NGA Ties to History of the St. Louis Arsenal

NGA Ties to History of the St. Louis Arsenal

As NGA St. Louis looks forward to the grand opening of a new state of the art facility in St. Louis in 2025, let's reflect upon a historical complex that the agency and its predecessors have occupied for seven decades at 3200 South 2nd Street.

Locally known as the "St. Louis Arsenal" the complex has housed a defense mapping agency for over seventy years, but the history of the Arsenal and its importance in the defense of the United States goes back to the early 19th century.

Construction of the Arsenal began in 1827, and was borne out of the need to replace a poorly constructed, dilapidated Fort Belle Fontaine, which was built in 1805, just a short distance northwest of the location of the Arsenal, near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

By the 1820's Fort Belle Fontaine was in serious disrepair, due to regular flooding and on account of the vulnerable timber construction of the perimeter fortification and buildings.

In May of 1826 the U.S. Congress authorized the purchase of property for the construction of an arsenal in, or near St. Louis.

A sketch of the St. Louis Arsenal, as it appeared in the Harper?s Weekly in Aug. 1861. Photo courtesy of Missouri Historical Society.

The final agreed upon location was a well-drained, defensible plot purchased from two adjacent land owners, Arend Rutgers and August Chenie, just three miles south of what was then the St. Louis city limits.

Built upon a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, the buildings and the perimeter, much of which still stand today, were constructed of sturdy, high quality materials derived from nearby rock quarries.

Contracts for munitions trickled into the Arsenal in 1828, and the Arsenal grew in size and importance to westward expansion of the U.S. and to national defense, becoming the fourth largest arsenal in the country over the course of the antebellum period.

For 34 years Arsenal activities were regimented and fairly unremarkable, but socio-political tensions in the state of Missouri, due to the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, dramatically changed the course of Arsenal, and U.S. history.

Arend Rutgers? property was one half of the site purchased by the U.S. federal government to build the St. Louis Arsenal. Upon opening the arsenal, the Rutgers? family home became the commander?s quarters. Photo courtesy of Missouri Historical Society.

Spy in a Dress

In May 1861, U.S. Army Capt. Nathaniel Lyon took command of the St. Louis Arsenal, and almost immediately proved his mettle, putting down a Confederate plot conceived by secessionist Missouri Governor, Claiborne Fox Jackson, to take control of the Arsenal for the Confederacy.

In response to the rumors of a plot, Lyon enlisted the help of a trusted confidant, Missouri congressman, Frank P. Blair, Jr. and Blair's brother, U.S. Postmaster General, Montgomery Blair, to help him conduct reconnaissance of the enemy camp at Camp Jackson, located near modern day St. Louis University campus.

James (Jim) Mohan, former Defense Mapping Agency director of public affairs and historic preservation officer, recounts the story of Lyon's espionage of Camp Jackson, describing a scene on May 9, 1861, where two occupants casually ride through Camp Jackson in a low open carriage owned by the Blair family and operated by a black driver.

One carriage rider was a prominent St. Louis engineer, and the other was presumably Frank Blair's blind mother-in-law, wearing a dress and a large bonnet with a heavy veil.

"But if you looked in the inside of the carriage you would have seen some muddy boots," said Mohan. The old woman was in fact Lyon himself, in disguise.

Learning of a valid threat to the Arsenal, Lyon lead a contingent of around 8,000 Union volunteers on May10, to mount an offensive against some 700-armed, Confederate loyal, Missouri volunteer militiamen at Camp Jackson.

Outside of Camp Jackson, Lyon split his forces, flanking and surrounding the pro- confederate militia, capturing their entire force without firing a shot.

Just before a settlement was negotiated at Missouri Volunteer Militia Gen. Daniel Frost's headquarters, Lyon had a bit of a setback.

"Lyon got kicked in the stomach by the horse of one of his aides and knocked unconscious" Mohan explains, "So they had to wait until he woke up so they could finish the negotiations."

Union Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon (pictured), commander of the St. Louis Arsenal in 1861, led an offensive to prevent an attack on the arsenal and subsequently, led Union volunteer troops in a campaign across Missouri, saving the territory for the Union over the entire course of the Civil War. Lyon died later that year from a gunshot wound he received during the Battle of Wilson?s Creek, which took place on the Missouri, Arkansas border, Aug. 1861. Photo courtesy of Missouri Historical Society.

The Camp Jackson Affair

It was agreed per the surrender that all militia members would disarm and march from Camp Jackson to the Arsenal as prisoners of war.

During the march to the Arsenal a skirmish broke out among civilian Confederate sympathizers lining the streets and the Union volunteers leading the march, which resulted in the deaths of 28 civilians and two soldiers, along with numerous wounded civilians.

Mohan recalls that the St. Louis Railroad Company president, and future celebrated Union general, William Tecumseh Sherman, along with his seven-year old son, were caught up in the chaos and carnage of that day.

Sherman reported in his auto-biography, written in the years after the war, grabbing his son and hiding in a gully along Olive St. until the shooting concluded.

Ulysses S. Grant, commanding general of all U.S. troops during the Civil War, and later 18th President of the U.S., was also in attendance and wrote an account of the events occurring that day in his post-war memoirs

On May 11, after some contention, prisoners swore not to take up arms against the Union, and were subsequently ferried some distance down the Mississippi River and released to make their way to their homes.

An illustration of a Missouri Militia volunteers? encampment at Camp Jackson, Missouri, similar to that which Nathaniel Lyon and nearly 8,000 Union volunteer soldiers would surround in Mar. 1861, preventing a planned Confederate attack, and attempted takeover of the St. Louis Arsenal. Photo courtesy of Missouri Historical Society.

German Union Volunteers

More than 80 percent of volunteers that made up four infantry regiments that served under Lyons, preventing the secessionist attack on the Arsenal and subsequently engaging in battles across the state to maintain Union control of Missouri, were either German immigrants, or of German heritage.

Many of these volunteers were members of what was known as the Turners, who conducted regular military drills at the rifle club of the St. Louis Turnverein.

Two of the more notable of German-American volunteers were Cpl. Adolphus Busch and his father-in-law, Pvt. Eberhard Anheuser, founders of Anheuser Busch Brewery, which currently looms high above NGA-St. Louis 2nd Street, the Arsenal site.

Following the events of May 10, 1861 Lyon was promoted to Brig. Gen. and given command of Union troops in Missouri.

Just a few months later on Aug. 10 1861, Lyon was struck down, killed by a gunshot wound at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, while leading Union soldiers, outnumbered four to one into battle.

The actions of Nathaniel Lyon and his men were significant to the outcome of the Civil War, stopping the pro-Confederate militia at the gates of the St. Louis Arsenal.

The site was the fourth largest arsenal in the nation, at the time, and played an important role supplying and manufacturing weaponry while the the war dragged on over several years.

"I think it's safe to say that the loss of the St. Louis Arsenal to the Confederacy would have impacted the length of the war, if not the final outcome" said Lisa Williams, Ph.D., NGA chief historian.

"Knowing that the NGA St. Louis workforce continues to safeguard the nation every day from this same location; that's a pretty powerful connection to the past," said Williams.

Next in this multi-part history of NGA in St. Louis, we dive into ghost tales and World War II stories of 2nd street.