The Missouri Civil War Museum is housed at Jefferson Barracks south of St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1905 Post Exchange and Gymnasium Building. In its 22,000 square feet, it features over one thousand artifacts and several films. According to the museum’s website, “Each gallery and exhibit tells a different story of Missouri in the American Civil War, from guerrillas and jayhawkers to life on the home front. The Museum also contains several galleries on the post-war era and the history of our home here at Jefferson Barracks" (mcwm.org).
A View of Jefferson Barracks from the Museum
After watching the introductory film and reading through the exhibits in the “Pre-War Gallery” that explained some of the key events in Missouri leading up to the Civil War (see Post #10), I entered the Main Gallery to see a large space, at the center of which stood a large Studebaker Horse Wagon, a 3-Inch Ordnance Rifle (one of the most common cannons used during the war), and soldiers and a war horse ready for battle. The names of various Missouri battles encircle the room, as do quotes from various Civil War figures.
One sad piece of trivia from the “War Horse” sign: “Approximately one million horses and mules were lost during the Civil War due to combat injuries and from disease and exhaustion. In Missouri, tens of thousands of horses and mules were taken and used by both Federal and Confederate troops, most of which never returned.”
Two quotes that especially stood out to me for their vehemence were from two of the main “guerrilla” leaders - Jayhawker and Kansas Senator James Lane, a Union soldier who led the attack on Osceola, Missouri; and Bushwhacker and Confederate guerrilla leader William C. Quantrill, who led the attack on Lawrence, Kansas. I write about both of these attacks in my book. Here are their quotes:
- “All the plunder, or the bulk of it, stolen from Missouri will be found stored away in Lawrence. We can get more revenge and more money there than anywhere else.” - William C. Quantrill
- “We believe in a war of extermination. There is no such thing as Union men in the border of Missouri. I want to see every foot of ground in Jackson, Cass and Bates counties burned over and laid to waste." - Kansas Senator James Lane
Lane’s extreme actions along the border and in the town of Osceola drove many Missourians who might otherwise have supported the Union to the rebel side. Some of those same Confederate supporters - such as William “Bloody Bill Anderson” and Frank and Jesse James - played key roles in the Centralia Massacre and Battle of Centralia that I wrote about in previous posts.
The museum had informational signs about many key players in the war from both sides: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Claiborne F. Jackson, Nathaniel Lyon, John S. Marmaduke, Sterling Price, James Robinson McCormick, Douglas Hancock Cooper, Daniel Marsh Frost, Thomas Lowndes Snead, James L. Lane, William C. Quantrill, James Buchanon Eads, Joseph Orville Shelby, and many more. Many of them I knew, but others I had never heard of. Still so much to learn!
There were MANY displays featuring various types of guns, swords, knives, ammunition, tools, games, toiletry items, knapsacks, and uniforms used by soldiers during the war. One helpful display explained how “Money and Finance” worked during the war and showed the many types of notes and bonds used by both sides. Another talked about the role music played in the war.
Two of my favorite displays were also two of the most relevant to my research: one that discussed Ground Troops/Infantry; the other, Medicine and War. James Calaway Hale and Benjamin Petree, whose letters form the basis for the books I'm working on, were both in the infantry (though in different regiments); and James spent a lot of time at the hospital in St Louis, so many of his letters deal with illnesses and injuries he both experiences and sees all around him. My next post will feature excerpts from some of those letters.
According to the “Ground Troops” exhibit sign, “Civil War armies were primarily made up of the infantry. These soldiers marched, attacked, and retreated largely on foot. Through extensive training and drill, the infantry needed to effectively maneuver on the battlefield to strike an enemy’s position wherever needed. Using rifles and muskets, troops maximized their firepower against an enemy force in line of battle.”
The exhibit included a typical uniform and forage cap, rifle, musket, knapsack, and boots a soldier might use, as well as a spyglass, canteens, horse spurs and bits, as well as some books on infantry tactics. It also included informational signs about the 39th Missouri Infantry, which was the one almost completely killed in Centralia (see Post #6); the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, made up of many former Missouri slaves and the first African American unit to fight in combat; and Brigadier Gen. Francis M. Cockrell and his Missouri Brigade. Sadly, I didn’t see anything specifically about the 33rd Regiment, Missouri Infantry, Company H, which was the one to which my GGG Grandfather belonged.
The “Medicine and War” display featured lots of medicines, tool kits, amputation sets, knives, vials and bottles, an old wheelchair, dental instruments, crutches and splints, and various prosthetics that were used by doctors in the war to treat their patients. According to the sign, “When the Civil War began, both sides were ill equipped to handle the medical needs of three million troops. Over one million soldiers became casualties during the war with more dying from illness and disease rather than weapons. One out of every five soldiers who fought in the war lost their life, and by war’s end, more than 620,000 of them perished.”
Much of the medical treatment soldiers received on the battlefield was quite brutal, with amputations being common. However, “tremendous advancements in medical care occurred as a result of the Civil War that related to trauma care, internal medicine, infectious diseases, and rehabilitation.” James C. Hale got a firsthand view of some of these advancements, but he also described one eye doctor he observed at the hospital as “the roughest doctor [he had] ever seen” and said he wouldn’t let him near his eyes.
On the lower level, an exhibit that stood out to me was “Hollywood and the Civil War,” with information about both book and movie portrayals of the Civil War. I still vividly remember reading Gone with the Wind back in eighth grade over a two-day period when I had chickenpox. I just sat in my bed and read and read and read … and grew interested in history for the first time. The Red Badge of Courage is one of the books I have strong memories of reading in high school - seeing what war could do to a young man in a short period of time.
It wasn’t until I was in my late twenties that I read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, whose author - Harriet Beecher Stowe - President Lincoln credited with being "the little woman that wrote the book that started this great war." That book also had a big impact on me - especially the character of George - and made me want to learn a lot more about slavery, as well as the fugitive slave law and the abolitionist movement.
There is much more to see if you ever make it to the museum for yourself. In the meantime, I hope you’ve enjoyed this recap of my recent visit. Tune in next time to see some excerpts from my GGG Grandfather’s letters from Benton Barracks General Hospital in St. Louis.
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