Thieving Kansans

The following Union correspondence highlights the difficulties between Missourians and Kansans. Whether in the 1850s during the Missouri-Kansas Border Wars or during the 1860s (or now in college sports), "Jayhawkers" have long been a thorn-in-the-side for Missourians of all political allegiances.

Headquarters. First Calvary Missouri State Militia, Warrensburg, Mo., January 26, 1864. General E.B. Brown, Commanding Central District of Missouri: General: I have the honor to state that Captain Meredith reports that a detachment of his command have recaptured a part of the property taken by the Kansas men in LaFayette, viz, 2 horses and a wagon, and have returned the same to the owner, a widow lady by the name of Robinson. James McFerran, Colonel First Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, Comdg. Third Sub-Dist. of Central Dist. of Missouri.

Source

• United States War Department. "War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I Volume XXXIV Part II." Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891.

St. Louis Arsenal

Early 1861 found many political factions positioning themselves to gain control of the St. Louis Arsenal. The seizure of federal property within the limits of already seceded States had focused attention on this federal arsenal. The tens of thousands of rifles and ammunition would be critical supplies when conflict broke out. The arsenal was commanded by Major William H. Bell. A North Carolinian by birth, Bell had been in the ordnance service since graduating West Point in 1820.

On January 24, 1861, General Daniel Marsh Frost wrote the following letter to Missouri Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson concerning the St. Louis Arsenal and Major Bell. Shortly after this time, unionists were successful in having Bell replaced. Rather than obey orders to transfer to New York, Bell resigned his commission and retired to his St. Charles County farm.

Frost was from New York, had graduated West Point in 1844, was a Mexican War veteran, and married in St. Louis in 1851. In 1854, Frost was elected to the Missouri Senate and helped pass the law that organized the Missouri State Militia. We would later organized and be appointed to command the First Military District, Missouri State Militia (authority with which he wrote the letter below). Frost would later command the 9th Division and 7th Division, Missouri State Guard and eventually become a Brigadier General of the Confederate Army.

To Secede or Not Secede

In the early days of 1861 Missourians fell into three categories: Unconditional Unionists, Conditional Unionists, and Secessionists. As the names imply, the Unconditional Unionists were for remaining a part of the United States no matter what; the Conditional Unionists were in favor of remaining in the Union so long as the Federal Government made no further encroachments on state sovereignty; and the Secessionists felt immediate secession was necessary and justified to maintain state sovereignty. In early 1861 most Missourians were Conditional Unionists.

On January 18, 1861 the Missouri Legislature passed a bill that called for a State Convention to settle the secession question. Elections were held February 18 to elect delegates. With a hope of remaining neutral in impending struggle, Missouri elected a convention of delegates opposing secession. Former Governor Sterling Price would became the president of the convention.

Price was typical of many who opposed secession early in the war, but after certain events became secessionists. After presiding over the convention that voted against secession, Price would later become the commanding general of the Missouri State Guard, a Major General in the Confederate Army, and a popular choice in discussions across the south as successor to President Jefferson Davis.

Sources

• Harvey, Charles M. “Missouri from 1849 to 1861.” Missouri Historical Review, Volume II No. 1 (October 1907).
• Snead, Thomas L. The Fight for Missouri. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1886.
• McReynolds, Edwin C. Missouri: A History of the Crossroads State. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1962.