United States, connected Missouri with the country still under Mr. Lincoln's sway.
Its acts fully justify separation on the part of our State, or revolution on the part of individual citizens.
The Lincoln government and its partisans have distinctly announced their intention to decide by force the future destiny of Missouri; their opponents, always willing to accept the decision of the people, are nevertheless compelled to meet the issue tendered by the enemies of her sovereignty.
The wish of her people to remain under the same government with that sisterhood of Southern commonwealths to which she has belonged is clear from the conduct of her oppressors; had they not felt certain of defeat in a reference of the question to her people, they would never have resorted to force to retain her in the Northern Union.
For these reasons, holding that the bond which has united us to the North has been virtually broken by the unprovoked tyranny of the Lincoln government and the approval of that tyranny by the Congress and people of that section, I consider every citizen of Missouri fully relieved of obligation to regard it. Our country being partially overrun by foes, our General Assembly cannot now be convened.
The Convention called into existence by the Legislature, merely as an advisory body to present to the people, at the proper time, the question of separation from the North, has been virtually dissolved by the acts of the enemy in banishing and imprisoning many of its members, and thus giving the minority the appearance of a majority of the body.
At its present session, held amid foreign bayonets, its members admitted to its hall bypasses from the local instrument of the Lincoln despotism, the heroic resistance of a patriotic minority may fail in preventing attempts to betray the honor and dignity of a State.
Reduced to a mere rump, it may become a convenient tool of foes, but its acts cannot decide the destiny
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of Missouri.
The patriotic members still in it ought to leave a body in which the nauseating atmosphere of military tyranny stifles free debate; the others, gone over to the public enemy, either through inborn depravity or unmanly fear, should hasten to the feet of the Northern despot to seek their expected rewards, where thrift may follow fawning.
To provide for this very condition of things, our General Assembly, in May last, passed an act, (which I am proud to say, originated in suggestions made by me to its proposer, Senator Johnson, of St. Louis,) by which, in view of the rebellion in St. Louis and the invasion of our State, the Governor was “authorized to take such measures as in his judgment he may deem necessary or proper to repel such invasion or put down such rebellion.”
As that rebellion and invasion have been sanctioned by the Government and people of the North, one of the most proper measures to protect our interests is a dissolution of all connection with them.
In the present condition of Missouri, the executive is the only constitutional authority left in the free exercise of legitimate power within her limits.
Her motto, “Salus populi suprema lex esto,” should be his guide; to him “let the people's welfare be the highest law.”
Under existing circumstances it is his clear duty to accept the actual situation of affairs, and simplify the real issues, by making, under the statute above mentioned, and subject to the future control of the General Assembly and the people, a provisional declaration, in the name and on behalf of the people of Missouri, that her union with the Northern States has been dissolved by their acts of war upon her, and that she is, and of right ought to be, a sovereign, free, and independent State.
The conviction that the decision of this question can be safely left to the patriotism of Governor Jackson, and would more properly emanate from the regular executive of the State, is the only ground for my not exercising the powers of Governor temporarily in me invested, and at once issuing a formal declaration to that effect.
But in order that my position, both as a citizen and officer of Missouri's government, may be distinctly understood, I deem it proper to declare that, disregarding forms and looking to realities, I view any ordinance for her separation from the North and union with the Confederate States as a mere outward ceremony to give notice to others of an act already consummated in the hearts of her people; and that, consequently, all persons cooperating with the expedition I accompany will expect that, in the country under its influence, no authority of the United States of America will be permitted, and that of Missouri, as a sovereign and independent State, will be exercised with a view to her speedy regular union with her Southern sisters.
It is almost unnecessry to announce that the operations of the Confederate States forces and the Missouri State troops cooperating with them, will be conducted according to the most humane principles of civilized regular warfare.
Without determining in advance what reparation should be exacted for the inhuman outrages perpetrated in Missouri, under the countenance of the brutal proclamations issued by the Lincoln leaders, Lyon, Curtis, Pope, and others, I will give at least this assurance, that, expecting better things from Major-General Fremont, the State authorities will doubtless afford him an early opportunity of determining whether the war is hereafter to be conducted by his forces and partisans in accordance with civilized usages.
The shooting of women and children, the firing into the windows of a crowded court of justice, at St. Louis, the cowardly acts of the Lincoln soldiery towards such respectable and patriotic citizens as Alexander Kayser and A. W. Simpson, the arbitrary arrests of ex-Senator Green, Mr. Knott, Mr. Bass, and other distinguished citizens, the murder of Dr. Palmer, the summary shooting of unarmed men in North Missouri, without the form even of drum-head court-martial, and many other transactions sanctioned or left unpunished by General Fremont's predecessors, are barbarities which would disgrace even Camanches.
If like acts cannot hereafter be prevented by motives of humanity, considerations of an enlightened military policy may be awakened in him by the retaliation which, in subjection to the laws of civilized warfare, but swift, sure, ample, stern, unrelenting, and, if necessary, bloody, the Missouri State authorities feel themselves both able and determined to institute.
On the Lincoln Government will rest the entire responsibility, before God and in history, for the character of a war which, if continued as it has been begun by their forces in our State, will soon become one of the most bloody and calamitous on record; for the Grizzly Bear of Missouri, not a very amiable animal even when merely supporting her shield in time of peace, will be a ruthless foe when let loose on those who, having causelessly excited his ire, will be certain to get, sooner or later, within reach of his deathdealing paws.
To those Missourians who desire to cooperate with this expedition, specific information will be duly given of the course they should pursue.
While the military operations of the Confederate States against the common foe will most materially aid us in our struggle for freedom, yet our ultimate deliverance must of course depend upon our own exertions.
Let every Missourian prepare himself to take part in our war of independence; in due season that part will be indicated to him. But above all, let us humbly invoke the aid of Almighty God, the sure refuge of the oppressed; for He has declared that “the battle is not to the strong, nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all.”
Citizens of Missouri: in this decisive crisis of our destiny, let us rally as one man to the standard of our State.
The inscription on the border of Missouri's shield warns us against division
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among ourselves.
“United we stand, divided we fall.”
I particularly address myself to those who, though Southern in feeling, have permitted a love of peace to lead them astray from the State cause.
You now see the State authorities about to assert with powerful forces their constitutional rights; you behold the most warlike population on the globe, the people of the lower Mississippi valley, about to rush with their gleaming bowie knives and unerring rifles to aid us in driving out the abolitionists and their Hessian allies.
If you cordially join our Southern friends, the war must soon depart Missouri's borders; if you still continue, either in apathy or in indirect support of the Lincoln Government, you only bring ruin on yourselves by fruitlessly prolonging the contest.
The road to peace and internal security is only through union with the South.
We will receive you as brothers, and let bygones be bygones; rally to the Stars and Bars in union with our glorious ensign of the Grizzly Bear.
The Confederate State forces, under the gallant Pillow, have entered Missouri on the invitation of Governor Jackson, to aid us in expelling the enemy from the State; they should therefore be received by every patriotic citizen as friends and allies.
By virtue of the powers vested in the Governor by the act before mentioned, approved May, 1861, entitled “An act to authorize the Governor of the State of Missouri to suppress rebellion and repel invasion,” I do hereby, as acting Governor of Missouri, in the temporary absence of Governor Jackson, authorize, empower, and request General Pillow to make and enforce such civil police regulations as he may deem necessary for the security of his forces, the preservation of order and discipline in his camp, and the protection of the lives and property of the citizens.
By virtue of the same act I also extend like authority to Brigadier-General Thompson, from whose military experience and spirit brilliant services are confidently expected, in his command of the Missouri State Guard in this district. 