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1 Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier. This little story is written for my family, because I was asked to write it and because from my silence about the war, even my children know so little that one of them recently asked me if "I was in the Confederate Army", and a friend asked, "If I was actually where I could be shot at." I am proud of my service, though it was inconspicuous, as a Confederate soldier. I gave what strength I had and shed my blood for the cause and count it glory to have done so. The deplorable conflict on the border of Missouri and Kansas, the wrongs suffered by Missourians from Kansas fanatics and thieves and the illegal and murderous acts of [Nathaniel] Lyon and Frank [Francis P.] Blair [Jr.] in St. Louis decided me to take up arms and eventually to go into the Confederate Army. The trouble over the slavery question in Kansas assumed such proportions by the year 1860 that the Governor of Missouri sent General [Daniel M.] Frost to the border with five or six hundred men to stop the incursions of Kansas desperadoes into the state. It was at this time that I began to raise a company to go to Kansas against the Jayhawkers. I had enlisted about twenty-five young men, had bought cloth to make their uniforms and was negotiating with firms in St. Louis for guns when the legislature passed a bill making independent companies illegal. My company was at once disbanded. The election of governor of Missouri as well as president of the United States took place in 1860. Both Governor [Robert M.] Stewart and Governor elect Claiborne F. Jackson held that the north was solely responsible for the troubled condition of the country. That if the North would guarantee to the South political rights it would bring peace and quiet. It was believed that from three-fourths to ninety per cent of the people of Missouri felt in that way. See Thos. [Thomas] L. Snead's book and James O. Broadhead in the history of Missouri [Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri] by
Object Description
Description
Title | page 1 |
Description | This memoir was written by John M. Weidemeyer to inform his friends and family about his service as a Confederate officer in the Civil War. He formed a company in 1860 to fight the jayhawkers in Kansas. However, in the same year the Missouri legislature passed a bill making independent companies illegal, so his company disbanded. |
Theme |
United States -- History -- Civil War -- Military life United States -- History -- 19th century -- Slavery United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century |
Subject | Memoirs and biographies; Confederate States of America; Soldiers; Lyon, Nathaniel; Blair, Francis P. Jr.; Slavery; Frost, Daniel M.; Kansas -- History; Governors; Military uniforms; Military weapons; Firearms and artillery; Elections; Elections -- Missouri; Stewart, Robert M.; Jackson, Claiborne F.; Books; Jayhawkers |
Coverage | St. Louis, Missouri; Jefferson City, Missouri; Boonville, Missouri; Osceola, Missouri; Rolla, Missouri; Springfield, Missouri; Carthage, Missouri; St. Louis County, Missouri; Cole County, Missouri; Cooper County, Missouri; St. Clair County, Missouri; Phelps County, Missouri; Greene County, Missouri; Jasper County, Missouri |
Transcription | 1 Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier. This little story is written for my family, because I was asked to write it and because from my silence about the war, even my children know so little that one of them recently asked me if "I was in the Confederate Army", and a friend asked, "If I was actually where I could be shot at." I am proud of my service, though it was inconspicuous, as a Confederate soldier. I gave what strength I had and shed my blood for the cause and count it glory to have done so. The deplorable conflict on the border of Missouri and Kansas, the wrongs suffered by Missourians from Kansas fanatics and thieves and the illegal and murderous acts of [Nathaniel] Lyon and Frank [Francis P.] Blair [Jr.] in St. Louis decided me to take up arms and eventually to go into the Confederate Army. The trouble over the slavery question in Kansas assumed such proportions by the year 1860 that the Governor of Missouri sent General [Daniel M.] Frost to the border with five or six hundred men to stop the incursions of Kansas desperadoes into the state. It was at this time that I began to raise a company to go to Kansas against the Jayhawkers. I had enlisted about twenty-five young men, had bought cloth to make their uniforms and was negotiating with firms in St. Louis for guns when the legislature passed a bill making independent companies illegal. My company was at once disbanded. The election of governor of Missouri as well as president of the United States took place in 1860. Both Governor [Robert M.] Stewart and Governor elect Claiborne F. Jackson held that the north was solely responsible for the troubled condition of the country. That if the North would guarantee to the South political rights it would bring peace and quiet. It was believed that from three-fourths to ninety per cent of the people of Missouri felt in that way. See Thos. [Thomas] L. Snead's book and James O. Broadhead in the history of Missouri [Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri] by |
CONTENTdm file name | 8290.jp2 |