The Confederate government of Missouri was a continuation in exile of the government of pro- Confederate Governor Claiborne F. Jackson. It existed until General

E. Kirby Smith Four-star rank, General Edmund Kirby Smith (May 16, 1824March 28, 1893) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded the Trans-Mississippi Department (comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Lo ...

surrendered all Confederate troops west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, May 26, 1865.

History

Battle flag of the Confederate States of America

As the Civil War began, many leading citizens were hoping the state could remain neutral in the growing conflict. These hopes were encompassed in the so-called Price–Harney Truce of May 21, 1861. Implementation of the truce fell prey, however, to the growing conflict. At a meeting held at Planters' House in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, June 11, 1861, it became clear that leading Missourians would have to choose sides. In the fall of 1861, Governor Claiborne Jackson and other leading Missouri

secessionist Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

s met in

Neosho, Missouri Neosho (; originally or ) is the most populous city in Newton County, Missouri, United States, which it serves as the county seat. With a population of 12,590 as of the 2020 census, the city is a part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Stat ...

. Acting as the

Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Senate and a 163-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses of the General Assembly are ...

, this body enacted an ordinance of secession on October 28, 1861; however, the legal status of this ordinance was not accepted by Missouri's Union supporters, then or later. The secession government applied for and, on November 28, 1861, was granted admission to the Confederacy as the purported 12th state of the Southern federal republic. As a result of military operations, however, particularly the

Battle of Pea Ridge The Battle of Pea Ridge (March 7–8, 1862), also known as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, took place in the American Civil War near Leetown, Arkansas, Leetown, northeast of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. United States, Federal f ...

in March 1862, the Confederate government of Missouri was not able to establish control over much of the state; its jurisdiction extended only as far as Confederate military strength could reach. Governor Jackson and his government were forced into exile. The exiled government established operations in Marshall, Texas, as part of the Trans-Mississippi bloc of Southern civil governments. Although Confederate supporters in Missouri were unable to make their secession good, the Southern government-in-exile sent legislators to the

Congress of the Confederate States The Confederate States Congress was both the provisional and permanent legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned with measures to establish a new nat ...

, and Missouri was represented by the twelfth star on the Confederate flag.

References

{{Authority control .American Civil War

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Missouri

History

See also

References