Civil War in Missouri
On May 11, 1861, Jackson appointed Sterling Price to be Major General of the Missouri State Guard to resist invasion (by federal forces) and suppress insurrection by Missouri Unionist Volunteers in Federal service. On May 12, Price met with General William S. Harney, the Federal commander in Missouri. They agreed to the Price-Harney Truce, which permitted Missouri to remain neutral for the moment. Theoretically, Price promised that the state forces, and the state government, would hold the state for the Union and prevent the entry of Confederate forces. However, at the same time Governor Jackson had secretly dispatched envoys to CSA President Jefferson Davis and Confederate commanders in Arkansas asking for an immediate invasion of the state, and promising the State Guard would cooperate with the Confederate Army in a campaign against Federal forces to effect the "liberation" of St. Louis. In addition, Lt Governor Thomas C. Reynolds traveled to Richmond, with the agreement of Major General Price, to ask Jefferson Davis to order an invasion of the state. Missouri Unionists were diamayed at what they perceived as Harney's one-sided adherence to the truce, and petitioned for Harney's removal from command. Harney was eventually removed on May 30, and temporarily replaced with Lyon, who was promoted from captain to brigadier general of volunteers.
On June 11, 1861, Jackson met with Lyon, hoping to extend the truce, but Lyon refused. Lyon marched on Jefferson City with his forces, entering on June 13. Jackson and other pro-Confederate officials fled to Boonville, Missouri. Union forces routed the State Guard, commanded by Jackson's nephew John Sappington Marmaduke, at Boonville on June 17. At Carthage on July 5, Jackson himself took command of 6,000 State Guards, and drove back a much smaller Union detachment. However, the Union forces were in a dominating position, and Lyon chased Jackson and Price to the far southwest of the state.
On July 22, 1861, the Missouri State Convention reconvened in Jefferson City. The convention again voted against secession, and on July 27, it declared the governor's office vacant. On July 28 the convention appointed Hamilton Gamble as provisional governor. Missouri would have an unelected governor for the remainder of the war. However, Jackson did not recognize their actions and on August 5 issued a proclamation declaring Missouri a free republic and dissolving all ties with the Union. He then traveled to Richmond, Virginia to meet with Confederate President Davis to seek support for Sterling Price's forces and official recognition by the Confederate government.
On October 28, 1861, in Neosho, Missouri, some secessionist members of the Missouri General Assembly met (with Jackson present) and passed an ordinance of secession. On November 28, 1861 the Confederacy recognized Missouri as its twelfth state, with Jackson as governor and Senators and Representatives to the Confederate Congress were elected. However, Union forces occupied almost all of Missouri at the time, making the recognition and elections moot. Jackson took refuge in Arkansas with General Price and the Missouri army, where they were soundly defeated at the Battle of Pea Ridge. Claiborne Jackson traveled to southern Arkansas in the spring of 1862 to regroup and meet with wealthy Missouri secessionists who had fled south. There was talk and hope of a new campaign to retake Missouri but Jackson's death would come first.
Read more about this topic: Claiborne Fox Jackson
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