Rural Missouri - December 2011 - (Page 24)

W as it had been under Fremont, he was in for a rude awakening. There was a new Federal commander on the scene: Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck. A brilliant West Pointer who also had done well in business, Halleck had been sent to straighten out the mess Fremont left behind in Missouri. “Old Brains,” as he was known, was not going to let Price taunt Federal military might on his watch. Price had initial success: 2,500 recruits from Confederate Congress admits Missouri as 12th state Lafayette County joined his ranks. But Price’s army was shrinking faster than it was growing. A large portion of his guardsmen, their enlistments expired, went home to tend to the needs of their homes and Price and Jackson’s oft-repeated calls for a Conby Jim Denny families before the worst of winter set in. federate invasion of Missouri met with scant enthuinfo@ruralmissouri.coop Meanwhile, the Federals were starting to turn up siasm among Confederate leaders who faced enemy the pressure against Price’s recruiters. Throughthreats along their entire 1,000-mile front. hen December 1861 began, Missouri out December, combat patrols set out to They could, in fact, use regiments from secessionists could rally around the intercept parties of volunteers trying to Missouri on the east side of the Missisfact that their exiled government was make their way south to Price. The new sippi River to shore up Confederate now recognized by the Confederacy commander of the District of Central defenses that were stretched thin and as the 12th Confederate state. Ofﬁcial ratiﬁcation by Missouri, Maj. Gen. John Pope, was vulnerable to attack from ﬁghting genthe Confederate Congress occurred on Nov. 28. Misparticularly energetic in chasing down erals such as Ulysses S. souri now had two governments. would-be rebels. Grant. In mid-July, a provisional Unionist On Dec. 18, Pope sent out a regiAs Federal armies state government had been created. ment of cavalry and eight more cavalry withdrew from southThe government elected in 1860 was companies to surround a large enemy west Missouri following dissolved, and its “treasonous” actions encampment — near Milford in Johnson the removal of Maj. Gen. — such as creating the state guard — County — and force its surrender. The John C. Fremont, Price were nulliﬁed. The members of the haul was spectacular: 684 guardsmen and immediately decided to move uprooted government were cast politiMaj. Gen. Henry 56 ofﬁcers, 500 horses and mules, 73 loadnorth for a second time to cally adrift. They only could reinstate W. Halleck ed wagons and 1,000 arms. It took 34 train glean recruits and supplies themselves by joining the Confederacy cars to haul the prisoners back to St. Louis. from the Missouri heartland. and winning the war. Smaller camps were broken up in northern Missouri It made little sense to set out in frigThese exiles ﬁnally got down to the as far east as Boone County, where a camp of 900 id winter conditions and march into business of seceding in late October, recruits was scattered near Mount Zion Church. a country teeming with well-supplied nearly six months after their capital During the third week of December, Price broke Federals perched at the ends of was seized by Federal soldiers. camp and fell back to Springﬁeld. Here, he and his rail lines. But Price was deterNow fugitives and subject to Jim Denny, a Co-Mo Electric member steadfast Missourians set up comfortable winter mined to do exactly that, with arrest, an unspeciﬁed number of from Lupus, brings the state’s Civil War quarters. The men were able to build log huts that or without a helping hand from ousted General Assembly memhistory to life in Rural Missouri as we had brick ﬁreplaces to keep them cozy. For food, the the Confederacy. As before, bers made their way through commemorate the sesquicentennial of countryside offered up turkeys and chickens aplenty. there would be no cooperation. enemy lines to reach the souththis time in our nation’s history. See They even had an occasional pie. Price led his state guardsmen west Missouri towns of Neosho page 29 to order “The Civil War’s First Roughly 2,000 men stepped forward to enlist in and Cassville, then under the Blood,” his book on the war in Missouri. northward. The main army, the Confederate army. The storied First Missouri however, made it no farther protection of the state guard. Confederate Brigade came into existence. In later than the junction of the Sac and Osage rivers. Here, At Neosho, in a one-day meeting, they passed an years, Gen. James Harding, quartermaster to the they went into camp, and Price sent recruiting ordinance of secession and adopted the Confederate state guard, recalled the winter camp at Springﬁeld agents into the Southern-sympathizing country Constitution. Two days later at Cassville, the “rebel as the halcyon days of his military service, those along the Missouri River. legislature” convened again. Confederate congressﬂush times when the guard lived off the fat of the But if Price hoped to ﬁnd this heartmen were selected, and the state guard was reorgaland for a brief time before the war started up again: nized. Commanders were appointed for each of the land lightly defended, “I am sure that to all Missourians present at the guard’s seven divisions. They appropriated $10 miltime, the winter of 1861-62 passed at Springﬁeld lion — money they didn’t have. They printed their was the best time seen during their own bonds and currency. military experience.” Missouri’s opposing state governments were odd concoctions, put together not quite in accordance with any known precedents. The “rebel legislature” probably lacked a quorum and therefore could conduct no valid business. The provisional Unionist government supplanted an elected government and placed themselves in charge, which also seemed irregular and arbitrary. But both governments were fully backed by their respective national governments. The provisional Unionist government had a powerful grip on resources, transportation networks, political institutions and population centers. President Abraham Lincoln was ready to back the provisional government with soldiers and aid. He was not giving Missouri back to the Confederates. On the other hand, it seemed that Conbond im ages co federate President Jefferson Davis was willing to urtesy Viessm of John an, Vie concede Missouri to Federal control with hardnna, M o. ly a ﬁght. Gov. Claiborne Jackson and Gen. Sterling Price had let the main chance to carry Missouri into the Confederacy slip away in the early months of the conﬂict. Now, Missouri’s secession had come too late to reclaim Missouri with military force, or so Davis believed. Missouri Secession ~ Nov. 28, 1861 Of two governments The secession convention at Cassville appropriated $10 million for the defense of Missouri. Since this was money the assembly didn’t have, they authorized Gov. Claiborne Jackson to raise the sum by printing defense bonds. 24 WWW.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - December 2011

Rural Missouri - December 2011
Table of COntents
Comments
Columns
Giggin’ on the Gasconade
A historic rumbling
Outdoors
Bent on perfection
Out of the Way Eats
Christmas country church tour
Hearth and Home
News Briefs
Of two governments
Best of rural Missouri
Marketplace
Around Missouri
Neighbors
Just4Kids

Rural Missouri - December 2011