A Charge On Springfield

The First Battle of Springfield [aka Zagonyi’s Charge] was fought October 25^th 1861 in Green County, Missouri.

Union Major General John C Fremont made plans to push Confederate Major General Sterling Price’s troops out of Missouri and take the fight on south.  Fremont left St Louis, Missouri on October 7^th 1861 with about 20,000 troops.  He also had a cavalry force of about 5,000 under Major Charles Zagonyi.  The cavalry was to ride in the front and scout for Fremont.

As the Union troops neared Springfield, Missouri, Confederate state guard commander Colonel Julian Frazier called for more soldiers.  Fremont stopped about 50 miles from Springfield on the Pomme De Terre River, but Zagonyi’s cavalry continued onto Springfield.  Frazier used his roughly 1,300 men to set up a trap on the road the Union cavalry was traveling to Springfield on.  Instead of ambushing Zagonyi’s horse soldiers, the Union troopers charged the Confederates.  Frazier’s men were routed.

Zagonyi continued into town, were the released Union prisoners.  Fearing a counterattack of Frazier’s Confederates, Zagonyi left Springfield before night fall.

The Party Of Freedom

The first meeting of the Republican Party was on March 20th 1854 in a small school house in Ripon, Wisconsin.


Founded by anti - slavery activists, the Republican Party’s first county convention took place in Ripon, Wisconsin March 20th 1854 in a local school house. They grew out of a mixture of former Whigs and Free Soil Democrats. Their motivation was to stop slavery from expanding into new opened western territories. The party nominated their first presidential ticket in 1856 with Colonel John C Fremont for president and William Dayton as vice president. The slogan of the party was “Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont!” The young Republican Party next nominated Abraham Lincoln in 1860, an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery.

Killed By Artillery

Union Brigadier General George Dashiell Bayard died December 14th 1862, after being wounded during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

George Dashiell Bayard was born December 18th 1835 in Seneca Falls, New York. His family homesteaded in the Iowa Territory, were he attended a military school taught by a Major Dorn. He received an appointment to West Point, and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1856. As a Second Lieutenant in the Cavalry he was stationed on the frontier doing garrison duty. He saw action in the Indian Wars of Kansas and Colorado.

With the beginning of the Civil War, Bayard was promoted to Colonel and given command in the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry. The 1st Pennsylvania was active in the Shenandoah Valley campaigns. On April 28th 1862 he received a commission to Chief of Cavalry of the III Corps and a promotion to Brigadier General. He led men under Major General John C Fremont at the Battle of Port Republic, and a Union advance during the Battle of Cedar Mountain. Bayard was wounded December 13th 1862 by an artillery round during the Battle of Fredericksburg. He died the next day December 14th 1862. Bayard’s body was taken to Princeton, New Jersey for burial in the Princeton Cemetery.

Adding California

The Treaty of Cahuenga, which brought the end of the Mexican American war in California was approved on January 13th 1847.

The Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by United States Lieutenant Colonel John C Fremont and Californian General Andres Pico on January 13th 1847. They use the kitchen table in the adobe home of Tomas Feliz in what is now North Hollywood California.. It was written in both Spanish and English by Jose Antonio Carrillo.

The Treaty called for all prisoners from both sides be freed, that Californios give up their weapons, and promise never again to take up arms against the United States. For this promise they could return peaceably to their homes and were given all the right of citizens of the Unite States. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo a year latter in 1848 formally added California to the United States.

Twin Relics of Barbarism

In Utah March 23rd 1858 Brigham Young ordered the faithful to move to Provo, Utah and prepare for their homes in Salt Lake City to be burned as part of his “Sebastopol Policy”

From 1857 to 1858 what is known as the Utah War occurred between the United States Government and the Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory. The election in 1856 between Democrat James Buchanan and Republican John C Freemont was close enough to shake the Democratic Party. The Republicans charged the Democrats during that election as being soft on the “Twin Relics of Barbarism”; polygamy and slavery. In order to stand up to the charge Buchanan had do something, he decided his only political option was to replace Brigham Young as the governor of the Utah Territory and make a stand against polygamy. Alfred Cumming was appointed the new governor and sent to Utah under an Army escort.

The first troops to march for Utah were lead by General William S Harney, but they were forced to return to Kansas. Then a detachment under Colonel Edmund Alexander got started, only to meet up with and give command to Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston. The Utah militia known as the Nauvoo Legion under the command of Lot Smith harassed the federals. Johnston decided to settle for the winter in the burned out Fort Bridger.

When spring arrived the United States Army was re-supplied and reinforcements arrived. With negotiation underway Brigham Young accepted the replacement governor; bring peace back to the territory.

The Birth Of A Party

The newly formed Republican Party met for the first time nationally on February 22, 1856 in Pittsburgh, PA, to begin forming plans to oppose the Democrats’.

The Republican Party was formed by individuals who believed that the Federal government should not have passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and by those who wished to see a modernization of the United States, highlighting education, industry and free homesteads in the West for farmers. The first informal meeting took place in the small town of Ripon, WI, with a second meeting official meeting held in Jackson, MI. In 1854 at the state convention in Michigan the new party named “Republicans”, adopted a platform and nominated candidates for offices. In 1856 the Republicans nominated John C Fremont for President with the slogan, "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont." Fremont made a strong showing getting thirty-three percent of the vote, four years later Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican in the White House.

Further reading you might be interested in
The Life And Speeches Of Thomas Williams V1: Orator, Statesman And Jurist 1806-1872, A Founder Of The Whig And Republican Parties

The Republican party and its leaders;: A history of the party from its beginning to the present time