Camp Jackson affair facts for kids
The Camp Jackson affair, also known as the Camp Jackson massacre, occurred during the American Civil War on May 10, 1861, when a volunteer Union Army regiment captured a unit of secessionists at Camp Jackson, outside the city of St. Louis, in the divided slave state of Missouri.
The newly appointed Union commander in Missouri, Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, had learned that the ostensibly neutral state militia training in Camp Jackson was planning to raid the federal arsenal in St. Louis. After capturing the entire unit, Lyon marched the captives into town to parole them. En route, hostile secessionist crowds gathered, and after an accidental gunshot, Lyon's men fired into the mob, killing at least 28 civilians and injuring dozens of others. Several days of rioting throughout St. Louis followed. The violence ended only after martial law was imposed, and Union regulars were dispatched to the city.
Lyon's actions ensured Union control of St. Louis and of Missouri as a whole for the rest of the war, but also deepened the ideological divisions within a state that had originally sought to remain neutral in the larger conflict.
The incident sparked several days of civil unrest in St. Louis. Many wealthy St. Louisans fled to Illinois or the Missouri interior. Martial law was imposed, and with the arrival of federal regulars to relieve the German volunteers, the violence came to an end.
Aftermath
Governor Jackson had previously proposed a "Military Bill" which would put the state on a war footing, create a new state military force, and grant the Governor broad executive powers. The bill had stalled at first, but on May 11, the day after the Camp Jackson affair, it was passed by the Missouri General Assembly, creating the Missouri State Guard with Major General Sterling Price as its commander. 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 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.
William S. Harney was reinstated as Commander of the Western District and met with Price on May 21. They signed the Price–Harney Truce, which left the federal military in charge of St. Louis and allowed Price's state militia to maintain order in the rest of the state. Many Missouri Unionists considered the agreement a capitulation to Jackson and the secessionists and lobbied President Abraham Lincoln for Harney's removal from command. Unionists outside of St. Louis reported harassment by secessionists, despite Harney's implicit understanding that the Missouri State Guard would protect them, and many fled to St. Louis for refuge.
Frank Blair was a well-known Republican leader and former U.S. Representative from St. Louis, as well as a recently promoted colonel. Lincoln authorized him to relieve Harney at his discretion. On May 30, Blair relieved Harney and permanently replaced him with Lyon. Lyon was promoted to brigadier general and assigned command of all Union forces in Missouri.
On June 11, Lyon met face-to-face with Jackson, Price and their aides at the Planter's House hotel in St. Louis. They argued for four hours (much of it over Jackson's powers under the "Military Bill") before Lyon abruptly ended the meeting, declaring "Rather than concede to the State of Missouri for one single instant the right to dictate to my government in any matter however important, I would see you, and you, and you, and you, and every man, woman, and child in the State, dead and buried! This means war. In an hour one of my officers will call on you and conduct you out of my lines."
Jackson returned to the state capital at Jefferson City. Lyon delivered federal troops by steamboat to Jefferson City on June 12, and Jackson fled west to join newly assembled State Guard troops near Boonville. Lyon's men occupied the capital without resistance, and pursued Jackson with approximately 1,400 volunteers and U.S. Army regulars. Against the advice of his senior officers, Jackson exercised his authority as Commander-in-Chief and ordered the State Guard to make a stand at Boonville. In the resulting Battle of Boonville on June 17, Lyon's troops routed the State Guard. Jackson, the State Guard, and a few secessionist state legislators escaped to southwest Missouri, near the Arkansas border, leaving most of the state under federal control.
The Constitutional Convention reconvened on July 22 and declared the office of Governor vacant due to Jackson's absence. 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.
Nativism, mistrust of the federal government, fears for and of slavery, and states' rights issues all played roles in provoking the Camp Jackson affair. The incident immediately polarized the state between Union and Confederate supporters. Where previously most Missourians had advocated neutrality, many were now forced to take sides.
Some Missourians had attempted to find compromise as "Conditional Unionists", who opposed secession but with conditions: that slavery not be interfered with, and that no "coercion" or military force be used against the seceding states of the Confederacy. After the Camp Jackson affair, many of these "Conditional Unionists" became full Confederate supporters, such as former Governor Sterling Price.
