Volume I Part 37 (1/2)
Governor Rector, of Arkansas, replied:
”In answer to your requisition for troops from Arkansas, to subjugate the Southern States, I have to say that none will be furnished. The demand is only adding insult to injury.”
Governor Ellis, of North Carolina, responded to the requisition for troops from that State as follows:
”Your dispatch is received, and, if genuine-which its extraordinary character leads me to doubt-I have to say, in reply, that [pg 413] I regard the levy of troops made by the Administration, for the purpose of subjugating the States of the South, as in violation of the Const.i.tution, and a usurpation of power. I can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of the country, and to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina.”
Governor Ellis, who had lived long enough to leave behind him an enviable reputation, was a fair representative of the conservatism, gallantry, and tenacity in well-doing, of the State over which he presided. He died too soon for his country's good, and the Confederacy seriously felt the loss of his valuable services. The prompt and spirited answer he gave to the call upon North Carolina to furnish troops for the subjugation of the Southern States, was the fitting complement of his earlier action in immediately restoring to the Federal Government Forts Johnson and Caswell, which had been seized without proper authority. In communicating his action to President Buchanan, he wrote:
”My information satisfies me that this popular outbreak was caused by a report, very generally credited, but which, for the sake of humanity, I hope is not true, that it was the purpose of the Administration to coerce the Southern States, and that troops were on their way to garrison the Southern ports, and to begin the work of subjugation.... Should I receive a.s.surance that no troops will be sent to this State prior to the 4th of March next, then all will be peace and quiet here, and the property of the United States will be fully protected, as heretofore. If, however, I am unable to get such a.s.surances, I will not undertake to answer for the consequences.
”The forts in this State have long been unoccupied, and their being garrisoned at this time will unquestionably be looked upon as a hostile demonstration, and will in my opinion certainly be resisted.”
The plea so constantly made by the succeeding Administration, as an excuse for its warlike acts, that the duty to protect the public property required such action, is shown by this letter of Governor Ellis to have been a plea created by their usurpations, [pg 414] but for which there might have been peace, as well as safety to property, and, what was of greater worth, the lives, the liberties, and the republican inst.i.tutions of the country.
There was great similarity in the condition of Missouri to that of Kentucky. They were both border States, and, by their inst.i.tutions and the origin of a large portion of their citizens, were identified with the South. Both sought to occupy a neutral position in the impending war, and offered guarantees of peace and order throughout their territory if left free to control their own affairs. Both refused to furnish troops to the United States Government for the unconst.i.tutional purpose of coercing the Southern States. Both, because of their stronger affinity to the South than to the North, were the objects of suspicion, and consequent military occupation by the troops of the United States Government. At the inception of this unwarrantable proceeding, an effort was made by the Governor of Missouri to preserve the rights of the State without disturbing its relations to the United States Government. If it had been the policy of the Government to allow to Missouri the control of her domestic affairs, and an exemption from being a party to the violation of the Const.i.tution in making war against certain of the States, the above-described effort of the Governor might and probably would have been successful. The form and purpose of that effort appear in the compact entered into between Major-General Price, commanding the militia or ”Missouri State Guard,” and General Harney, of the United States Army, commanding the Department of the West, a geographical division which included the State of Missouri.
During a temporary absence of General Harney, Captain Lyon, commanding United States forces at St. Louis, initiated hostilities against the State of Missouri under the following circ.u.mstances:
In obedience to the militia law of the State, an annual encampment was directed by the Governor for instruction in tactics. Camp Jackson, near St. Louis, was designated for the encampment of the militia of the county in 1861. Here for some days companies of State militia, amounting to about eight hundred men, under command of Brigadier-General D. M. [pg 415] Frost, were being exercised, as is usual upon such occasions. They presented no appearance of a hostile camp. There were no sentinels to guard against surprise; visitors were freely admitted; it was the picnic-ground for the ladies of the city, and everything wore the aspect of merry-making rather than that of grim-visaged war.
