“June 11, 2011, 6:30 PM
Missouri’s War Within the War
“Disunion follows the Civil War as it unfolded.
“On June 11, 1861, at St. Louis’s sumptuous Planters’ House, two Army officers met with Missouri’s governor and former governor, the latter now commanding the state militia, in the governor’s suite. The meeting, called to discuss Missouri’s role in the unfolding Civil War, was anything but cordial. For the first half hour, the governors, Claiborne Fox Jackson and Sterling Price, insisted their state, though still a part of the Union, remain neutral, and that, in exchange for disbanding the state militia, the federalized German home guard be disbanded as well.
“Needless to say, this didn’t sit well with the federal officers. One of them, Capt. Nathaniel Lyon, refused to concede any point on federal authority and rejected the state leaders’ calumets. After four heated hours, Lyon declared bluntly that “Better, sir, far better that the blood of every man, woman, and child within the limits of the State should flow, than that she should defy the federal government.” Turning on his heels, Lyon strode briskly out of the room, leaving the remaining men in stunned silence at what sounded like a declaration of war — by an army captain…
Cassi Creek: Lyon’s action set the stage for some of the fiercest battles of the Civil War. Sterling Price spent the next four years trying to capture Jefferson City and reverse the status of Missouri from border to southern state. Meanwhile, along the western tier of states, Missourians continued to fight with Kansans over slavery and other insults. Counties became aligned for one side or the other. By looking at the ages of county court houses, you can see which counties were pro-Union and which were pro-southern and therefore often had their county seats burned for anti-Union guerilla activity.
Along the southern tier of counties, old and new feuds were settled with guns and arson, leading to hatreds that are still active today.
“The book centers on the exploits of the Confederate steamer Shenandoah, which preyed on whaling vessels supplying oil for the Union. The ship was skippered by Lieutenant James Iredell Wadell, who, along with capturing or sinking 38 ships (without a single casualty on either side), famously is said to have fired the last shot of the Civil War, two months after the war had ended. (Watson explains that seeming conundrum in the video.) The ship is pictured in action in Arctic waters in the lithograph below, from the collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
If this tale intrigues you, while you’re waiting for Watson’s book you can start in with “The Last Shot: The Incredible Story of the C.S.S. Shenandoah and the True Conclusion of the American Civil War,” by Lynn Schooler of Juneau, Alaska.
Cassi Creek: Even then, oil was a major factor in wars. Whale oil fueled lamps in the halls of power.
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By Nia-Malika Henderson,
“Is it possible to get hooked up (maybe by Nick Ayers?) with someone from the McCain campaign?” she writes in a message dated Jan. 29, 2008. “Let them know my relationship with the state party (McCain goes through the same thing on Nat’l level), so party will never hook me up as they could have/should have to speak to candidates before Super Tuesday.”
Cassi Creek: Of course, not at all surprising. Palin finds the governor’s seat to be less than desirable because:
It is too hard,
It is boring,
It is not important enough,
People expect her to pay for her family’s travel expenses,
Ethical considerations suddenly apply to her,
People keep saying mean things about her,
She can’t fire all the people who make her mad.
So, before the paint on the office door is dry she is looking for a way to climb to the next level of her incompetency.
The e-mail search seems to document her incessant demand to be the center of attention and her penchant for extracting revenge whenever she feels slighted. Not an acceptable head of state or nation.
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