St. Joseph’s Own: Fort Smith
By: Bob Ford
My go to person for local history is Sarah Elder, has been for decades.
So when she started speaking, 20 years ago at the St Joseph’s Border War Society’s monthly meeting, about an embankment fortification built in September of 1861 overlooking the Missouri River and controlling the City, my ears perked up.
Being a battlefield tourist, I have seen earthen forts at Petersburg, Vicksburg, Atlanta and other battle sites. I also knew it took a huge amount of manpower and dirt to build one but an equal amount of effort to tear one down.
On August 12, 1861 masonry forts were made obsolete by Confederate General P G T Beauregard when his artillery opened fire on and destroyed Ft Sumter. No one died in that first barrage of the Civil War, but it changed the defensive mindsets on both sides because of the damage caused by new bursting artillery shells.
Earthen forts could absorb those shells and minimize the damage, now Sarah was saying St Jo had one,... I was on it!
Driving into the bluffs the next day, I went where I would build a controlling fort and drove right to it. There it was, completely overgrown with vines, weeds and trees but the 30ft walls and flat top were distinct. Loess soil is conducive for vertical bluffs and here was perfect proof.
Then the question was who built it and why?
St. Joseph was a strategic prize for both sides. The Union controlled much of the northern part of the state but after a Rebel victory on August 10,1861 at Wilson’s Creek near Springfield. General Sterling Price wanted to move his 12,000 Missouri Guard Army north, seizing assets and recruiting troops. Where was he going? St Joseph being the second largest city in the state and the western terminus for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad was certainly a potential target.
The Union Army quickly decided to build a fortification to help defend and control this divided City. The 16th Infantry Regiment of Illinois with 2,500 troops under the command of Colonel Robert F. Smith was dispatched along the railroad with a contingent of 800 men ending up in St. Joseph. It was Smith’s troops along with slaves, prisoners, and individuals that would not sign the oath of allegiance who quickly built Fort Smith.
People were in a panic, business was good, wagon trains had just left and crops were coming in.
As Colonel Smith prepared for General Price’s potential attack 12 cannons were brought up from Ft Leavenworth and strategically positioned at the Fort protecting the City and controlling the River.
A famous test firing incident took place as the Union artillerymen were trying to target King Hill from Ft Smith and failed miserably. The first shot fell far short hitting the station depot and lodging under the passenger platform.
With that failure under their belts, I guess they thought they couldn’t do any worse, but they did.
The second projectile blasted a cupola of a livery stable on 4th street, crashed through a bowling alley and settled under an outhouse. It has not been documented whether the privy was occupied at the time or not,...just think!
For additional documentation on the Illinois 16th I reached out to Illinois State historian Dr. Thomas Schwartz to see if any letters had been written and sent home from the troops serving in St. Joseph,...bingo! Tom discovered several letters, nobody was happy about being here in September. The authors vigorously complained about the work,mosquitos and the heat.
St. Joseph in 1861 was a wide open town. It had a population of 9,000 but thousands more came through heading west.There were an estimated 130 saloons with all sorts of customers, farmers, travelers, merchants, gamblers, painted ladies, dandies, bushwhackers and Union troops. It was a violent time with passions and convictions running high, most were armed.
I invited Sarah Elder, Parks Director Bill McKinney and the County Commission to tour the Fort with me. The goal was to get the County involved to help with construction costs and maintenance for the redevelopment.
There was considerable skepticism about the project from one commissioner because, “there was no battle here.” I had a Union Kepi cap that I hid the day before in bushes at the Fort. When we toured I yelled, “look they left proof, a hat!” Everyone but Sarah was confused, she gave me a friendly scowl that said, “you're an idiot!”
There were still many ups and downs to come but I knew it was time to pull in the pros, once local historian Joe Houts signed on it was smoother sailing. I had the inspiration but he had the juice to get the Fort rebuilt and turned into St. Joseph’s newest park. The City now has a new attraction where the suppressed story of what went on during those traumatic times could be told.
Sarah Elder has delivered over 2 hours of interviews discussing the history of St. Joseph, Missouri that can be heard for free on our podcast at bobfordshistory.com
So climb the hill overlooking the Missouri River, take in the great view Ft Smith provides and check out the artillery pieces while learning what went on in St. Joseph, MO during its most turbulent year.
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More of Bob’s work can be found on his website including his Bob Ford’s History, Mystery and Lore podcast at bobfordshistory.com. The podcasts are also available on most streaming services. Bob can be contacted at [email protected]