Civil War History in St. Louis

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	CIVIL WAR HISTORY IN ST. LOUIS The Gateway to the West played a pivotal role in the clash The St. Louis area was bitterly divided during the four years of the Civil War, 1861-1865. While the largest numbers served in the Union Army, it's estimated that around 5,000 sided with the Confederates and many families harbored split allegiances. According to the 1860 census, Missouri ranked eighth in population, making it an ideal resource for manpower, and its rich agricultural production provided fuel to feed that manpower. Missouri's abundance of raw materials like lead and iron was ideal for making bullets and cannonballs. Missouri served as an important factor in the War Between the States, as the nation's major lines of western communication were anchored in the state, along with the Pony Express. Three major trails - the California, Oregon and Santa Fe - originate from Missouri, and three equally important waterways - the Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio rivers - pass through or run alongside the state. As a result of its ideal location, there are a number of Civil war historic sites, exhibits and activities. Currently in development at Jefferson Barracks Historical Park is the Missouri Civil War Museum (http://www.missouricivilwarmuseum.org/). Plans are underway to create the facility in Jefferson Barracks Post Exchange & Gymnasium Building, which was originally built as an athletic and activity center for the commissioned officers at the base in 1905. Jefferson Barracks Historical Park (251 Cy Road, www.stlouisco.com/parks/j-b.html) is home to other restored military buildings, museums and a national cemetery that was established in 1863. The cemetery is the final resting place of approximately 16,000 Union and Confederate soldiers and officers. Robert E. Lee, William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant and most of the war's major generals were posted at Jefferson Barracks, which was established in 1826. During the war, the Barracks had one of the largest Federal hospitals in the country with more than 3,000 beds. The facility accommodated patients from battles as far away as Vicksburg, Mississippi. At one point, Jefferson Barracks was the largest military base in the nation and played a major role in the westward expansion of the United States, as well as all the nation's wars from the Civil War to World War II. Speaking of Ulysses S. Grant, two of the Civil War hero's and 18^th U.S. President's homes are open for tours. Grant met his future wife Julia Dent at her plantation home known as White Haven (www.nps.gov/ulsg), which later became the Grant family's residence. Today, White Haven is part of the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site and tours are available of the main house as well as a variety of special activities throughout the year. Another home, Hardscrabble, is a log cabin hand-built by Grant that is on view at Grant's Farm (http://www.grantsfarm.com/). Grant's Farm also features a wildlife preserve, a collection of antique carriages, and a variety of family-friendly special events and activities. "Farmer Grant" sold cordwood harvested from Hardscrabble at St. Louis' Soulard Farmer's Market (www.stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/soulardmarket). In operation since 1779, it's the nation's oldest farmers' market and a cornerstone of the Soulard area (http://www.soulard.com/), which is the oldest neighborhood in St. Louis. The Old Courthouse, built from 1839-1862, was the site of the famed Dred Scott slavery trials that are considered the flash point for the start of the Civil War. Begun in 1847, the case focused national attention on the slavery issue, and is considered one of the flashpoints for the start of the Civil War. Copies of court records, period newspaper articles and other artifacts of the case are on display in the second floor rotunda gallery, and groups can participate in reenactment of the infamous trial held in one of the restored courtrooms. The building's five museum galleries depict St. Louis' role in the famous trial and in America's westward expansion. (www.nps.gov/jeff). And speaking of westward expansion, the Museum of Westward Expansion (www.nps.gov/jeff/mus-tour.htm), located beneath the Gateway Arch, showcases a complete decade-by-decade look at the subject along with a special Lewis & Clark trail photographic mural. And while you're there, take a ride to the top for a view 630 feet high above the Mississippi River or watch "Monument to the Dream," a documentary that tells the story of the Arch from concept through construction. All three - the Arch, the museum and the courthouse - are part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, a National Parks Service site. Bellefontaine Cemetery (4947 West Florissant Avenue, 314-381-0750) features more than 87,000 graves including some of the city's most historic individuals: Edward Bates, US Attorney General under Abraham Lincoln; Major General Don Carlos Buell who led Federal troops in the battle of Shiloh; Major General Sterling Price, US Congressman from Missouri and President of the Missouri Secession Convention; explorer William Clark; and brew master Adolphus Busch. Maps and self-guided tours are available at the cemetery office and admission is free. Resting within adjacent Calvary Cemetery (www.stlcathcem.org), are Dred Scott and his wife Harriett, whose freedom trials began in St. Louis, and Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman. The Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing historical marker, located on the Riverfront Trail along the Mississippi River, is the first nationally-designated Underground Railroad site in Missouri. Named for an African American abolitionist from St. Louis, the site was used by fugitive slaves that were attempting to escape to the free state of Illinois prior to the Civil War. The marker is located on the trail at 28 East Grand. For more information call 314-416-9930 or visit http://www.confluencegreenway.org/. Camp Benton was an encampment for Union troops located about five miles north of St. Louis. The facility could accommodate 30,000 soldiers and contained a mile of barracks, warehouses, cavalry stables, parade grounds, and a military hospital that could serve as many as 3,000 patients. Establishing operations in 1861, it served as a troop cantonment (replacing Jefferson Barracks after its conversion to a hospital), parole encampment, and a camp for contraband, refugee slaves and white refugee Unionists. There is also some evidence that some Confederate guerilla POWs were briefly housed