Colonel Lewis Merrill-- Part 1: At the University of Missouri

From Univ. of Missouri ROTC Battalion History.

During the Civil War, in 1862, The 2nd Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, under Colonel Lewis Merrill garrisoned the school in January 1862.  They took residence on the first floor of Academic Hall.

In  August of that year, some 200 Confederate soldiers, members of the Missouri State Guard, stormed Columbia, Missouri (where the university is located), and were routed by Merrill's men.  The third floor of the Academic Hall was used to house the prisoners for a time.

During the occupancy, some Union soldiers found a box of unsigned degrees and game themselves their own commencement ceremony.

--Old Secesh