Camp Jackson Affair - Aftermath

Aftermath

Nativism, mistrust of the Federal government, slavery, and states rights issues all played roles in provoking the incident. The Affair polarized the state between Union and Confederate supporters. Previously most Missourians had advocated neutrality. However the Camp Jackson Affair forced most Missourians to take a side. Some former "Conditional Unionists", including former Governor Sterling Price, now advocated secession. But ultimately the actions of Lyon and the St. Louis German community did much to ensure Missouri's continued loyalty to the Union. And in the years following the war, the Germans would gain a reputation as "saviors of Missouri."

Governor Jackson exploited the Affair to resubmit the stalled "Military Bill" which would put the state on a war footing, create a new state military force, and granted the Governor wide executive powers. On May 11, the Missouri General Assembly approved the measure, which created the Missouri State Guard to resist the Union invasion with Sterling Price as its Major General. Unionists described the bill as a "secession act in all but name". Critics also observed that since it stated that all adult men were to be considered to be reserves of the State Guard, and granted the Governor wide powers as commander of the Guard, it had the effect of making Governor Jackson dictator of the state. The following day, Major General Price and Brigadier General William S. Harney (Commander of the Western District, which included Missouri) signed the Price-Harney Truce leaving the Federal military in charge of St. Louis, and allowing state forces to maintain order in the rest of the state. Many Missouri unionists considered the agreement to be a capitulation to Jackson and the secessionist faction. Unionists outside of St. Louis reported harassment by secessionists, many fleeing to St. Louis for refuge. On May 30, Harney was relieved of command by Congressman/Colonel Francis P. Blair, Jr who had previously been granted the right to do so at his discression by President Lincoln. Lyon was promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers and assigned command of all the Union forces in Missouri.

On June 11, in a face-to-face meeting at St. Louis' Planter's House hotel Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon and Governor Jackson failed to reach a new agreement. After over four hours of argument (much of it over the powers claimed by Jackson in the Military Bill) Lyon abruptly ending the meeting declaring "This means war. In an hour one of my officers will call on you and conduct you out of my lines.

Jackson retreated to the state capitol at Jefferson City, and then evacuated the city on June 12, joining newly assembled State Guard troops near Boonville. Lyon occupied the capitol without resistance, and pursued Jackson with approximately 1,400 volunteers and U.S. Army regulars. Against the advice of his senior officers, Governor Jackson exercised his authority as Commander-in-Chief and ordered the State Guard to make a stand at Boonville. In the resulting battle on June 17 Lyon's troops routed the State Guard. Jackson, the State Guard, and pro-secessionist members of the General Assembly retreated to southwest Missouri, near the Arkansas border, leaving most of the state under Federal control.

The Missouri Constitutional Convention, elected in February 1861 to amend the state constitution and decide the issue of secession, convened on July 22 and declared the office of Governor of Governor vacant due to Jackson's withdrawal from the state capitol (among other issues). The Convention then voted to appoint former Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court and conservative Unionist Hamilton Rowan Gamble as Governor of the Provisional Government of Missouri. Gamble's government was recognized by the Lincoln administration, and controlled its own military force, the (new) Missouri State Militia in battles against guerrillas and the State Guard.

Brigadier General Lyon, commanding an army of about 6,000 men (U.S. Regulars and volunteer troops from Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa) pursued Jackson and the State Guard as far as Springfield on August 1. By that time the Missouri State Guard had linked up with Arkansas State Troops and a Confederate army under General Ben McCulloch, creating a combined force of over 12,000 men. Lyon, decided to retreat to his rail head at Rolla, but attempted to deliver a preemptive attack to damage the secessionist force and allow his troops to withdraw unto safely. The resulting August 10 Battle of Wilson's Creek, fought ten miles south of Springfield, was a bloody affair, lasting over five hours. The battle ground down to a stalemate, with the outnumbered Federals holding off three charges on their position on Bloody Hill. The battle finally ended when Lyon was killed leading a charge, and his successor in command, Major Samuel Sturgis, concerned about his ammunition supplies ordered a withdrawal. The exhausted Confederates did not immediately pursue.

As a result of the battle, Price and Jackson were left in control of parts of south and southwestern Missouri until the Battle of Pea Ridge on March 6–8, 1862.

In addition, the withdrawal of Federal troops allowed Jackson to establish a "government in exile" in the southwest Missouri town of Neosho. On October 28, 1861 pro-secession elements of the General Assembly met in the town's Masonic Hall and (reportedly) passed an Ordinance of Secession, making Missouri a short lived independent republic. On November 28, 1861 the Confederate Congress accepted the Jackson government's petition and admitted Missouri as the "twelfth Confederate state". The legality of the Neosho secession (even under Confederate law) has been questioned by many historians who: question whether a proper quorum of the General Assembly was present; note that the General Assembly had previously granted the power over secession action to the Constitutional Convention; and note that under Missouri state law an Ordinance of Secession required confirmation by a plebiscite of the state's voters (which never occurred).