at the camp guardhouse. Today, the former camp site is known as Fairgrounds Park, located at Grand Avenue and Natural Bridge Road. Camp Jackson, also known as Lindell's Grove, holds a unique place in the state's war history. It was the site of the first major Civil War-related action in Missouri, as well as the only military action to take place within the city limits. The site is now Saint Louis University's Frost campus, which was named for Gen. Daniel M. Frost, Commander of the Missouri Volunteer Militia. The militia was captured by federal forces on May 10, 1861. At the Museum of Transportation (3015 Barrett Station Road, 314-965-7998, http://www.museumoftransport.org/), there are dozens of locomotives, freight and passenger cars from almost every era of American history, but one of the most impressive is the Daniel Nason steam locomotive. Built in 1858 by Boston and Providence Railroad master mechanic, G.S. Griggs, the Daniel Nason is the country's sole surviving inside-connected steam locomotive. The locomotive represents the pre-Civil War practice of placing the steam cylinders inside the frame. After its years of revenue service were over, the locomotive was preserved and put on display at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Today, the Daniel Nason is one of many unique and intriguing modes of transportation on display at the Museum of Transportation. For more information about Missouri's role in the Civil War, visit http://www.mocivilwar.org/, or http://www.missouricivilwarmuseum.org/. For more information about historic sites, museums and other things to do in St. Louis, visit http://www.explorestlouis.com/, or call 1-800-916-0040. MISSOURI CIVIL WAR FACTOIDS On January 11, 1865, Missouri became the first slave state to outlaw slavery during the Civil War and by war's end, 8,400 black Missourians had been recruited by the Union Army. Initially, President Lincoln did not intend to wage a war against slavery, but he eventually realized he needed to use the abolition of slavery as a weapon against the Confederate States. Missouri, occupied by a loyal pro-slavery government, was excluded from Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, but its issue, on January 1, 1863, resulted in an inundation of refugee slaves fleeing adjacent state of Arkansas. The exhilaration felt by the multitudes of newly-freed slaves caused a ripple effect on Missouri's slaves and the slave population dropped from 85,000 in 1862 to around 22,000 in 1864. Missouri sent more men to war, in proportion to population, than any other state. The total number of Missouri Volunteers who served was just under 200,000, including 31,000 German-Americans. Approximately 27,000 military and civilian Missourians were killed during the war. More than two-thirds of Missouri's white population was of Southern stock, while St. Louis' 65,000 German immigrants formed a core of Union support. Gen. Sterling Price replaced Gov. Claiborne Jackson as Missouri's pro-South leader, who had been deposed by the state convention that he had assembled. During the same time, pro-Union legislators met in Jefferson City and declared the state's loyalty to the Union. The result: Missouri had two governments and representation in both the U.S. Congress and Confederate Congress. Hannibal Confederate, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) had his fill of war and retired after only two weeks. His only other brush with the Union Army came when he was a passenger on a steamboat that was fired upon while trying to run a blockade past Jefferson Barracks. The Battle of Wilson's Creek marked the beginning of the Civil War in Missouri. For the next 3 ½ years, the state was the scene of savage and fierce fighting, mostly guerrilla warfare, with small bands of mounted raiders destroying anything military or civilian that could aid the enemy. By the time the conflict ended in the spring of 1865, Missouri had witnessed so many battles and skirmishes that it ranks as the third most fought over state in the country. The Battle of Westport was the largest battle fought west of the Mississippi River and was the last major battle in the state, ending the Civil War in Missouri. Gov. Thomas C. Fletcher signed the proclamation stating that slavery would be abolished in Missouri "now and forever." Missouri, by her own independent action, abolished slavery within her borders before the 13^th amendment of the Constitution abolished it within the United States. The amendment was adopted December 1865. The Battle of Pilot Knob on September 27, 1864, was the beginning of the end for Gen. Sterling Price and the Missouri Confederacy. News of the battle gave Union forces in St. Louis and Jefferson City time to build up their defenses, and Price's forces were soon driven from the state. Some of the Union generals who served at Jefferson Barracks before the Civil War included: U.S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Henry W. Halleck, Don Carlos Buell, Winfield S. Hancock, and Edwin V. Summer. Confederate generals who served at Jefferson Barracks and later resigned their commission in the U.S. Army to fight for the South were Joseph E. Johnston, James Longstreet, Albert Sidney Johnston, and Braxton Bragg. The first ironclad ships for Federal use were built in sixty-five days by St. Louis contractor, James B. Eads. U.S. Grant was the first man in the U.S. military to hold the rank of General of the Army. The USS St. Louis, launched at Carondelet, Missouri, on October 12, 1861, was the first U.S. ironclad gunboat and the first to sustain a bombardment from a hostile battery. The USS St. Louis led a fleet of ironclads in victories at Island No.10 on the Mississippi River and at Ft. Henry on the Tennessee River. The capture of Island No.10, in the Mississippi River, April 7, 1862 was the first significant Union victory where no men were lost in combat. As the only state north of the Mason-Dixon Line where slavery was legal, Missouri was a focal point, witnessing full-scale battles, numerous skirmishes and widespread guerrilla activity. The state endured more than 1,000 battles and engagements during the Civil War, more than any other state except Virginia and Tennessee. In spite of its position as the western headquarters of the Union Army, the only military action within St. Louis' boundaries took place on May 10, 1861, at Camp Jackson. Union forces captured more than 600 Confederate-sympathizing Missouri militia as they plotted to capture the well-stocked federal arsenal at Camp Jackson. The fight represented the war's first blood spilled west of the Mississippi River. Updated: May 30, 2008 ###
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