Re-enactment Allows Spectators To Travel Back In Time To Civil War

Pack your haversack and get ready to travel back in time to the early days of the Civil War when pro-Union and pro-secession re-enactment groups skirmish this weekend at Jefferson Barracks County Park in St. Louis County.

The three-day re-enactment, “Camp Jackson: The Tipping Point,” will feature two battles plus a look at life in a military camp in 1861.

“This is the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War,” said Charles Hoskins, a history buff and re-enactor representing the 3rd Missouri U.S. Volunteers, the pro-Union side of the skirmish. “For the state of Missouri, that really kicked off on May 10th of 1861. Prior to that date, the various pro-Union and pro-secession factions in St. Louis had been sort of jockeying for position. The events on May 10 brought all that to a head.”

Today is School Day, with the grounds open to school groups and the public. Beginning at 9 a.m., visitors can tour the camp, watch drilling and recruitment ceremonies and see women making shirts for the troops and flags.

“There is a big educational twist to this event,” re-enactor Frank Aufmuth said. “Over 900 students and teachers will be getting the perspective of both sides.”

Events on Saturday also start at 9 a.m. They include drilling, flag presentations, and tours. The climax will be the 2 p.m. depiction of the battle between opposing factions that took place May 10, 1861 in Lindell Grove, an area located where Olive and Grand now converge in St. Louis. That battle of Camp Jackson was a wake-up call that Missouri would not be a spectator during the War Between the States.

“It really galvanized positions,” Hoskins said. “It didn’t shove the state, as a whole, to one side or the other. At that point in time, people realized this isn’t going to just go away--we’re not going to get out of this without a fight. The time for compromise is now past.”

The re-enactment depictions at Jefferson Barracks represent the culmination of two years of planning. They are designed to tell a story.

“Many people in St. Louis and Missouri think of the Civil War as something that happened in a far-off place that you only learn about when you open a history book,” Aufmuth said. “However, for Missourians, the events during the war literally hit home. This was the state where brother fought brother and father fought son.”

The depiction will feature 300 re-enactors with authentic period clothing and accouterments.

“Friday and Saturday are dedicated to the concept that Camp Jackson was the ‘tipping point’ that pulled Missouri into the Civil War,” Aufmuth said. “The Camp Jackson theme will culminate on Saturday when we re-enact the Camp Jackson incident.”

The intent of the re-enactors, Hoskins said, is to make sure the Battle of Camp Jackson is “commemorated in some way, recognizing the importance they had on the next four years in Missouri.”

In February of 1861, Capt. Nathaniel Lyon of the Second United States Infantry, Company B, was sent to the St. Louis Arsenal to protect the arms stored there. At the time, the St. Louis Arsenal was the largest arsenal west of the Mississippi River, with 40,000 to 60,000 muskets and rifles, plus a huge store of ammunition, Hoskins said.

“Needless to say, either side that had control of that arsenal would be in a very good position in the upcoming conflict,” he said.

Missouri’s governor at the time, Claiborne Fox Jackson, was a pro-secessionist who had been “scheming behind the scenes to try to grab the arsenal and all of the guns,” Hoskins said. “In the meantime, there were pro-Union factors in St. Louis that wanted to try and prevent that from happening.”

In April of 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, and President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to quell the pro-secessionist uprising. Jackson refused to send Missouri’s quota of troops, but Union supporter Frank Blair gathered 7,000 men at the arsenal to be sworn in. Jackson countered by calling members of the pro-secessionist Missouri Volunteer Militia into action, and they set up camp at Lindell Grove near the arsenal.

Capt. Lyon, keeping an eye on things, knew the volunteer militia was pro-secession. When he learned they had received a shipment of howitzers and cannons plus ammunition to lay siege to the arsenal, he surrounded their camp on May 10. There were only 700 or 800 militia members in the camp.

“They realized that any armed resistance was going to be completely futile, and they surrendered the camp,” Hoskins said.

The problem began when the prisoners were marched back to the Arsenal. Prior to May 10, the pro-secessionist militia had been drilling and doing flag presentations and had attracted a following of civilians who enjoyed coming out to watch. When these men were captured, a crowd gathered to protest, taunting the pro-Union troops and throwing stones and dirt clods at them.

Hoskins said accounts vary as to what happened next, but a widely accepted story indicates someone in the crowd shot at the pro-Union troops. The Union volunteers fired back, and 28 civilians were killed, with another 100 wounded.

“That touched off a couple of days of smaller scale rioting around town,” Hoskins said. 

The lines were drawn with supporters on both sides, but Missouri never seceded from the Union. In July 1861, the Missouri legislature removed Gov. Jackson from office. He enlisted in the Confederacy, but his health was failing. He was eventually relieved of duty. Jackson died on Dec. 6, 1862. Lyon went on to use troops at his command to take control of the Missouri River and capture Jefferson City.

“From a strategic point of view, that gave the pro-Union forces the upper hand in maneuvering around the state,” Hoskins said.

When the tipping point event is re-enacted Saturday, troops on both sides will be dressed in period civilian clothing, as this was very early in the war, before uniforms were commonplace. On Sunday, the Battle of Blackwell Station will be re-enacted starting at 1 p.m. when troops march to the battlefield.

“This battle occurred in October 1861 in Jefferson County and only 40 miles from St. Louis,” Aufmuth said. “This battle re-enactment will mark just one of the early battles of the Civil War that resulted from the events that took place on May 10, 1861 at Camp Jackson.”

Hoskins, 42, is a lawyer who lives in Washington, MO. He is fascinated by history and the "living history" of re-enactments.

“I’ve always been interested in history, reading military history, social history, whatever,” he said. “What living history does for me is it brings all of that off the page. I can read about a soldier frying hard tack and boiling coffee over a fire. But when I sit there and I do that myself, it just brings a whole new dimension to the study and understanding of the subject.”

Hard tack is made of flour, water and a little salt and can last for months without going bad, Hoskins said. It was ideal sustenance for troops on the move, as long as they didn’t mind the lack of taste.

“It’s pretty bland,” Hoskins said.

Aufmuth, 41, is a teacher in the Affton School District and lives in St. Louis. He also likes history and the “experimental archeology” aspect of re-enactments.

“Using the same tools they used, living like they lived, marching down some of the same roads, visiting the same battlefields--it’s almost like an extreme sport,” he said. “At the same time, I thank God that I have never had to face combat and that none of this is the real thing. In addition to this, I have met good people and have found close friends in my fellow re-enactors.”

Aufmuth said spectators this weekend will get a better understanding of Missouri's unique situation at the beginning of the Civil War.

“If all goes as planned, the visitors should get a deeper understanding of what happened in their own back yards,” he said. “Certainly, this is a side of history that is not typically portrayed or taught.”

The public is invited, and details, a schedule and a map of the grounds are available with the “Camp Jackson: The Tipping Point” program.

There will be a variety of demonstrations including Civil War era music, vignettes describing the lives and experiences of slaves in St. Louis, plus artillery and musket firing. Military camps will be open to the public and tours will be available for school groups and public alike. In addition several “sutlers” and food vendors will be on hand.

Take Highway 40 east to Interstate 270 south. Continue onto Interstate 255 east to exit 2 for Mo. 231 North. Turn left onto 231 North/Telegraph Road, drive 2.5 miles to South Broadway and turn right. Continue onto Grant Road, then turn right onto Cye Road. The park is at 251 Cye Road.