argaret Reeves O’Neill believed in three things: Her father’s fairness, his aversion to slavery, and the power of poetry. But the clash between Union and Confederate forces in her hometown during the summer of 1861 changes everything.
“...engrossing novel, thoroughly researched.” — Kirkus Reviews
“This historical novel introduces a complex aspect of the American Civil War seldom dealt with in fiction.” — School Library Journal
any accounts of the American Civil War, fought between 1861 and 1865, make a very clear distinction between Rebels and Yankees: a Rebel owned slaves and supported the Confederacy; a Yankee opposed slavery and fought for the Union. But loyalties in Missouri and other border states were much more complex. Slave ownership, for example, didn't necessarily determine political loyalties.
The real people who appear in A Voice from the Border reflect this complexity. Indeed, such slaveholders as Mrs. Campbell and her sons were dedicated Secessionists. Junius Campbell’s political sympathies aren’t as clear. A Greene County history of 1883 identifies him as a “leading southern man” during the war years, but his own grand-niece records that he was the only Union sympathizer in the family. For the purposes of my story, I’ve sided with the niece.
But Congressman and Mrs. John Phelps, although slaveholders, remained loyal to the Union throughout the war. Congressman Phelps fought with distinction for the Union at the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862 and secured an appointment as Military Governor of Arkansas from President Lincoln later that year.
General Nathaniel Lyon, General Sterling Price, General John C. Frémont, and the Phelps slave George are also historical figures. But Margaret Reeves and her family are pure invention. So are Hector, Juneau, and Hiram; Captain and Tiger Eye Brown; and Percival, Lancelot, and Samuel Wilder.
Yet many incidents in A Voice from the Border are drawn from history: for example, Federal troops did interrupt a meeting at the First Christian Church in Springfield, Missouri on June 24, 1861. They forced members of the church to declare their political loyalties, and arrested many southern sympathizers.
I invented the incidents surrounding Reeves and Mrs. Campbell’s secret visit to General Price before the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. However, “two loyal ladies of the South” reportedly visited General Price on August 8, 1861, and provided information on Federal troop movements in Springfield. Later in the war, Mrs. Campbell actually did smuggle medical supplies to Confederate forces.
Federal officers boarded with several Springfield families, including Mrs. Campbell. And according to the unpublished manuscript of Louisa C. Sheppard (Little Lou in A Voice from the Border), Mrs. Campbell actually had General Lyon to dinner the day before the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. I’m indebted to Mrs. Sheppard’s account of this dramatic encounter.
General Price did provide an official escort for General Lyon’s body as Federal troops began their retreat. And Mrs. Phelps and George claimed the general’s body, secured a walnut coffin, and temporarily buried it on the Phelpses’ property.
The compromise Daddy reaches in his will also has historical precedent. According to historian Elmo Ingenthron, a slaveholder named Hence Virden of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, offered similar terms to his slaves when war broke out.
General Frémont issued an emancipation proclamation in August 1861. President Lincoln’s displeasure with this action (he didn't want to further alienate border states and drive them into the Confederacy) was one of the primary reasons Frémont lost his command in Springfield.
Admittedly, however, I’ve tampered with history.
I invented the friendship between Mama, Mrs. Campbell, and Mrs. Phelps. Even so, the idea that personal friendships continued despite conflicting military loyalties is also based on fact. Mrs. Campbell’s Union friends paid her taxes after she fled south, and did so until the Campbells returned to Springfield after the war in 1865.
In the interest of clarity, I’ve simplified Federal and Confederate commands. General Benjamin McCulloch, for example, was actually in command of southern troops during the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, though Sterling Price technically outranked him. I’ve also simplified and condensed Frémont’s final days in Springfield during the fall of 1861. Federal troops remained in Springfield until early November. The chronology at the end of these notes reflects history as it really happened.
