12 The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War

at Washington to “ Captain Nathaniel Lyon , com-manding Department of the West: ” —

“ The President of the United States directsthat you enroll in the military service of theUnited States loyal citizens of St. Louis and vi-cinity, not exceeding, with those heretofore en-listed, ten thousand in number, for the purposeof maintaining the authority of the United States and for the protection of the peaceable inhabit-ants of Missouri , and you will if deemed neces-sary for that purpose by yourself and Messrs. Oli-ver D. Filley, John How, James O. Broadhead,Samuel T. Glover, J. J. Witzig, and Francis P. Blair, Jr. , proclaim martial law in the city of St. Louis .”

On the back of this document was writtenby General Scott, general-in-chief of the United States Army , “ It is revolutionary times, andtherefore I do not object to the irregularity ofthis. — W. S.; ” and the whole was confirmed bythe terse endorsement: “ Approved April 30,1861.— A. Lincoln .” 1

A few days before the arrival of this order —which virtually constituted Blair and Lyon andthe other five gentlemen named into a revolution-ary Committee of Safety — Lyon had taken theprecaution of moving the greater portion of the1 Snead, The Fight for Missouri, p. 165.