Civil War
In the early days of the Civil War, General Frost supported the secessionist movement endorsed and led by Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson. In February 1861 Frost enrolled the members of the pro-secession Minutemen para-military organization as Companies in a new Second Regiment, MVM (despite Missouri's "official" policy of neutrality). This allowed the Minutemen to operate and recruit overtly. He secretly met with Jackson and other secessionist leaders to discuss the possibility of attacking the Federal Arsenal in downtown St. Louis. Governor Jackson dispatched two members of the Minutemen to seek siege artillery from the Confederate Government. At the recommendation of General Frost, Governor Jackson ordered the mustered the MVM in St. Louis on May 6, a deployment which would allow an attack on the Arsenal when the Confederate artillery arrived.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis agreed to provide the weapons, and they arrived in St. Louis on May 8. Frost's soldiers took possession of the Confederate weapons, and moved them to Camp Jackson, as the MVM encampment was named. Union Captain Nathaniel Lyon conducted a reconnaissance on May 9, and verified the presence of the Confederate weapons. The next day, Lyon led a mixed force of U.S. Regular troops and Missouri volunteers to arrest the Militia. After surrounding the camp, they forced Frost and his militiamen to surrender without a shot being fired. As the prisoners were marched through the streets of St. Louis, however a riot broke out and 28 people were killed. on May 11, Frost was paroled and returning to his home.
Although he initially denied involvement in any conspiracy when questioned by authorities, Union intelligence later obtained a letter that revealed that Frost was indeed an active participant in Governor Jackson's plotting.
After being exchanged for a captured Federal officer, Frost traveled south to Join the Confederate Army. On March 3, 1862, Frost was commissioned as a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army and assigned to duty in Memphis, Tennessee, under Major General Sterling Price. He briefly served as the inspector general in the army of Gen. Braxton Bragg, and then in October was assigned to the Trans-Mississippi Department. Frost led a brigade into action at the Battle of Prairie Grove in the division of Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman. On March 2, 1863, Hindman was relieved of duty and replaced by Frost in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In August 1863, Frost's wife was forced from their home in St. Louis because of the family's ardent Confederate sympathies and had taken the children and moved to Canada for safety and refuge. Frost reacted quickly upon hearing the news. He left the army, without first obtaining any official approval or permission, and traveled to Canada to join his family. Frost was listed as a deserter by the Confederate Army, and in December the Confederate War Department officially dropped Frost from the muster rolls. Frost stayed in Canada for the rest of the war and did not return to Missouri until late 1865.
Read more about this topic: Daniel M. Frost
Famous quotes containing the words civil war, civil and/or war:
“During the Civil War the area became a refuge for service- dodging Texans, and gangs of bushwhackers, as they were called, hid in its fastnesses. Conscript details of the Confederate Army hunted the fugitives and occasional skirmishes resulted.”
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Over thy wounds now do I prophesy
...
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men,
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives, that it is inside ourselves.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)