Chapter I: Front Matter

THE STORY OF A BORDER CITY DURING THE CIVIL WAR

A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF ST. LOUIS IN 1860.

[_Frontispiece_
]

THE STORY OF A BORDER CITY DURING THE CIVIL WAR

BY

GALUSHA ANDERSON, S. T. D., LL. D.

PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
RESIDENT OF ST. LOUIS FROM 1858 TO 1866

_With Twelve Portraits and Views_

“On the perilous edge of battle.”—_John Milton._

Boston

Little, Brown, and Company

1908

_Copyright, 1908_,
BY GALUSHA ANDERSON.

_All rights reserved_

Published September, 1908

_COLONIAL PRESS
Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.
Boston, U. S. A._

_To all those, living or dead, who by wisdom, tact and
self-sacrifice helped to keep Missouri in the
Union, this book is affectionately
dedicated_

AN EXPLANATION

I have been frequently urged by men in different parts of the country to write out, and give to the public, the story of St. Louis during the Civil War. Having had of late my time largely at my own disposal, I determined to yield to these earnest solicitations. But I have found the task somewhat more difficult than I anticipated. While all that I saw in St. Louis, and all in which I participated, came back to my mind with remarkable freshness and vividness, I have been compelled, because of the lapse of time since the war, to verify my recollections by wide reading and painstaking research. I have tried to weigh impartially what has been said both by those who were for, and those who were against, the Union.

Upon some points pertaining to military operations in St. Louis and Missouri, I have found considerable conflicting testimony. In such cases I have either given authorities on both sides, or, having sifted the evidence pro and con, have presented what seemed to me to be, at least approximately, the historical facts. And while in some instances I may have come short of absolute accuracy, in all my statements I have earnestly endeavored to present the exact truth.

But I have treated of the movements of troops and the acts of the general government only in so far as they immediately affected the life and experiences of those within our city. My sole object in all that I have written has been to portray as clearly and vividly as I could what transpired among us from 1860 to 1865; to note some events that preceded the war and were the harbingers of it; to reveal the currents of thought and feeling in St. Louis during the whole fratricidal struggle, and especially to point out what was peculiar to us as a community made up of the loyal and disloyal.

To my own mind it is clear that our great Civil War can never be fully understood without a knowledge of the unique experiences of a border city, and especially of St. Louis, for the possession of which both parties to our great national conflict so earnestly contended. During the long and bloody battle for the Union, my home was there, and this book is simply “an unvarnished tale” of what I saw and of work in which I shared. As a testimony I trust that it may be of some worth.

And since I intended it to be only a simple testimony, it has not been written to make out a case. I have tried to divest myself of the spirit of a partisan, and to present in an unbiased manner what I personally observed. I have endeavored to write, as the martyred President did, “with malice toward none, with charity for all.”

GALUSHA ANDERSON.

NEWTON CENTRE, MASS.
_April, 1908._

For the originals of several of the illustrations in this volume the author is indebted to Miss Mary Louise Dalton, the late Librarian of the Missouri Historical Society, whose many kindnesses will always be held in grateful remembrance.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. ST. LOUIS 1
II. FOREBODINGS OF CONFLICT 11
III. RUMBLINGS OF THE CONFLICT 32
IV. THE BOOMERANG CONVENTION 40
V. THE FIGHT FOR THE ARSENAL 63
VI. CAMP JACKSON 86
VII. RIOT, PANIC, SEARCH AND CONFISCATION 106
VIII. THE PULPIT AND THE PRESS 120
IX. DECISION AND DIVISION 146
X. BITTERNESS 159
XI. SLAVES AND SLAVE-PENS 170
XII. PRISONS AND PRISONERS 188
XIII. LYON IN CONFERENCE AND IN CAMPAIGN 198
XIV. FREMONT AND FIASCO 206
XV. EXTRAORDINARY ACTS 227
XVI. HALLECK AND HIS MANIFESTOES 234
XVII. REFUGEES 251
XVIII. DIFFICULT CURRENCY 268
XIX. NOT PEACE BUT THE SWORD 271
XX. CHARCOALS AND CLAYBANKS 276
XXI. HOMES AND HOSPITALS 288
XXII. THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SANITARY FAIR 309
XXIII. A DARK PLOT THWARTED 315
XXIV. NEGRO SCHOOLS 333
XXV. AFTER DARKNESS LIGHT 338
XXVI. RADICALS IN CONVENTION 342
XXVII. THE WIND-UP 360

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF ST. LOUIS IN 1860 _Frontispiece_

From a lithograph in the possession of the Missouri Historical
Society.

THE ARSENAL, ST. LOUIS, IN 1866 63

CAMP JACKSON, ST. LOUIS 89

From a photograph in the possession of the Missouri Historical
Society.

GRATIOT STREET PRISON, FORMERLY THE MCDOWELL MEDICAL COLLEGE 188

From an oil painting, the property of the Missouri Historical
Society.

BRIGADIER-GENERAL NATHANIEL LYON 198

GENERAL FREMONT’S HEADQUARTERS, ST. LOUIS 206

FACSIMILE OF A PASS, ISSUED TO THE AUTHOR IN 1861 215

THE AUTHOR, GALUSHA ANDERSON, IN 1861 218

From a daguerreotype.

HONORABLE FRANK P. BLAIR, JR. 279

From an oil painting, the property of the Missouri Historical
Society.

MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY W. HALLECK 279

MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS 279

MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT 279

MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN MCA. SCHOFIELD 279

THE STORY OF A BORDER CITY DURING THE CIVIL WAR