General Harney was given the command of the Department
of the West just after Abraham Lincoln was elected as the sixteenth president
of the United States. For the general, it was a relief to be back home in St.
Louis after his tumultuous tenure in the Department of Oregon. However, Harney
soon realized that his new circumstances had the potential for being even more
perilous than his previous ones had been.
2 The Southern States were threatening to secede from
the Union, and Missouri was a slaveholding state. Moreover, many of his
neighbors and subordinates had not forgotten that the general himself was both
a former slaveholder and a Southerner. As a consequence, many of them wondered
about what the general would do if the secessionists had their way. They
wouldn’t have to wait long to find out.
3 On November 21, the general was ordered to Kansas to
suppress an abolitionist uprising led by one James Montgomery. His efforts
there, however, were undercut by one of his subordinates – Captain Nathaniel
Lyon. Lyon believed that his superior was a Southern sympathizer and conspired
to protect Montgomery and one of his associates from the general’s reach. Thus,
Harney returned to St. Louis in December empty-handed.
4 A few days later, South Carolina formally seceded
from the Union. Needless to say, this event dominated the Missouri General
Assembly which convened at the end of the month. Likewise, the retiring
Missouri governor took a parting shot at both abolitionists and secessionists
in his farewell address to the state in January. The incoming Governor Jackson,
however, was already demanding that his state reevaluate its relationship with
the Union. Things seemed to be unravelling fast now. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,
Georgia and Louisiana had joined South Carolina by the end of January. Texas
followed suit at the beginning of February.
5 General Winfield Scott ordered Harney to strengthen
the defenses of the federal arsenal at St. Louis, which the general promptly
did. Shortly thereafter, Missouri delegates met to consider the state’s
response to the fast-moving events of the still new year. The delegates
declared their opposition to any coercive measures by the federal government to
bring the rebellious states back into the fold, but they also declined to join
their brethren to the south. The general breathed a sigh of relief, but many of
those Missourians who were loyal to the union were not satisfied with the
results of their state’s convention.
6 Especially distressing to these folks was the
presence of a militia within the state that was clearly intended to be the tool
of those who supported the eventual secession of Missouri. Although the general
believed that he could effectively check the activities of this militia, there
were many other Unionists who thought that Harney was being extremely naïve or
downright disloyal. Among those who wanted to see the activities of the militia
more forcefully curtailed was Frank Blair, the brother of Lincoln’s postmaster
general.
7 “General, my sources tell me that these rascals have
the arsenal in their sights,” Blair complained. “I have taken measures to
protect it,” Harney reassured him. “Nevertheless, I believe that it is still
vulnerable to attack,” Frank insisted. “Have you considered what would happen
if those arms and munitions fell into the hands of those scoundrels?” “I have,”
the general answered. “Don’t worry, Frank. Everything is under control,” Harney
reassured him.
8 That night, Frank wrote to his brother in Washington
appraising him of the situation in St. Louis and asking that he suggest that
the Army place Nathaniel Lyon in charge of the arsenal. Montgomery Blair
complied with his brother’s request and passed his suggestion along to
Secretary of War Simon Cameron.
9 It was now the middle of March, and Cameron ordered
Lyon to assume command of the arsenal. “Damn Frank Blair to hell and back!”
Harney proclaimed when he received the orders. “I’ll show that son of a bitch!”
he sputtered. “Have Captain Lyon come on in, lieutenant,” the general ordered
as he turned to one of his staffers.
10 “Captain Nathaniel Lyon reporting for duty, Sir.”
“Captain you will immediately assume command of all of the troops in the
arsenal,” the general began. “Yes, Sir.” “Major Hagner will, of course, retain
command of the arsenal’s ordnance,” he concluded. The captain clenched his
teeth, saluted and quickly retreated from the general’s office. “Try to get
around me,” Harney muttered to himself.
11 The general, nevertheless, was not oblivious to
what was going on in the nation at large. In fact, almost everyone’s attention
was focused on Charleston and Fort Sumter. In early April, Harney put Lyon in
charge of the entire arsenal and directed him to beef up its defenses. Then, on
April 12, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter – the war between North and
South had begun.
