496 



MISSOURI. 



Battles and SUrmishes in Missouri in 1861. 



possession of the vast countries which lie to the 

 west and southwest was the occasion of the con- 

 test made by the Confederate States in Missouri. 

 So popular had Gen. Price become in the 

 Western States of the Confederacy, that when 

 there was a report in Memphis, Tennessee, on 

 the 9th of December, that he had been super- 

 seded in his command in the Department of 

 Missouri and Arkansas by Gen. Heath, it occa- 

 sioned so much discussion as to lead to a com- 

 munication with Richmond, which caused the 

 following telegraphic despatch : 



* Compromise by Gen. J. B. Henderson. 



t Skirmish. 



Evacuated by Gen. Jackson. 



Town burned by the Confederates. 



RICHMOND, Dec. 9, 1861. 

 To Major W. A. Broadwell : 



The rumor that Gen. Price will be superseded is 

 false, if not malignant. I have not received a tender 

 of Missouri troops, and consequently have no power 

 to make appointments for them, or control their organ- 

 ization. JEFF. DAVIS. 



On the 21st of November, after Gen. Halleck 

 had taken command, he issued, at St. Louis, an 

 order, setting forth that, as important informa- 

 tion respecting the numbers and condition of 

 his forces had been conveyed to the enemy by 

 fugitive slaves, no such persons should there- 

 after be permitted to enter the lines of any 

 camp, nor of any forces on the march. On the 

 9th of December he issued an order directing 

 the Mayor of St. Louis to require all municipal 

 officers immediately to take the oath of allegi- 

 ance prescribed by the State Convention, and 

 also directing the provost-marshal to arrest all 

 State officers who had failed to subscribe the 

 oath within the time fixed, and subsequently 

 attempted to exercise authority. 



On the night of December 20, some men who 

 had returned from Gen. Price's army destroyed 

 about 100 miles of the Missouri Railroad, or 

 rendered it useless. Commencing eight miles 

 south of Hudson, they burned the bridge, wood 

 piles, water tanks, ties, and tore up the rails for 

 miles, bent them, and destroyed the telegraph. 

 It was a preconcerted and simultaneous move- 

 ment of citizens along the road. 



On the 23d, Gen. Halleck issued an order 

 fixing the penalty of death on all persons en- 

 gaged in destroying railroads and telegraphs, 

 and requiring the towns and counties where it 

 is done to repair the damages and pay expenses. 



On the 25th he issued the following order, 

 declaring qualified martial law : 



In virtue of authority conferred on me by the Presi- 

 dent of the United States, martial law is hereby de- 

 clared, and will be enforced in and about all the rail- 

 roads in this State. 



It is not intended by this declaration to interfere 

 with the jurisdiction in any court which is loyal to the 

 Government of the United States, and which will aid 

 the military authorities in enforcing order and punish- 

 ing crimes. 



About the same time an order was issued 

 levying a tax of $10,000 on certain citizens of 

 St. Louis who were sympathizing with the 

 Southern Confederacy. This money was de- 

 signed to support and assist Union refugees in 

 the city. (See ST. Louis.) 



On the 28th of December the negroes in con- 

 finement at St. Louis as runaways were 'dis- 

 charged by order of the provost-marshal. The 

 effect of the order was only to deliver them 

 from confinement and subsequently from sale, 

 on the presumption that they were slaves. Gen. 

 Halleck stated that this order would not debar 

 any one from enforcing his legal rights to the 

 services of the negroes. Such rights, if any 

 existed, would be enforced through the loyal 

 civil tribunals of the State, whose mandates 

 would always be duly respected by the military 

 authorities of the Department. Military offi- 

 cers cannot decide upon the rights of property 



