Colonel Lewis Merrill-- Part 2: Boss of Merril's Horse, Aggressive Guerrilla Fighters

From Wikipedia.

I have written about this Union officer's role in the University of Missouri history.  here is some more information on him.

Lewis Merrill (1834-1896) was a career U.S. Army officer noted for his work in resisting the Ku Klux Klan in several Southern states.  During the Civil War he fought Southern guerrillas in Missouri.

Born in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, and went to college before graduating from West Point in 1855.  Served with the 1st Dragoons in Missouri, Kansas and was on the Utah Expedition.

In 1861, as a colonel and first cavalry officer on the staff of John C. Fremont, he organized the 2nd Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, usually referred to as Merrill's Horse.  They were mostly engaged in fighting guerrillas in central Missouri. and were well known for their strict military organization and aggressiveness carrying out their anti-guerrilla campaign.

--Old Secesh

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

Jayhawks and Tigers, Oh My!! The Civil War Connection-- Part 2: Those Missouri Tigers

In the 1860s, Missouri, like Kansas, was a border state with divided loyalties.  It started the war as a slave state, but as the war ended, the Union cause had taken over.

Pro-Confederacy forces launched guerrilla-style fighting against Union forces and small towns formed "Home Guards"  to protect themselves from these incursions.Columbia's "Home Guard" named themselves the Tigers and when the football team formed in 1890, they adopted the Civil War defenders name.

Later in 1984, the University of Missouri cheerleaders held a contest to name their mascot, and the Missouri tiger was officially named "Truman" after the famous Missourian, President Harry S. Truman.

Howdy Truman.  --Old SeceshTiger

Jayhawks and Tigers, Oh My!!!-- Part 1: What's In An Athletic Name

From KCUT NPR  "Civil War origins of the Kansas Jayhawk and Missouri Tiger" by Lisa Rodriguez.

Since I have been writing about the University of Missouri a lot lately, and because the name Tigers which is used by their teams, also dates to the Civil War, I found this article to be of interest.

For more than 100 years, an athletic contest between the University of Missouri Tigers and the University of Kansas Jayhawks has been a bitter rivalry with bragging rights on the line.  Before Mizzou left the Big 12 Conference to join the Southeastern Conference the rivalry was even bigger.

But, this rivalry can be dated even back to the Civil War.

According to the University of Kansas, the state in the 1850s was a fierce battlefield between those who were "Free Staters and those who were pro-slavery.  At the time, people started referring to those across the region as jayhawkers, which was a combination of two bird names.  The blue jay is a noisy, quarrelsome bird and the sparrow hawk a stealthy hunter.

The nickname was meant as a warning:  "Don't mess with a Jayhawker!!"

The term originally was used to refer to both Free Staters and Pro-Slavers.  But eventually it came to be used for the Free Staters.  When the KU football team played their first game in 1890, it adopted the name.

The first illustration of the mythical Jayhawk  in 1912 wore shoes for kicking opponents.  These boots/shoes are made for walking.

So That's Why the Jayhawk Wears Shoes.  I Was Always Wondering.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Barr Todd and Robert Levi Todd

From Spirits  of Mizzou  Robert L. Todd and Robert Barr Todd

Both men were first cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln.

These two men constituted the whole first graduating class of what today is known as the University of Missouri.  "Little Bob Todd" as Robert Levi Todd was known, was class valedictorian; Robert B. Todd ("Big Bob Todd") was salutatorian.

Robert B. Todd moved to Louisiana  and eventually became a justice on the state supreme court

Robert L. remained in Boone County, (where the university is located) becoming the university's first Tutor,  and serving fifteen years as Curator and 25 years as Secretary of the Board of Curators (they are the ones who run the university).

An often-repeated story claims that Robert Levi Todd saved the university from burning during the Civil War, using his connections with President Lincoln to prevent Union Colonel Lewis Merrill from putting the whole town of Columbia to flames.

An early voice for the university's alumni, Todd was instrumental in creating the Alumni Association and served as its first president in 1885-1886.

Robert L. Todd continued to be one of the University of Missouri's strongest supporters until he died in Columbia in 1898.

Actually, it is possible that Robert Levi Todd wasn't a Confederate.

