The Palmyra Massacre: Union Total War Policy in Missouri 1862

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The Palmyra Massacre: Union Total War Policy in Missouri 1862

October 5, 2017 Columnists , Mike Scruggs  

By Mike Scruggs – “This war differs from other wars, in this particular. We are not fighting armies but a hostile people and must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war.”—Union General William T. Sherman.

Some of the first indications of Union leanings toward a Total War philosophy occurred in Missouri, which had since 1854 already experienced armed cross-border conflicts between Missouri partisans and Kansas “Jayhawkers.” A majority of Missouri’s population was of Southern origin and sympathy. By June 1861, Union forces had preemptively occupied St. Louis, the capitol in Jefferson City, and other strategic centers. However, most Missouri State Legislators were able to escape to Neosho, Missouri, and voted for Secession on October 31. One of the thirteen stars in the Southern Cross honors Missouri. Pro-secessionist Governor Claiborne Jackson and former Governor Sterling Price left to form the Missouri State Guard and join with Confederate forces in Arkansas. Other Southern sympathizers engaged in partisan warfare in Missouri. These Confederate partisans were generally treated as outlaws by Union officials. This outlaw status and mistreatment of their families and other Missouri civilians by Federal troops spawned the bloody vengeance raids of William Quantrill and William Anderson. More than one thousand military engagements took place in Missouri during the war. Missouri was the scene of the most drastic and repressive military actions ever directed against civilians in U.S. history. The Palmyra Massacre of October 1862 was only one of several incidents.      http://www.thetribunepapers.com/2017/10/05/the-palmyra-massacre-union-total-war-policy-in-missouri-1862/