Thread 18134411
/his/
John Fremont took command of the Department of Missouri July 3, 1861 and it took him nearly three weeks to get from Washington to the Show Me State by way of New York, which he lingered in for two weeks tending to business matters, and it was near the end of the month before he arrived in St. Louis. He had an unenvious job ahead. Confederate armies numbering around 50,000 men were amassing in the south of the state, another 5,000 gathered around New Madrid, and an unknown number in west Tennessee. It was also believed another 10,000 armed Rebels were preparing to advance on the critical point of Cairo, Illinois. Northeastern Missouri was swarming with guerilla bands whose destruction threatened to spill over into Iowa and St. Louis itself was full of secessionists who might seize control of the city if given the chance.
To counter this Fremont had all of 23,000 troops, many of these 90 day regiments about to go home shortly. There was little in the way of equipment or supplies, the army's war chest was empty, and the government's credit in St. Louis was nearly exhausted. All in all, this situation required a man who could spin straw into gold, and John Fremont, while a glibe speaker who had gone far in life, didn't necessarily have the talents needed to deal with a civil war.
To counter this Fremont had all of 23,000 troops, many of these 90 day regiments about to go home shortly. There was little in the way of equipment or supplies, the army's war chest was empty, and the government's credit in St. Louis was nearly exhausted. All in all, this situation required a man who could spin straw into gold, and John Fremont, while a glibe speaker who had gone far in life, didn't necessarily have the talents needed to deal with a civil war.
