Missouri legislature takes up secession bill

Background. Claiborne Fox Jackson, elected as a moderate in 1860, secretly planned a secessionist coup after the Missouri Convention rejected secession in March 1861. He was forced out of office by the Unionist majority in the Missouri General Assembly on July 31, 1861. In the fall of 1861, Jackson joined other leading secessionists at Neosho, where they acted as the Missouri General Assembly to pursue separation from the Union.

Legislative Action. Acting as the Missouri General Assembly, the secessionist body enacted an ordinance of secession on October 28, 1861, in Neosho, Missouri. The legal status of this ordinance was not accepted by Missouri's Union supporters. Contemporary reports claimed a quorum was reached by October 22, though later accounts alleged the quorum was fraudulent, with insufficient members present and voting records manipulated.

Controversy. The secession ordinance was enacted by a rump legislature in Neosho, not the recognized state government in Jefferson City. Union supporters rejected the legal status of the ordinance. The Columbia Missouri Statesman reported a quorum was reached by October 22, but Shambaugh later claimed the quorum was fraudulent, alleging only 39 House members and 10 Senate members were present and that affirmative votes were excluded from journals.