St. Louis in the American Civil War
The city of
Background
Located at the junction of the
The only major city west of the Mississippi River in the geographic center of the country, St. Louis had also emerged as the gateway to the new American frontier. It had long served as the starting point for voyages of exploration and emigration into the unsettled West and as the westernmost terminus of many early efforts to construct transcontinental lines of transportation and communication.
Camp Jackson Affair
In March 1861, Captain
Lyon allegedly disguised himself as a farm woman to spy on the militia camp and confirmed the presence of artillery stolen from a federal arsenal. Lyon himself had been extensively involved in the St. Louis
St. Louis Riot
The division of loyalties between Union and Confederacy resulted in further loss of life on May 11, 1861. Union soldiers of the Fifth Regiment, United States Reserve Corps, Missouri Volunteers were attacked by Confederate sympathizers within hours of being mustered into service. The regiment was marching from the federal arsenal when it was attacked on the corner of Walnut and Broadway. Shots were exchanged, and six persons were killed. The Fifth Regiment consisted primarily of loyal Germans, having been recruited from the city's Tenth Ward.
Civil War
During the Civil War, St. Louis stayed under Union control because of the strong military base and public support from loyal Germans. The largest percentage of volunteers served in the Union army, though many also went south to fight for the Confederacy. Some people who stayed in the city during the war and supported the South smuggled supplies, medicine, and otherwise assisted Confederate soldiers.
No major battles were fought in or near the city, but the Mississippi River was a vital highway during the war. Divided loyalties to the Union and Confederacy caused rifts in some families in St. Louis. This divide remained consistent throughout the entirety of the war. Though many believed in the cause of abolition, others were concerned about the economic response and potential destruction of critical infrastructure in the blossoming city.[1]
Benton Barracks was a Union Army military encampment established during the war at the present site of the St. Louis Fairground Park. After the Battle of Lexington, the Post and Convalescent Hospitals were added to the training barracks, in order to assist in treating hundreds of incoming wounded troops. Eventually, the Benton Barracks Hospital, under the direction of Emily Elizabeth Parsons, became the largest Civil War hospital in the American West, housing 2,000 black and white Union soldiers.[2][page needed]
Refugees
Thousands of black refugees poured into St. Louis, where the Freedmen's Relief Society, the
Notes
- OCLC 558324.
- OCLC 123119702.
- ^ Lawrence O. Christensen, "Black Education in Civil War St. Louis," Missouri Historical Review, April 2001, Vol. 95 Issue 3, pp 302-316
- ^ Nina Mjagkij, "Organizing Black America", Routledge, 2013
References
- Anderson, Galshua (1908). The Story of a Border City During the Civil War. Little, Brown & Co. OCLC 558324.
- Gerteis, Louis S. (2001). Civil War St. Louis. University Press of Kansas. OCLC 46343524.
- Hodes, Frederick A. (2015). A Divided City: a History of St. Louis 1851 to 1876. Bluebird Publishing Co. OCLC 933251068.
- Humphreys, Margaret (2010). Intensely Human: The Health of the Black Soldier in the American Civil War. JHU Press. OCLC 123119702.
- Parrish,William E. (2001) A History of Missouri: Volume III, 1860 to 1875 ISBN 0-8262-0148-2
- Rombauer, R. (1909) The Union Cause in St. Louis in 1861
- Annual Report of the Adjutant General of Missouri, For the Year ending December 31, 1865 Office of the Adjutant General (1866) p. 79
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