The Jayhawker fires at the end of A Voice from the Border are essentially fictional, though that same 1883 Greene County history states that Jayhawkers burned and looted several houses during their Springfield retreat. As the war in Missouri continued, such incidents became common. Jim Lane’s Jayhawkers encouraged slaves to join them. According to historian Jay Monaghan, as Lane left Springfield in November, he formed a "Black Brigade" composed of runaway slaves--men, women, and children. Thus, Hector’s interest in becoming a soldier so early in the war isn’t surprising. Less than a year later, in the summer of 1862, Lane openly advocated a then radical idea: the official enlistment of the slaves he had freed. Although President Lincoln publicly opposed the idea, he gave Lane verbal authority to organize Negro regiments, which some historians believe were the first of the Civil War. The President didn't publicly endorse the policy of enlisting African-American troops until he issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
I should also clarify the use of the word “servant” in the novel. Slaveholders rarely used the term “slave” to describe the people in their service. Usually, the personal writings of the period identified slaves by their first names; otherwise, slaveholders usually opted for the word “servant.” I adopted this historic euphemism to maintain the dialogue’s authenticity.
Finally, Missouri was both in the Union and out of it. Claiborne Jackson, its duly-elected governor in 1861, supported the Confederacy. With General Lyon’s Federal army in pursuit, Governor Jackson abandoned Jefferson City, Missouri’s capital, in June 1861, taking the state seal and other critical documents with him. Eventually, Union delegates to the state’s secession convention appointed their own governor, Hamilton R. Gamble. Although these Unionists had no mandate from Missouri’s citizens to take such action, President Abraham Lincoln recognized Gamble and his legislature as Missouri’s official government throughout the Civil War.
In the meantime, Jackson created his own “official” secessionist legislature in Neosho, Missouri. From this point on, Missouri had two governments, and on November 28, 1861, the Confederate Congress admitted Missouri to the Confederacy. By the end of the war, what was left of Missouri’s Secessionist government was headquartered in Marshall, Texas.
June 12-15 Fearing Federal capture, Missouri’s Secessionist Governor Claiborne Jackson abandons Jefferson City, the state capital. Federal General Nathaniel Lyon occupies the city.
June 24 Federal troops arrive in Springfield. Governor Jackson and General Sterling Price gather Secessionist troops at Cowskin Prairie.
July 22 Pro-Union delegates to the state convention on secession re-convene, and declare all chief state offices vacant. They appoint Hamilton Gamble provisional governor.
July 25 General Price and his troops march north from Cowskin Prairie toward Springfield.
August 1 General Lyon’s forces march south out of Springfield.
August 2 Skirmish at Dug Springs.
August 6 Confederate army occupies Wilson’s Creek.
August 8 Two “loyal ladies of the South” pay a call on General Price at Wilson’s Creek.
August 10 Battle of Wilson’s Creek. General Lyon is killed. Federal army retreats north.
August 25 General Price’s army marches north out of Springfield; a small home guard is left behind to protect the town.
August 30 General John C. Frémont, who in July had assumed command of all Union Forces in the West, issues an emancipation proclamation, freeing slaves of Confederate sympathizers living in Missouri.
September 18-21 Siege of Lexington, Missouri. General Price’s army defeats Federal troops.
September 26 Governor Jackson calls for a special meeting of the Missouri legislature at Neosho, in October. Only pro-secession legislators will attend.
October 7 General Frémont’s massive Federal army begins its march south toward Springfield.
October 25 Zagonyi Charge on Springfield
October 27 General Frémont’s forces occupy Springfield.
October 28 Springfield’s old courthouse building burns; Governor Jackson’s legislature passes Act of Secession.
October 29 General Frémont holds a public funeral for those killed in the Zagonyi Charge.
November 2 General Frémont loses his command.
November 3 Frémont’s replacement, General David Hunter, arrives in Springfield.
November 4 General Frémont leaves Springfield.
November 9 Federal troops withdraw from Springfield.
Mid-November General Price and his Secessionist army re-occupy Springfield.
November 28 The Confederate Congress admits Missouri to the Confederacy.
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A Voice From The Border,
Avon
(Softcover), 2000
A Voice From The Border,
Holiday House
(Hardcover), 1998
General Nathaniel Lyon’s death at the Battle at Wilson’s Creek made front page news in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper on August 24, 1861
The public square in Springfield, Missouri looked like this in 1859, shortly before A Voice from the Border begins - photo courtesy The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County
Mrs. Louisa Campbell and Little Lou lived in this house in Springfield, Missouri when war broke out. - photo courtesy The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County
An artist portrayed Zagonyi¹s Charge - image courtesy The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County