page_title: Nathaniel Lyon
section_title: St. Louis Arsenal
hierarchical_section_title: Nathaniel Lyon / American Civil War / St. Louis Arsenal
caption_attribution_description: English: Monument to General Nathaniel Lyon with St. Louis Arsenal in background. Dansk: Monument over Nathaniel Lyon med St. Louis Arsenal i baggrunden.
context_page_description: Nathaniel Lyon was the first Union general to be killed in the American Civil War. He is noted for his actions in Missouri in 1861, at the beginning of the conflict, to forestall secret secessionist plans of the governor Claiborne Jackson.
  He had fought in the Second Seminole War in Florida and the Mexican–American War. After being assigned to Kansas, where many residents were divided about slavery and the Union, he developed strong pro-Union views. In February 1861, Lyon was made commander of the Union arsenal in St. Louis, Missouri. Suspicious of governor Claiborne, who was working with Jefferson Davis on a secret plan for secession, Lyon forced the surrender of the pro-Confederate militia.
  Some civilians rioted and Lyon’s troops fired into the crowd. Lyon was promoted brigadier-general and given command of Union troops in Missouri. He was killed at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, while trying to rally his outnumbered soldiers. But Lyon’s efforts had prevented the State of Missouri from joining the Confederacy.
context_section_description: In March 1861, shortly before the outbreak of the American Civil War, Lyon arrived in St. Louis in command of Company B of the 2nd U.S. Infantry. At the time the population and state of Missouri were relatively neutral in the dispute between North and South, but Governor Claiborne F. Jackson was a strong Southern sympathizer, as were many of the state legislators. Lyon guessed correctly that Jackson would seize the federal arsenal in St. Louis if the state seceded and that the Union had insufficient defensive forces to prevent the seizure. He attempted to strengthen the defenses, but came into opposition from his superiors, including Brig. Gen. William S. Harney of the Department of the West. Lyon employed his friendship with Francis P. Blair, Jr., to have himself named commander of the arsenal. When the Civil War broke out and President Abraham Lincoln called for troops to put down the Confederacy, Missouri was asked to supply four regiments. Governor Jackson refused the request and ordered the Missouri State Guard to muster outside St. Louis under the stated purpose of training for home defense.
caption: Monument to Nathaniel Lyon with the arsenal in the background
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