12 On April 16, the general sent a telegram to the
Adjutant General at U.S. Army Headquarters in Washington. He said:
“Sir, the present state of affairs with regard to the
St. Louis arsenal impels me to make the following report. The buildings and
grounds of the arsenal are surrounded by hills. I have received reliable
information that it is the intention of the authorities within this state to
erect batteries on these hills in the event of the state’s secession. The
batteries in place, these officials would then be in a position to demand the
surrender of this facility. While the present force would probably be able to
repel a ground assault on this position, I do not believe it could withstand
the fire power of batteries placed as indicated above. Hence, under the
circumstances, I respectfully request some guidance from you as to how we
should proceed here.”
13 In the meantime, Captain Lyon and Frank Blair could
not understand why the general had not already occupied the highlands above the
arsenal. “If anyone attempts to occupy those hills, I’ll personally lead an
assault on that position,” Captain Lyon offered.
14 “You’ll do no such a thing!” Harney retorted. “We
don’t want to provoke the secessionists unnecessarily, and I’d like to have
some direction from Washington before I do anything else.” “Are you blind,
General?” Blair demanded. “Calm down Frank, let things take their natural
course. We don’t want to act precipitously and make matters worse,” Harney
soothed.
15 Blair left the general and wrote a telegram of his
own to the Secretary of War:
“Sir, although I consider General Harney to be a fine
man and loyal to the Union, I believe his judgment in the matter of the current
crisis here has been clouded by his Southern associations. Hence, I do not
believe that it would be wise to rely on his discretion in the defense of this
place. It is, therefore, my duty to recommend that he be replaced immediately
with some other officer to prevent embarrassment and disaster here.”
16 The general suspected that Blair and Lyon were
still conspiring together to thwart his authority and manufacture some excuse
to attack the secessionists. As a consequence, on April 20, he sent another
telegram to the Adjutant General requesting that someone other than Captain
Lyon be placed in command of the arsenal. In a further attempt to stay ahead of
the conspirators and keep a tighter rein on Lyon’s activities, Harney moved his
personal headquarters to the arsenal.
17 The following day, Secretary Cameron issued orders
relieving General Harney as commander of the Department of the West and
instructing him to return to Washington. The general received the orders as he
was about to eat his lunch the following day.
18 Thus, General Harney boarded a train bound for the
nation’s capital three days later. When the train reached Harper’s Ferry,
Virginia in the wee hours of the morning of April 26th, the train
was stopped and boarded by Confederate troops. The general had been sleeping
soundly up to that point, but the noise of the soldiers searching the train
soon awakened him.
19 “Why have we stopped?” he asked the steward. “I
don’t know general, but I overheard your name mentioned several times,” the man
responded.
20 A young soldier approached Harney. “General, you
are now my prisoner!” he announced. “I don’t know who in the hell you think you
are son, but you can turn your ass right around there and leave before I
personally throw you off of this train!” the general exclaimed.
21 At that moment, a scion of the same family which
had produced the late Chief Justice, Captain Thomas Marshall, approached Harney
and saluted. “General, we sincerely regret the manner of this meeting; but I
have orders to escort you at once to Richmond. Surely, sir, this can be
accomplished without any violence or disrespect being shown on either part?”
22 “Well, I guess I can’t fight all of you. Do you
need my sword?” “No, sir, of course not.” “Lead on then, I’ll follow,” the
general concluded.
23 When they reached the Confederate capital, Harney
was offered a commission in the Confederate army which he politely declined.
Fortunately, he was known to so many of those in attendance and was held in
such high esteem by most of them, that he was quickly released and allowed to
resume his journey to Washington.
24 In the meantime, back in St. Louis, Captain Lyon
had recruited and armed over three thousand volunteers to help defend the
arsenal. Impressed with their new commander, the new recruits had promptly
elected him to be their general (volunteer regiments were allowed to elect
their own officers).
25 Everyone expected more of the Southern states to
secede any day now, and Governor Jackson wanted Missouri to be among them when
it happened. Toward that end, he sought to expand and better equip the state’s
militia. Early in May, General Frost also began gathering militiamen in St.
Louis for training. They assembled at Lindell Grove and named the place Camp
Jackson (after their secessionist governor).
26 Alarmed, General Lyon undertook a personal
reconnaissance mission to see exactly what Frost’s soldiers were up to. He
disguised himself as an old woman and had his carriage driver take him through
Lindell Grove, and Lyon did not like what he observed on his little excursion.
