The End of the Civil War
Following the defeat and retreat of Sterling Price and his raid on Missouri in 1864, there was little to speak of in Missouri related to the Civil War. Certainly, small skirmishes and anger continued in the Show-Me State, but our role in the war was over.
By the end of January 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was passed by the United States Congress. This being the first of the three “Civil War Amendments” abolished slavery throughout the United States. It had a greater impact and was more capable of enforcement than the early Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln. Slaves in Missouri must be made free now by order of the United States Constitution.
The man who had been employed by a local railroad at St. Louis while the Camp Jackson affair occurred, William T. Sherman, is marching through Georgia in February, after doing the same in North and South Carolina. Sherman’s tactics would become known as the original “shock and awe” style of warfare. He laid destruction across the South in some areas 100 miles wide, burning and destroying everything in his path.
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated on March 4, 1865 for a second term. Lincoln had no way of knowing that he would not see the end of the war, let alone complete that second term. John Wilkes Booth would serve a death blow to the “Great Emancipator” while he watched a play at Ford’s Theater.
Less than one month after the inauguration, Confederate General Robert E. Lee would evacuate the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia on April 2nd. Union forces would enter the capital and hoist the Stars and Stripes the next day. Lincoln would tour the town on April 4th. He would stop and set at the desk of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the Confederate White House for a few moments with “a serious, dreamy expression.”
Less than a week after Lincoln’s Richmond visit, Lee would encounter Grant’s troops at Appomattox Court House, a Virginia community. Lee would surrender the Confederate Army to General “Unconditional Surrender” on April 9, 1865. The signing of the surrender would take place in the home of a Wilmer McLean. McLean lived on a small plantation near Manassas Junction, Virginia in 1861. There was a small stream that crossed McLean’s property at Manassas Junction, the stream known as Bull Run. Ever hear of it? Confederate General P.G. T. Beauregard used McLean’s home there as his headquarters during the first Battle of Bull Run (known as the First Battle of Manassas by the Confederates). Following the Lee’s signing of surrender, McLean is reported to have said “The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor.”
The Civil War would continue for a period of time after Lee touched pen to paper that April day. Some refused to surrender while some just didn’t get the word that it was over. Stand Watie would continue to fight until surrender at Fort Towson in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) on June 23, 1865. The Native American leader is considered by some to be the last Confederate general to surrender his command. Missouri’s Confederate leaders, Sterling Price, Thomas C. Reynolds, and Jo Shelby would all leave the United States and spend a period of time in Mexico.
The American Civil War would also reach across the globe. The CSS Shenandoah was in Micronesia when Lee surrendered. The ship had traveling both the Atlantic and Pacific, attacking many vessels, destroying or capturing thirty-eight ships. On November 6, 1865, the Shenandoah landed in Liverpool England. The last Confederate surrender occurred in a land an entire ocean away from where all the death and destruction of the “War Between the States” had been waged.
President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation on August 20, 1866 officially announcing the end of the American Civil War. According to the Civil War Trust (www.civilwar.org) the total number of deaths in the Civil War were more than 600,000. In Missouri, roughly 27,000 military and civilian deaths occurred. Of the Union deaths for Missouri, close to twice as many killed in battle died from disease.
Sources used:
http://home.usmo.com/~momollus/MOFACTS.HTM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Price
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Caute_Reynolds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_O._Shelby
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2015/spring/cw-surrenders.html
http://www.civilwar.org/education/civil-war-casualties.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
http://www.history.com/news/how-the-civil-war-stalked-wilmer-mclean
http://americancivilwar.com/tl/tl1865.html
http://www.civilwar.si.edu/timeline_1865.html
By the end of January 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was passed by the United States Congress. This being the first of the three “Civil War Amendments” abolished slavery throughout the United States. It had a greater impact and was more capable of enforcement than the early Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln. Slaves in Missouri must be made free now by order of the United States Constitution.
The man who had been employed by a local railroad at St. Louis while the Camp Jackson affair occurred, William T. Sherman, is marching through Georgia in February, after doing the same in North and South Carolina. Sherman’s tactics would become known as the original “shock and awe” style of warfare. He laid destruction across the South in some areas 100 miles wide, burning and destroying everything in his path.
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated on March 4, 1865 for a second term. Lincoln had no way of knowing that he would not see the end of the war, let alone complete that second term. John Wilkes Booth would serve a death blow to the “Great Emancipator” while he watched a play at Ford’s Theater.
Less than one month after the inauguration, Confederate General Robert E. Lee would evacuate the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia on April 2nd. Union forces would enter the capital and hoist the Stars and Stripes the next day. Lincoln would tour the town on April 4th. He would stop and set at the desk of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the Confederate White House for a few moments with “a serious, dreamy expression.”
Less than a week after Lincoln’s Richmond visit, Lee would encounter Grant’s troops at Appomattox Court House, a Virginia community. Lee would surrender the Confederate Army to General “Unconditional Surrender” on April 9, 1865. The signing of the surrender would take place in the home of a Wilmer McLean. McLean lived on a small plantation near Manassas Junction, Virginia in 1861. There was a small stream that crossed McLean’s property at Manassas Junction, the stream known as Bull Run. Ever hear of it? Confederate General P.G. T. Beauregard used McLean’s home there as his headquarters during the first Battle of Bull Run (known as the First Battle of Manassas by the Confederates). Following the Lee’s signing of surrender, McLean is reported to have said “The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor.”
The Civil War would continue for a period of time after Lee touched pen to paper that April day. Some refused to surrender while some just didn’t get the word that it was over. Stand Watie would continue to fight until surrender at Fort Towson in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) on June 23, 1865. The Native American leader is considered by some to be the last Confederate general to surrender his command. Missouri’s Confederate leaders, Sterling Price, Thomas C. Reynolds, and Jo Shelby would all leave the United States and spend a period of time in Mexico.
The American Civil War would also reach across the globe. The CSS Shenandoah was in Micronesia when Lee surrendered. The ship had traveling both the Atlantic and Pacific, attacking many vessels, destroying or capturing thirty-eight ships. On November 6, 1865, the Shenandoah landed in Liverpool England. The last Confederate surrender occurred in a land an entire ocean away from where all the death and destruction of the “War Between the States” had been waged.
President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation on August 20, 1866 officially announcing the end of the American Civil War. According to the Civil War Trust (www.civilwar.org) the total number of deaths in the Civil War were more than 600,000. In Missouri, roughly 27,000 military and civilian deaths occurred. Of the Union deaths for Missouri, close to twice as many killed in battle died from disease.
Sources used:
http://home.usmo.com/~momollus/MOFACTS.HTM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Price
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Caute_Reynolds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_O._Shelby
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2015/spring/cw-surrenders.html
http://www.civilwar.org/education/civil-war-casualties.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
http://www.history.com/news/how-the-civil-war-stalked-wilmer-mclean
http://americancivilwar.com/tl/tl1865.html
http://www.civilwar.si.edu/timeline_1865.html