Confederate government of Missouri facts for kids
The Confederate government of Missouri was like a government-in-waiting for the state of Missouri during the American Civil War. It was led by Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson, who supported the Confederate States of America. This government continued to exist even after it was forced out of Missouri, operating from another state until the war ended on May 26, 1865. General Edmund Kirby Smith officially surrendered all Confederate troops west of the Mississippi River on that date.
Missouri's Role in the Civil War
When the American Civil War started, many important people in Missouri hoped the state could stay out of the fighting. They tried to create a peaceful agreement called the Price–Harney Truce on May 21, 1861. However, this truce did not last because the conflict quickly grew worse.
At a meeting in St. Louis on June 11, 1861, it became clear that Missouri's leaders would have to pick a side. In the fall of 1861, Governor Claiborne Jackson and other leaders who wanted Missouri to join the Confederacy met in Neosho, Missouri. This group acted as the Missouri General Assembly (the state's lawmaking body).
Missouri's Secession Attempt
On October 28, 1861, this group passed an ordinance of secession. This meant they voted for Missouri to leave the United States and join the Confederacy. However, people in Missouri who supported the Union did not accept this vote as legal.
The group that wanted to secede asked to join the Confederacy. On November 28, 1861, Missouri was officially accepted as the 12th state in the Confederacy.
Government in Exile
Despite this, the Confederate government of Missouri could not control much of the state. This was especially true after the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862. Their power only reached as far as the Confederate army could go. Because of this, Governor Jackson and his government were forced to leave Missouri.
This "government in exile" set up its operations in Marshall, Texas. It became part of a group of Southern governments in the Trans-Mississippi region. Even though Confederate supporters in Missouri could not fully take over the state, the government-in-exile still sent representatives to the Congress of the Confederate States. Missouri was even shown by the twelfth star on the Confederate flag.