He saw street signs marked with the names of Jefferson Davis and General
Beauregard, and they were lined with Confederate flags and crates of weapons.
“Those devils are planning on attacking this arsenal,” Lyon thought to himself
as his carriage returned him to his post.
27 At about the same time, the new general learned
that General Scott had reinstated Harney; and that his old nemesis would
shortly be returning to St. Louis. “If I’m going to do anything about this
threat, I’d better do it before that old buzzard has a chance to get back here
and interfere!” he mumbled as he walked to his office. Lyon worked furiously
through the night to assemble his troops and get them ready to attack Fort
Jackson.
28 The next morning, May 10, he marched the young
soldiers out of the arsenal and surrounded the fort. That accomplished, Lyon
turned to one of his associates and handed him a letter to deliver to General
Frost. The letter read:
“Sir, you are hereby notified that your camp is
regarded by me as hostile toward the government and interests of the United
States. In fact, I believe that your militia was organized with the intent of
attacking and securing the arsenal now under my command for those forces loyal
to the so-called Southern Confederacy. In view of these facts, I hereby demand
the immediate and unconditional surrender of your command. You have one-half
hour to respond before I proceed to enforce this demand.”
29 Although General Frost vigorously protested the
action, he had no choice but to surrender. As his troops marched out to
surrender, it quickly became apparent that General Lyon had not thought much
about what he would do with his prisoners. Flustered, the general sought to
make his way past a small detachment of cavalry and was kicked by one of the
horses. Lyon was out like a light.
30 As his staff tried to revive their general, the
“prisoners” began to mill around in the streets and get restless. The streets
were lined with spectators, among them a former military man named William
Tecumseh Sherman (a descendant of Edward Ketcham) with his small son. The event
was quickly turning into a spectacle.
31 About that time, General Lyon regained
consciousness and directed his officers to march the prisoners back to the
arsenal. Just then a shot rang out. Suddenly, there was shooting all over the
place. Sherman grabbed his son and dove into a ditch. When the firing stopped,
over two dozen people lay dead in the streets, including some women and
children.
32 “Yeah, this whole affair is going to be very
nasty!” Sherman mumbled as he arose and dusted the dirt and debris off of his
son’s clothing.
33 General Harney returned from Washington the
following day. He quickly set about the task of restoring peace and order in
the city, and a few days later issued a proclamation to the citizens of
Missouri. He said:
“Since returning to my duties as commander of this
department, I have been greatly disturbed by the extraordinary nature of the
circumstances now existing within this state. Hence, as a fellow citizen of
this state, I must warn you about the dangers that face us all. In this hour, I
appeal to your patriotic feelings and your sense of moral justice. 34 It is
with regret that I must report to you that certain recent actions of the state
government have not been in accord with the Constitution and laws of the United
States. These laws are, of course, paramount and supreme; and we, as citizens
of the United States, are all obligated to obey them. 35 It should be clear to
everyone that the interests of this state are best served in the Union.
Although it has never been my intention to interfere in matters affecting the
governance of this state, I regard it my duty to inform you in as respectful
and decided a manner as I can that I will maintain and support the supreme law
of the land and endeavor to protect the persons and property of this state at
all times.”
36 A week later, the general signed an accord with
General Sterling Price of the Missouri State Guard. Under the terms of the
agreement, Price assured Harney that the sole purpose of the guard was to
protect the citizens of the state and maintain peace and order within its
borders. It seemed that peace and tranquility had been restored to the state,
but many of the Unionists were still dissatisfied with the general’s
even-handedness. They would not be satisfied until all of the secessionists
were out of power and had no voice in state government.
37 Although the general probably suspected that his
enemies were still working furiously to undermine his position, he almost
certainly had no idea of the extent of the machinations of the Blair family. In
fact, they had already succeeded in persuading Secretary Cameron and President
Lincoln to relieve him of his command yet again. Harney’s decision to trust
General Price meant his damnation in the eyes of the Unionists.
38 President Lincoln entrusted the order relieving the
general of command to none other than Frank Blair. Although he expressed his
own desire that Blair refrain from giving it to Harney unless absolutely
necessary, it was a forgone conclusion what would happen when the document was
written. By the end of May, General Harney was relieved of his command. His
part in the great war that had erupted between North and South was over.
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