The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 196

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

true. On the following day, May io, 1861, he surrounded the
camp and demanded its surrender. General Frost, surprised and
outnumbered, complied immediately. The prisoners were marched
out of camp, and as they passed through the streets of St. Louis,
crowds began to form. Jeers and insults were hurled at the
troops under Lyon's command, particularly at the newly formed
German home guard units; then suddenly several shots rang
out, followed by a number of volleys into the crowd. Twenty-
eight persons were killed or mortally wounded."
The effect of this incident was precisely opposite to what the
unconditional unionists could have wished. Within fifteen minutes
after the receipt of the news in Jefferson City the Missouri Legis-
lature passed the military bill which Governor Jackson had been
striving for since his inauguration,8 and a wave of indignation
swept the state at the high-handed and murderous action of
Lyon's regiments at St. Louis.
The tempo of events had been quickened by the Camp Jackson
affair. On May i8, using his broad powers under the newly enact-
ed military bill, Governor Jackson appointed Sterling Price major
general and commander of the Missouri State Guard. On May 21
he appointed nine brigadier generals and ordered them to begin
enrolling citizens from their districts. Nevertheless, there were still
many citizens throughout the state who wanted a peaceful solu-
tion to these problems, and despite the warlike preparations
General Price met with Brigadier General William S. Harney,
United States commander of the Department of the West, at St.
Louis on May 21 and concluded an agreement. This agreement
provided generally that if order was maintained in the state and
the organization of the state guard was suspended, General Harney
would make no military moves on the state. As a result of this
unusual agreement between a Federal officer and a state authority,
General Harney was relieved by Washington, and Lyon was ap-
pointed his successor. Governor Jackson then went to St. Louis
in an attempt to secure an agreement with Lyon concerning both
the disbandment of the unionist home guards and a limitation
on the further Federal military occupation of Missouri. Lyon
2Thomas R. Snead, The Fight for Missouri from the Election of Lincoln to the
Death of Lyon (New York, 1886), 171.
8Ibid., 173.

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