Civil War

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed causing slave-holding Missourians to flood into Kansas. This led to the Missouri-Kansas Border War and eventually the Civil War.

Southern sympathizers captured the U.S. Arsenal at Liberty, MO. This created more tension at the arsenal at St. Louis and therefore was a contributing factor leading to the St. Louis Massacre.

The Second Battle of Springfield was fought during the Civil War.

In the midst the Civil War, Henry W. Halleck assumed command of the Union forces in Missouri and the West. Known derogatorily as “Old Brains,” he was later replaced by General Ulysses S. Grant. 

Birthday of President, General, and adoptive Missourian Hiram Ulysses Grant (aka Ulysses S. Grant).

The Battle of Pea Ridge at the Missouri-Arkansas border decimated the power of Confederate forces in Missouri.

The Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis received its first Confederate prisoners.

Governor Fletcher called out the militia to search for Missouri's most notorious outlaw. Samuel Hildebrand and his men had recently plundered Farmington and were known responsible for at least thirty murders. Hildebrand turned bushwhacker after Union vigilantes killed his brother.