Suddenly, Captain (afterward General) Nathaniel Lyon appeared with an overwhelming force of Federal troops, surrounded this holiday encampment, and demanded an unconditional surrender. Resistance was impracticable, and none was attempted; the militia surrendered, and were confined as prisoners; but prisoners of what? There was no war, and no warrant for their arrest as offenders against the law. It is left for the usurpers to frame a vocabulary suited to their act.
After the return of General Harney, Brigadier-General D. M. Frost, of the Missouri militia, appealed to him from his prison, the St. Louis a.r.s.enal, on May 11, 1861, representing that, ”in accordance with the laws of the State of Missouri, which have been existing for some years, and in obedience to the orders of the Governor, on Monday last I entered into an encampment with the militia force of St. Louis County for the purpose of instructing the same in accordance with the laws of the United States and of this State.” He further sets forth that every officer and soldier of his command had taken an oath to sustain the Const.i.tution and laws of the United States and of the State of Missouri, and that while in the peaceable performance of their duties the encampment was surrounded by the command of Captain N. Lyon, United States Army, and a surrender demanded, to which General Frost replied as follows:
”Camp Jackson, May 10, 1861.
”Sir: I, never for a moment having conceived the idea that so illegal and unconst.i.tutional a demand as I have just received from you would be made by an officer of the United States Army, am wholly unprepared to defend my command from this unwarranted attack, and shall therefore be forced to comply with your demand.
”I am sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
”D. Frost,
”Brigadier-General, commanding Camp Jackson, M. M.
”Captain N. Lyon, commanding United States troops.”
[pg 416]
General Frost's letter to General Harney continues: ”My command was, in accordance with the above, deprived of their arms, and surrendered into the hands of Captain Lyon; after which, while thus disarmed and surrounded, a fire was opened on a portion of it by his troops, and a number of my men put to death, together with several innocent lookers-on, men, women, and children.” On the occasion of the attack upon Camp Jackson, ”a large crowd of citizens, men, women, and children, were gathered around, gazing curiously at these strange proceedings, when a volley was fired into them, killing ten and wounding twenty non-combatants, mostly women and children. A reign of terror was at once established, and the most severe measures were adopted by the Federals to overawe the excitement and the rage of the people.”182
The ma.s.sacre at Camp Jackson produced intense excitement throughout the State. The Legislature, upon receipt of the news, pa.s.sed several bills for the enrollment and organization of the militia, and to confer special powers upon the Governor of the State. By virtue of these, general officers were appointed, chief of whom was Sterling Price.
Because of the atrocities at St. Louis, and the violent demonstrations consequent upon them, not only in St. Louis but elsewhere in the State, General Price, well known to be what was termed ”a Union man,” and not only by his commission as commander-in-chief of the militia of the State, but also, and even more, because of his influence among the people, was earnestly solicited by influential citizens of St. Louis to unite with General Harney in a joint effort to restore order and preserve peace. With the sanction of Governor Jackson he proceeded to St. Louis, the headquarters of the Department of the West, and, after some preliminary conference, entered into the following agreement, which, being promulgated to the people, was received with general satisfaction, and for a time allayed excitement. The agreement was as follows:
”St. Louis, May 21, 1861.
”The undersigned, officers of the United States Government and of the government of the State of Missouri, for the purpose [pg 417] of removing misapprehension and of allaying public excitement, deem it proper to declare publicly that they have this day had a personal interview in this city, in which it has been mutually understood, without the semblance of dissent on either part, that each of them has no other than a common object, equally interesting and important to every citizen of Missouri-that of restoring peace and good order to the people of the State in subordination to the laws of the General and State governments.
”It being thus understood, there seems no reason why every citizen should not confide in the proper officers of the General and State governments to restore quiet, and, as among the best means of offering no counter-influences, we mutually commend to all persons to respect each other's rights throughout the State, making no attempt to exercise unauthorized powers, as it is the determination of the proper authorities to suppress all unlawful proceedings which can only disturb the public peace. General Price, 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 maintaining order within the State among the people thereof. General Harney publicly declares that, this object being a.s.sured, he can have no occasion, as he has no wish, to make military movements that might otherwise create excitement and jealousy, which he most earnestly desires to avoid.