Lecture,”Missouri in 1861: The Rise and Fall of John and Jessie Fremont

Gregory Wolk, author of a new work of nonfiction published by the Missouri Historical Society Press, describes the eventful 100 days in 1861 that western explorer John C. Fremont commanded the Western Department of the US Army from headquarters in St. Louis. An in-depth discussion of important military campaigns of the period is coupled with political intrigue when Fremont’s wife – the daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton – joins her husband’s fight against the powerful Francis Blair family of Washington and St. Louis in order to advance the cause of emancipation. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln resists the call for emancipation, fearing that Missouri and Kentucky may join the Confederacy.