--Old Secesh

History of the University of Missouri-Columbia in the Civil War-- Part 4: Claims Fall Flat and the Morrill Act

The university's claims for damage against the federal government were not settled until 1915.  The university received $7450 for damage claims and over half of that went toward litigation fees. So Missouri actually received $3,383.33.

The award money was used to build the north gateway of Francis Quadrangle, located at 8th and Elm.

The Morrill Act of 1862 gave the University of Missouri a more active  and important role in military affairs after 1870.   The original Morrill Act created land-grant universities for the teaching of Agricultural and Mechanical Sciences, but it also required these colleges to participate in national defense by requiring all male students to take a basic course in military tactics.

--Old Secesh

History of the University of Missouri-Columbia-- Part 3: The Civil War

The Civil War also had other detrimental effects on the university as well.  Classes were suspended for ten months, partly because  of the troop occupation, and also because the university was short on staff. 

Only one staff member, chairman of the math department, Edward T. Fristoe, joined the Confederacy.  Students joining one side or the other cut the enrollment from 112 in 1860 to just 40 during the war.

After the Union troops left in 1865, the curators filed a claim against the federal government for damages incurred while the soldiers were there.  Horses and wagons ruined the grounds, holes were cut into walls and floors by prisoners trying to escape, books from the library were used for fires, and over 100,000 specimens in mineral and fossil cabinets were reportedly damaged.

It was also reported that Union soldiers found a box of blank diplomas and held their own commencement, awarding themselves university degrees.

And Gee Whiz, I Never Even Went To School.  --Old Secesh

A History of the University of Missouri-- Part 2: The Fighting "Tigers" and Occupation

From Wikipedia.

The coming of the Civil War forced the university to close for much of 1862.  Residents of Columbia formed a Union "home guard" militia that was known as the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia."    They were given that name because of their readiness to fight for and protect the city and university.

In 1890, the universities newly formed football team took the name "Tigers" after the Civil War militia unit.

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From Archives of Univ. of Missouri  "The Military and Mizzou:  1861-1946."

The role of the University of Missouri-Columbia, in the military began during the Civil War in 1862.  Missouri was a border state so there were those in Columbia who favored the Confederacy, so the town fell under the watchful eye of the federal government.

On January 2, 1862, a group of Missouri volunteers known as Merrill's Horse" arrived in Columbia.  They pitched tents on campus and garrisoned  the school.  Academic Hall , the former administrative building  that burned down in 1892, was used to house soldiers.

These troops also interned Confederate prisoners  in the main library's third floor.

--Old Secesh

A History of the University of Missouri- Columbia-- Part 1: First Land-Grant University West of the Mississippi

From Wikipedia.

The University of Missouri- Columbia was established in 1839.  This later expanded to the statewide University of Missouri System which is why the name Columbia now accompanies it.

It was established in 1839 as part of the Geyer Act to establish a state land-grant university.  The school became the first land-grant university west of the Mississippi River.

The year of its founding, the citizens of Columbia pledged $117,921 in cash and land to beat out five other mid-Missouri counties for the location of the state university.  The land on which the college was constructed was just south of Columbia and owned by James S. Rollins, who became known as the "Father of the University."

It was the first university in Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase and was designed in part on Jefferson's plans for the University of Virginia.  Because of this, the original tombstone of Thomas Jefferson was given to MU in July 1883 by Jefferson's heirs.

As before mentioned, the first graduating class in 1843 consisted of just two men, both first cousins, Robert Levin Todd and Robert Barr Todd.  If the Todd name rings a bell, they were also first cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln.  Rober L. was the valedictorian and Robert T. was the salutatorian.

--Old Secesh

About the First Commencement at the University of Missouri in 1843 Had Just Two Graduates, Both Cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln

The first commencement ceremony for the University of Missouri at Columbia was held in November 1843, and had just two graduates.  It lasted for three hours.

The two graduates were both cousins and also cousins of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Their names were Robert B.Todd and Robert L. Todd.

Robert Barr Todd, as salutatorian spoke at the beginning and end of the ceremony.  He gave the salutatorian oration in Latin.  He closed the ceremony with the speech "Political Experience of the Past, Important to the American Citizen."

There were  nine other speakers.

Of interest, Thomas J. Hardin gave a Disputation;  "The Dissolution of the Union."

But, THREE HOURS!!!  Come On.  --Old Secesh